Big Boys Hobbies

How deep do you dig?

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Kale1278

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2020
Messages
93
Location
Sherman, TX
I was in a public park today and dug 18 inches and two foot wide, to retrieve two pipe fittings.... they both rand up as silver (Solid 95’s on the AT Max). It kept registering so I kept digging

Anyway how far, or deep do you dig? Does the location change how far you will go? I know the few people that saw me thought I was crazy: hell I was thinking I was crazy too.
 
The deeper you have to dig the more likely it is to be a big target that requires a wider hole. If its in a park the it becomes awkward to hide this from onlookers. If I'm in a farm field or vacant lot I will dig real deep out of curiosity. I once spent about 20 min digging a huge loud high tone. It turned out to be a shovel about 2 feet down.
 
MuddyMo said:
2' wide and 18" deep in a public park???!!!
Not good. You need to watch some videos of properly digging plugs in parks and home sites.
Click to expand...

I did cut plugs, and used a small rake when cleaning up; it looked very nice when I was done. I have searched but have not found anything about depth/size. What is the “rule”? And when do you exercise this rule and when do you go for it? I typically only dig 4-6 inches and have a small 6inch diameter max. I went rogue today.
 
I search for silver coins in old public parks. If it's deeper than the length of my pinpointer, the signal will be faint. If i do get a nice, deep, FAINT, silver signal, i will cut a clean, larger plug. Maybe a foot at the widest. A solid signal over 10 inches is nothing I'm going to risk someone seeing me dig in a public park. 2 feet wide and a foot and a half deep is way too big for a public park in my opinion. Keep at it. You'll get the hang of it. Early on, in my ignorance, I dug some holes in parks I'm not proud of. No matter how good you clean up, the damage will be easily seen a day later. Especially if you had to keep making the hole wider as you went deeper.

Good luck out there!
 
Kale1278 said:
I did cut plugs, and used a small rake when cleaning up; it looked very nice when I was done. I have searched but have not found anything about depth/size. What is the “rule”? And when do you exercise this rule and when do you go for it? I typically only dig 4-6 inches and have a small 6inch diameter max. I went rogue today.
Click to expand...

Raise your detector 12" or more off the ground. If you're still getting a loud solid signal, 99.9% of the time it's something big or a piece of aluminum (soda can). If you raise your detector 18" and still getting a signal, leave it in the ground unless you're in a vacant field or wooded area.
 
I'm with LSU, The raising the coil is a good method. In sodded (well groomed) areas I limit my plug depth to the length of my Leisch. In playgrounds (chip areas) can go much deeper because repair is easy. Woods and old building areas that are obviously run down I go much deeper also. Though just because it is an old property I do still take time to properly replace the plug and leave the area as it was. Sandy areas with no vegetation is also much deeper and very easy to repair. I did however have a stupid mistake before I learned to raise my coil and dug a big hole and it turned to be an old car. Large cast iron objects also can be very deep and give you a very strong report.
 
Digging holes that big is NOT a good thing even if you clean it up after digging.
Like others said, there are ways to tell when it's something large and NOT a coin or piece of jewelry. MOST coins will be no deeper than 7-8 inches.
 
Kale1278 said:
I was in a public park today and dug 18 inches and two foot wide, to retrieve two pipe fittings.... they both rand up as silver (Solid 95’s on the AT Max). It kept registering so I kept digging

Anyway how far, or deep do you dig? Does the location change how far you will go? I know the few people that saw me thought I was crazy: hell I was thinking I was crazy too.
Click to expand...

It depends on where I am hunting and what I am hunting. Hunting silver in old parks, never below 8" most often 5-6". volleyball courts and tot lots easy, never more than 5-6" of sand. If below sand, I assume stuff before the sand court was built and usually junk. Volleyball courts only looking for recent drops.

Civil War relic hunting a different ball game. If lucky the permission site does not have a lot of junk so pretty much dig everything and deep.

ocean beach, easy to dig so depth does not matter much unless you are in chest high water with waves. Very difficult digging to say the least.

you will eventually figure it out with time and esperience.
 
kajunman said:
Raise your detector 12" or more off the ground. If you're still getting a loud solid signal, 99.9% of the time it's something big or a piece of aluminum (soda can). If you raise your detector 18" and still getting a signal, leave it in the ground unless you're in a vacant field or wooded area.
Click to expand...
This is also my plan of attack as well. I'm extremely careful when digging a nice lawn or park setting. Using the flap method and a towel or plastic sheet to put you dirt on is paramount in getting and keeping permission to dig. In the woods go ahead and dig, but fill in the hole and pick up the trash you dig.
 
If you don't dig those big holes how are you going to get the treasure chest out of the hole :?::laughing:
 
Like others have said, a lot depends on where I'm digging, how long I've been hunting, and what kind of mood I'm in. If I'm hunting a lawn, a public park or a schoolyard, I keep my plug small (no more than 6-8" wide) and rarely dig more than about 8" down. If I'm in the woods or a field I'll dig wider and deeper. In any case I almost never go more than a foot deep - I'm not looking for dinosaur bones, and anything that rings up that deep is almost definitely a big hunk of iron or an aluminum can.
 
stiffwrists said:
i search for silver coins in old public parks. If it's deeper than the length of my pinpointer, the signal will be faint. If i do get a nice, deep, faint, silver signal, i will cut a clean, larger plug. Maybe a foot at the widest. A solid signal over 10 inches is nothing i'm going to risk someone seeing me dig in a public park. 2 feet wide and a foot and a half deep is way too big for a public park in my opinion. Keep at it. You'll get the hang of it. Early on, in my ignorance, i dug some holes in parks i'm not proud of. No matter how good you clean up, the damage will be easily seen a day later. Especially if you had to keep making the hole wider as you went deeper.

Good luck out there!
Click to expand...
THIS

not this:digginahole:
 
I'm past those days of worrying that I've left a nice silver dollar 12" deep in the park. Pipe fittings, crushed cans, huge bolts or nuts I've dug them, but dug very neat. No more. I've never dug a coin past the Garrett Pro pointer depth. Usually coins do not go past the blade on the hand held Leche knife, 7". Ocasional 8" -9" happens but not often.
Once you get good at pinpointing with the detector you should be digging straight down and maybe a little off in either direction, a little like 1.5 to 2.0 inches! If you find you've pinpointed and after digging a little the signal is now off to where you have to widen much your digging trash. Heavily rusted nails are great for doing that.
After a while you can tell a coin signal. Be careful in parks. A couple dollars worth of silver is not nearly worth a "No metal detecting" sign. HH and stay the course friend.
 
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