Total novice! Need help!

naz223 · Apr 2, 2017

Hello folks!
I want to start by saying that I am not a collector or hunter, but this sounds like a fun hobby that I may get into later in life when I might have more time.
I need help! My yard is riddled with .22 caliber lead air rifle pellets! And it as recently come to my attention that my chickens have been eating them. Clearly this is an issue since our family eats the eggs. Since lead is non-ferrous, I borrowed a metal detector from a friend. The problem is I'm really confused about how to use it, and particularly how to find tiny pieces of lead near or at the surface. I did read the manual, but I'm still struggling. The model is Bounty Hunter pioneer 505. I'm sure it's an amature model compared to what you all have, but it's all I have right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

DIGGER27 · Apr 2, 2017

Yea, those are small so they are probably going to be down in the foil section, may be up to lower nickel but test a few to be sure.
I find them a lot, for some reason I find tons bullets and casings in the old parks I hunt.
I also enjoy hunting near fishing lakes but the amount of lost lead weights can be daunting...but even the tiny split shot can sound good so that might help.

I might suggest a rake as another tool to get a lot of them loose or knock them out in the open, anyway.

oblivion321 · Apr 2, 2017

I'm an absolute rookie here myself with only a couple of hunts in my yard, but it seems that if you can get a hold of a machine with good notch features you could test the ones you have and notch out everything else. I could be totally wrong here since I have little to no experience yet. I'm sure some of the many experts here will give you some good advice. I'm curious if something like this is possible myself.

tnsharpshooter · Apr 2, 2017

Get one of the pellets and play with your detector.
Best way.

A few nails too.

naz223 · Apr 2, 2017

Good info, I'm just having trouble figuring out how to do so. I can't get it to detect the lead pellet at all, and I feel it's because I'm not using the right settings.

nevets2968 · Apr 2, 2017

I'd select the all metal button and turn the dial (the one on the right) all the way down.

tnsharpshooter · Apr 2, 2017

Take a medium sized nail,,,get a decent size piece of tin foil...play with the button on the right,,,set it to knock out the nail and be able to hit the foil.

Sensivity play with the button on the left,,not overly high.

The buttons in the middle,,don't know much about them,,I've not run that unit,,you may have to play with them too. Ok I've read a little.
Press the disc button,,,then adjust the knob on the right to pick up foil and Knock out nail.
You can run with disc knob fully counterclockwise if your yard doesn't have too many nails,,and pick up the pellets.
Make sure you sweep coil close to grounds surface.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e8gpTVkwBAU

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/645769/Bounty-Hunter-Pioneer-505.html?page=2#manual

naz223 · Apr 2, 2017

Thank you so much for the advice! As soon as I have some time this week, I'll fiddle around with it. I'll post about how it goes.

sllingshot47 · Apr 3, 2017

I think those are gonna sound off in the a/m mode due to their size. Listen for short quick beeps vs. long beeps.

Scooterjim · Apr 4, 2017

This has me worried about my backyard flock. I'm going to check my chickens with the detector. I hope the neighbors don't see me waving chickens over the machine. They already think I'm nuts.

Trashman · Apr 4, 2017

Scooterjim said:
This has me worried about my backyard flock. I'm going to check my chickens with the detector. I hope the neighbors don't see me waving chickens over the machine. They already think I'm nuts.

You did ex ray a chicken!
Got me to wondering LOL

Scooterjim · Apr 5, 2017

Trashman said:
You did ex ray a chicken!
Got me to wondering LOL

No, That was the original poster who Xrayed his chicken. That had me wondering too. It's great he found the lead but why was the chicken xrayed to begin with. I don't know anyone who has taken a chicken to the Vet.
One of my chickens wouldn't stop coughing. The wife thought it was choking and wanted to do something. She asked me to look up "chicken choking" on the internet. I came back and told her the chickens gonna die.
I have checked all my chickens with the ATpro and they are all unleaded.

naz223 · Apr 5, 2017

Scooterjim said:
No, That was the original poster who Xrayed his chicken. That had me wondering too. It's great he found the lead but why was the chicken xrayed to begin with. I don't know anyone who has taken a chicken to the Vet.
One of my chickens wouldn't stop coughing. The wife thought it was choking and wanted to do something. She asked me to look up "chicken choking" on the internet. I came back and told her the chickens gonna die.
I have checked all my chickens with the ATpro and they are all unleaded.

I am a Vet Tech. I work at a vet. The reason I xrayed her, was because she was acting like she was impacted or egg bound. Didn't cost me a thing

. The lead pellets were an incidental finding. And she is fine now. I'm working on getting the eggs tested for lead and myself as well. Since I eat the most eggs in the family.

MattLock · Apr 6, 2017

naz223 said:
I am a Vet Tech. I work at a vet. The reason I xrayed her, was because she was acting like she was impacted or egg bound. Didn't cost me a thing . The lead pellets were an incidental finding. And she is fine now. I'm working on getting the eggs tested for lead and myself as well. Since I eat the most eggs in the family.

I would contact a MD club in your area. Most clubs offer there services to the community for free.

happycamper08 · Apr 7, 2017

Scooterjim said:
No, That was the original poster who Xrayed his chicken. That had me wondering too. It's great he found the lead but why was the chicken xrayed to begin with. I don't know anyone who has taken a chicken to the Vet.
One of my chickens wouldn't stop coughing. The wife thought it was choking and wanted to do something. She asked me to look up "chicken choking" on the internet. I came back and told her the chickens gonna die.
I have checked all my chickens with the ATpro and they are all unleaded.

I bet that was quite a google search!

Crackerjack · Apr 7, 2017

I think you are going about this the wrong way. I suggest that instead of metal detecting and digging each pellet, that you get a screen setup and shovel and sift the dirt, it should be faster and more thorough.

Are you using a chicken tractor, or just free-ranging your chickens in the yard?

naz223 · Apr 7, 2017

They have a large yard and we let them out to free range the rest of the yard. Our property is pretty big and we have a lawn.

Crackerjack · Apr 7, 2017

naz223 said:
They have a large yard and we let them out to free range the rest of the yard. Our property is pretty big and we have a lawn.

If you have a tractor with a blade, or some other dirt moving equipment like a Bobcat, it might be easier to clean the yard by skimming off about an inch or so (however deep the pellets are) of topsoil, sifting it, then putting it back. Alternatively, you could put the skimmed topsoil someplace that the chickens can't get to.

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