Others digging up silver IN WINTER!

[ironsight]

Some of us in the frigid north are forced by mother nature to mothball our detecting gear this time of year while some lucky one's in more humane climates can still get out there and dig just about all year.
Ground here is @#$&^% frozen solid!
It ain't fair i tell you!

At least its good to see some fresh finds from around the country this time of year, a slight cabin fever remedy for some of us.
Now to get some of those pesky chores done i put off during last detecting season.:sad:

 

[FAL guy]

Thinking about it, we are really exactly opposite. We have a tough time hunting in summer due to oppressive heat and the ground being baked solid. There are times when getting a hand digger into the ground is impossible. I get lot's of hunting done in Fall and Spring, and hunt winter a good deal when it isn't below zero.

 

[mudpuppy]

Whatcha do is, you take a bunch of those little chemical handwarmer packets, take a bunch of styrofoam coffee cups, line the inside of them with tin foil...then, when you hit a good ping as you are sweeping through 6" of snow, kick the snow out of the way, pinpoint, put a handwarmer right on top of it, cover it with the coffee cup, kick the snow back over the top, mark it with one of those little wire flags, and come back in a few hours! Easy!

Mud

cabin fever here too buddy!

 

[ironsight]

Whatcha do is, you take a bunch of those little chemical handwarmer packets, take a bunch of styrofoam coffee cups, line the inside of them with tin foil...then, when you hit a good ping as you are sweeping through 6" of snow, kick the snow out of the way, pinpoint, put a handwarmer right on top of it, cover it with the coffee cup, kick the snow back over the top, mark it with one of those little wire flags, and come back in a few hours! Easy!

Mud
cabin fever here too buddy!

Hey Mud, why mess around with the small stuff, get one of these roofing blow torches and go hog wild!

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o273/moparado/BlowTorch3_zpsb87aa314.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o273/moparado/BlowTorch4_zpsdcb0cd2d.jpg

 

[NebTrac]

I'll say it again as I do about every other year around time of freeze up. Apparently you guys haven't read your manual and figured out how to use the "thaw" mode. One button and 5 minutes of "microwave" type hum and your ground under the coil is completely thawed.

I hate freeze up too, but like I said, it's about 3 weeks earlier than the normal around here in central Nebraska. Usually the first week in December is when it hits here. A couple of things to think about. First we should always be researching (including reading and looking at old maps), but winter is good to do that.

Secondly, if you have some field spots and old home sites. Take your detector out there on nicer days, use a can of flourescent orange and just hunt for awhile and put a spot on or a foot away from promising targets. Go back at thaw and dig 'em up.

NebTrac

 

[ironsight]

Neb, thought real hard about getting that there 'thaw' mode option but Minelab wanted more than the eTRAC price tag itself for it. heh:

Only thing Winter is good for is plowing snow, paying astronomical propane heating bills and

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

I pretty much hunt year round here in Ohio - unless the snow gets to deep - more than 4" or 5" of powder snow and it gets to hard to swing.

A few things I've learned about Winter hunting ...

(1) Every Fall I start making a list of places that would be good to hunt in the Winter.

(2) Hunt in the woods ( cellar holes, etc. ) where the leaves really help keep the ground from freezing.
Bare ground, plowed fields, wet sand beaches and areas with shorter grass freeze the deepest.

(3) Grind a very sharp point on your digger - this makes it a lot easier to get through frozen ground.

(4) A Minelab repair Tech told me this five years ago.
Never put your machine close to the heater in your car or bring it into a warm house after a long hunt in 10 or 20 degrees !
This can allow condensation to form in the control box and damage the processor - a very expensive repair !
I alway wrap my machine in a big towel and put it in the insulated factory carry bag - this lets the machine warm up very slowly - no condensation.

Good Luck !

 

[roadapple]

Neb, thought real hard about getting that there 'thaw' mode option but Minelab wanted more than the eTRAC price tag itself for it. heh:

Only thing Winter is good for is plowing snow, paying astronomical propane heating bills and

Sounds like the "new" CTX............. Oh and by the way that function does not work either ....

 

[Illinoismic]

I don't mind the winter.. ya it sucks I can't get out but I 100% believe the freeze and thaw pushes targets back towards the surface. I will take the cold for 3 months to have better finds the other 9 lol

 

[Scotty (Upstate NY)]

I don't mind the winter.. ya it sucks I can't get out but I 100% believe the freeze and thaw pushes targets back towards the surface. I will take the cold for 3 months to have better finds the other 9 lol

cold for three months would be nice.

 

[Illinoismic]

December January February are illinois coldest months ( usually). The freeze does help in my personal opinion