self taught lesson in humility

[Ed Steinhoff]

Had a couple of hours for a quick hunt today, so I thought I would start by finishing a small corner of a school tot lot that I had hunted about ten days ago. It has little to no activity in it this time of year so I figured to clean it up before school starts again. I usually hit this chip lot about three times a year. It is a large chip lot at a new school built two years ago. The f70 was still set the same as the last hunt here with disc 20 sens 45, speed dp and tones 4h, threshold -1. First thing upon entering the chip lot was to set the gb then I had to walk across the lot to the unhunted portion on the back side. As I stepped forward I automatically began swinging the coil and banged a penny signal in six steps! Wow, I said to myself, how did I miss that? A little more searching of the immediate area revealed two more pennies, all at the end of the swings where I had started my search of 10 days earlier. Now I had to really think about what was happening. Previously I had hunted from north to south, had I been that sloppy? So I began to re-search the old area only going at right angles, east to west this time. On the previous hunt I had been quite pleased with 104 coins and assorted tot-lot junk bling. This time after a careful two hours on the opposite grid I came home with 56 coins (all clad), a nice silver and turquoise ring and 1942 S silver war nickel! (my first) Lesson is-- don't think you are ever so good as to find it all, always grid in two or three directions, no place is ever completely hunted out, and this is the greatest hobby in the world! The satisfaction of going back and discovering my own mistakes and being able to improve on my own performance was priceless!
HH Ed in co.

 

[jabbo]

Thanks for posting this valuable info. We all need to be reminded from time to time..

 

[sparkster]

Amen for the never hunted out statement. Nice hunt. We must remember that what we are doing is recreational. Finding gold and silver is Just icing on the cake. Getting out in the open air, being able to walk around and hear the birds chirp, and enjoy the weather at an advanced age is worth all the silver and gold you could ever find.

People that are not retired do not have the luxury of time that we retired folks have. There has to be something good to say about that.

I love this hobby and this forum. We get to have little adventures and then share them with people that are interested in the same things we are. None of are ever going to make enough money from this to make an appreciable difference in our lives. We are going to have the memories of our finds, the fellowship of some very nice people and the fun of not knowing what is buried in the ground the next time you detector goes off. That's what it's all about to me.

HH---------------GL

 

[bootyhoundpa]

no man stands taller than the man willing to stand corrected........ great story and great lesson ed.... happy hunting....

 

[Dancer]

n/t

 

[ken ward]

I also have a very large tot lot at a school. After reading your post I thought I will stop buy this place and hunt east and west. I will be going back the next few mornings. I did pretty good with clad and kids jewelry. Thanks for reminding me. We all know to do that and sometimes we just get lazy and don't grid. THANKS... KEN

 

[blue dunbar]

An object lesson for all of us. Thank you.

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

-- moved topic --

 

[richbat]

I get a chuckle everytime i hear someone say a place is hunted out.Gridding in different directions is the best thing anyone can do and one other thing is your coil can only cover so much ground,so how on Gods Green Earth can a place be hunted out?

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

Took my own advise to heart and when back to a spot that I had hunted 10 times.
Went on a angel i hadn't used before and found 3 wheat's and a 1942 Washington quarter in ground that i KNEW that i had covered before!
funny thing, all 3 silver quarters in this small 30' by 50' spot have 1942's and all within 4 ft of each other.
don't buy a new machine, just hunt your old spots better!
HH Ed in co.

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

n/t

 

[opus]

I can do a ten by ten foot grid, and dig up 20 items, and go back a week later and do the same ten by ten foot area and dig up another 20 items. I'm sure if I went to the same ten by ten area a third time I'd probably dig up another 20 items?? It's seriously illogical! But that's the fun!!

 

[fongu]

People thing because they have a big coil it covers a lot of ground, but the pinpoint is very small at 8-10 inches.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I have hunted the yard where my wife's parents lived a number of times. First hunt yielded a 1939 quarter, Second hunt a 1911 dime and third hunt a 1943 quarter. All three of the silvers were within a 15' diameter area. My last trip there yielded one clad quarter, one clad dime and four copper pennies. Is there still a silver or two there somewhere?? I don't know but I will go over that yard at least one more time. I have found that one can miss a target by an Inch and never know that it was there.