public places? oh no, not for me

[GRAY GHOST]

hello everyone, on another part of this website, a young man was wondering why the cops were always checking him out in public places while he was detecting, he was legal and ok, but wondered why. and i couldnt help but tell him this: many years ago when i got into this great hobby of ours, i tried the park and other public areas thing, and realized right away that it wasnt for me. all i was finding was clad and the occasional piece of jewelry. i heard some other hunters discussing things one day, saying things like "hey man, as long as i can pay for my batteries, im good. its a good way to get away from the old lady too." the other two nodded in agreement, and i made up my mind right then i wouldnt be like that. many of us hunters like to hunt parks, and i respect that. so i changed my approach. taking a good look at myself, i found that i didnt like being around a bunch of people while detecting in public. they ask too many silly questions. and they look at me like im strange. too much trash too. im not in this to pay for my batteries, i want the good stuff and im willing to go out and get it! im not an anti-social man; not at all. so i started going to places that people were, not are. the forgotten, obscure places that nobody hunts because nobody knows about them! and dont seem to care either. wanna improve your chances of finding the good, old, deep stuff overnight? go to your states historical society website. there are hundreds of maps on most of them, and they will literally make you drool all over your keyboard! what a trove of information, and its free. you'd be surprised what happened in the past right next door to you. you can believe me when i tell ya brother, when gray ghost goes hunting, gray ghost goes hunting! hence the name. out of sight, but never out of mind. just my two cents, and thanks everybody. hh,

 

[treasurefiend]

interesting, I have only been hittin-up tot lots and elementary schools and the occasional forest preserve. I'm gonna checkout my states historical website... Great advice!!!!

 

[Beale]

I enjoy finding clad but after 7 months of parks and ballfields am ready to find some good old stuff. Thanks for the info, Beale.

 

[kurt-ks]

Gray Ghost,
My name is Kurt and new to forum, and I am glad to see your post! I am the exactly the same way,I was feeling out of place in the detecting hobby thought it was just me. But it is fun in a couple of ways for me,first is the research, its great digging up old history of my small town,next its hunting someplace that nobody has ever hunted and you know there is something there waiting to be found, and also the solitude of detecting sites with absolutely no-one around if you get tired just set down lean on a tree and watch the wildlife.So thanks for your post Here is a place that I found after some research,and got permission from the county.(just a note, county guy told me I was wasting my time there is nothing there, have found over 200 plus coins there and 20+ pre 40's and still haven't gone over half of it,its almost a quarter of a mile long and 300 yards wide) It is a park that was built in 1929,in 1979 they moved the entire park area because of the bridge that went to the park was to dangerous to cross, so it has set with no access since 1979,there was a day use areas and camping,a playground for kids even a concession stand area (that has yielded 20+ silver coins) and only hunted for 6 hours.The only problem is the only way there is across a log in the creek or wade across.I use the log. here are a few pics of the park and thanks again--Kurt

first pic is the camping area you can just make out one the old barbecue grills
second pic is playground area there was lots of old playground equipment laying around
third pic, the only way across
fourth pic is a road that led to concession area and day use
final pic is a few from park of the creek where you cross

 

[mattockman]

Yes GG...I am too like you....there is nothing like hunting an old cellar hole in the middle of the woods.....or an old park that is nothing but woods now..........it is the best place I can think of to hunt.......I feel like I am alone and safe and no need to worry about the laws or public.......for some dumb reason I still bring my rag to put the dirt on and fill the holes properly.....just good practice I guess.

 

[tabdog]

This is close to where river traffic in central AR first arrived. Few people know anything about it.

This is a crater full of water from a WW I artillery round at what was an army training camp.

I need to take my camera into the woods more often.

HH,

 

[on-edge]

talk about hitting the nail on the head,i can certainly relate! i'll only detect a park if its old and theres a chance of picking up some silver,and hardly any people.seems to me every state has some history(forget the clad for me)! map comparison is one of the best ways to find cellar holes.when ive got my detector in hand i'ts down to buisiness for me(don't need no crowd)! and i'll almost always ask me misses to come along(what a good boy ha).

HEAVENS SAKE KURT LOOK OUT FOR THAT TREE..........LOOKS DANGEROUS TO ME!

 

[coinnut]

I'm with you. I love to hunt the places everyone drives by but never stops. I love foundations too, but they are well worn. So I hit the areas that look, too BAD to be true. And sometimes they turn out to be, to GOOD to be true. Some of them are right under our noses. I found a Barber Half in a ravine of trap rock. I can picture the eager young lad, trying to impress his lady by climbing up the hill, only to fall and loose some of his pride (and his half dollar too!). Try it everyone once. What do you have to loose? HH

 

[BarberBill]

Good post, good thread, good advice. I'm not bothered by the public places unless they're crowded, but I like the other options as well and I'm going to check out my state's historical society site PDQ!
HH
BB

 

[Daniel A.]

The real history in my area is protected plan on continuing clad and jewelry until I have more time to hit ghost towns and other out of the way places, maybe thats why I do so well at local parks everyone left it all for me LOL. I enjoy the game since the start of 2008 have managed to pickup over 300.00 in clad, 84g of silver, and 6 significant gold pieces one apprised at 2200.00 all with about 100 hours of hunting. HH Dan

 

[Rainman]

I'm fond of the out of the way places also. Back when I first started detecting in the early 80's, you could find lots of silver and old coins in just about any park. Not so easy now. The most unusual find I had was while searching around some old foundations in the woods and dug up an old still with the copper tubing still attached. I never did find any coins there though.

 

[Idaho-Marke]

n/t