Had a thought today...

Never felt that way, because I had many parks and spots to hit, from the get go.
Did a lot of driving too.
I also did a lot of door knocking for a while.

Sounds like you just need to expand your horizon, good luck.

Anyone who has “graduated” from being a “whatever I find,I’m enjoying the fresh air” hunter to a “I want to find old coins,and don’t want to find lunch money” hunter has had the exact feeling of DOOM that you had. Those parks you speak of are the black holes of detecting,they suck you in,burn your time and produce ZILCH as far as old coins. If you are hunting that park WITH THE UNDERSTANDING that you are not likely to find what you really want to find,but “some hunting is better than no hunting”,then that’s where you’re at.
Convenience is hard to walk away from. But it won’t get you the items you’re looking for. Just my 2 clad dimes...

I'm willing to drive a long distance to hunt places I've never been before. If I get skunked, then so be it but at least I arrived at the new site with a sense of being on a new adventure. After 36 years of detecting, those same old places are just that.......SAME and OLD.

I know exactly how you feel.....
Felt that way this afternoon.
Its hard for me to get motivated to go out with little chance of finding something interesting other than clad. I was ruined when I found an old church to hunt last year. At this spot you never know what is going to come up next. Even the trash is interesting. Parks here in central Texas are relatively new and contain very little silver.
The cure is to try something new. Door knock. Maybe set your unit to look for something else, maybe gold or jewelry, or low conductors. You may be surprised what you might find.
Don't be afraid to ask people for a new permission, you can only get a "no" at worst and a "yes" at best.
Go to the library and do some research.
Good luck!
HH!

Parks are a great way to learn your detector. Even though most parks are void of silver, there is usually a fair amount of clad there. And a good assortment of trash to learn. Before going door knocking to detect people's yards, it is best to know your detector and know how to dig a plug.

Sometimes it is hard to find other places to hunt and is easy to fall into going to a park that you feel comfortable. Sometimes it hard to move on to other places.

One just needs to stay open minded and find new places to hunt. It can be difficult but there are places if a person looks for them.

Luckily theres a lot of sub-set genres to master in this Sport..The skills gained from one are translatable over to another...Once a fellow has his rig figured out and a base understanding of what is going on, the entirety of continued interest and advancement in this Sport demands mastering many side skills and applying them in field..just a few: Door knocking, research, weather awareness and time management...

Also luckily, we have a Membership here that would no doubt host you on a hunt for their specialty if you were ever in their AO...

You have to understand the psychology of this hobby and how it effects yourself.

You found a gold ring now how can you be happy again with finding clad?

Are you now sorry that you found the ring? Noooooo!

You just have to find a way to re-motivate yourself.

New hunting ground is usually the answer.

Thanks for the replies from all!!! Going to hit up my mother's yard today. Found my first merc there a few months back. Going to look for some new ground as well. Thanks to all once again...HH

Wonderful ramble.... For me it's not about what i'm finding ( I always find something), it's about what i'm doing !

I am in your exact same situation.

I now take a nearby city (if not my own) and google (Insert City name Parks)

it will pull up all parks in that city and show even show Pictures and a Map.

gives you a little idea of what might be there.

I still go to my local park during the week after work for a quick swing but on Weekends I try to hit somewhere new.. even if I have to drive a little.

ROBOTCOP13 said:

You have to understand the psychology of this hobby and how it effects yourself.

You found a gold ring now how can you be happy again with finding clad?

Are you now sorry that you found the ring? Noooooo!

You just have to find a way to re-motivate yourself.

New hunting ground is usually the answer.

Click to expand...

This past Thursday I had the day off work. After a quick earth Google,
I headed out to a town I've never hunted before.
I'm going back today!
Finds from Thursday....
1935 Merc. 1895 o mint Barber dime,
1942 walker half.
One older wheat, 1910?
Gumball ring.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

wvdave107 said:

While detecting this morning, I got an overwhelming feeling of I didn't want to be there...I am afraid I'm losing interest in this park...I don't like that. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind finding clad, but I have this overwhelming feeling that I can do better. I actually found this morning to be boring.

Click to expand...

I can definitely relate, wvdave - I've felt the same way a couple times, always while hunting at a park or other public area. For me, it's usually a growing feeling that I'm wasting valuable time, especially part way through a park hunt when it becomes increasingly evident that I'm probably only going to have a handful of clad and a ton of trash to show for the effort. As you said, it isn't that I don't like digging clad, it's just not what I prefer to be finding. I might feel differently if I could pull out a nice amount of clad from the local parks, but the reality is that I've never come home with more than $2 in clad from a park hunt (usually more like 37 cents or so!) - hardly enough to keep it interesting or worthwhile. Couple that with the fact that the local parks in any area have been pounded by detectorists for 50+ years, there isn't much hope to find anything truly old or interesting.

Parks do have the advantage of convenience though - not only because they're often very close in terms of distance/drive time, but also from the standpoint that you don't have to dink around securing permission...just show up and hunt. But they do get boring fast if you aren't finding stuff that interests you!

Kidlester has it right, imo. You have to try something new - it's the solution that worked for me. If I only have a short time to hunt, I'll go to an interesting looking curbstrip and hunt instead - they tend to be much more productive in my area, and more likely to yield the finds I'm interested in. If I don't have a good curb strip in mind, I'll actually often stay home and use the time available to research potential spots so I'm ready for next time rather than go hunt the local park. When I have more time available, I'll door knock or "porch ambush" (catch people outside of interesting properties and ask) and land better locations.

All this isn't to say that I don't ever hunt parks - I definitely do...just very rarely compared to other types of detecting. The big side benefit of trying different things is that it naturally diversifies your hunting, which helps keep the hobby feeling fresh and interesting - "every day a different adventure" so to speak. And when I do decide to go to a park, it tends to be a little more interesting, because I haven't been there in a long while instead of just a few days ago. Diversifying also means you can effectively detect locally for far longer before having to resort to driving farther and farther afield to find a place to hunt.

kidlester said:

I know exactly how you feel.....
Felt that way this afternoon.
Its hard for me to get motivated to go out with little chance of finding something interesting other than clad. I was ruined when I found an old church to hunt last year. At this spot you never know what is going to come up next. Even the trash is interesting.

Click to expand...

Ohhhh, no doubt, a good site will ruin you for sure!! It's hard to go back to a park once a couple of well researched sites/permissions start to produce for you!

kidlester said:

The cure is to try something new. Door knock. Maybe set your unit to look for something else, maybe gold or jewelry, or low conductors. You may be surprised what you might find.
Don't be afraid to ask people for a new permission, you can only get a "no" at worst and a "yes" at best.
Go to the library and do some research.

Click to expand...

100% agree! Diversified detecting goes a long way toward keeping things interesting and fresh. New permissions at private properties can be key...it always feels awkward at first for all of us, but it gets easier and easier to ask for permission the more you do it.

I may be wrong, but I think everyone goes through the same feelings from time to time. The beaches I hunt have cameras so when I see all those depositors, it gets my head back in the game. Stick with it!

You need to hit the books and get some new permissions. Trust your instinct, that park isn't going anywhere. We all get that feeling after pounding a place for so long.

wvdave107 said:

I've been out of town for the past few weeks. Fortunately, I was able to get to hunt a couple of times while gone. Actually, found my first gold ring...Got home yesterday evening and settled back into being home, no place like it...It was a bit too wet to mow this morning, so I decided to give my local park a go-round while it warmed up and dried my lawn some. I've been to this park many times. This is where I cut my teeth on my ATP. Really got some good experience there.

While detecting this morning, I got an overwhelming feeling of I didn't want to be there. I don't have very many solid locations to hunt, so this park is my go to. I find clad and the occasional nick-knack, but nothing special. I am afraid I'm losing interest in this park...I don't like that. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind finding clad, but I have this overwhelming feeling that I can do better. I actually found this morning to be boring... I know, I know at least I was out enjoying the day, but I would really like to get some better permissions and find some older coins and some respectable relics. Has anyone else ever felt this way? This place is literally 5 minutes from my front door, so it's really convenient in the evenings after work. Think I'm going to have to hit the research a little harder and even try some door knocking....

Just venting a little. Didn't mean to ramble....HH to all...

Click to expand...

Heck yeah. It happens when you hit a park so much that it loses the excitement level. It's why I wander around to many many parks. Keeps it interesting. I've even gone to parks, spent 5 minutes there, and said, "I'm not feeling this." and switch locations.

It's about enjoying what we're doing while we're out. If you're forcing it, you're probably sucking some of the fun out. I applaud your self-awareness.

Time to come back to it in a few months!