First relic hunt with the Deus...

[CZconnoisseur]

Went out yesterday and played in the red clay for about 5 hours...then drove 6 hours home! It was a chilly overcast day but was SOOO quiet where I was hunting - a welcome change from my normal environments.
Didn't get any signals for the first hour and then finally dug a small piece of modern foil and a couple .22 casings (not pictured). A little after that I heard a wee mousefart of a signal that only hit every second or third swing. I changed programs and got it to repeat slightly better with a tad more sensitivity, turned out to be a 3 ringer at about 11" down. This put a little pep in my step and went on to find a couple more 3 ringers; one at 7" and another around 9-10". The 7" bullet came through solidly, and clearly, and I had a good idea of what I was to find once I started digging it. The 9-10" target was repeatable from all directions, but sounded better in one direction, again it was a high tone that tried to come in "medium-toned" (I was using 4-tone audio here). Finding period CW bullets with the CZ sometimes came through high-and-medium toned as well, and sometimes the CZ meter jumped a little bit between "zinc penny" and "round pulltab" on the deeper 5-8" 3 ringers using that machine. DIG BY AUDIO pays off again!

Using the CZ line in the past I never dug any 3 ringers past 9" that I can remember, and this was while using the 8" stock coil. I knew in my mind I had to be missing some deeper targets, and the deep relics recovered yesterday gave me some great insight to what the Deus is trying to say to me on targets like this. I really though I was going to find a three-cent piece, or a $1 gold piece yesterday - sometimes I just get a feeling like that and must investigate! There could be a couple tiny coins in that site, it's definitely old enough, but it would take hunting it all day, everyday, for the rest of my life to COMPLETELY prove or disprove that notion. Coupled with the difficult terrain, leaves, rocks, and bulldozer activity over the years it could never be hunted out. I remember finding the 7" deep bullet under a briar patch - this time of year it's much easier to get in there and hunt those tight spots.

Have no idea how old the 12-ga shell remnants are, one may be pretty old since it about 5" down and I really thought I was digging an Indian cent. The last find of the day was a little curious. I initially got a solid high tone, rechecked it and it got much stronger - so strong I had to lift the coil 6-8" off the ground so it wouldn't "double beep". I brushed away the leaves, saw a recent dig hole (not mine), and was looking for the can that someone probably located and then reburied. One more brush of the leaves and my hand hit something small, but heavy - turned out to be another 3-ringer that someone found and re-lost!!! The other guy (or gal) must have dug a signal, recovered the target, and then failed to recheck the hole since this one was in plain view after moving the leaves. More for me!!!

 

[therover]

I have found some deep lower conductive targets with the Deus that sounded like small repeatable 'ticks' in the audio. Once set up, I hunt via audio only with the Deus and I am starting to get the hang of it.

Anything repeatable from multiple angles, I am digging using this unit.

Saving up for the new 11 inch coil.

 

[CZconnoisseur]

I have found some deep lower conductive targets with the Deus that sounded like small repeatable 'ticks' in the audio. Once set up, I hunt via audio only with the Deus and I am starting to get the hang of it.

So how deep have you recovered targets using this method? I think the 11" 3 ringer is my deepest target yet...with about 20 hours total on this machine so far

I did more air-testing today and reduced discrim to 0 - this gives the Deus about 2" additional depth BY ITSELF on coin-sized targets, the bigger the target, the more depth this provided...I may need to make a program using DISC set at 0 and then go audio from there!!!

 

[therover]

Deepest target I have dug, in a trashy park area, was a Mercury dime at about 8 inches. Faint, repeatable signal.

I have taken the Deus to dry sand beaches and pulled clad quarters in the 11-12 inch range. It actually worked in the wet, salt sand but there was a lot of noise, but targets were definitely heard through the chatter. The spot I hunted was full of iron nails, some right on the surface. The Deus pulled several clad coins out of that area. I am sure if I actually set it up and tried different frequencies, discrimination settings, etc. I may have been able to get it to calm down a bit. I have other units for wet, salt sand so I am not worried about it.

This is running Deus Fast and Basic 1 without any changes. Using 9 inch stock coil.

Still trying to learn the unit, and go by audio only. I don't rely on the horseshoe much for deeper targets.

I don't care if the Deus is not a depth demon ( it's no slouch though)...I got it due to its super faster recovery speed, wireless, lightweight and audio. Hunting with just headphones, and lightweight, easily adjustable shaft and no wires is sweet.

Going to get the 11 inch coil at some point, but man it's expensive. Once I get that, that set up in 18Khz will be my dry sand unit. I have the control box and 2 sets of headphones so it's almost a no brainer to get another coil since I can then set up my son or a friend with one if they want to join the hunts.