I have to admit that I've been quite fortunate and had good luck on many sites for permission. But now and then I drive by and see work being filled in or finished and kind of regret that I didn't see it earlier. Or this happens.... I drove past a school that had its yard all ripped up and the surface dirt was a huge mound on one side. They went down about two feet. The entire site was fenced in but I went over and asked about possible access when they were finished for the day, or if I could detect away from them and stay out of their way. It boiled down to a no because I would have to be given a site safety orientation, which they just finished for the crew. It was a 20's or 30's school that had huge renovations to it and had on site security after hours, likely for the equipment. I have had these sites fall either way and it's better to roll the dice than just drive by. I am kind of opportunistic that way. I try to seize a spot when I see it. Work gets done fast and detecting windows can be short. But I have to admit that it's a bit of a let down when one gets away on me, lol.
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The ones that got away
- Thread starter upnorth
- Start date
William-NM
New member
Yep, you have to jump on them. I missed out on a construction & street project on some land where the original ballpark and one of the early train stations sat. The good news is, I think I know where the dirt they scraped got dumped, and it's accessible. 
The weatherman says it's going to hit 97 today, so if I get out at all, it's going to be in the creek!
The weatherman says it's going to hit 97 today, so if I get out at all, it's going to be in the creek!Wandering Yoda
New member
Upnorth, I shudder to think of the one's that got away. Sometimes when it's hot out and I'm taking a drink break, I think back, and 
uke: 
. Then get up and dig onward!!
uke: . Then get up and dig onward!!
On the other hand...there are those blips in time where you are at the right place at the right time, swinging that coil over black dirt with some fantastic finds, only to have it covered over again hours later. It helps to be quite flexible time wise with this hobby.
William-NM said:Yep, you have to jump on them. I missed out on a construction & street project on some land where the original ballpark and one of the early train stations sat. The good news is, I think I know where the dirt they scraped got dumped, and it's accessible.
Interesting. I have only put half hearted attempts to see were top soil is dumped. No, wait a minute........ I found out that it is at the city dump and they said that I couldn't access it. I'm sure that there must be other dump sites if I follow through on checking. It always seemed to be one of those things that made sense, but I forget about.
Wandering Yoda said:Upnorth, I shudder to think of the one's that got away. Sometimes when it's hot out and I'm taking a drink break, I think back, and
I suppose that I should be grateful that I am only a moderately skilled detectorist. This means that I have more fun ahead as I learn and possibly more cool finds as I get better... or have some luck. And I surely believe that luck is part of it. I have checked old turn of the century yards and found next to nothing, then do another house like that and pull some wonderful finds.
John-Edmonton said:
Yes John. I look back at my relatively short time in this hobby and see how lucky I was at certain times and places. Very fortunate indeed. I do give myself this cudo though. I was always a firm believer in research right from the start. This has put a newb onto some pretty good sites over time. I don't seem to do that as much anymore, maybe I'm getting lazy.
I've found some good research information thru the local paper printing a column called Stepping back in time. Little things that don't mean anything to the majority of people who read it. To people in our hobby, it can be a wealth of information. Now if I just had a little more time. I did some research at a library about 40 miles away and could only use the microfilm reader 2 hours and what I expected to find about an area I'm interested in was just an ad in the July 1916 paper. However, when I was looking thru the cabinets that housed the microfilm, I found a property tax map from 1910 that really helped me more than the 2 hours staring at the microfilm. If you're doing historical research and the local library doesn't have the microfilm you want, call the newspaper if it's the same newspaper that existed back then. This is what I did and they loaned me the microfilm in exchange for holding my driver's license. I didn't find the detailed story I was looking for, but it did lead to a site about fiddler's conventions and contests that might lead to more detailed information about this place. You never know where your research will lead you and I haven't had time for much research taking care of Mama. I'm hoping to put together some old sites and get permission to detect them later this fall. GL & HH. Happy 4th of July to all our members and their families. I missed out on some side walk renovation projects a few years ago, but they are getting ready to do some more this fall and I hope to check them out.