What Got You Hooked On Metal Detecting

[Critterhunter]

Thought this would be an interesting topic. For me, I think I only saw one guy with an old Garrett detector in the 80's. It wasn't until about ten years later that I picked up an old Bounty Hunter (think it was an Outlaw). What got me hooked was the first place I went. The site of a carnival's gambler's tent in the grass that they had just took down. Just brushing the grass aside I found lots of quarters and Susan B Anthony dollars laying all over the place. That's what hooked me for good.

 

[hatpin]

I always had a small coin collection , even in grade school. I found a 1914 quarter in the grass one day and that was the start of it.Metal detecting was inevitable.

 

[Thound]

The beach.

 

[firstring]

My two brothers were avid MDers back in the days when they ignored shallow targets and dug those "deep" 4 inch targets. Lots of silver and old coins. One brother recovered lots of jewlery also. I got tired of hearing how well they did (my interests were elsewhere at the time) and decided to try for myself. On my first day out, I retreived a silver Australian schilling. I was hooked. Since that day, I've upgraded to a machine that has found for me a coin older than any my brothers found. (1856) I'm finding jewelry on a somewhat regular basis and now I'm telling them about it. My kid brother couldn't take anymore. He bought a land detector and a water detector for himself and a detector for his wife. The challenge has been accepted!! (I've since found 2 gold rings, 1 gold bracelet, and 2 silver rings to his zero) There is an old saying "Try it, you'll like it." I tried it and was hooked.

 

[Steve O]

For me it was something a friend brought up, he said "we should get metal detectors". I said "you mean the things some guys are swinging at the beach", "yes" he said. "why not" I said. He purchased one and about 3 weeks later so did I. We hunted places and found clad and trash. One day I was in the woods by myself, detecting next to a stone wall, got a signal over a large rock, hmmmm. Turned over the 40 pound rock and scanned the soil underneath, still a signal. I dug down about 2 inches and out comes this huge coin in excellent shape. I didn't know what country it was from but the date read 1841. Got home and looked it up... it was a Russian 3 Kopec....... been hooked ever since and many older coins and silver followed.

 

[gjedda63]

I meta guy on the beach with a MD and after a short conversation I got to test it. I didnt find anything but a little spark was lit. A week later I bought a x-terra 30 and found alot of stuff. Upgraded to E-trac a year later and never regret that. Its the ultimate hobby for med, too bad I didnt discovered it sooner.

 

[matthias]

I got my first machine when I was about 5 years old. It was from Radio Shack. I found stuff but the machine eventually got broken and that was it. For years after I thought about getting into the hobby. I guess it wasn't until my brother found a 1911 dime just while raking leaves in his tiny back yard that the spark ignited in me. BH Sharp Shooter II got me started. I now have a BH Pioneer 505, Minelab Sovereign GT and a White's DFX. No end in sight ! HH. Matt

 

[TerraDigger]

I was into collecting coins (mostly pennies) since I was a small kid.

 

[MNCoinhunter]

I got a Sears or Radio Shack detector for my b-day when I was 11 or 12 ... Found some cool stuff and really did'nt even know what I had. Found an 1838 seated half-dime and some other small foreign silver coins from the 1800's .. still got the old coins I found. I grew up in Massachusetts so there was lots of history to find. Detector broke after about a year. Always loved it and got back into it a couple of years ago.

 

[slingshot]

My best friend. He had a White's coinsmaster and back then the coin had to be exactly in the middle of the coil to give a signal=talking about overlapping! He also had a big collection of Treasure magazines and that was the hooker. First detector was a D-tex Mitey Mite for $59. Wish I still had it. It was a BFO that was similar to a walking cane.

 

[mike from Illinois]

Back in the late 60s and early 70s i used to read my grandfathers True West and Frontier Times magazines. They had a lot of treasure stories in them. Guess after reading them i had to have a metal detector.

 

[BarberBill]

I wanted to use a detector to locate old dumps for bottle digging. Figured if I located the rusty cans, bottles would be there as well. After short while I realized I was hooked on what is in the ground? that made the detector beep, no matter where I was. Then I found I could retrieve coins and sometimes jewelry in the parks etc. and I've never slowed down.
BB

 

[ryaan21]

We used to live in an old 2 building apartment complex that used to be a store and living quarters. I and my brothers would dig "forts" in the back yard, and always found cool stuff. Coins came up eventually. Fast forward to 1995, I was graduating high school and had a large amount of money in my pocket. I ordered a GTA 1000 from kellyco, loved it but sold it to fund my drug habit a few years later. Fast forward again about 14 years and I bought a Garrett 550, used it for about 5 years, then bought a Teknetics Delta, sold that then bought a t2 which I am selling. Not to fund drugs however, just to buy a different machine.

 

[Tin Fin]

When my father-in-law died, I got his Bounty Hunter Landstar. Used it in his back yard and found a quarter - haven't slowed down since. Gave the BH to my dad so he and I can do some detecting with each other - Got an Excalibur and then a Sovereign GT for myself recently, and having a blast with both of them. Starting to "understand" the sounds, have a lot to learn about them yet, but MDing fuses ham radio information, with hunting/trapping information; and gets me outside more often as a result. Dad is starting to have more fun with it too - we don't get out with each other as much as we would like, but it's a good way for me to get him out of the house, get some time with each other, and have some good conversation all at the same time.

 

[berryman]

I've often likened MD'ing to the old "Go-Fish" carnival game where you used a fishing pole and string to "fish" for unknown prizes on the other side of a curtain. What was so exciting about that game for me as a child was not knowing what prize might turn up at the end of my fishing line. MD'ing offers the same thrill for me now, because I never know until I actually dig the target what my prize will be. It's the old "Go-Fish" game all over again for me every time I swing the coil and "hear" the tug of that mystery target.

 

[DirtAngler]

In '89 I became physically challenged due to an electrical accident. I lost my right arm at the shoulder and my remaining shoulder, arm, wrist and hand doesn't work very well. Been trying all kinds of hobbies to find something I can do independent of others. Took up bowling until I had a knee replacement then quit that. Was introduced to metal detecting 3 years ago. Been thru many detectors searching for what I like and what works for me. Metal detecting allows me to get outside, affords exercise, and is a hobby I can do independently, albeit slower than most but I'm not in it for a competition. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt and thinking about how the item was lost, who lost it, and how long ago. Also have met new friends and enjoy getting out with fellow enthusiasts.