Old part of town,

[Bowie]

Like many cities/larger towns,the old (downtown) part of our city is dried up pretty much,due to ubanization. Everything is spread out,malls and shopping centers.
In the old part of the town, many of the really old buildings have been torn down. Some have a slab left, but others have gravel where the foundation once was. Im just wondering (to myself) if these had wooden floors. The walls were brick. But the foundation for the walls are still there (even with the ground).
I hit one of those spots today,just for a short time. My M6 rang out many times in one swing of it,using the 5.3 eclipse coil.
Most of my detecting has been in playgrounds,fields and lots. I have hit some nasty spots but nothing like this. Most of my signals were negative in the iron range.
If any of you guys hunt areas like this, what is your strategy. Like, do you work it in grids digging everything that gives a signal, to clean the area up. How do you run your machine. All metal,no discrim and clean up everything. That will take some time,dont get me wrong,Im not lazy. Do you use any discrimination at all??
To be honest, I got frustrated and left. I wanna go back. I just wanted to think on it a bit and come up with a strategy. I dont think I will find a lot of coins but the area is so old, I may have a decent chance of finding something old (old for the area I live in).
Thanks
John

 

[tabdog]

Hi Bowie

You need to know what is in the ground. There are several methods. I like to sample the area. Make a pass across it at an angle. You need to dig everything. You need to know if it's nails, bottle caps, car parts Etc. Gathering that information will tell you what you are faced with to some degree. That gives you the signals to be dealt with. If there are iron artifacts, dig them.

The more discrimination you use the less you can punch into the ground. Us as little disc as possible. None is best. This scares the he1l out of most people, but it's better to discriminate with your brain than your machine.

Do you have a high quality metal detecting designed set of head phones? If you don't, the task will be monumental. I'm not familiar with an M-6. I hear it's a good detector. I believe the display will not be that helpful if the area is very challenging.

Confidence is the best tool in these situations. You can gain some confidence if you can figure out how to navigate through the maze of trash by learning the trash at the site itself. Each site is different.

You may find more concrete reinforcement than anything. But you never know. Old places always have the potential. Your mind is your most important tool, if used properly.

Best of luck,

 

[Bowie]

I use Killer Bee headphones,without the resister.
Im just not aquainted with this sort of detecting. Frustrating to say the least,lol. You really wouldnt believe the signals you get on one swipe.
Bit of history in that old part of town. Bars,shootings,gambling etc.
Discrimination, I hardly ever use any discrimination,sometimes just enough to knock out nails. I found a wheatie today in a hole with a beaver tail tab,lol.
The discrimination turns down pretty good on this M6. Ive got a XL Pro coming,it can hunt in all metal but its a 4 filter machine, it wouldnt work at this site.
Well, Tabdog,I live just south of ya . Northeast Louisiana. I use to do a lot of bowhunting right across the border in Arkansas.
Thanks for your response. Ive got a couple weeks off at Christmas so maybe Ill get a bucket to collect the iron and hit that place hard,lol.
HH
John

 

[Elton]

Bowie..In my area when they tear down an old comercial building they doze a lot of the left over scrap metal pieces in the hole. Haul the dirt in cover it up and there out of there. Almost impossible detecting theres so much iron buried..... So it may be the same for your old sights.....

 

[Bowie]

Heya Elton,
Yeah, maybe they did that here. My luck,lol. I was just curious that maybe someone MDed this kinda sight and could share with me how they would go about it.
But thanks to you and tabdog for replying.
HH
John
I have an XL Pro on the way, so I need to find somethin totally different to hunt anyway,lol.

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

That is my kind of hunting. I have an Ace 250. Turn the sensitivity down and use the small coil. With all the trash you are not going to go real deep and a high sensitivity will make things worse. Like using the high beams in the fog. So forget the deep iffy signals. I discriminate everything below nickel. I move the coil like I am erasing something on a piece of paper. I go by sound. If I get a sound that is near repeatable, I shake my coil over or near the spot till the good sound is repeatable, most of the time. Dig!
There is so much trash, you can't always use the pp. At times I have called myself the trash man, but I have gotten some nice old coins that way. How about a 1839 large cent and a 1917 Canadian quarter this year. They were from a slab at an old train station and people used it as an illegal garbage dump.
I don't live right on the east coast where a lot of the really old coins are. I have gotten 7 coins from the 1800's, IH, V-nickels, merc's and over 150 wheat's this year.
Watch for when they tear up a sidewalk or street. Look for any strip of grass or where they removed the sod or scrapped the ground. I cruise the old sites and keep my eyes open.
I do adjust my methods as the conditions change. Some areas aren't as bad as others. That method was for the worst of the worst. I jump right in to those old site and dream of what could come out of them.

 

[beatty_dt]

All good tips.

Thanks.

David at Edmonton

 

[Elton]

You could not hunt it..I thought you were asking what was causing all the noise....Turn up you discrimination and dig the beeps..You may dig a lot..but you just might find some goodies.
You might also just shoot all metal dig it all, and see what comes to light !! Might be some pleasant surprises.

 

[Bowie]

Thanks guys,
I used a M6. I locked my tracking and didnt use any discrimination. Next time I go back I will use some discrim and turn my sensitivity down. I will also have some 5 gallon buckets to,lol. You mention train stations. There are some railroad tracks that pass right by that area and on the other side of the tracks was our towns first train station. They only tore it down around 5 years ago but I remember where it stood. It looks nasty to,lol.
Great and thanks much,
John

 

[Gunnar of bradford MN]

if its super trashy sift it me and a frend sifted a spot 6 ft x6ft and 12" deep and came up whith an 1877 indian a buffalow nickle a 1963 dime a 1919 wheat and a big flint spear point another thing we do is dig off the sod flip it upside down go over it whith the detector then detectc in the hole keep going down 5" detect again this method works if the spot will alow you to dig a grid at a time we used this method on a 1800-1850 trading post in the minnesota river vally we found musket balls and pieces of flintlok rifles really was cool

 

[SeabeeRon]

Those places, the old downtown and former RR station sound very promising!! Just go at it "low & slow" and dig everyting! Good luck and let us know what you dig up!