Mositure

[dewcon4414]

Looks like the RAINY season here in Indiana. Apparently this has affected dramaticlly the finds. I know i hunted the other day and picked up a pretty good handful of clad..... but not the normal deeper older coins. The ground is saturated and even the deep coins in my test garden dont give a natural signal. Id say iron bleading and salt must be a factor.

 

[Buddysox]

Rain! Yes I pray for it! The dry ground in Arizona really kills the depth of the detectors here. Many times right after a rain I happily head out because I know the deep ones will be screaming. One of my tactics is to find out when the parks are going to be flooded with irrigation and hit that old hunted out place and it usually gives up some goodies! If the wet goes down to about 12" or so its like a new layer opening up. I guess things are different all over. Sorry to hear the rain is not good for you. On the plus side, I can hunt year round here.

 

[Nick A]

Funny, I am like dewcon. I find when the ground is NOT saturated, that's when deep stuff gives the best signals with the Explorer. Mind you, not bone dry, but moist "spring and fall" type ground. After a good rain when the ground is super wet, maybe even muddy, I find it does seem harder to lock on to the good deep targets I prefer to dig. A day or two after the rain, much better hunting conditions.

 

[dreamweaver43]

When your in the really wet muck.......try running at a lower sensitivity setting than your normal settings. Wet ground tends to amplify the signals (especially the deep iron).
Brad

 

[dewcon4414]

I normally run 28 or 26 auto in these situations so sensitivity for the most part isnt an issue. Its just too darn wet... we have some real puddles. I spend everyother winter in AZ and Southern Cal and have hunted a good bit so i know what you are talking about being dry. It really makes your hot rocks sound off.

 

[treasurefiend]

For me I love it when its muddy, that's when I get great deep signals (like when you dig your hole and it fills up with water) but it is messy. I do good when the ground is bone dry but when the ground is just wet I seem to get more false signals. Sounds weird I know but plenty of times I got skunked after a shower but if we get a lot of rain then I always comeback with goodies. On that note - I also dig probably 80% of my iffy signals.

 

[Buddysox]

I guess I didn't really explain about the dry here on my previous post. What you guys have as "normal" wetness in the ground is only for a short time after rain or irrigation here. The heat and dryness really sucks the moisture out fast. I have actually had conditions where the x-1 probe cant get any signal on a shallow coin because there is a rock hard crust on top. My "wet" conditions here are probably what you guys are used to most of the time. Oh well, we all just have to compensate for the situation at hand. Good Luck!

 

[DanRoss]

This is interesting. Buddysox has the same issue I have with ground moisture. I find after rains the silver sings out well, and in dry conditions things are much more subdued.

Nick A and Dew suggest it the other way around.

There was a video tape they played part of tonight at our club meeting. It was by a guy named Danokowski or something close to that. He had a Fisher and a coin garden, and then goes out hunting in the field (I am told on his own property with an old 1901 farmhouse in 'Florida'?). He says that moist ground kills signals and dry ground improves them. He also states that he has very low mineral soil, and can run his machines full out.

The desert soil of New Mexico (and apparently Arizona) appears to work quite differently. I have very mineralized soil here, and fight that first. Then the moisture issue is always a concern. My best day hunting here was after a week of rain. I foiund two silver halves and a bunch of silver quarters and dimes. In the summer, relative humidity rarely leaves 6% or less. I have been watching the forums and looking at the settings on the experience Minelab hunters, and I can't duplicate their results

I do have a pretty experienced guy here with the XS, but he wasn't at the club meeting tonight. I will have to see what he has been using for settings to compare.