What is your top detecting Tip? Checklist

[Dick Stout]

While I have changed my methods because of age, I think you need to:

1. Determine what it is you are after, and the best way to find it.
2. Learn your detector, it's features, , it's audio signals, it's readouts and it's nuances.
3. ONLY search those sites that offer what it is you are looking for.
4. If you are detecting a very old site dig ALL marginal signals (questionable ones).
5. Don't give up on a site that you have researched well just because your first search was not all that profitable.

[del]

While I have changed my methods because of age, I think you need to:

1. Determine what it is you are after, and the best way to find it.
2. Learn your detector, it's features, , it's audio signals, it's readouts and it's nuances.
3. ONLY search those sites that offer what it is you are looking for.
4. If you are detecting a very old site dig ALL marginal signals (questionable ones).
5. Don't give up on a site that you have researched well just because your first search was not all that profitable.

those are great tips Dick , those of us that have some years into this hobby can agree to those keys of success.

[lcoutback]

I hope everyone new to this hobby (and those who aren't) read each and every line of this thread.

Great information... Thanks to all for your insight, now maybe this ol' relic will have better success finding relics! |

[ChrisinCT]

When I hunt old parks, I try to envision what it looked like back then and ask myself if I was here back then and nature called where would I go?

Ill look for an old tree or someplace from public view.

I also look for trees that have grown more sideway than straight up.
This could indicate that someone had bent and sat on it when it was a sapling.

I haven't found my dream silver spill as of yet but I have found a couple Mercs and wheats this way.

[Willems]

Never wear shoe's with the steel nose.
Put your ring off your finger.
And never give up.

[Caretaker]

an old timer told me this years ago and Bill Revis told me it too, SLOW DOWN

[Cheap Thrills]

I would agree with go slow and overlap your sweeps . I think the most important one today though is to be aware of your surroundings and whatever hazards may be around .

[Full Metal Digger]

I'm sticking with my original input: Always know where the nearest bathroom is! (seriously) Ask anyone who detects with me and they will confirm that! LOL.

[Cheap Thrills]

I'm sticking with my original input: Always know where the nearest bathroom is! (seriously) Ask anyone who detects with me and they will confirm that! LOL.

Wow , if Daddy Digger hadn't made his comment about sticking to his original input I wouldn't have realized this was an old thread that I had previously commented on over 5 1/2 years ago . Seems I was a bit concerned about my surroundings back then too . Since then a few of my old places have been the scenes of beatings , muggings and even a few murders .
I no longer hunt these places being old age and a worn out body has forced me to know my limitations (as Dirty Harry would say ).I agree with Daddy Digger on the fact that one not being able to relieve themselves comprises cruel and unusual punishment . It's happened more than once , that when I was about to water the plants that I had to keep the floodgates closed because of women or children unexpectedly showing up on the scene, such is life , Merry Christmas all .

[Ken C]

So, my best tip to have a "successful" hunt would be to define what you want to accomplish on your hunt before you go.

Things that go into defining my goals are:
- time I have to detect
- what I'm tying to find
- where I am detecting

Examples:
- is it a short hunt in a park? If so, I will normally just dig high tones to maximize my chance to finding a coin.
- is it a long hunt on an old 1700s/1800s farm field? If so, I would dig everything. I've spent 8+ hours on fields before and have dug amazing coins or military buttons that had really iffy signals or odd VDIs.

[mylastnerve.rw]

Hello all,

Curious what your top tip would be. I envision this thread as a sort of checklist, but not quite. If you have what you think is a good tip or two, then put it in here. Ok, here goes, preceding technique...

MINDSET - I have found that the better and more positive my mindset the better I hunt, the more intuitive I am to know where to hunt, the better I listen and focus, etc. Now, we can't always have the best of mindsets and sometimes we detect to get away from things but we clearly can still affect it. Just drinking a coffee seems to pick me up mentally. Planning the night before sort of pumps me up. ehehe You get the point.

FOCUS - This relates to Mindset. When I am swinging I listen and hunt better if my mind is focused or at least just open and relaxed as opposed to thinking of a problem, Hey, is that a cop?, something else, etc. If you are 100% with what you are doing, very little is going to pass you by. But if you are only partially there, well then that speaks for itself. We can't expect the machine to do all the work. So, imagine you are a surgeon as a lot is riding on you!

EMS

I find that having an extra metal detector around is a plus instead of selling it so if you have a family member or friend visiting they can accompany you on your venture and it just makes it more fun when there's someone else around to share in the excitement when you find a new little treasure!

Sent from my SM-J737A using Tapatalk

[mylastnerve.rw]

Good call Swamp Yankee, I have a small spray bottle with diluted water in it which i use to remove some of the dirt on site...enough to hopefully id the coin.

I cringe seeing people sandpapering nice old goodies to see the date.
lol yep same here, I see it loads of times and it kills me to watch someone do it lol Another one is when someone comes up to you to ask you want you think the coin is and they remove the contents of their days searching from their pockets and and somewhere in between all the scrap metal and other bits and pieces is the coin they want you to look at..its been sat in the ground for hundreds of years going about its own business only for someone to try and destroy it getting brushed up against bits of scrap bronze etc in their pocket or finds pouch.
So i also keep a load of small self seal bags so they can keep it in a better enviroment...I'm sure some of my mates do this on purpose because they all know how much its gets to me

It's hard to imagine they just being in the same bag with other trinkets can harm anything in just a few minutes of carrying them. I guess I don't understand it's not like you're scrubbing them with coarse steel wool?

Sent from my SM-J737A using Tapatalk

[mylastnerve.rw]

I hope everyone new to this hobby (and those who aren't) read each and every line of this thread.

Great information... Thanks to all for your insight, now maybe this ol' relic will have better success finding relics! |

Not everyone has an extra metal detector however some people do when their spouse accompanies them or they've upgraded and just haven't sold their old one. I recommend hanging on to it and taking your buddies with you when they're visiting. Sure they may not know as much as you and it's a lot more fun when you find something wonderful to holler out hey come over here and look what I found! Instead of being all alone.

Sent from my SM-J737A using Tapatalk

[BOWSER]

Ask around before buying large coils, they end up wearing your arm out after a very short time,always have a back up detector that runs batteries. If you are digging a hole with a digging tool dig 4 inches the first time and always check the sides of the hole