detectorben
Elite Member
Well not your typical detector vs detector matchup but let me tell you a story. It is a bit long but I think it is an important lesson for many to learn or remember.
I did some research on a local area that has been used for just about everything since late 1800's. There was a small lake with cabins, an amphitheater, small stores, boy scout camps, and church camps all on this property. It was actually called the "largest gathering place in north america" at one time. Boasting over 5,000 people daily in the amphitheater. It was bought by the city after it was shut down and turned into a wilderness area. It is very heavily wooded now and very little signs of what was once there remains. The park entrance has a brick archway and that is about it. Now I am not naive enough to think this area had not been hit as I knew it was probably pounded over the years. But it is in a 1,400 acre park and it is very overgrown so that limits how much it can be detected and when. So right now is prime time with none of the foliage coming back to life yet. So I headed off to explore and detect it today at lunch time.
So I show up at the entrance and begin to eat my lunch while I scope out the area to get an idea of where to start. An older man strolls up next to my vehicle and strikes up a conversation. He begins to tell me how nice of a day it is and how he wishes he would have brought his detector. I did not divulge my purpose there as I was interested to hear what he had to say first. He goes on to tell me about all the nice stuff he has found over the years at this location. Pocket watches, jewelry, and loads of coins. He said he has found hundreds of silver coins including many barber dimes, liberty quarters, indian heads, wheats, and a few halves. He tells me he found all of this stuff among the loads of trash at this site with his Bounty Hunter detector and most coins where only a few inches deep. He did not know what model machine it was just that he had paid $100 for and it was a Bounty Hunter.
I decided at that time to tell him why I was there and to my surprise he was happy to meet another detectorist and begin explaining everywhere he had found all of his glorious finds. I was surprised by this because many detectorists especially older ones tend to keep this information to themselves. By the time he was done explaining the area and telling me about all of his wonderful finds I had worked myself up into a near frenzy inside ready to burst out and detect my life away. So he wishes me luck and heads off telling me he hopes to see me again there another day.
So I grab my mighty Equinox 800 fire it up and do a noise cancel and ground balance and start swinging. I proceed to comb all of the hot spots he had showed me and many areas he had not pointed out. I quickly began to realize that I had worked myself up for a very big let down. After nearly an hour of swinging non stop I had not so much as dug one clad coin or any decent sounding target for that matter. I began to dig anything that even chirped a high tone no matter how deep. Still no luck. I proceeded to try different programs and settings hitting some of the same hot areas over and over combing over every inch and still nothing.
So after all the excitement and over 4 hours of detecting I ended up with not a SINGLE coin of any kind. The only remotely interesting find I ended up with was a buckle of some kind that may or may not be old. Needless to say it was one of the most disappointing hunts I have ever had. Apparently this man and his bounty hunter had picked the area clean somehow even amongst the trash!
Obviously he is not the only one who has hunted this area over the years I am sure. But I was nearly certain that the Equinox could sniff out at least one solitary dime the others had missed among the trash. This is now my 3rd hunt in pounded trashy areas with the Equinox without a single silver coin to show for it. By this point last year I had around 10 silver coins including a barber half. Starting to really miss my Etrac at this point.
This just goes to show how little metal detecting is about the machine you run and more about when and where you hunt. Sometimes with all the new excitement that comes with hot new machines some of us forget that. I know I do.
Sorry for the long story I just had to get this off my chest. I am really just feeling sorry for myself and it has very little to do with my detector or any detector for that matter.
I did some research on a local area that has been used for just about everything since late 1800's. There was a small lake with cabins, an amphitheater, small stores, boy scout camps, and church camps all on this property. It was actually called the "largest gathering place in north america" at one time. Boasting over 5,000 people daily in the amphitheater. It was bought by the city after it was shut down and turned into a wilderness area. It is very heavily wooded now and very little signs of what was once there remains. The park entrance has a brick archway and that is about it. Now I am not naive enough to think this area had not been hit as I knew it was probably pounded over the years. But it is in a 1,400 acre park and it is very overgrown so that limits how much it can be detected and when. So right now is prime time with none of the foliage coming back to life yet. So I headed off to explore and detect it today at lunch time.
So I show up at the entrance and begin to eat my lunch while I scope out the area to get an idea of where to start. An older man strolls up next to my vehicle and strikes up a conversation. He begins to tell me how nice of a day it is and how he wishes he would have brought his detector. I did not divulge my purpose there as I was interested to hear what he had to say first. He goes on to tell me about all the nice stuff he has found over the years at this location. Pocket watches, jewelry, and loads of coins. He said he has found hundreds of silver coins including many barber dimes, liberty quarters, indian heads, wheats, and a few halves. He tells me he found all of this stuff among the loads of trash at this site with his Bounty Hunter detector and most coins where only a few inches deep. He did not know what model machine it was just that he had paid $100 for and it was a Bounty Hunter.
I decided at that time to tell him why I was there and to my surprise he was happy to meet another detectorist and begin explaining everywhere he had found all of his glorious finds. I was surprised by this because many detectorists especially older ones tend to keep this information to themselves. By the time he was done explaining the area and telling me about all of his wonderful finds I had worked myself up into a near frenzy inside ready to burst out and detect my life away. So he wishes me luck and heads off telling me he hopes to see me again there another day.
So I grab my mighty Equinox 800 fire it up and do a noise cancel and ground balance and start swinging. I proceed to comb all of the hot spots he had showed me and many areas he had not pointed out. I quickly began to realize that I had worked myself up for a very big let down. After nearly an hour of swinging non stop I had not so much as dug one clad coin or any decent sounding target for that matter. I began to dig anything that even chirped a high tone no matter how deep. Still no luck. I proceeded to try different programs and settings hitting some of the same hot areas over and over combing over every inch and still nothing.
So after all the excitement and over 4 hours of detecting I ended up with not a SINGLE coin of any kind. The only remotely interesting find I ended up with was a buckle of some kind that may or may not be old. Needless to say it was one of the most disappointing hunts I have ever had. Apparently this man and his bounty hunter had picked the area clean somehow even amongst the trash!
Obviously he is not the only one who has hunted this area over the years I am sure. But I was nearly certain that the Equinox could sniff out at least one solitary dime the others had missed among the trash. This is now my 3rd hunt in pounded trashy areas with the Equinox without a single silver coin to show for it. By this point last year I had around 10 silver coins including a barber half. Starting to really miss my Etrac at this point.
This just goes to show how little metal detecting is about the machine you run and more about when and where you hunt. Sometimes with all the new excitement that comes with hot new machines some of us forget that. I know I do.
Sorry for the long story I just had to get this off my chest. I am really just feeling sorry for myself and it has very little to do with my detector or any detector for that matter.