Quick
Treasure Hunting Tips
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Weighty Matters
If you're in a bind for a weighted coil for water detecting, try
this: Take a large medicine or plastic bottle, fill it with wet
sand and tape it to the bottom of your stem. Now you have enough
weight to keep your coil down. When you're finished, detach and
empty the bottle. Now you're ready to go land detecting.
-- geteven3@juno.com, via e-mail
Cover Your Butts
One of the most unappealing things anyone will run across on the
shoreline of a lake is washed-up cigarette butts. If you're a smoker
who hunts the shallows, here's a way to get your nicotine fix while
knee-deep in the water without incurring the wrath of others. After
you've finished your smoke, douse the butt in the water. Pinch off
and discard the remaining paper and tobacco, which will disperse
harmessly and unnoticed, and stick the filter butt in your back
pocket. When you reach the shore after you're done hunting, toss
your soggy butts into the nearest trash can along with the pull
tabs and other assorted metal trash you've dug up.
Hunting Drive-Ins
The old drive-ins were hit hard but there can be plenty left (lazy
hunters) because of the trash problem. Take a garden hoe and rake
off a few inches of dirt in a circle (1' to 2' diameter) around
the speaker poles (if it isn't paved). This takes away a lot of
the surface trash and if it's an old drive in then it should be
"silver city." It takes a little work but the rewards
have been good for me. My best pole produced 23 coins (9 silvers).
-- Al (al@discountdetectors.com), from the Fisher user's forum
I have tried a couple of the old drive ins and one thing for sure
is that they are loaded with trash. Seems like the open window was
the trash bin. I had some luck by cranking up the discrimination
to search for coins only and did find some clad and a couple silver
coins as well. The cleanest area that did produce some targets was
directly under and in front of the screen.
-- Mike (ncmacs@webtv.net), from the Fisher user's forum
Lots Better
When hunting those kiddie play areas for rings and coins, the
best ones are those on school playgrounds, rather than public parks.
This is because kiddie lots next to schools see a much higher amount
of traffic week in and week out, and therefore hold a lot more lost
items than those at public parks. And remember, always hunt these
bark chip or sand areas with only enough discrimination to reject
nails, and dig every signal. You'll run across tons of pull tabs
and tin foil, but too much discrimination will have you walking
right over a lot of kiddie jewelry, which tends to be very small
and thin.
Skeeters Be Gone I
If you are troubled by skeeters, sand fleas, etc, while metal detecting
try this: Peel a few oranges, and put the skins in a few inches
of water. Bring to boil, let boil for 5-6 minutes. Turn off the
heat and let the concoction stew overnight. Next morning, remove
the skins, and pour the liquid into a bottle
(plastic) to take with you detecting. Bugs HATE orange oil and the
scent!!! It really works, is non-toxic, can be used even on small
kids. And the best: Pour this over the dogs for a great flea repellent!!
It really works and smells great!
-- Susan (DIABLOCODY@aol.com), via e-mail
Skeeters (And Stink) Be Gone II
Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito
season. To deodorize shoes or sneakers, place a sheet of Bounce
in your shoes or sneakers overnight so they'll smell great in the
morning.
-- Pdetector@aol.com, via e-mail
Mastering Discrimination
We hear it and read it all the time. Keep your discrimination as
low as tolerable and your sensitivity has high as possible w/o chatter
and recover all positive or suspect signals. Naturally, we will
all have times and be at certain locations where we don't care to
dig "everything that beeps!" so we use some discrimination.
Here you must know what will happen and use some discretion as well.
Remember that:
1) As you increase the discriminate level you will lose some depth
and sensitivity to those conductivities you approach.
2) Ground mineral and moisture content, and the type of detector
used (it's filtering qualities) will have an effect on the apparent
performance. Sometimes, as those with target ID have learned, a
coin might ID higher than it should or less than it should, as compared
to a pure air test. Thus, a coin that maybe should have been rejected
isn't, or one that you thought should just be accepted is now rejected.
3) There are two ways to look at discrimination adjustment. One
is to set it so that you get a signal on what you want, and the
other is to set it so you just reject what you don't want.
This now brings us to the use of discrimination. Many people I
have met through the years who use a goodly amount of discrimination
will set it high, just to the point that might almost reject a certain
coin, let's say a "good" copper penny, and then they back
it off a little. This is a wonderful way to eliminate a lot of trash.
The other method, and the one to which I subscribe, is to use just
enough discrimination to barely reject the unwanted target. As we
look at discrimination and trash conductivities, we can see that
most screwcaps seem to fall in a range below the penny/dime and
similar to the screwcap. Ten years ago or so I would say the vast
majority did, but in more recent years we are finding more and more
higher-conductive screwcaps. Still, if you reject the zinc penny
you will most likely get rid of about 50 to 75 percent of the screwcaps
as well. Maybe more, depending on the area you are in and are working.
-- Monte Von (montevon@aol.com), excerpted from a post on the Tesoro
user's forum
Pointing The Way With Plants
Look at the most frequently planted trees, bushes, flowers of the
area for each season -- and when they are in bloom. For instance,
now in the Midwest you will see forsythia (yellow spring large bush)
in bloom. Also, the familiar lilac is a spring bloom.
But, what about an area in hot July when the vegetation has become
beat down and burned up? Still notice the blue-green sword like
leaves of old iris beds and the grass green oversized leaves of
day lily.
A much more subtle indicator, especially of old pathways and trails,
is path rush. Pathrush is a tough, thin, crappy, grassy looking
weed that takes over old paths because it is much tougher than yard
grass. Go out to grassy fields where kids still play and have "beat
a trail" through the grass. You will see that (in summer) that
a low, dark green pathrush has taken over that path. Well, worth
knowing as a diagnostic character of possible treasure tracking
potential.
-- bondedcourier@hotmail.com, from a post to the alt.treasure.hunting
Usenet forum
Construction In The News
Some of the tastiest finds, especially when it comes to old coins,
are made when sidewalks in commercial districts are torn up and
replaced, or some drug store chain starts clearing land to build
a store on a parcel of land where there’s been a fair amount of
foot traffic or history to the surrounding neighborhood. Often,
you can find out about these projects by dialing up the Web sites
of nearby newspapers. Happily, many newspapers have searchable online
archives within their sites of past stories. If the site does, try
keywords like "construction," "sidewalk," "renovation"
and "renewal." News of these proposed projects are commonly
included as small line items within other stories, so read the entire
content of whatever stories come up as a result of your keyword
searches.
You Get A Line And I’ll Get Some Clads
For coinshooters, fishing holes can be a bonanza. They’re trashy
and tough, but they can be a bonanza nonetheless. If you find an
inland lake that has seen its share of anglers, swing the coil in
an area extending between the bank and six feet away. Among your
finds will be fish hooks, lures, lead sinkers, coins and toys (especially
Matchbox-type toy cars) left behind by kids dragged along by well-meaning
dads and grandfathers. Look for well-worn areas (permanently-flattened
grass or bare dirt sports) that have seen the most traffic.
No Time For Research?
We all know the value of research to make our hunting outings more
productive. But sometimes, research isn’t possible – especially
if you have an hour or two to kill in a town in which you’ve never
been and happen to have your detector in the back seat. One of the
first places you should seek out -- particularly if you’re in an
older town -- is the main park. Almost without exception, you’ll
find some sort of park somewhere in or very near to the central
downtown area, on or very near the main street running through the
heart of town.
Cobblestone Streets
If you run across a cobblestone street (the kind made of those dark
red paving bricks laid between the turn of the century and the 1940s),
give it a swing -- especially near the curbs. You'll probably come
away with a variety of car junk (little iron washers and sheet metal
screws) but you may just find some coins wedged between the cracks
of the bricks. Make sure you bring along a thin-bladed screwdriver
to lift them out.
The only drawback is in most cases, you'll be working near parked
cars, and you'll pick up signals from them. Also, people don't take
too kindly to strangers doing stuff around their cars, either. You
probably won't find a whole lot if the street's not in a storefront
area, but it's worth a shot because as we all know, you never know
what you're going to find where. That is, if you can put up with
some really strange looks from passing pedestrians and motorists.
Last helpful hint on doing this kind of site: Wear Walkman-type
headphones. You're playing in traffic, after all.
Lawn Extinguisher
I have been known to carry a water jug when digging in very dry
weather. To decrease the stress on the plugged area I add a ¼
dose of Rapid Grow to this water which treats the plug like a transplant
situation (which it actually is, if you think about it). The plant
food lessens the shock to the disturbed roots and gives them the
added nutrients to bounce back quickly. The only caution I must
add is not to use too much as it could burn the roots rather than
strengthen them in very dry conditions. Super dilute.
-- Cyberjungf@aol.com
Finding Farmhouse Caches
Hunting the old farmhouses is almost reading a mystery novel. You
have to study the clues, reason them out, then go. But don't forget
to look for false birdboards, behind the potato bin in the kitchen
around doorways, and if the house is built off the ground, on top
of the beams under the house. We once found several hundred silver
dollars stacked up in stacks of then each this way. If there were
flowerbeds or a "house garden" (as apposed to a large
regular garden), check there. The last really big find we made in
this manner was over eighty pounds of silver halfs and dollars and
it was only buried in the early 1970s.
--Shado11743@aol.com
Did anyone mention chicken coops where the farmers used to hide
their cache? They didn't have to lay awake at night guarding their
money -- when the chickens raised a fuss it was shotgun time.
--VonTrapp01@aol.com
Don't forget the cache near the dog house, for the same reason.
-- Shado11743@aol.com
Solid Picnic Benches
While hunting in a picnic grove at a fishing lake, one thing occurred
to me as I surveyed the landscape and saw a bazillion picnic benches
just crying out to be searched for clad coins which have fallen
out of pockets over the past year(s):
During the spring (especially if you live up North where the snow
flies), pass these by in favor of any picnic benches which are permanently
anchored or cemented into the ground. In my neck of the woods, the
forest preserve guys collect all the picnic benches for winter storage
every October or November. When spring rolls around, they load them
up on trucks and drop them wherever they please. So the end result
about this time of year is this: Just because a picnic bench is
sitting there now doesn't mean a picnic bench has always been sitting
in that same spot last year or the year before.
Permanently anchored benches are another story. They've been there
for some time and will turn up at least one or two clads somewhere
within a five-foot radius at least 90 percent of the time, especially
if the site doesn't get much TH'ing pressure.
However, that's not to say it isn't possible to find spots where
picnic benches have been. Look for areas where the ground is bare.
People sitting at these benches will wear down the grass to nothing
where their feet go under the bench. The areas just behind the bench
seats also get a lot of wear and tear.
The exception to the moveable bench rule is, obviously, just after
major holidays between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when the area
has drawn enough people - and dropped coins.
Lonesome Trees
When hunting forested areas, be on the lookout for large, isolated
trees -- especially if they're sitting out in the middle of nowhere.
There will definitely be a few surprises just waiting to be found.
Think about this: If you're a love-struck guy intent on some private
time with your date, what kind of a shaded place are you going to
find most appealing to spread out your blanket: One in the middle
of a rowdy, kid-screaming crowd, or one off in the middle of some
field where nobody's going to be bugging you?
And next time you're dreaming of finding some long-forgotten buried
treasure, ask yourself which would be a better place to remember
where you buried your stash: At the base of one tree stuck in the
middle of a mess of others, or a lonesome old tree sitting out in
the middle of nowhere?
Remember to look up, too. If there's a hole in the tree within
arm's reach, give it a few passes with your coil. If there's one
within comfortable climbing distance further up, take a look inside.
Just make sure there isn't any wildlife in those holes before sticking
your hand or face inside.
Walls And Basements
Just few thoughts for those who may have to opportunity to look
for some lost cache coins or jewelry which might be hiding in walls
or little spaces of older homes with real plaster walls.
Always find out how old the house is, if you can. Sometime during
the 1930s or 1940s, home builders went from wood lathe and plaster
to diamond mesh and plaster when building walls and ceilings. Diamond
mesh is a diamond-shaped steel mesh anywhere between 1/8- and 1/4-inch
thick which served as the underlayment sheet for plaster work. (Imagine
someone trying to invent chicken wire able to withstand nuclear
attack and you pretty much have diamond mesh.) They just nailed
sheets of this stuff onto the wall 2-by-4s and slopped the plaster
over it. Searching walls and ceiling crawl spaces in a mode recognizing
all metals in a house with this stuff would be darn near impossible,
since the entire wall and ceiling would give you a signal. We have
a 1940s Cape Cod filled with diamond mesh, which makes us think
long and hard about doing any interior improvements that call for
tearing down walls or moving doorways since you have to saw through
this demonic stuff first.
For those of you who might get the opportunity to hunt basement
floors (either dirt or concrete), keep this in mind: Before the
house was built, it was a vacant lot. The guys building the houses
on either side commonly used these empty lots as a temporary dumping
ground for all the construction offal from the house they were building
at the time. They would clean the site as best they could by hand,
but when it came to build a house on the site, a lot of this little
metallic flotsam and jetsam made its way into the ground. This means
some of it probably got ground underfoot into the holes dug for
foundations. This could result in toning onto a good bit of trash
in an all-metal mode if you're searching a dirt floor basement.
Concrete foundations are probably cleaner for an all-metal hunt
(discounting what might've migrated into the soil beneath the foundation
during the foundation hole-digging process), but remember one thing:
Kids love to toss pennies and slugs into newly-poured cement.
Construction Hats
Get one of those yellow hard hats and wear it when you're hunting
(or carry it if there are construction guys around). Not only will
you be showing the utmost consideration for safety, but if nobody's
around, someone just might think you're a city guy just looking
for buried pipelines or something.
Hard hats can be purchased for a few dollars at most industrial
supply stores.
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