I've been through this area prior to today many times. It's a woodsy section off of a popular fishing spot and I've managed to find a number of silvers over the years and a lot of wheats. Today was no different. I found a 60 D memorial right off. That's close to a wheat, I thought. Then, a ways away, among the good sized saplings, I got a real good copper tone but the numbers were pretty much meaningless. Dug that up and it turned out to be a toasted wheat. And SOP for finding a wheat is to stay put and scour. Well 18" away I get a real good silver tone but it's iffy and the numbers are reading penny or maybe even a clad dime and that's questionable from experience. One of the reasons I don't go to this area often is the iron. I know the maps and the old aerial photos but even though it may have been a quiet picnic area back in the day, it's a monster for iron. And I've been there with the AT Pro and found silver. Today was the SE Pro. 11" coil. I know, I'm crazy for using such a big coil in iron, but the sensitivity for that coil is just astounding. But it's low as you can get in the woods and slow and steady, checking each signal. I dig the target down through the peat layer (3") and into the rock hard clay below, pulling at those sapling roots with my bare left hand and testing again and again with the Carrot. The Carrot, btw, is taking a crap on me and falsing now almost all the time. Time for another Whites Bullseye TRX. ( I lost the last one I had that I bought used from that California Swenson Fella somewhere on a bridle trail in, "No Mans' Land!". And I've looked to no avail!!!") In the tailings I eventually find a somewhat worn 35 P Merc. About a half hour later I find another no date wheat and do the rinse and repeat process with no luck.
I have been out only 3 times since my last post. I went out because I'm just plain stubborn more than anything else. I found some wheats and an old gas pump lock, a National Pump from Dayton, Ohio. But honestly, I regretted going. It was too damned hot. Granted I got some exercise, and maybe lost 4 #'s just on one trip searching about 5 miles through the woods, all sprayed up and 3 bottles of water.
But I go back to the old tried and true area close to home and hit silver. Sheesh! Go figure!
There's no place like Home!
Ed
Glad you scored on the '35 Mercury after expending so much effort in recent hunts, and it's too bad your pinpointer is failing. I use the TRX whenever I have a chance to hunt and find it very reliable and accurate. Like you I got mine used and never regretted doing it that way. Something I find interesting about pinpointing is that back in the 70's when I first started, there were no hand held pinpointers; but the old White's detector I used was so good at putting the signal under the center of the coil, using a push button tuner mounted in the end of the handle to get an ever decreasing signal size, that additional locating help wasn't needed. I was a coinshooter in parks and yards, and once I centered my signal, I would use a screwdriver to lever the coin out. I rarely dug plugs unless I was dealing with a deep target where leveraging was difficult, and I could move pretty quickly over a site without leaving much mess behind. Nowadays it seems I don't have that initial accuracy and I find myself digging more plugs than I'd like.
(09-20-2018 10:04 AM)shadeseeker Wrote: [ -> ]Glad you scored on the '35 Mercury after expending so much effort in recent hunts, and it's too bad your pinpointer is failing. I use the TRX whenever I have a chance to hunt and find it very reliable and accurate. Like you I got mine used and never regretted doing it that way. Something I find interesting about pinpointing is that back in the 70's when I first started, there were no hand held pinpointers; but the old White's detector I used was so good at putting the signal under the center of the coil, using a push button tuner mounted in the end of the handle to get an ever decreasing signal size, that additional locating help wasn't needed. I was a coinshooter in parks and yards, and once I centered my signal, I would use a screwdriver to lever the coin out. I rarely dug plugs unless I was dealing with a deep target where leveraging was difficult, and I could move pretty quickly over a site without leaving much mess behind. Nowadays it seems I don't have that initial accuracy and I find myself digging more plugs than I'd like.
Thanks Shade and that sounds like an awful lot of time consuming work for a target. I can see your point of more focused pinpointing in the days before pinpointers. But one thing you learned is too pinpoint much more accurately with the machine and not rely on a pinpointer, which probably made you a better detectorist for it. I used to think that digging targets was a race against time, like I was in some kind of competition. Being a newbie to the work involved never gave me a perspective of what you guys had under your feet back in those days and how you had to struggle in certain circumstances. Now, me out in the field or in the woods, I have developed a much different perspective of hunting the silver, or gold. I can't even imagine what it was like to detect without a pinpointer. Being the personality that I am, I honestly couldn't do it. I'd a given up a long time ago. But, regardless of the iron in the ground I meet, my detector is just software too slow. I am at a new crossroads now. Should I upgrade, to what, and how much longer can I actually do this? I could take the challenge on. I'm still healthy. I have the motivation. But what do I have to prove to myself? Is there more out there?
I do believe there is. Much, much more.
I hope you can get out this coming Fall and wish you the best of luck with the skill you alone own.
Take care Shade.
Ed
I have followed your posts for a couple of years now and I know you have used a number of detectors as you have honed your techniques. There are so many sophisticated units available now and more on the way all the time; so I'm sure you can find the one that's perfect for your style once you decide to move on to another machine. I sure hope so because I really enjoy reading about your experiences in the woods and seeing photos of your finds; and I want to see a lot more.
After you mentioned getting a new TRX something in my memory clicked and I went into nostalgia mode about "the good old days"; hence my recollections of hunting without a pinpointer. I hope I didn't convey the notion that they are not an important part of an MDer's arsenal. I started to mention that my hunting style in smooth, manicured, well watered lawns and parks back then, (and even now, as I seem to be a creature of habit), contrasts so starkly with your techniques in amongst trees, roots, brambles, and brushy undergrowth. In your case a handheld pointer is not only very convenient but almost as essential to success as the detector itself. Best of luck to you as you pioneer on through the rough! One more thing---I enjoyed the videos you used to post for us of your woodland hunts; any more to come?
Ed, congratulations on #48! You are paying your dues to his crazy life style and it always pays off.
Now that the heat has passed you'll get out there more often, I am certain of that.
Best of luck,
Tony
48 is a great year, Ed, and you still have all of fall. Nice pull on the merc
(09-22-2018 09:04 PM)NjNyDigger Wrote: [ -> ]48 is a great year, Ed, and you still have all of fall. Nice pull on the merc
Thanks Joe! Great to hear from you! I'm hoping to hit 50 for September! The weather is on the cooldown and nothing gets me more motivated than NICE WEATHER!
Ed
Went out for about 3 hours the other day and I literally have about 15 mosquito bites up and down my arms. To be honest, if I COULD detect comfortably in the heat/humidity, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but feeling like you can't breathe isn't much fun. I envy those who are impervious to hot weather. That's why the Mexicans are the best treasure hunters in the world. Excellent landscapers, too 