Ok i have only hunted one school in my life and only found a few coins and a broken watch. And that was with the Gold bug SE. I have a xterra 70 and was wanting to hit this Jr high feild that host soccor games almost everyweekend, and people fly lots of kites and just hang out on it as it is ajacent to a park with a pond. I was wondering what settings coin or prospecting mode should i use? Or u recomend. I can't head out this weekend as it snowed and we got almost 5 inches. But will i get sweated if i start digging up the feild? I have a good digging tool and will be carfull as i dig. I just never really hunted a school before, and feel weired doing it. I just hunt rivers and creeks for natural gold. I have the 9inch mid freq coil would that work or should i get the WOT? and if so what freq. Thanks any pointers would be great jess.
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Coin and tresure detecing a JR high feild?
- Thread starter Jessgo33
- Start date
It all depends on what the trash level is. If about average for a school, a DD coil might be a distinct advantage due to it's ability to separate. The actual trash density would dictate the best size DD to get, and the targets sought would have a lot of bearing on which frequency would be best. To learn more about what coil to choose, I would refer you to Randy's four part blog article on the Minelab website entitled "Which Xterra Coil Is Best For Me?"
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 1
http://www.minelab.com/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-1
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 2
http://www.minelab.com/usa/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-2
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 3
http://WWW.minelab.com/usa/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-3
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 4
http://www.minelab.com/usa/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-4
As for settings.....
Whatever you like that works. There are no magic settings. I would recommend C/T mode, having your Tracking ON, 99 tones, and possibly Disc mode with nothing notched out. Sensitivity should be at a level that allows stable operation.
Places like that are unpredictable as far as EMI goes, so it's possible that you might need to Auto Noise Cancel often. If everything has been working fine and it becomes noisy, suspect EMI.
Beyond that, just be respectful of the actual playing fields. Detect shaded areas, along sidelines (or anywhere that spectators might be), near gates in fences, along routes to and from the parking area(s), all around parking areas (people are taking keys and things out of their pockets near their cars), and any other high traffic areas.
GL&HH!
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 1
http://www.minelab.com/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-1
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 2
http://www.minelab.com/usa/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-2
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 3
http://WWW.minelab.com/usa/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-3
Which X-TERRA coil is best for me? part 4
http://www.minelab.com/usa/treasure-talk/which-x-terra-coil-is-best-for-me-part-4
As for settings.....
Whatever you like that works. There are no magic settings. I would recommend C/T mode, having your Tracking ON, 99 tones, and possibly Disc mode with nothing notched out. Sensitivity should be at a level that allows stable operation.
Places like that are unpredictable as far as EMI goes, so it's possible that you might need to Auto Noise Cancel often. If everything has been working fine and it becomes noisy, suspect EMI.
Beyond that, just be respectful of the actual playing fields. Detect shaded areas, along sidelines (or anywhere that spectators might be), near gates in fences, along routes to and from the parking area(s), all around parking areas (people are taking keys and things out of their pockets near their cars), and any other high traffic areas.
GL&HH!
tonopahkid
New member
I would start off using the stock coil in coin mode .You want to learn how to prob a coin using a small coin probe or screwdriver look at your meter an read the depth.Detecting in grass areas takes some practice finding coins and such,but its good practice.
Yea i get kinda nevious about making a mess by digging up to much. I do have some skill as iv been detecting river banks for gold and such but have been able to find my targets quite easy and only dig a tiny bit. OK i will put on the stock coil and prob head out when my sememster ends in 2 weeks. Plus with all the students out for xmas break it should be pretty quite out their. 
tonopahkid
New member
Most of my detecting any more is on dirt so I don't have to worry about grass much,though I do go to a field once in a while just to keep in practice .
You can hunt through snow very well in a spot like that. Bag your coil though, (see pic) or it will turn into a big block of heavy ice/snow. just take one of those plastic shopping bags and pull it up over your coil and tie it off to the shaft.
If you are jewelry/coin hunting, you can easily stab through the ground to the target with a screwdriver and pop them. Lots of times with that much snow the ground is not frozen underneath, so just sweep off the target area with your foot, stab, grab, and go with no digging or kneeling at all. Kick some snow back on top of your dig area. The snow helps you work a good grid too! Easy to see where you have been...find the target heavy locations and have fun!
If the ground is too frozen, its still a good way to find the "lane" then come back in the Spring and clean up! Changes from hunting to harvesting and is a very fast way to detect in the Winter, then dig in the Spring, you get to know the layout, and thats half the battle right there!
Mud
If you are jewelry/coin hunting, you can easily stab through the ground to the target with a screwdriver and pop them. Lots of times with that much snow the ground is not frozen underneath, so just sweep off the target area with your foot, stab, grab, and go with no digging or kneeling at all. Kick some snow back on top of your dig area. The snow helps you work a good grid too! Easy to see where you have been...find the target heavy locations and have fun!
If the ground is too frozen, its still a good way to find the "lane" then come back in the Spring and clean up! Changes from hunting to harvesting and is a very fast way to detect in the Winter, then dig in the Spring, you get to know the layout, and thats half the battle right there!Mud
Thanks mud thats a good idea i will try that, the bad thing is i have a 2wd toyota truck and i can't get out of my drive way i just tried to go get me some coffee and i could not get out of my drive way. So do you ever use a lashe digging tool or other close to it? Or just a screw driver? I was thinking of bringing with me a old towel and put my dirt and stuff on that as iv seen people on youtube do that to make it less messy.
Hey Jess, I hunt a lot of sportsfields and schools etc...no I never carry any kind of digger there, just the screwdriver...I have never been tossed off either...The maint guys dont hassle me at all...I dont wear kneepads or a heavy looking tool pouch, just a cheapo canvas nail bag. I'm pretty sure any kind of heavy gear or any shovel looking thing would get me kicked out fast..I pretty much appear to be somebodys dad just out for a dink around...but I do rack up lots of loot with minimal equipment in a short time....I am after jewelry and clad...though I have found some silver coins along the way...I carry a fold-up lockblade knife in my tool pouch so that if I do get a great deep silver signal, I cut a slit through the sod and wow out a hole underneath it with the screwdriver large enough to get my hand down in there to stab around and find the target..I dig a hole maybe once per week for a deep target. the rest are surface to 5" that can be stabbed and grabbed with a screwdriver.
Mud
Mud
Awesome i figured you would use a lashe digging tool or something similar just to make a 4x4 hole and plop the grass back in. What dose the rings and stuff register on a xterra? Is silver on the low scale say 8-15 on the numbers? I would love to find a ring one day. I did find a undated merc silver dime at the river earler this summer and it was prettty amazing to find somthing that old. I actually fell in love with detecting after that. It was pretty worn down by the river but you could see what it was.
Jess,
Nope, I never dig a hole on an active sportsfield..(OldLonghair tried to tell you) . its just not cricket! Anybody, and I mean ANYBODY that sees you digging a hole there will bust a spring and you will get in trouble! You are hunting a junior high school/ sportsfield right? That means if you are looking for silver or gold rings, you should try to think about where the spectators sit or where the snow is pushed over by where the teachers park and along the entrances where the snow is shoveled, (generally based upon the predominant downwind) etc..(again, like what OL said) .Junior high kids will lose a little silver jewelry, but not many of them are wearing gold..their Mothers do though, so you gotta think about that and hunt the locations where the Moms travel...since you are hunting the Mothers for gold, you need to focus on foil signals, since most womens gold rings are little 2-4 grammers that tone in the foil...
I am not experienced at all with Minelabs, just hunting the kind of location you originally mentioned, generally for gold...so your brothers here will have to address that TID/tone issue...my first silver coin was also a merc, and it hooked me pretty bad too!
You WILL find lots of rings if you are just out hunting..more silver than gold ones, since its hard to miss that silver "ping" gold is tougher to find since the signals can be from high iron/low foil all the way up into the zinc tones! You got a top of the line machine, and you have access to some very knowledgeable brothers here on the Minelab forum, so you will be successful with it as long as you get out and hunt as much as you can and learn what it is trying to tell you...you get good and fast with a screwdriver (like tonopahkid told you) and you will get more targets in half the time than digging for them, which will shorten your learning curve immensely, put more targets in your pouch per outing, so then its just a matter of the odds in your favor..
I'm pretty sure you will find a ring along side the sidewalk where the main school entrance is...they are always there. Good Luck buddy, your Minelab brothers will help...read all the forums you can no matter what brand detector is being used, there are some pretty powerful hunters in this bunch.
Mud
Nope, I never dig a hole on an active sportsfield..(OldLonghair tried to tell you) . its just not cricket! Anybody, and I mean ANYBODY that sees you digging a hole there will bust a spring and you will get in trouble! You are hunting a junior high school/ sportsfield right? That means if you are looking for silver or gold rings, you should try to think about where the spectators sit or where the snow is pushed over by where the teachers park and along the entrances where the snow is shoveled, (generally based upon the predominant downwind) etc..(again, like what OL said) .Junior high kids will lose a little silver jewelry, but not many of them are wearing gold..their Mothers do though, so you gotta think about that and hunt the locations where the Moms travel...since you are hunting the Mothers for gold, you need to focus on foil signals, since most womens gold rings are little 2-4 grammers that tone in the foil...
I am not experienced at all with Minelabs, just hunting the kind of location you originally mentioned, generally for gold...so your brothers here will have to address that TID/tone issue...my first silver coin was also a merc, and it hooked me pretty bad too!
You WILL find lots of rings if you are just out hunting..more silver than gold ones, since its hard to miss that silver "ping" gold is tougher to find since the signals can be from high iron/low foil all the way up into the zinc tones! You got a top of the line machine, and you have access to some very knowledgeable brothers here on the Minelab forum, so you will be successful with it as long as you get out and hunt as much as you can and learn what it is trying to tell you...you get good and fast with a screwdriver (like tonopahkid told you) and you will get more targets in half the time than digging for them, which will shorten your learning curve immensely, put more targets in your pouch per outing, so then its just a matter of the odds in your favor..I'm pretty sure you will find a ring along side the sidewalk where the main school entrance is...they are always there. Good Luck buddy, your Minelab brothers will help...read all the forums you can no matter what brand detector is being used, there are some pretty powerful hunters in this bunch.
Mud
So what whould i do with a screw driver? Like pin point it then stab the ground in a small circle and unplug the dirt? I just thought do it like a golf divit and pull it and put it back in the ground. But if what your telling me i will take a screw driver with me since i don't have a coin probe. It suppose to warm up by the weekend so i may head out since the grass should be wet. Well this feild is more like a play ground that has 3 levels and everyone plays on it since they cant leave campus. I went their and even remember throwing change out on the feild. Pictue a 3 level feild say 75 yards by 75 yards on each lv. Their is no bleachers but on the middle feild their are goal posts but the soccor games are on all 3 feilds with lots of people out their all the time. I never see anyone detecting. and drive by it everyday sometimes up to 5 times a day since i live by it, and have for years. But i do see what you are saying and i don't want to get in trouble. I got a small digging tool maybe 12 inches long by 2 inches wide and was just going to use that and dig a small divit and put it back. Is their anything wrong with that? Yea i loved the felling i got when i hit that silver. I really thought it was a nugget. I will take a pic since i got my camra working.
When you hit a shallow target, just stoop over and stab it...then, pull the tip of the driver a little up from on top of the coin and sort of wiggle the screwdriver blade back and forth right over the top of the target to wow out a little hole, slide your finger down in there along side the screwdriver, use the tip of the driver to stand the coin up on edge, pinch the coin between the driver and your finger and pull it straight out of the hole...heres a few pics where you can sort of see how dirty my left hand finger gets, and what you can expect once you get good at this...easily over 100 targets in a few hours... the youtube vids show "coin popping" I dont pop, I stab straight down and wow out a hole...like I said, this works fast on targets from 4" to surface, you do this enough and you dont need anything like a handheld pinpointer, or even use the pinpoint button on your machine. I have never had one so had to learn by doing just using the big main coil...you get pretty fast if you dedicate to hunting shallow clad targets, you will go from ping to pouch in less than 20 sec, and will never kneel down, just stoop stab, grab and go..thats why you dont need kneepads...also, when not deployed, you keep the screwdriver blade tucked up along side your arm out of sight..not sticking out like a knife....The best time to hunt your spot is going to be Sunday mornings very early and out of there in a few hours...Saturdays usually have some sort of function at the schools...Christmas break is a good time to work the entrances...you just really dont want to be there if theres ANYBODY around, just not prudent to have some scared worker call the cops because they see you out there with what looks like a knife walking around..and definitely NEVER during hours or really anytime throughout the week...Sun morn will give you about 3-4 hrs all alone...so you have to be fast..
Mud.
Mud.
Jessgo,
As Mud and others will tell you. LEARN to use a screwdriver. I use one in private yards, parks, schools. Never used a Lesche, trowel or shovel until just recently, and only then in fields or vacant lots where no one cares.
Pinpoint your item. Probe the ground exactly where you think it is, then slowly work your way around in an ever widening circle. Don't be afraid to probe down several inches. It takes a bit of time but eventually you will be able to tell a coin from a rock, etc.
Once you think you've found it, raise the probe up a small amount and make a slit in the grass by rocking it back and forth. Then, put your probe under the coin and pop it out, using your finger and the screwdriver.
It sounds like a lot to do but its all quick, and it will keep you from being booted out of a school or park. Once you push the slit back together its impossible to tell you were there.
Some folks are afraid that this method may damage that key date coin and would rather not use it for that reason. There is a reason that key dates are rare. Out of 50,000 coins you dig, you'll be lucky to find one. Some are luckier than others, but if you limit yourself to where you can hunt, you probably won't find one anyway.
Where I live, a 3/8" diameter screwdriver is the only tool allowed in the schools and parks.
Good luck.
As Mud and others will tell you. LEARN to use a screwdriver. I use one in private yards, parks, schools. Never used a Lesche, trowel or shovel until just recently, and only then in fields or vacant lots where no one cares.
Pinpoint your item. Probe the ground exactly where you think it is, then slowly work your way around in an ever widening circle. Don't be afraid to probe down several inches. It takes a bit of time but eventually you will be able to tell a coin from a rock, etc.
Once you think you've found it, raise the probe up a small amount and make a slit in the grass by rocking it back and forth. Then, put your probe under the coin and pop it out, using your finger and the screwdriver.
It sounds like a lot to do but its all quick, and it will keep you from being booted out of a school or park. Once you push the slit back together its impossible to tell you were there.
Some folks are afraid that this method may damage that key date coin and would rather not use it for that reason. There is a reason that key dates are rare. Out of 50,000 coins you dig, you'll be lucky to find one. Some are luckier than others, but if you limit yourself to where you can hunt, you probably won't find one anyway.
Where I live, a 3/8" diameter screwdriver is the only tool allowed in the schools and parks.
Good luck.
Thanks guys that looks real easy to be honest considering the dirt is soft, and be able to move under the roots of the grass. I can do that no problem, I just didn't see it that way but i do. Yea i was thinking of it on sat or sunday morning to hit up the school. I even want to try the highschool here once i get more faster. So i should use the 9 inch coil on my xterra (stock coil) or the DD 10x5 18.75 coil? Yea that would give you a good area under the grass to search with the screw driver. You find rings shollow? Gold and silver? Don't know if i will find one but will try..