Tinfoilhat
Forum Supporter
I was chatting with a new detectorist the other day. He was explaining that if he only had some place to detect........a quality place, then surely he would make great finds just like all the hardcore vets that post here. I think I've heard this song sung more than Freebird. In fact, I am certain that I've sung it a few too many times myself.
I have a fantastic story to share as an example of what really happens metal detecting. And I believe that the vets will back me up on this. It's going to be long-winded. But I believe it will generate some great conversation.
In spite of being a long-time detectorist, I have recently hit a wall in terms of hunting locations. Heck, I've even wiped out the tot lots in a 25 mile radius. Because of the heat and bone dry weather, I can't even hit the parks and ball fields in good conscience, knowing that any plugs cut will likely die.
What I needed was a new plan of action. I needed to make something happen!
My plan was simple.
1) Go back through my research materials and notes. With some serious study, I would surely chase down some new leads.
2) Call or reach out to every single person that I know and ask them how old their house was.
My research has yet to pay off, although I'm chasing some pretty exciting things that should make for some quality opportunities this fall.
And the phone calls to my friends? While still early in the process, I have been offered a couple of great opportunities, with a number of permissions still in the process of being secured.
Last week, I stopped by a friends place to catch up. I had never been to her home and the visit was long overdue. On the way I started seeing old home after old home. Frankly, I almost wrecked the truck more than once. I passed farm houses, Gingerbread Victorians and settler shacks. I may or may not have wet myself when I turned a corner and found myself staring at a civil war era federal style brick home. I thought I was going to have to breathe in to a paper bag for the rest of the trip.
As I pulled up in to her driveway, I couldn't help but note that her beautiful home had clearly been built in the last 20 years. Dang the bad luck!
At some point we got to chatting about local history. She told me that she grew up in the area and knows everyone. She also told a wonderful story about her latest dog rescue and the neighbor that helped save her. She pointed to the house next door. The turn of the century massive farm house with corn crib and World Fair design 2 story Dutch style barn. GAAAAH ! Oh, the shameful things I would do to that man's yard with my trusty Sampson and Letche !
I made joke about it. She told me that she was certain that I could detect his place and that she would get permission for me. This led to a 2 hours trip of the local area with her pointing out where dilapidated structures were when she was a little girl. And no less than 10 amazing properties that she said she would inquire upon, on my behalf.
Before I left, her neighbor contacted her and told me I had permission to detect any time that I wanted, no need to call in advance.
This is it! Finally a property where detecting dreams are made! Right?
With Friday off, I grabbed my new XP Deus as well as the trusty ATPro. I was armed with a cooler full of sandwiches and ice cold beverages. It had rained the last two days and I could dig anywhere on the property without worrying about leaving his breathtaking yard looking like Falujah.
I walked around a bit to try and get a feel for the property. I noted where add-ons were done to the home and where original ingress and egress points were. It was a tremendous sized property.
I elected to start by the corn crib as my friend and her husband also own that piece of property. I was uncomfortable being too close to the home before meeting the homeowner face to face. It was too early in the day to get accidentally shot.
The corn crib is old. Really old. It looks older than the house which perplexed me until I was given additional information.
Check out the chain used for the door. That's hand-made blacksmith goodness!
If this doesn't scream old coins, I don't know what does !
I fired the Deus up. I switched to a custom program that I begged off of TNSharpshooter. This man has been killing himself to help me learn my new Deus.
It took about 30 minutes for the sexy to wear off. Every single place that I attempted to detect was massive iron signals. And I mean overwhelming. I tried changing programs, cutting sensitivity, Discrim, and notching. And I believe I did so with intelligence, based on my study of the Deus thus far.
While the Deus is becoming well-known as one of the best detectors in iron, this place was akin to attempting to detect the loose change under the seats of cars at a junk yard.
Just then, the owner pulled up. One of the nicest people that I have ever met. He asked me politely to steer clear of the family pet cemetery while pointing it out. He was also kind enough to tell me that his mom had mentioned that there was an early settlers cabin on a section of the property prior to the house being built. Finally, he closed with telling me to detect wherever I wanted and that anything I found was mine to keep!
With tractors clearly buried by the corn crib, I decided to move to the glorious yard. Surely there were pounds of silver just waiting to be unearthed!
I begin by working the trees. Some of them were monsters. This guy here had to be 5-6 feet in diameter.
Unlike the corn crib, the yard was hauntingly quiet. It was all but devoid of signals. So quiet in fact that I thought the Deus was broken or that I had made a programing mistake, rendering the unit useless. Everything checked out.
After 4 hours of endless detecting, it was time for a sandwich and to think about just what the heck was going on. The corn crib ground read like Europe after WW2. The yard OTOH, was cleaner than most fill dirt. It was driving me nuts!
Next plan of attack was to see if I couldn't locate the site of the original settlers cabin. While I did not know exactly where it was, the owner had pinned it down to a small enough area. I would just pick a line and march back and forth, with the IRON AUDIO turned up. Surely I'd stumble across old nails or some other item.
Almost immediately I encountered the worst case of EMI that I have ever heard on a detector. It was playing rave music on the Deus. I changed freqs and still it remained. WTH? It was so crazy that I busted out the ATPro and it was even worse ! This made no sense as there are no major power poles in the area.
By now I was beaten up pretty bad. This property wasn't coughing up anything and it was driving me nuts. Just then the owner came out and chatted with me a bit. Explained that he thinks there is a six inch electrical or phone cable buried on the property right through where the original cabin sat.
He asked if I had found anything. I explained that I had found nothing other than a few modern coins. He then told me that a couple of detectorists hunted the yard a bit a decade or so ago. AHA !
OK, Plan D. I had two choices. I could abandon the property and go home licking my wounds, or really commit to the property.
According to the owner, the family corn crib was used for years by both the family and the neighbors. He said ever since he could remember (he's mid 80's), wagons would move through it, either adding or taking, depending on time of year. The played around it and in it. People often got together in the space between the house and corn crib. The same place as all of the god-forsaken iron! At some point the crib stopped being used and was converted to the spot where farm equipment came to be repaired or die!
This is when I had an epiphany of sorts. If I was serious........really serious about making great finds, I was going to have to clear the junk. ALL OF IT !
I spent the rest of the day digging iron. Lots of iron. Huge iron ! If I can remove the big stuff, I honestly believe that the Deus will then be able to do its job and filter through the other debris.
I filled multiple 5 five gallon buckets full of iron and metal. Here is an example of the stuff coming out. This was a single pouch dump. That's an axe head converted to a wedge in the upper right corner, for scale.
So what were my finds after 9 hours of detecting and removing an insane amount of junk? 26 cents in clad. This is the only thing I kept. Interesting metal tag.
By now you must be asking yourself, after my entire diatribe and clearly a miserable day detecting with nothing to show, what is my point?
My point is simply this. For every amazing find that you read about on here, there are 100 stories just like mine that are never posted or really talked about. A lot of blood, sweat and tears. I think the only thing that separates those with great finds from those without is how hard detectorists are willing to work to even get a shot at the good stuff.
Are there easier spots? Man, I sure hope so. But until I obtain permission for and identify a cherry picking spot, you'll find me clearing debris until SOMETHING starts to sing! And I'm gonna bring friends too because this place is driving me crazy.
Please don't think I'm being arrogant or pretending to be some great detecting tough guy. I just wanted to share what I believe it takes to make great finds.
It kind of sucks. But I'm told that the rewards can be huge.
I'll save the part about me digging in to a termite nest and being swarmed for some other time.
I have a fantastic story to share as an example of what really happens metal detecting. And I believe that the vets will back me up on this. It's going to be long-winded. But I believe it will generate some great conversation.
In spite of being a long-time detectorist, I have recently hit a wall in terms of hunting locations. Heck, I've even wiped out the tot lots in a 25 mile radius. Because of the heat and bone dry weather, I can't even hit the parks and ball fields in good conscience, knowing that any plugs cut will likely die.
What I needed was a new plan of action. I needed to make something happen!
My plan was simple.
1) Go back through my research materials and notes. With some serious study, I would surely chase down some new leads.
2) Call or reach out to every single person that I know and ask them how old their house was.
My research has yet to pay off, although I'm chasing some pretty exciting things that should make for some quality opportunities this fall.
And the phone calls to my friends? While still early in the process, I have been offered a couple of great opportunities, with a number of permissions still in the process of being secured.
Last week, I stopped by a friends place to catch up. I had never been to her home and the visit was long overdue. On the way I started seeing old home after old home. Frankly, I almost wrecked the truck more than once. I passed farm houses, Gingerbread Victorians and settler shacks. I may or may not have wet myself when I turned a corner and found myself staring at a civil war era federal style brick home. I thought I was going to have to breathe in to a paper bag for the rest of the trip.
As I pulled up in to her driveway, I couldn't help but note that her beautiful home had clearly been built in the last 20 years. Dang the bad luck!
At some point we got to chatting about local history. She told me that she grew up in the area and knows everyone. She also told a wonderful story about her latest dog rescue and the neighbor that helped save her. She pointed to the house next door. The turn of the century massive farm house with corn crib and World Fair design 2 story Dutch style barn. GAAAAH ! Oh, the shameful things I would do to that man's yard with my trusty Sampson and Letche !
I made joke about it. She told me that she was certain that I could detect his place and that she would get permission for me. This led to a 2 hours trip of the local area with her pointing out where dilapidated structures were when she was a little girl. And no less than 10 amazing properties that she said she would inquire upon, on my behalf.
Before I left, her neighbor contacted her and told me I had permission to detect any time that I wanted, no need to call in advance.
This is it! Finally a property where detecting dreams are made! Right?
With Friday off, I grabbed my new XP Deus as well as the trusty ATPro. I was armed with a cooler full of sandwiches and ice cold beverages. It had rained the last two days and I could dig anywhere on the property without worrying about leaving his breathtaking yard looking like Falujah.
I walked around a bit to try and get a feel for the property. I noted where add-ons were done to the home and where original ingress and egress points were. It was a tremendous sized property.
I elected to start by the corn crib as my friend and her husband also own that piece of property. I was uncomfortable being too close to the home before meeting the homeowner face to face. It was too early in the day to get accidentally shot.
The corn crib is old. Really old. It looks older than the house which perplexed me until I was given additional information.
Check out the chain used for the door. That's hand-made blacksmith goodness!
If this doesn't scream old coins, I don't know what does !
I fired the Deus up. I switched to a custom program that I begged off of TNSharpshooter. This man has been killing himself to help me learn my new Deus.
It took about 30 minutes for the sexy to wear off. Every single place that I attempted to detect was massive iron signals. And I mean overwhelming. I tried changing programs, cutting sensitivity, Discrim, and notching. And I believe I did so with intelligence, based on my study of the Deus thus far.
While the Deus is becoming well-known as one of the best detectors in iron, this place was akin to attempting to detect the loose change under the seats of cars at a junk yard.
Just then, the owner pulled up. One of the nicest people that I have ever met. He asked me politely to steer clear of the family pet cemetery while pointing it out. He was also kind enough to tell me that his mom had mentioned that there was an early settlers cabin on a section of the property prior to the house being built. Finally, he closed with telling me to detect wherever I wanted and that anything I found was mine to keep!
With tractors clearly buried by the corn crib, I decided to move to the glorious yard. Surely there were pounds of silver just waiting to be unearthed!
I begin by working the trees. Some of them were monsters. This guy here had to be 5-6 feet in diameter.
Unlike the corn crib, the yard was hauntingly quiet. It was all but devoid of signals. So quiet in fact that I thought the Deus was broken or that I had made a programing mistake, rendering the unit useless. Everything checked out.
After 4 hours of endless detecting, it was time for a sandwich and to think about just what the heck was going on. The corn crib ground read like Europe after WW2. The yard OTOH, was cleaner than most fill dirt. It was driving me nuts!
Next plan of attack was to see if I couldn't locate the site of the original settlers cabin. While I did not know exactly where it was, the owner had pinned it down to a small enough area. I would just pick a line and march back and forth, with the IRON AUDIO turned up. Surely I'd stumble across old nails or some other item.
Almost immediately I encountered the worst case of EMI that I have ever heard on a detector. It was playing rave music on the Deus. I changed freqs and still it remained. WTH? It was so crazy that I busted out the ATPro and it was even worse ! This made no sense as there are no major power poles in the area.
By now I was beaten up pretty bad. This property wasn't coughing up anything and it was driving me nuts. Just then the owner came out and chatted with me a bit. Explained that he thinks there is a six inch electrical or phone cable buried on the property right through where the original cabin sat.
He asked if I had found anything. I explained that I had found nothing other than a few modern coins. He then told me that a couple of detectorists hunted the yard a bit a decade or so ago. AHA !
OK, Plan D. I had two choices. I could abandon the property and go home licking my wounds, or really commit to the property.
According to the owner, the family corn crib was used for years by both the family and the neighbors. He said ever since he could remember (he's mid 80's), wagons would move through it, either adding or taking, depending on time of year. The played around it and in it. People often got together in the space between the house and corn crib. The same place as all of the god-forsaken iron! At some point the crib stopped being used and was converted to the spot where farm equipment came to be repaired or die!
This is when I had an epiphany of sorts. If I was serious........really serious about making great finds, I was going to have to clear the junk. ALL OF IT !
I spent the rest of the day digging iron. Lots of iron. Huge iron ! If I can remove the big stuff, I honestly believe that the Deus will then be able to do its job and filter through the other debris.
I filled multiple 5 five gallon buckets full of iron and metal. Here is an example of the stuff coming out. This was a single pouch dump. That's an axe head converted to a wedge in the upper right corner, for scale.
So what were my finds after 9 hours of detecting and removing an insane amount of junk? 26 cents in clad. This is the only thing I kept. Interesting metal tag.
By now you must be asking yourself, after my entire diatribe and clearly a miserable day detecting with nothing to show, what is my point?
My point is simply this. For every amazing find that you read about on here, there are 100 stories just like mine that are never posted or really talked about. A lot of blood, sweat and tears. I think the only thing that separates those with great finds from those without is how hard detectorists are willing to work to even get a shot at the good stuff.
Are there easier spots? Man, I sure hope so. But until I obtain permission for and identify a cherry picking spot, you'll find me clearing debris until SOMETHING starts to sing! And I'm gonna bring friends too because this place is driving me crazy.
Please don't think I'm being arrogant or pretending to be some great detecting tough guy. I just wanted to share what I believe it takes to make great finds.
It kind of sucks. But I'm told that the rewards can be huge.
I'll save the part about me digging in to a termite nest and being swarmed for some other time.
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