maxxkatt
Forum Supporter
Ok, here are a few items. Other members please add to this list since I probably left out a something and even some major items.
Always carefully cover your holes. Carry out all the trash finds.
Prepare a “go bag” for all your accessories. I use a medium sized back pack with a grab handle. Thus I need only grab three things and go. My detector, my shovel and my “go bag”. Few things in my bag are: Spare batteries for pinpointer, pinponter, gloves, insect spray, earphones, swing harness for 15” coil use, finds pouch, yellow survey vest (to keep people from bugging me with questions when curb hunting), folding knife, hand trowel, snack bars, bottle of water. I don’t hunt with my back pack, it stays in the car.
Buy good gloves and use them to prevents cuts. I prefer the cloth with rubberized palm side texture.
Buy a high quality shovel suited for your type of digging. Watching videos can help you decide which is best for your type of hunting.
Spend time using research tools like Historic Aerials and Google Earth.
Talk to old timers in your area. They know where people used to gather that may not show up on any other research tools. Lodge members are a great source.
Understand that most metal detecting videos show only the good finds. What you won’t often see is long hunts, lots of trash. So don’t compare your results with edited videos designed to entertain and inform. Do learn some to the VID numbers and tones from the videos well produced.
Do not criticize people on the Forums. Just read and learn. You will soon learn which posters really know what they are talking about and learn from them. The occasional jerk on the forums will be run off by other members.
Don’t buy cheap pinpointers or other knockoff accessories or detectors from China. Will fail and no warranties.
If you have not purchased your detector yet, read the forums to find the one that will match your hunting preferences. Few detectors will hunt well all types of sites, eg gold nuggets, coins, beaches, under water. Ok, the Equinox 800 has maybe the best all around detector but there are others that are more specialized for relic, beach and gold nuggets and if you do most of your hunting in either relic, beach or gold go for the more specialized detector.
You have two learning curves. Learning metal detecting in general and learning your specific detector. If you buy a complex detector like some of the Minelabs be prepared to flounder in the field for several months if not longer as a dual newbie. A better choice would be to buy a mid-level priced detector like the excellent Garrett AT Pro or AT Max. They are easier to learn to use and master. After you master your mid-level detector you can sell it later and recover 70-80% of your detector cost and buy the more advanced detector you have had your eye on for months. Or keep the mid-level detector and buy your new detector.
In the beginning dig everything so you brain will learn to identify junk, good and iffy signals. A lot of very good detectorists always dig everything so that is another method that is quicker to learn and you rarely miss good targets. It takes more time to dig more. But the more you dig, the more proficient you become at digging and recovering targets.
Be safe. In the snake season, be aware of snakes and yellow jacket ground nests. There are two type of dances common to detectorists. The happy gold dance and I just stumbled into a yellow jacket’s nest dance, not so happy.
Learn your metal detector and coil theory. Questions like why a lower frequency is better for finding high conductor silver coins. You don’t need to know this, but it helps you set up your more complex detectors for different hunt types and sites.
Don’t Give Up too early. Keep in mind detecting is healthy exercise and a fun treasure hunt. The price of your detector does not always determine your quality of finds. The most important factor of your quality of finds is your hunting site selection and the hours you put in swinging your coil.
Finding and hunting with an experience amiable hunt buddy is a big plus.
Learn to control your coil and the different methods of identifying junk targets from good targets. If you join the dig everything crowd, then just swing correctly and don’t waste your time trying to puzzle out the good from the junk. But by digging everything you eventually will learn to separate the likely good from the likely bad targets before you dig.
If you have a more complex detector like the Equinox 800, learn to set it up properly for the best results depending on what and where you are hunting.
Learn to read the ground when relic hunting that will tell you are in areas where there was an old home site but with virtually no trace of it today above ground. Broken bits of pottery, charcoal or coke for fires, square nails and actual relics. Hunt those areas slow and even better in both directions.
Several large oak trees around a house sized empty space is a good clue for a once old home site. Daffodils or other perennial flowers that are not native to the woods are another good indicator of maybe a home site. Same goes for cedar trees or palmetto or palmetto like plants. Rock walls, depressions (maybe a cellar hole), stacked stones in a rectangle were often pillars for wooden homes. Fallen chimney stones or bricks or a pile of stones or bricks. And don’t overlook still standing or collapsed abandoned homes or out buildings in the woods.
Always get permissions on private property before you hunt.
Always carefully cover your holes. Carry out all the trash finds.
Prepare a “go bag” for all your accessories. I use a medium sized back pack with a grab handle. Thus I need only grab three things and go. My detector, my shovel and my “go bag”. Few things in my bag are: Spare batteries for pinpointer, pinponter, gloves, insect spray, earphones, swing harness for 15” coil use, finds pouch, yellow survey vest (to keep people from bugging me with questions when curb hunting), folding knife, hand trowel, snack bars, bottle of water. I don’t hunt with my back pack, it stays in the car.
Buy good gloves and use them to prevents cuts. I prefer the cloth with rubberized palm side texture.
Buy a high quality shovel suited for your type of digging. Watching videos can help you decide which is best for your type of hunting.
Spend time using research tools like Historic Aerials and Google Earth.
Talk to old timers in your area. They know where people used to gather that may not show up on any other research tools. Lodge members are a great source.
Understand that most metal detecting videos show only the good finds. What you won’t often see is long hunts, lots of trash. So don’t compare your results with edited videos designed to entertain and inform. Do learn some to the VID numbers and tones from the videos well produced.
Do not criticize people on the Forums. Just read and learn. You will soon learn which posters really know what they are talking about and learn from them. The occasional jerk on the forums will be run off by other members.
Don’t buy cheap pinpointers or other knockoff accessories or detectors from China. Will fail and no warranties.
If you have not purchased your detector yet, read the forums to find the one that will match your hunting preferences. Few detectors will hunt well all types of sites, eg gold nuggets, coins, beaches, under water. Ok, the Equinox 800 has maybe the best all around detector but there are others that are more specialized for relic, beach and gold nuggets and if you do most of your hunting in either relic, beach or gold go for the more specialized detector.
You have two learning curves. Learning metal detecting in general and learning your specific detector. If you buy a complex detector like some of the Minelabs be prepared to flounder in the field for several months if not longer as a dual newbie. A better choice would be to buy a mid-level priced detector like the excellent Garrett AT Pro or AT Max. They are easier to learn to use and master. After you master your mid-level detector you can sell it later and recover 70-80% of your detector cost and buy the more advanced detector you have had your eye on for months. Or keep the mid-level detector and buy your new detector.
In the beginning dig everything so you brain will learn to identify junk, good and iffy signals. A lot of very good detectorists always dig everything so that is another method that is quicker to learn and you rarely miss good targets. It takes more time to dig more. But the more you dig, the more proficient you become at digging and recovering targets.
Be safe. In the snake season, be aware of snakes and yellow jacket ground nests. There are two type of dances common to detectorists. The happy gold dance and I just stumbled into a yellow jacket’s nest dance, not so happy.
Learn your metal detector and coil theory. Questions like why a lower frequency is better for finding high conductor silver coins. You don’t need to know this, but it helps you set up your more complex detectors for different hunt types and sites.
Don’t Give Up too early. Keep in mind detecting is healthy exercise and a fun treasure hunt. The price of your detector does not always determine your quality of finds. The most important factor of your quality of finds is your hunting site selection and the hours you put in swinging your coil.
Finding and hunting with an experience amiable hunt buddy is a big plus.
Learn to control your coil and the different methods of identifying junk targets from good targets. If you join the dig everything crowd, then just swing correctly and don’t waste your time trying to puzzle out the good from the junk. But by digging everything you eventually will learn to separate the likely good from the likely bad targets before you dig.
If you have a more complex detector like the Equinox 800, learn to set it up properly for the best results depending on what and where you are hunting.
Learn to read the ground when relic hunting that will tell you are in areas where there was an old home site but with virtually no trace of it today above ground. Broken bits of pottery, charcoal or coke for fires, square nails and actual relics. Hunt those areas slow and even better in both directions.
Several large oak trees around a house sized empty space is a good clue for a once old home site. Daffodils or other perennial flowers that are not native to the woods are another good indicator of maybe a home site. Same goes for cedar trees or palmetto or palmetto like plants. Rock walls, depressions (maybe a cellar hole), stacked stones in a rectangle were often pillars for wooden homes. Fallen chimney stones or bricks or a pile of stones or bricks. And don’t overlook still standing or collapsed abandoned homes or out buildings in the woods.
Always get permissions on private property before you hunt.
Very good information, maxxkatt! I would also like to add, to get more familiar with your detector and equipment practice using them in your yard. 
Not only will it help you to learn what the detector is telling you, but it is also good practice for making nice, small plugs. So you don't look like this: 
If you hunt these places alone like I do, being situationally aware cannot be stressed enough. Pepper Spray or a firearm if you are comfortable and practiced is recommended.
