Mark and I hit two lots in the Heights area of Houston this morning. First lot was ok, but not great. I think we got a few wheats there, one Rosie, and one tootsie toy car. Next lot was a bit better. 4 silvers off that lot and a bunch of wheats, plus 2 more toy cars and a Buffalo nickle. Both of us were using the CTX, 6" coil and flipping between two programs. I had 3 clad quarters, 3 clad dimes, 18 wheats, 13 memorials, 1 buffalo nickel, 3 toy cars, a '36D Merc, and a '44 quarter. Ground was hard packed clay for the first 3 inches or so then it was sandy. It has been a great silver month for us. I think we have around 47-48 silvers this month and over 300 wheats.
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Saturday Demo hunt
- Thread starter jas415
- Start date
markincypress
New member
The CTX with the 6" coil is perfect for trashy demo sites; which we love to hunt. I pulled 29 wheat pennies today a 1947-s and 1947 (no mint mark) Rosie dimes, along with a 1919-d Mercury and a bit of clad. We hd a good day.
silverchef
New member
Nice finds! But I gotta ask. What is a demo site?
A home or business that is being torn down to make way for something new. Places where they are tearing out sidewalks and streets in older sections of town are outstanding for coins. Two weeks ago we hunted one lot (3 days for a total of 13 hours each), a large one of about 1/2 acre, several trees on it and we pulled over 300 coins off the lot. 28 silver coins and over a hundred wheats.
silverchef
New member
OK that answers my question. But how are you guys getting hooked up with these? Do you guys just ask the construction crew? What sucks around here of all the things that they would do quickly it is sidewalk tearouts. I spotted one once on drive home. Hit it at 6am and the crew shows up at 630am on a Saturday! to finish the job. I have noticed this many times around here.
"OK that answers my question. But how are you guys getting hooked up with these? Do you guys just ask the construction crew?"
Several ways. If the demo crew is there we ask permission. Many of the sites have been bought by home builders and there are signs on the lot advertising. We ask them for permission and in almost every instance they have no issue with our being there. On public land we just try to hit them on Sundays as a lot of the projects, streets, sidewalks, etc., are busy on every day except Sunday. Sometimes the construction crews will permit it but I have been asked to leave a few times also, as the 'liability' question comes up. On most demo sites, we just show up and detect them unless there is "No trespassing", "Posted", "Keep out" or similar sign up. We have NEVER been asked to leave and in many instances were invited to other sites.
If you live in a large city, check the web for a site that lists "city demolition permits" , then go from there. We copy the list, drop it in a spreadsheet, check the tax records for owner and date house was built, then map it to Microsoft Streets and Trips, then print maps, then establish GPS routes to hit them in a sequence. It has really worked well for us. We usually are on site at around 7:15 or so and quit at noon, but with cooler weather we might start at a later hours and quit later. In the last two months, September and October, Mark and I got over 80 silvers and over 500 wheats, not to mention the several hundred other coins, jewlery, foreign coins, tokens and toy cars.
Several ways. If the demo crew is there we ask permission. Many of the sites have been bought by home builders and there are signs on the lot advertising. We ask them for permission and in almost every instance they have no issue with our being there. On public land we just try to hit them on Sundays as a lot of the projects, streets, sidewalks, etc., are busy on every day except Sunday. Sometimes the construction crews will permit it but I have been asked to leave a few times also, as the 'liability' question comes up. On most demo sites, we just show up and detect them unless there is "No trespassing", "Posted", "Keep out" or similar sign up. We have NEVER been asked to leave and in many instances were invited to other sites.
If you live in a large city, check the web for a site that lists "city demolition permits" , then go from there. We copy the list, drop it in a spreadsheet, check the tax records for owner and date house was built, then map it to Microsoft Streets and Trips, then print maps, then establish GPS routes to hit them in a sequence. It has really worked well for us. We usually are on site at around 7:15 or so and quit at noon, but with cooler weather we might start at a later hours and quit later. In the last two months, September and October, Mark and I got over 80 silvers and over 500 wheats, not to mention the several hundred other coins, jewlery, foreign coins, tokens and toy cars.
markincypress
New member
Here in Houston there were several older homes which belonged to a local University and were being torn down. Several local detectorist thought of hunting these sites but just assumed that permission would be denied by the University. We stopped by there one day and asked permission from the demo crew to hunt and they said it was okay as long as we stayed out of their way. We also spoke with maintenance folks with the University and they also allowed us to hunt while the lots were being demo'd. We made some nice finds there and even the demo crews got a kick out of seeing what we would find.
The point is be nice and talk up the hobby. We tell them that we are retired (which we are) and that this "keeps us out of the bar's (probably true also), that we do this for exercise and fun and belong to a local metal detecting club where we get to brag and show off our finds (also all true). We provide them with our names/phone and tell them that if they have any issue or problem with us hunting a site to please let us know.
By doing this we have been able to make friends with demolition companies and developers who have given us permission to hunt properties owned by them. They even tell us "you ought to try (such and such) place next" and lead us to our next spot.
The point is be nice and talk up the hobby. We tell them that we are retired (which we are) and that this "keeps us out of the bar's (probably true also), that we do this for exercise and fun and belong to a local metal detecting club where we get to brag and show off our finds (also all true). We provide them with our names/phone and tell them that if they have any issue or problem with us hunting a site to please let us know.
By doing this we have been able to make friends with demolition companies and developers who have given us permission to hunt properties owned by them. They even tell us "you ought to try (such and such) place next" and lead us to our next spot.
silverchef
New member
Thanks for the great explanation! You guys are killing it!
October was silghtly better than September. In September I got 18 silvers and Mark got 27 and between us we got about 270 wheats. Mark used an ATPro most of that month and I used the CTX with a bad stock coil (it was really erratic, I thought it was my adjusting it, and finally would just show "not detecting coil"), got it swapped out with my dealer and then got the 6" coil in. Hunting 3 days a week for about 15 hours each.
Big Boys Hobbies
Well-known member
Outstanding!
Excellent strategy yielding great results I'm impressed. Just wondering if you'd be willing to elaborate a bit on your set up. Are you hunting open screen and using tones? What about target separation settings. I think the 6" coil is prob key to a demo site. I've been working one lately with the stock coil and it's tough. Just looking for a few tips so I can find that first silver with my CTX.
I have been using two programs, the 'stock' coin program and Gone Huntings combined. I turned off Fast and Deep and use manual sensitivity to about 22-26, ferrous coin. Then it is "SLOW" sweeps and if I hear any high chirps I stop and go back over it. If I get consistent target and tone from any direction, I dig it. I think Mark uses the stock coin in 'auto + 2 or 3'.
markincypress
New member
Yup, never owning a Minelab before getting my CTX I have not tweaked it so I run the stock coin program, fast off, deep on, ferrous coin, with 4 conductive tones, auto+3. Before getting the new 6" coil for my CTX I used my AT Pro with a small coil. The small coil on the CTX is a game changer on the demo (demolition) sites. First time using it I tried it on a site we had hunted before. My second coin was a Mercury dime. But as Jas415 has stated, you gotta go slow.
Our club meets the 'first' Wednesday of each month so we measure a month that way. Our October 'club' totals on silver as of Monday afternoon was 54. Mark with 30 and I have 24. I have 144 wheats and Mark has more. Mark walks faster and he sometimes uses an ATPro vs the CTX. We would probably have had a bit more but I was total down in the back for about 8 days early in October. The last two months have been a totally unusual period for finding silvers. It is certainly not the norm for Houston. We hunted an area where the lots are big, 1/4 acre up to 3/4 acre in an area where the homes were built in the midlle to late 40's and are now being torn down to build bigger homes on the huge lots. In their day, they were really nice homes! And I suppose all the kids being born after WW2 contributed to the coins being lost.