Look before you beep -

[steve in so az]

What a heading ! Something I have developed in my mind over the years is to look and study the site before jumping right in. You older detectorists know this but I thought it may give some ideas to the newer people.
When I get to a site I try to think about where things went on. An old church = where did the bake sale take place; where did they park the cars or horse & buggy ; where would you go if you were a kid and had time to play there?

At old forts & camps = where did they have huts & such; where's the water supply; where did they put lookouts; where did they dump the trash ?

In house yards where was the traffic around the place; where did they hang out the laundry; if the lawn is high what about the edges of it where it frequently drops off; is the old lawn around the tree trunks low like it should be?

Sometimes 5 minutes of looking around and thinking just might pay big dividends for you, Steve in so az

[del]

i couldn't agree more steve , also the items you might think are junk can lead you to better finds, example at an old cellar i was detecting quite away from the actual hole when i got a low sounding target , it turned out to be a toe plate ( a piece of metal that protects tip of the boots from wear) not really a good find but i stopped and surveyed the immediate area and it looked like an old pathway(very subtle to see ) so iwent one way and nothing came back and went the other and thats when i started hitting buttons ,indian heads a large cent a shield nickle and a war of 1812 artillary button . it turned out to be a picnic area that was a few hundered feet from the cellar that every body missed

[steve in so az]

Del - That's the perfect example !! What a find, Steve

[leslie(nova scotia)]

From the land of the Bluenose...good post and sure is true to the toe. Thanks for the reminder and agreat help to the newbies!