Getting back into the hobby in Tacoma/Puyallup, WA

Jabomb9

New Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Messages
7
Hello everybody,

My name is Jay and I got my first detector for my golden birthday when I was nine. It was a Radio Shack model and I never really had the patience to learn it correctly back then, however, I picked up a Garrett AT Pro (sports package with the 5x8" coil) and a Pro Pointer AT. I did search and rescue growing up, hiked, and have been geocaching for most of my life and am interested in metal detecting to get out and explore some cool places.

I have searched around and have found some threads that suggest areas to start, but a lot of the topics are older, so I thought I'd post here and see if anyone has any updated lists?

I would love any links or tips for new people, and I would also like to get together with someone some day, but I am a locomotive engineer with BNSF so my schedule is all over the place. To start, I'm just looking for some places to start hunting. I went to Bradley Lake Park yesterday and found some pennies and fishing weights, but still lots to learn.

Thanks for reading!

Jay
 
Most areas have had county or city histories written, so visit the library and look for those. You will find a lot of old towns, businesses, parks, etc. in these. Also, just use the internet and your imagination. For example, there is a site called Oldmapsonline.org that has lots of old maps of every area. For your particular area, there seems to be a lot, including old USGS topographic maps, road maps, railroad maps, lots of stuff. Old USGS maps are great, as they show the locations of old schools, churches, houses and buildings that may not be there now - but the stuff people dropped there may still be.

If you like woods or wilderness hunting, try finding old logging camps and sawmills. There's a master's thesis someone published that's online at digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1734&context=etd about logging camps in Western Washington with locations, pictures, etc. (don't know if this is on private, state or fed land - learn the rules for each). Abandoned logging camps and sawmills are fun to hunt and there were lots of lumber companies that paid their employees with tokens. Just google 'Washington lumber tokens' - I don't know about Washington, but in Texas these sawmill towns often do not exist any more, and are basically ghost towns that have been reclaimed by the forests. There are a couple of books on Washington trade tokens, too.

So basically just use your imagination! Join a metal detecting club in your area - those folks know the area and (most) are happy to help a newby out, plus there are sometimes club hunts. They can help you learn how to get the best out of your machine, too. Have fun!
 
Great! thank you for the information and tips, I'll definitely look into everything!
 
Welcome to the forum. I lived in Lakewood back in 2001-2003. I know of a good tot lot and park that gave me some great coins when I started out.
 
Welcome from So Oregon!
 

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Welcome from Lakewood, Washington. My hunting buddy, Ron, and I have been hunting the Tacoma/Lacy/Olympia/Kent/Auburn/Eatonville/Graham and a few other Washington State areas for the past few years. My detector and equipment, AT Pro-GPP-AT, ect, appear to be the same as you are using so maybe this will help. I've done the beaches at Ocean Shores, Kalaloch, Twin Harbors and Westport/Grayland with the same results and discoveries. And, those results was no great finds and the discovery that the AT Pro is not a good sand machine, along our mineral saturated beaches, anyway. I've had about the same luck in parks as I've had while digging some of the permission sites we've dug on private property. I've decided that the two prerequisites to finding cool things in Washington State is that Someone lost something, and I had my coil over it before someone else found it.
 
Hi jay! I live in the Puyallup area. I also have the AT PRO. I also searched Bradley lake park today. I found nails and some farming iron. If you ever want a partner or someone to bounce ideas off of I’d be interested. I’m also thinking of joining a club.
 
Welcome from Oregon, I googled Brardley park and see there are 2 softball fields. I would be checking the sideline where people sit and take their rings off to play ball.
 
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