Through the 37 years I have done this hobby, I have seen the use of metal detectors rise substantially. I would offer several comments, as follows:
1. Parks:
The easy places are gone.....this is a yes and no statement. The times where one may just go to a park and find multiple silvers, are gone. There are STILL times however when that happens. My finding is, think outside the box a bit when hunting the parks. Where would you go (years ago), if you wanted seclusion with a romantic tilt? Be willing to go where no man has gone before, except the fellow and his date in the 1930's, back before that hedge was overgrown. Fringe areas are often overlooked. Edges of parks where cars park are not nearly as attractive a tot lots, or swings, or well worn areas of picnic grounds, but I have seen silver come from these areas readily. Where were trees in years gone by? Does the park show signs of having seen a lot of fill dirt?
2. Beaches:
Everyone goes to the main public beaches. Same rule applies here for older finds.....go to the more secluded spot. THAT being said, every weekend, drunken people, or normal people for that matter, lose rings when their hand shrivel up, and a ring slides off. Most detectorists go in, to about waist deep or less. think of the vast amounts lost just over that depth of water, and give thought to selling some of your hoarded silver and get a hookah unit and underwater machine. Several years ago, a local lake was down further than I have ever seen it. Many many rings were recovered because of the receded water. It convinced me that the effort to go beyond waist deep was well worth it. I have yet to get my hookah, but this year, I am looking to buy. Bottom line however, is that people lose rings all the time, every weekend, at beaches. I was on the gulf beach last year, and there was this lady down there, that had a ring of rings that she had found that year. She was simply out early in the morning, every day, looking. She had well in excess of 100 rings. She always looked in front of the hotels. Freshwater, you might not have that, but hey, at tourist stops you might......just a thought. I tend to look of older places...swimming holes from ages past. I have one in particular, which is what is prompting the hookah setup for me, that goes back to 1850's. I cannot imagine that it has been hunted, as it is on private land for decades, and off limits to the public.
3. Privately owned land:
There are STILL tons and tons of places to hunt in the USA. Privately owned land is where it is at in my book. Older homes, old home sites, old ghost towns, swimming holes, former haunts in decades gone by. It would be my oh-so-humble opinion, that THIS is the area that is the key to your metal detecting success. These types of areas are much less hunted, and as you know, missing by one inch is missing by a mile. If a coil has not passed over it, it ain't gonna be found until it does...... EVERYONE can freely go to parks, and have. NOT everyone has developed a gift of gab, that allows them to search private property. I LOVE to find property that has historical significance, yet has been unhunted. How many thousands of acres are inthe US, which are privately held, and have not ever seen one of us.
There is a fine "art" to the gaining of permissions to hunt private land. I have worked up my personal routine through the years. I think it is rather like when you first start dating as a young person. The first attempts at talking to that beautiful lady might be awkward, but, oh my, when she says yes! It is the same, in that you have to get past the awkward stage of asking, and develop a line of BS that will get you in the gate. You just gotta jump right in and do it. The worst that can happen is for them to say no. PRACTICE makes perfect. There are a lot of threads on this forum that tell you what to say, do, etc. It works, and I get to hunt a lot of places that I wouldn't get to touch if I had not asked.
The competition that is cited as the subject for this thread, only inhibits your success if you follow the well trodden path that everyone else travels. Get off the path, and into some bushes along the way, and your goodies bag will fill up with better and better findings. Talk to folks, and learn how to get permission to hunt their property. Respect their property by neatly recovering items, filling your holes, and your finds will go up. The competition will go away with a little effort on your part. I pretty well quit hunting parks years ago in my part of the world. But I will hunt one when it is way off a beaten path, miles from a big city.
In closing, I would say that competition is a state of mind. Go slow, focus, hunt the right places, and there is no competition......just my thoughts.
HH
Dennis
