Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Question on Trashy Parks/Garrette AT Pro

N

Nebu

New Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2017
Messages
28
Location
Irvine, California
I have two areas I've metal detected with my Ace 250 for 3 years. I just upgraded to a AT Pro with a stock coil. I hope to upgrade to a Nel Snake.

So I go to this field where each year they have a pumpkin patch and a Xmas tree farm for probably 47 years or so. So each year more and more iron and dropped things are added to the field. I've still managed to get one silver coin and about $70 in change out of the field.


My settings have been 35 iron desc on Pro zero mode. I cranked it up to even 40 iron descrim and I pulled out even more coins.

What should I do to find less change and more treasure? If I dig every target above 30 I might be in that field for the rest of my life. A better coil should help but I was doing things like:

Only looking for 80 and up signals. Walked away with quarters and 100s of dimes.

Only look for say 50-60 range?

I also have a park with the same situation. There's just so many targets to dig, I think 1000s of pull tabs because it's a sports park where people sit and drink. I don't know if I want to spend 3 years digging each target.

But how can I find the treasure using those 2 locations? Do I just have to dig everything?

Thoughts/suggestions?
 
Nebu, First of all, Welcome to the forum! You've got a great machine. If you truly want to find treasure and have a great permission to hunt and you are fairly young, take the time to dig everything! At least all signals over 40...HH
 
Just like you I started off with an Ace 250 then upgraded. Sounds like you are doing everything right. I'd just dig any repeatable tones at 50 on up and see what you get. That way you avoid most iron and foil. Digging the mid tones is well worth it. I have had to dig thousands of pull tabs but a lot of times it's a nickel, plus every once in a while I get a gold ring and all the digging and frustration is forgotten. Good luck!
 
Look your doing great , take your time , a field like that may have some good finds along with the others . If your bored digging multiple coins every day , you may just lose interest and miss great finds along the way.
Good Luck. HH
 
I'd kill for your problems. For me... and this is just me... I'd start with high tones. Clean those out then work back to mid tones. Maybe by the time you clean out all of those quarters you can upgrade to a machine with an even faster recovery time to get the good stuff from the mid tone trash.

BCD
 
I use the AT Pro. I always set it in Pro/Zero mode, full sensitivity. If your goal is surface drops, reduce the sensitivity. I always use maximum (40) discrimination. If it's a surface find that you're looking for, it should scream, and this is what I would do.

For your trashy park, same settings...but you have to dig 50 and above. In Pro/Zero mode, trashy targets are more likely to add low tones into the mix. So if you hit a 60s target with low tones mixed in, I'd bet you have a rusty bottlecap. A 60s target with no low tones mixed in is probably something more interesting...but could also be a pop-top. Gotta dig 'em.

Long story short: tons of trash means tons of people. Dig stuff.
 
Last edited:
One of the nicest gold rings I've dug, was in the foil range. I dig everything with a repeatable sig. from foil up... (You just can't be sure unless you, pull the plug up! )HH&GL
 
Short answer, you need to dig it all... but, if pull tabs ring up a predictable 53-55, and you know this because you have dug a few, just don't dig that range. Foil and canslaw is another story entirely... you guessed it - dig it all.
 
Nebu, if I was in a park, that was a junk (tabs & foil) strewn as you describe, I would cherry pick for coins . Like to look for older deep silver there. Assuming it's an old park, that is.

If you want gold rings, then pick a place that has better jewelry ratios: Swim beaches. Or at least .... types of sports/athetics turf where eating and drinking isn't occurring. Because any time you have eating/drinking (picnic tables) , that just introduces foil and tabs. And if you have BBQ pits, that makes it worse yet, because it introduces molten can nuggets.
 
Its HUGE fun to figure out a place like that! Just relax and think about it a little...Now that you have hunted it for a few years, the mysteries in it should start to gel...What is the dirt telling you? Are you finding a lot of old style beaver tail tabs from the 60's? At a certain depth and in certain areas? Older nickels?

I say this because that tells you some important things about the site...Thats a pay streak area for older lost gold!...People wore gold in the 60s/70s (married, no bastard amalgams back then) and were outside a lot more than today..

If you can find the deeper nickels and older tabs, signifying 60s/70s travel zones, you are in the right paydirt for older gold drops....!

This Sport is a thinking game...you gotta think about your finds at a location, they will tell you everything you need to know... who has hunted it before, and how hard, skill level, what their focus target was etc...

Then you can adjust accordingly to maximize your time in field...
 
Mud-puppy said:
Its HUGE fun to figure out a place like that! Just relax and think about it a little...Now that you have hunted it for a few years, the mysteries in it should start to gel...What is the dirt telling you? Are you finding a lot of old style beaver tail tabs from the 60's? At a certain depth and in certain areas? Older nickels?

Then you can adjust accordingly to maximize your time in field...
Click to expand...

Both locations seem to "end" around 1965. This week I found a few 1965 quarters. I've found ONE 1964 quarter. The city was established in 1971.

I have found some cans from the 1970-1960s with the OLD weird tabs. yes.
 
as you look at all the great finds on this forum, one thing will stand out . It does not seem to matter it it is a dirt digger or pirate . The guys who consistently produce treasure also dig a lot trash on each hunt . I think it would be very hard to find a MDer who only scooped or dug specifically gold rings ,other bling ,or 925 . A lot of great advice from the guys above , Good Luck. HH
 
Your not doing anything wrong at all, keep at it and most of all location is key if your looking for oldies. Can't find old stuff that isn't there! Happy hunting!
 
All great advice , two things ,
1 hunting that environment will make you very good very fast . Digging it all or not . Finding pieces of good signals in that mess will make you a killer.

2. Nothing like a small 5 inch sniper coil in that kind of environment . Helps see around the masking of the junk and will actually give you more depth in that crowded environment . They call them sniper coils for a reason . Very compact and targeted line of sight strait down .
, best of luck ..
Dew
 
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