Mysterious target

[Aarong81]

I bought an MXT Pro and used it for 3 days now. I am getting used to it very quickly and the last hunt I went on I was on property in North Missouri that has history back around early 1800. As far as I know there has not been any detecting on the property. I began hunting it in the late evening last night and only had a short time to detect but I was happy to get a strong +80 to +86 hit right away! It showed a depth of 8 inches which was also encouraging. I began digging and stopped near 7-8 inches and used my DX-1 to probe the hole, No signal yet. I rescanned the hole with the detector and still got a strong +80 to + 86 and 8 inch depth. I continued this dig till I was at 12-13 inches and I widened the hole so that the ENTIRE 950 coil would fit to the bottom of the hole while level. The target was still there. While lowering the coil into the hole in pinpoint mode, it showed a depth of about 6-7 inches. At the surface it showed about 8 inches, and had a very small pinpoint area. I had to give up at this point and left frustrated that I could get such a good signal and preferred depth range but not find anything.
From what I read in the manual, if you get a shallow reading(8 inches in this case) and small pinpoint but you dig well beyond the depth reading and still dont find it yet then it is probably a large item. How common would a large item give a +80 to +86 VDI? (mason jar with ??????) Given the details I provided, Is this a target that I must go back to (with a bigger shovel) and figure out what it is or is it something you would have passed by the first time?
Aaron

 

[Nancy-IL]

That's a double edged sword. If it were me, no. I wouldn't go back and dig a bigger hole. Sounds like you've got a HUGE one already. Here's some reading on basically the same thing. http://www.findmall.com/read.php?25,1407993,1407993#msg-1407993 HH, Nancy

 

[Aarong81]

Does the VDI +80 to +85 warrant anything specific? What metal objects could produce those numbers, assuming its junk?

 

[usafaviator]

I find a lot of aluminum in that range here in Nebraska. I always dig in that area because I often find quarters in that area as well, but if you are already 12+ inches down, it could be that your initial pinpoint was off by a bit? It could be highly mineralized soil...how was your ground balance? I'm fairly new to the forum, and I'm learning a lot myself. I probably wouldn't dig any more unless the owner of the property is ok with it, who know's, you may find something good down there.

 

[bula]

Pop can off to the side of the hole, sound like you need a smaller coil as well one that is easy to pin point with.

 

[usafaviator]

Pop can off to the side of the hole, sound like you need a smaller coil as well one that is easy to pin point with.

Yeah Bula, that's what I was thinking. I've had similar situations, but ended up digging sideways instead of deep down and was able to find the target. This is another example where a Pro Pointer saves a lot of unnecessary gigging. The Pro can pinpoint off the sides (not just the tip) which helps if the target is off to the side of the hole that you have dug.

 

[Aarong81]

I am able to pinpoint all my other targets ok, I am using the cross pinpoint method and 950 coil. Even after making a large hole, the target was too far away for the DX-1 to detect it, so if it was to the side it was at least a foot from center of the hole considering the hole was already about a foot wide and the DX-1 works atleast 3 inches. So I am sure it was still below the hole I dug. I know pop cans and other trash objects can be detected well beyond the normal range on the PP scale. I dont think I will try to redig this target, its not ethical to butcher the ground for likely trash targets. Thanks for the input!
Aaron