Questions on Soccer Field Site Coverage

[ohmygato]

Hello All,

I am looking for some advice on site coverage for a couple of soccer fields. I found a gold ring at one of these fields and I consider them high potential for jewelry. Please take a look at the attached image that shows my coverage pattern thus far.

A couple of notes:
On the 2nd day's coverage shown in red I discriminated out all typical coin signals in order to focus on gold tones.
I consider the field on the right to have higher potential than the field on the left.

Knowing all this, what areas would you cover next, and in what order? When would you feel you have given the site adequate coverage?

Would love to hear from Clynick, Hersbach, Larry, and all other serious turf jewelry hunters on this one.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[MarkCZ]

I would have mainly covered the side lines!
Soccer fields use the side lines differently during games, one side is spectators, with fold out camp chairs, kids running back and forth to concisions.
The other side line is for the players and coaching staff.
For me it be the spectators side.

Mark

 

[sprchng]

Definitely agree with MarkCZ on this--I always hit the sidelines first.
I was told the refs suggest players remove jewelry before play and they usually put it with their bags on the sidelines. Friends holding it for safe keeping can lose it and once gone it's difficult to find.
It's hard to tell from your picture but if the top is North and the slight shadow is from the Sun just crossing into the West, I would definitely hit the sideline in the center area that could be shaded from the afternoon Sun. I find the East side of all the trees are best this time of year.
I don't know what your machine is but gold is nickel country on an e-trac and I certainly wouldn't disc those out. As a matter of fact , you're handicapping yourself running much disc at all , especially in the middle or goal areas , if the ground is halfway clean. I run little or no discrimination whenever I can unless the trash is just too much and usually the middle areas are pretty decent. I have two very nice 18 and 22k gold on silver rings that read as coins and from what you're saying it sounds like you might have missed them with your disc pattern.

 

[mudpuppy]

Yep, from looking at the area, I'd be in those shade trees and on the sidelines and in that totlot so fast your butt would hurt! The main path from parking to grass is always good too..When I do a soccer field itself, just the field, theres stuff in and around both goals and in the major traffic pattern in the middle of the field centerline area in that big circle...no disc or low disc...in those specific areas. ..
Mud

 

[richbat]

You need to concentrate as stated above on those sidelines,not saying your not gonna find stuff in those areas you tried in front of the goals but your definately gonna do better outside of the playing field.Now by the looks of it,seems that there are some walkways going around the photo in the left,checkout both sides of those definately the downhill sides.Now if it was me hunting that area,i'd spend some serious time there and hit every single inch around that whole area,things just don't get lost where there is alot of activity.I said this before and it's something that alot of folks need to remember,People are just like animals,they will travel the path of least resistance to get from point A to point B,So don't rule out an area just because you think it hasn't been used,it very well could have been long ago.

 

[ohmygato]

Guys,

A couple of notes on this site that you may have missed:
1. I already found a gold ring in front of one of the goals (see the $ symbol on the site map).
2. The sidelines are absolutely trashed. Probably 30 pull tabs to a coin. I have sampled everywhere in this site and by far the highest potential is ON the soccer fields.

Now knowing that, where would you hunt?

-Dan

 

[MarkCZ]

Guys,

A couple of notes on this site that you may have missed:
1. I already found a gold ring in front of one of the goals (see the $ symbol on the site map).
2. The sidelines are absolutely trashed. Probably 30 pull tabs to a coin. I have sampled everywhere in this site and by far the highest potential is ON the soccer fields.

Now knowing that, where would you hunt?

-Dan

No, we didn't miss anything!
The Sidelines!
All the trash is there because of all the people eating and drinking and getting stuff set up like chairs, blankets, and snacks. They then pack it all up and leave just in time for the next game, During soccer season this goes on all day every weekend, during school they practice in the evenings. My two grandkids were on soccer teams for several years.
Your hunting the clean areas because there isn't that much stuff lost, so that makes its easy hunting.

I hate to say it, but most times finding the gold is an act of "Patience" every tab is a possible hit on something gold! You can't leave a single tab if your serious about finding gold. So, for me I had to change the way I think about metal detecting jewelry in that tabs are good targets! not bad.

Hunt the sidelines in high disc, get the coins and some of upper end trash. If you find many coins then that's a good sign the area hasn't been hunted much. Then go back and hunt it at a lower disc setting.


Mark

 

[sprchng]

Once again Mark's right on here.
Trying to cherry pick gold rings is a fool's errand in my opinion. Everyone I've dug was coming out because I figured it was a nickel. There are no machines I've heard of that will accurately disc out a gold ring from a nickel and nickels can run the gambit of the low conductor range depending on the soil.
I have found some good targets directly behind the goal with a little consistency. I have noticed parents who help their kids practise will often stand behind the goal to backstop when the kids are kicking goal shots. They are often dressed in street or casual clothes and I suspect they often get home or back to the car before noticing they are missing something.
This is abit like predicting the highest percentages in a volley ball court but the facts are most of the action is on the edges.

 

[tabman]

Good Lord! Me and my Tesoro Compadre would have a heyday at that site. All those pull tabs tell me that site hasn't been hunted property for gold jewelry.

My suggestion would be hunt every square inch of it in a grid pattern with very minimum discrimination and dig all repeatable signals.

Yeah, you're going to dig some tabs, but there's gold hiding amongst them.

tabman

 

[ken ward]

We for get something here. During soccer season you should not dig in the playing field. A plug could come up and a player could trip over it. Not a good idea. Don't want to hurt anyone. Wait to hunt the playing field after the season is over .. than fit it. The side lines are fair game any time. PLEASE remember the kids SAFTY. ..... KEN

 

[VBDave]

Funny I found this post this morning! I was looking to post yesterday's find from a relatively new soccer field here in Chesapeake, Va. I'll just post it here. It's a 1938 Kentucky driver's license. No clue what it's doing here, but it was deeper than the depth of the fill dirt, so it must have been an "original" drop. Sounded like a quarter to my Sovereign.

 

[mudpuppy]

All of us "Trash Hunters" would be in those pull tabby areas like stink! Thats a great sign when you get in the trash...you got the right advice from some killer dirt gold finders here, (Mark, sprch, and tabb) if you want to avoid the trash, thats OK, lots of people do, you get good and fast on a retrieval method and trash is your friend buddy. If you read enough of these forums you will find a few certain guys that hunt the trash and get the gold, if thats what you are after, you best pattern your style after theirs. Just sayin'
Mud