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Search Techniques - Keeping track of where you've been?

F

flysar

Active member
I had an opportunity to look for and find a wedding band for a young couple on a large River yesterday, great feeling to return such a special item.

My question is what techniques besides dragging the scoop and using shore landmarks do you use to best cover an area?

I was given an area about 40 yards along shore out to waist deep water, approx 20 yds, with an emphasis on one end of that area... ring wasn't in that emphasized area, imagine that. Scoop drag wasn't working because the water was to murky and shore landmarks were so far away that it made it kind of a guess so I could have been skipping some turf. I thought about running the long axis of the shore using water depth as a guide but they insisted it was on one end of the search area in knee to waist deep water so I searched perpendicular to the beach; if I would have worked along the shore outward we would have been done in .5 hrs vs 1.5, oh well. I made scoop marks on shore to keep oriented but I'd like to be better prepared if there is a next time.

What about placing and moving as I go a couple pvc stakes cut to 4' or maybe using the float and weight markers crappie fisherman use?
 
I drag my scoop mostly and then use the line of were it was to judge where i need to search otherwise i just wing it and just swing, even if you dont get a target from one direction doesnt mean that you wont get one coming at it from a different angle. You eventually get used to it and visually remember what you have covered.
 
Nice job on the recovery...WTG:clapping:
Never hunted a river, but have done many water hunts on the beach and in the water for lost rings. In most cases when water hunting, I start at the shore line and head out to chest deep, turn around and head back in and repeat......in, out, in, out while moving up or down the beach
It's always nice to have the person who lost it out there, but many times, since I live in a vacation destination, they have already packed and gone back home, so all you're left with is their somewhat, maybe, could be, I think I lost it there instructions. People don't always think to look up on the beach for a reference point, note if they were on the sandbar, in the trough or if it was a high or low tide, which is important when talking water depth in relation to knee deep or chest deep.
Many times all you're told is that it was lost in back of such & such hotel a couple days or a week ago......these ones just get hunted for when I'm out hunting at that particular beach.
Some are easy recovery's........
I had one guy call me and say his wife is standing in the water at the spot where she lost her ring and she was still there when I got out there an hour later....easy recovery!
Another couple stood on the shore line giving me an area in between them to look...took some time, but found it.
I've seen a hunter that uses those fiberglass antenna like poles with orange flags on them, like you see on old folks 3 wheel bikes, that he staked out his area to hunt....looked real professional, lol.
A local MD club, that are in the Ringfinders group, just get a bunch of members to meet up and just swarm the area till they find it.
For me, whether its in a yard, on the beach or in the water, I just grid it out using my own reference points till I'm lucky enough to find it......or not.
GL ALL
 
Does GPS track in that small an area? I've never used it but it sounds good!.You could ping yourself,lol
 
I would love to have a GPS that would guide me in a nice grid plan. I know when I'm hunting fresh water Beach's I'm missing spots and doing other spot twice. I'm not much into tech, hate learing it, but that I would learn!!!!!
 
If you have a smart phone try Tech O Trak lite its free.. but you must have a water proof case.
 
Takes data $$ to track. Could'nt get it to start a new search. Think four flags is a good idea and a square grid plus diagonal grid will work for me. Go slow and overlap 50%. Seriously we don't miss what we are supposed to find and we'll never find what we aren't supposed to.
 
Use a heavy weight in center with a piece of rope. Start by making a tight circle around the weight. At the end of each circle let out more rope. That's what I do diving with detector if visibility is bad. HH
 
A typical GPS will only get you within 30 feet. If you want to get within an inch or so you have to use a device that will also use a real time augmentation signal point on land in addition to the three satellite signals. Now we are talking big bucks ($5,000.00 range).

You could use a heavy weight and float in the water as a maker and move it on each pass. In this case I would detect perpendicular to the shore. If going parallel to the shore pay attention to the height of water you are in, I.e. ankle, mid calf, knee, mid thigh, crouch, finger tips, wrist, mid forearm, elbow...etc.

Good luck in future searches.
 
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