Quick Lesson Learned Today

[scoutingbear]

I know you old timers at this sport will say "But of course" to this but I am learning something new every time I go out so thought I would pass this on.

Was detecting this morning and hit a faint signal. Dug three scoops and checked, signal gone from hole but when I checked scoop, nothing. I checked all the sand aroung it and nothing. Checked the holes again. Nothing.

I have had these before usually just fill the hole in and leave, figuring it was a false signal. Well this time I decided to pull two more scoops of sand out of the hole. First one, nothing in hole, nothing in sand. Second on, nothing in hole, nice soft sharp sound. I ended up with a small, narrow silver rings with some stones in it. My guess is that I loosed the sand around the ring and it tilted sideways.

This makes me wonder how many other rings I may have walked away from when I lost the signal.

The Lesson Learned. If you start out with a solid signal and you are sure there is somthing there, there probably is. The machine does not go "Beep" just for the fun of it. If you lose the signal once you start digging try digging some more. Recheck the hole and the removed sand.

(will be posting a picture later. Wife has the camera.

 

[Gulf Hunter]

scoutingbear, have experienced this many times in my year of water hunting. Most times it is a pull tab that has drifted out with the current. I will work myself into a frenzy finding it, but will not give up until it shows itself and then I slip it into my pouch so that I will not have to contend with it again. Another trick I learned is after I've dug a couple of scoops and no target, I will stick my foot down in the hole and fan it a bit to get some of the cover sand out of the hole, as it will fill in quickly in heavy wave action and currents. Try that and never leave one behind, as your persistence was rewarded with silver! AARRGG!

 

[scoutingbear]

Gulf,

Thanks for the extra tip.

Funny, I joined a local detecting club when I got into the hobby. Thought I could learn a thing or two. The only thing I really found out was a) there are clicks in the club, just like most clubs b) the retired people seem to get all the awards as they have the time to hunt c) people guard their secrets to the point of not being able to learn much.

I have found these forums a lot more helpful.

Bear.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Absolutely! Happens to me all the time. When you're working the wet sand that target can sink quickly. And if it slips out of range, you will get what you got...no signal. Like you said, if you HAD a solid signal, don't second guess that...DIG! That happened to me a few times last night.

Another thing...I've had this happen when land hunting too, though the reason is a little different. Especially with some thin or worn silver, like a Seated dime I dug once...When I had my Sovereign Elite. Had a nice 180-ish signal that I was "nursing", definitely knew it was silver, definitely gonna dig it. Took a huge plug out with my Leshe Ground Shark...like an 8 inches across and 8 inches deep cone. Target not in the plug. Target not in the hole now either. Huh? Closer investigation with probe discovers Seated dime, still embedded in the bottom of the hole. What happened to the signal? When I dug my plug I broke the "halo" that had built up over 100+ years and the detector was no longer seeing it. So again, like you said...if you had a good signal, don't doubt it. And it doesn't take very long for a novice to learn a false signal from a real one, so I'm not even mentioning that. Although I have seen people that were still chasing false signals after a year or more of using a detector.

 

[JOE in MD]

n/t

 

[Sanddigger]

:blush: