Today's lesson.....things roll downhill !! (long)

[Ivan]

We had a bit of rain recently, so I thought I'd go out and hunt the park this morning. There is a park nearby ,with a stand of 6 big weeping willows on a medium sloping hillside. I was a bit dissapointed because when I arrived a fellow was just finishing up.... He's a fine fellow and uses a Garrett ADS 7 is good with it; and is a clean operator.....( doesn't leave holes or a mess when he's done).We exchanged plesantries and he wished me luck when he left. I headed for the willows, and under them i saw the usual cigarett butts, bottle caps, chips bags..........the usual stuff that indicated people were there. Hunting out from the trees to between 10 to 15 feet I could see where he had dug targets.....he left little behind. So I expanded my search radius out to 15 to 60 feet away from the tree barks. Only hunting the south slopes. At 80 feet from the trees there is a wide trail at the bottom; and I've hunted there may times....zilch to be found!! What was interesting is that at 20 to 30 feet out i found a money zone. First I started to find older pennies (indicator coins).......... they indicated to me that there might be some good finds here. Next I found 8 nickels ... the Cortes just loves them, and then 3 silver dimes in 5 minutes!!! To top things off a 1952 quarter and a 1946 50 cent piece were the last good finds before i left..In my car driving back home, I always think through the days hunt!! .What went right.... what went wrong.... and what could have been done better. I determined that the older coins were there...... because over the years most of us (myself included) only hunted near the inside of the trees "or" at the very bottom of the hill where it meets the trail. Today, I basically went out and detected in --no man's land-- looking up I could see that I was at the dripline of these old massive trees. That may have also helped by moistening the soil there. Boy am I going to have to redo quite a few areas now!!! Been hunting since 1974 ...... still don't know it all, and make dumb mistakes . Go out an find a - no man's land- near you , they are out there.

 

[digitaltim]

That's basically all I hunted...... places I had to hike out to....that's one of the reasons I like Tesoros so much........hardly any weight to them. They're the only places I find old coins.

 

[Pap]

That's good advice for both the beginner and someone who has been hunting for a long time. Very nice finds! I have been in a half dollar drought for the last few years. But I know they are out there. Congrats on your recoveries.
Pap

 

[tab-nabit]

WTG
I normally hunt when I can from my vehicle to the planned hunting spot. At a faster pace of course because I have a planned spot usually to hit. And at this, I will usually alter my course on the way if need to be to kind of get an idea of the area. Then on my way back to the vehicle, I'll try to hunt and on a different course as time permits. If any of the spots do well on the way to and from between the vehicle and planned hunt spot, the more the better. Sometimes I don't make it to the planned hunt spot.
I actually just started something like that on a new spot. Except I haven't got to the actual plant spot because I been hitting coin and jewelery about a forth of the way there. Yesterday was my first 3 ring day and one of the rings i guess is quality gold. Also, beside the usual clad, been getting some weird foreign coins. This spot had some kind of events or something in the past, plus a swimming hole in the stream right next to it. Then another 100 yards or so are remains of dwellings that my son and I almost missed from the upstream bridge view. Area is overgrown so it will take time to work. Beside the brush, the ground is so loaded with trash. Some of the worst I seen.
I kind of know what you mean on the Cortes and nickels. It seems to ID them well. The confidence bars act different when it's not a nickel.
I'll be trying different machines at this new spot for awhile.