Lonnngggg silver draught

OK Archer,I have to ask...how long have you had the eTrac and how often do you hunt,and for how long? In other words,how many hours of hunting have you done this year? What types of places are you hunting primarily? Stock coil only?
Here’s the thing,and my buddy Brad can tell you,along with others....if you are hunting and find a target that is too low on the CO scale to be a silver coin,at say,7-8”,but you are the guy who digs it HOPING it’s going to be a silver coin,you’re killing yourself. That is meant with NO disrespect,you’re simply not letting the machine determine what’s what. With the stock coil,and at a depth of 0-8”,the odds are HUGE that the machine knows what it’s talking about. You have to TRUST it,that’s why you have it in the first place! If you run across a 12-41 at 6” and dig a hole hoping to see a silver dime,you’re gonna have a long look on your face on the way home. COULD it be silver? Chances are SO low that I’d never take it,unless the target registered VERY deep,then yes,chances get better. Minelabs are known for deep target ID,even between a wheat and a Merc. Now,I’m not talking about digging weird coins like half dimes or trimes,I’m talking about “standard issue silver”....Mercs,Rosie’s,GWs...everyday stuff.
Do you have the Variability set to MAX? This will help to distinguish copper from silver on many of them through audio. You may know a lot of this but to hunt ALL YEAR with NO silvers?....I can’t wrap my head around it.
We have to get you on the right track!

Hi IDXMonster, I've had the E-trac for 9 years. Before that I swung AN X-70. When I first got the E-trac I over dug, learned to trust the machine. I use the stock coil exclusively. I currently hunt 4-6 hours a week. I use the stock coin program, a modified park program and occasionally run 2-tone ferrous when conditions call for it.
I was mostly just expressing frustration. It's unusual to go this long without silver. Got to swing the coil over silver to find it. I think i've just had a string of poor luck.

One other thought (and I know you were just expressing frustration), but I've had my etrac for a few years now, but until last year, I didn't realize just how "off" the FE numbers can be on deep coins (or even shallow ones sometimes). I opened up the stock coin program a bit and I immediately started finding more goodies. Deep targets with FE numbers even as high as 20 or so can still be decent finds. I don't automatically ignore them anymore, especially if it "sounds" smaller than a can.
If I'm in a trashy area, I'll probably skip it but if I'm in an area that's otherwise clean and has potential for deep old coins, I'll take the chance. In those kinds of places, sometimes the "trash" is actually just as cool as coins!

Thanks for the input gismapper, I'm comfortable running the E-trac. I was truly just venting.

Maybe the MD gods were listening. I got out today and finally met a couple locals. They were finding older coins. After visiting with them and adjusting my hunt areas, I'm starting to see older stuff. No silver, but no complaints either. I found an old military button (currently soaking), an old toasted copper with a large wreath showing on the back and a 1949 NM Chauffeur badge. I also managed to get an invite for tomorrow to hunt an 1890's yard in Mesilla NM.

OK Since you’re versed on the machine, then finding the old areas is all you’re lacking,but traveling and not knowing what to expect could be a little difficult. It looks like you nailed it with the oldies this last time though! Is it the size of an Indian or LC? That badge is very cool too,I like finding strange items like that where you can tell what they are. Around here it’s a lot of farming and fertilizer so some coins are just wrecked when they come out of the ground.
As soon as I started targeting old places it was,and has been,lights out. 112 silver coins so far for 2017. Like you said...no old coin under coil,no old coin in pocket!
Good luck and enjoy your travels Archer,keep us posted where you are and what you come up with! I’d give a great deal in order to be able to do what you’re doing....

IDXMonster said:

Is it the size of an Indian or LC?

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It's just barely smaller than a quarter. No detail on the front, the back has a good size wreath up both sides, nothing else visible.

112 silver coins so far for 2017. Like you said...no old coin under coil,no old coin in pocket!

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112 silver coins in less than a year, that's amazing. Finally broke the streak this morning, found a 1953 Rosie

Good luck and enjoy your travels Archer,keep us posted where you are and what you come up with! I’d give a great deal in order to be able to do what you’re doing....

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We've sure enjoyed traveling so far. I post in the "find a hunting buddy" forum when I'm going to be in an area for a while. Last several times I've not had much luck finding locals to hunt with.

Happy Hunting

archer said:

Just need to gripe a little bit.

I've hunted hard this year and haven't found a silver coin since January. I am hunting old dirt and finding wheat pennies. Just no silver. Definitely haven't found the right old dirt!

I guess that is one of the down sides to traveling full time. Not enough time to research and develop contacts/get permissions. The up side is that almost every where I go is older than the town I came from in AZ.

I feel better now. Happy hunting everyone.

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I've been hunting for over 4 years and countless hours and the best I ever found is in my signature.

Maybe we should institute a "catch and release" on silver coins so future generations of detectorists can enjoy the hobby.

I'm getting the feeling there isn't much left to be found.

Mtc8966 said:

I've been hunting for over 4 years and countless hours and the best I ever found is in my signature.

Maybe we should institute a "catch and release" on silver coins so future generations of detectorists can enjoy the hobby.

I'm getting the feeling there isn't much left to be found.

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We owe it to mankind to save all that beautiful silver from its slow return to nature

Hang in and rethink where you are hunting. You live in a state with lots of history and plenty of old coins in the ground. With some research and creativity you should find silver.

Archer, I just went through the exact same situation. The oldest maps I have available are early 1950's. I'm hunting an area (cotton field) which contained a few homes, all I know is they were on the 50's maps, no idea how long prior to that.

I hunted over a dozen (long) days, only finding Memorials, and Wheats, along with a button here and there, and the usual junk relics.

Then one day I dig an 1890's Barber Quarter, and another hunt found a 1918 Merc.

Point being, keep at it, slow down, be sure to get a good overlap on your swings. You'll hit silver.

archer said:

We owe it to mankind to save all that beautiful silver from its slow return to nature

Hang in and rethink where you are hunting.

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There's a discouraging but true saying in metal detecting that I've heard since I've gotten into this hobby. It goes, "If you've thought of a location, then that means someone else has too."

Even though I'm not at this point yet, I think the best hope that one can have is to run the absolute best equipment money can buy. (And know how to use it).

I think that's why the ETRAC with it's FBS and advanced processing finds the "hard stuff". The majority of items are just to difficult for ordinary VLF machines to locate.

Mtc8966 said:

There's a discouraging but true saying in metal detecting that I've heard since I've gotten into this hobby. It goes, "If you've thought of a location, then that means someone else has too."

Even though I'm not at this point yet, I think the best hope that one can have is to run the absolute best equipment money can buy. (And know how to use it).

I think that's why the ETRAC with it's FBS and advanced processing finds the "hard stuff". The majority of items are just to difficult for ordinary VLF machines to locate.

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Those are wise words from a guy with a low post count,you hit the nail directly on the head and hard! There is ALOT of silver left,in fact...over on another forum it was calculated that only 5 PERCENT of the silver has been harvested,95 percent still remains. How accurate is that? Dunno. What percent CAN BE REACHED WITH TODAYS EQUIPMENT? Dunno.
What you said though is your best chance of finding it...use the best equipment and know how to use it. FBS is known for finding deep and/or difficult silver. This requires an initial investment and an ongoing investment in time. If you’re willing to invest it all,success WILL come...on a regular basis.