old park.... questions on where to search?

[james]

I live a few blocks from an older park that was closed in 1978 or 1979.The park was there in early 1900s. The swing set and 1 other piece of equipment is still there. The trees and brush have really made it hard to search. I have found 2 buffalo nickels and 1 mercury dime along with 5 wheat pennies around the swing set area. I have the prizm 2 detector with the disc on the nail or iron icon. 2 questions. should I use the all metal mode to search this area even if there is a lot of trash? Will it allow me to get deeper than with using the disc mode? also do i need to search only around the equipment area or search the whole park? thanks for your input. I dont think that the park has been searched or has very little because the park is clear off the beaten path and you would not know it was a park by looking at it. The park is in a very small town. I was also told by several people that the park was used a lot for gatherings.

 

[rustynh]

Look around,any woods or brushy areas you see now that were not there 100 yrs ago? any soil disturbances water lines ,post holes ,soil moved for any reason ?road work,path work. That may have moved some treasure that was not previously detectable.Close to a fence where other hunters were less likely to look.I find that the smallest coil you have helps separate the trash.I have found that a larger coil will have to many targets under it (in any well used park) and you end up loosing more than finding.Good luck

 

[Jim Pa]

Do a search using the terra server site.If you can get an aerial view of the area it may help a lot.I have used it a few times and you would be surprised at the information you can get from the air shots.Old ball fields or well used areas will show up if you are lucky.Ask the older people where most events were held,like political rallies,best picnic spots,playgrounds,etc.If it closed in the 70's there should not be too much junk.I person ably would dig just about every thing in any older park.Lots of people would wear gold lapel pins,cuff links and other types of jewelry to picnics.Good hunting and don't forget to ask people about the parks use.

 

[Hunt4Fun]

Hi James,

I would grid the place search in all metal and dig everything including the iron. It could be masking good targets.


Good luck
Hunt4Fun

 

[samwatkins_75]

Congrats James! Sounds like you have a veritable goldmine right in the backyard! I'm kind of new to the hobby, So I don't have a whole lot of great advice yet but I have a similiar detector, the White's Prism 3, and I have noticed that the more discrimination you use the less reliable the prism seems to be. Just an observation. Also,Maybe it's just me, but from what I've observed ,my prism doesn't seem to be very accurate at pinpointing. It would probally be wise to invest in a handheld pinpointer.I plan on doing this in the next week or two.
I've noticed that many times I'll dig to the right depth but there will be nothing in the hole, and sometimes I'll find the object after widening the whole a few inches.This is okay when it's in my freinds yard and he doesn't mind me digging large holes (he's usually right by me helping dig,He's a great guy and I think he'll be a convert to the metal detecting cause real soon, he really seems to like the hobby!)But I really don't like digging a lot in public parks.The idea is to be less intrusive as possible.So really ponder investing in a pinpointer or make one out of a cheap stud finder,there are a few pages on the net on how to do this if you are the hands on type of person. As far as where to look, I've had the best luck so far along paths and around benches or picnic tables.These areas are usually littered with trash so be prepared to dig a lot of pull tabs.Around large trees where someone might have spread a table cloth for a picnic to take advantage of the shade is usually a good spot.Think about your own behavior when you go to a park and go to the areas where you would gravitate.Try putting yourselves in the shoes of the people who used to visit the park in the distant past. First hit the high traffic areas, this is where you will uasually have the best luck. Look for any evidence of paths and walkways or sidewalks.Try looking for hills,kids love to play on hillsides and gravity is definetly the metal detectorists best freind when it comes to hillsides, slopes seem to pull change right out of the pockets as if by magic. If you can find any old benches check underneath them, As when people sit , money rolls out of the pockets.Anywhere people sit, this happens, so check what used to be large expanses of lawn that people would have watched a show or picnicked, and around any large rocks or boulders someone might have sat on. Good luck