Your favorite parks? :nerd:

[bazooka]

I'd really like to think that our pounded parks here in Houston still have as much silver as some of you guys are finding and it's just the lack of skill that's preventing me and my buds from digging it up, but just from looking at people's finds in general in the Houston area, I'd say as a rule, silver is much harder to find down here in the parks. It was even harder in Oklahoma when I lived there.

For those of you who are consistently having multi-silver hunts in parks, are these community parks? Pocket parks? How many acres? How long did it take to find your favorite parks that produce consistently? I guess I'm wondering for every good park, how many duds did you have to go through to find it and what was your method? Are these parks in nearby small towns or in the metro? I'd just like to find more than 15 silver a year which is probably about average for around here. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Nick A]

Research - what are the oldest parks in the city. Start there. Fairgrounds? Any other old site where large numbers of people gathered in the past. Read old newspapers, look at old area atlases, Sanborn maps. Tell the reference librarian at the library what you're looking for - they may have resources you wouldn't have even considered!

Where were the streetcars and bus lines that people took? Parks at the end of streetcar lines and bus lines are often better used.

All kinds of parks - from very small to very large (in the very large, sometimes you just have to wander until you find the old hot spots - other times, your research will help).

Where were the July 4th celebrations in the past? People sitting on the grass at night lose a lot of stuff from their pockets.

The only park that's a dud in my book is a new one that was just a farm field a few decades ago, or one that has had significant building, earthworks or bulldozing. I do not like digging memorial cents at 8-10".

Think about what a place looked like 50-75-100 years ago. Clear areas now may have been wooded. Wooded areas now may have been clear. Check the size of trees, the quality of the soil... all are clues to your site's history.

 

[Hotcz70]

B....out of every 10 silver I dig....at least 8 of them are on edge....mixed in with trash....or hiding in the iron. The other 20% are in the 10" range and were probably just missed simply because of the depth.

It isn't so much who can go the deepest...as it is who can train their ears to pick out what the others missed.

As for the parks....I hunt some of the most heavily pounded spots there are...and every time I go to them..there are at least 2 to 3 other hunters there swinging top of the line machines.

I don't find a lot at these places...but I do find stuff on a fairly consistent basis.

I also have some sites...many of them to be exact...that I'm happy to scare up a wheatie. It is a moral victory to find anything at 4 or 5 of my spots.
I always go to these places to test out new coils...or field test a coil, machine,etc.

 

[rbholt80]

Hey iv hit 12 silver already this years and i live out about 40 miles from houston. The parks down here have never produced good in my 23 years of hunting. I learned a long time ago to stay away from the big parks and most the small parks in big towns down here. I found the problem being mostly over hunting and that this area loves fill dirt due to our low level to the water. Every years there are floods and people always are bringing in dirt to help. Like liberty texas is an old town but back in the 30 or so the street were paved but befor they did that the city actually cut the streets down into the ground about a foot and guess where all that dirt from the streets went---- into the yards. It help the drainage but covered up the old stuff. I watch for construction in the old areas and when they scape off the dirt to get to the stable soil for construction then i hunt at night to get the good stuff. Problem there is that most dont scrape off the sod they just bring in loads of sand and build up a pad then build on that. the parks are junk. Houston is old but not that old. many small towns around are actually older by 50 60 years. I drive all over Texas looking in the small towns and the parks dont do well in any of them. The biggest thing is that the coast of texas has changed so much in a 100 years and so much have been covered up that it isnt worth the time. I never hunt below I10 for the most part unless there is no evidence of any kind of construction in the past 50 years.
The guys up north really dont have an idea of the hunting conditions we face day to day. we dont have cellar holes they flood with water cause they would be below the water table. we dont have stage coach stops or parks that have been around for 200 years. texas never has really had any public transportation. no one even really lived here until after 1836 when we finally got away from mexico. Even then ther was only a few thousand white settlers in the whole state. I feel luck to have found an 1851 large cent in this state, its rare. So to find original dirt that doesnt have 2 feet of fill dirt on top of it is a feat. your left with a very few places that produce old stuff. Most were going to do on average is 1900,s maybe once in a wile breaking into the late 1800,s.

find the old towns and stay away from modern anything and the parks. if you find a place that looks old then look at the trees and see if you can actually see the base of the tree and the roots turning to spread out into the soil. if it looks like a post thats in the ground and you cant see the roots then there is fill dirt. tree roots need oxygen and will try to stay close to the surface cause without oxygen they can die.

got anymore ?'s then pm me. i dont mind helping you out

 

[dewcon4414]

B... I have been hunting in Indianapolis parks, some date back to mid 1800's. That said, these parks are hit hard... so hard in fact that there isnt trash to pick thru... i mean a constant hummmm. IF.. and thats a big if, you can find a small area that hasnt been filled you might find some silver. Some of these parks are over 100 plus acres, but constantly beautified with fill dirt. I do like it that the clad and trash are being picked out. That gives the explorer a bit of an edge. I to 3 silver the other day... but it was an 8 hour trip to do it. I can understand your frustration especially if you know your equipment is getting the depth. Its irratating to dig 8 inches or so and come out with a memorial. I do research a bit and the old insurance maps are pretty good, some of them you can access without paying for them. They show all the town and the buildings.

Dew

 

[diggingfix]

I imagine you can hunt most all year long down there and that could be a factor, I only get about 6 months and then theres thick grass in just about another week which doesnt help. So I hit it as hard as I can right after the thaw. I only do parks if there are no other options. Front yards produce the best for me. Just scored a 1917d type one quarter in EF condition the other day in a front yard, last year got a key AU1896 s barber in a front yard. Heres one of my best tips.. look for bank owned properties, the old ones. Good luck.

 

[montanagold]

I found the park I hunt by accident. I was at the court house one day registering my vehicle and saw a map from 1912 on the wall. I noticed an area that said city park so I asked the person there where this was and she told me that it was now leased by the local sheriff for his cattle. well I went down to the sheriff's office and asked him if I could hunt and he said sure, but he said that it had been hunted for the past 30 years or so. I went there a few times last summer with my x Terra and found a few old pennies but it wasn't until I got my SE out there this year that it really produced. so far in a couple of months we have pulled out 9 Barbers 1 seated 8 mercs 1 Rosie 1 1902 Canadian 4 V nickels 1 buffalo 2 Indian heads and several wheat's and tokens. Just yesterday I spoke with an older gentleman that used to detect this area back in the late 70's and he told me that they used to pull out coins galore. Dollars quarters and his friend pulled out a 10 dollar gold piece. This area used to have an annual fair every year from about 1900 through the 30's and they had ( according to the old papers ) 4000 people every year, so I am sure there are plenty of coins left. I did find that the settings do matter, I have tried other setting that I have read only to go a few weeks not even finding a wheat but then I would go back to the factory pre sets and start finding again. Seems that the factory settings work well here in Montana.

 

[bazooka]

n/t

 

[rbholt80]

Here is south east Texas today Houston area. The first pic is natural land elevation the next is from across the street and shows why us guys down here cant get to the old stuff.

 

[Buddysox]

Hey, Bazooka, Sounds like you have the same problem , Here in Phoenix it seems like anything old has been paved over or built on, but don't give up or change your attitude. It's important to be positive and go out hunting telling yourself "Today could be the DAY!" I have done it. My swing gets sloppy and too fast, I don't really concentrate I start saying to myself " why dig it, probably just a penny". Well, the other day I went out to the oldest park in Phoenix that has been absolutely slammed by everyone telling my self I would have a good time, dig all the pennies for the heck of it, and not worry about finding a biggie. Well, the third penny sound I dug was a 1904 Indian! About 2" down two feet off the curb of a residential street.My first one! Amazing since this park was built in 1932! I have met up with other hunters who told me that this park was "hunted out and not worth going to" I just smile and nod, thinking about the new SEF 8x6 coil I will buy soon as I now have enough clad to pay for it, all from this park! Along the way there were 5 mercs 28 wheats, some rings, and a Mexican 100 Peso. I have found out a couple of things that help in these old parks.
WINO FACTOR: Transients frequent parks to crash, They of course have little money but all they have is in a pocket and gets lost from sleeping on the ground. Look for out of the way corners with lots of cover that transients will hide behind. Hunt close to bushes and trees. Take time and wade thru the trash they leave, it's worth it.
WATER FACTOR:
Don't know if its usually dry in Huston, but here, after a rain, or I check to see if a park has been watered, I put DEEP ON only and go real slow, the wet really seems to allow the signals to sing.Have always done good this way even after hunting the area when it was dry.

When someone tells you, It's hunted out, it really means THEY cant find anything there, DON'T BELIEVE THEM! Like the Devil said " There's always room for one more!"

 

[Bugalooob]

You need to get a Tesoro stingray and start diving for them coins