Winter Hunting

[Anonymous]

I am somewhat new to the hobby though I did have a detector (that was stolen) a few years ago and enjoyed a summer of hunting.
I am wondering if many people do any hunting in the winter, and, if so, what do you do differently? Do you go to different places then you would in the summer? Does anyone try to go out when the ground is frozen? Since I am getting a detector (on it's way from an eBay seller) during the winter I am wondering what use I might get from it before the spring.
Thanks and take care,
Erick

 

[Anonymous]

Wellllllllll it depends what winter is like for you??? Here it is 15 degrees right now, and there is over a foot of snow on the ground.
I go to mexico to do some detecting in the winter. however I will not get there untill March.

 

[Anonymous]

I live in northern Maryland. Most of the winter the ground is not snow covered. Though we average about 34 inches of snow per season, it tends to come in two or three storms. I would say that the ground is frozen down a couple of inches most of the winter though our average daytime temperatures are above freezing, though not by much from late Dec through late Feb. Anyway, I hope that helps. I will probably try to do some hunting somewhere. There is a rather large creek (this might be a river in a lot of other places)that cuts through the county and I suppose the soil on the banks would be easier to dig through than most other areas in the winter. Also, my sister and her husband just cleared a few acres of land and I definitely want to check that out before they start building on it.
Take care,
Erick

 

[Anonymous]

I,like you will try this winter just a little to dig up that frozen ground! But trust me we won't be out there too long. You have the right idea close to the creek {river}. best of luck to you. Let us know how it gos. Might even try that in Ill. take care ronboy44

 

[Anonymous]

A few years back I was usin an older garrett and was "snow shootin" some banks of snow where a female friend said she had lost her ring. I checked where the plow pushed the piles of snow. Did'nt find it until spring came around BUT also found two other rings there. This was a major store parking lot in our area.Also TONS of clads............
<img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=""> As far as diggin the frozen ground ????lemme know how it goes as I live in the W.N.Y. area which averages over 130" each year.
HH

 

[Anonymous]

I live in Western PA and I usually hunt until the ground is frozen too hard to get a spade shovel into it. On occasion I have stood on the shovel trying to get it to sink into the ground... I guess it would be pretty fun from someone else's view. I'm 6'4" 200 lbs. and standing on a half sized spade shovel... <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol"> It varies from year to year how late I can hunt. This past winter I could hunt till about the 2nd week of January. I usually can start again by March. In the mountains around here they're usually snow covered most of the winter and un-huntable till April. I have a very good tolerace for the cold so hunting below freezing is not a problem if I can dig. I have had quite a few friends call me NUTS for hunting in the cold like I do. I will say I become alot more selective in targets I dig when the ground starts getting alot harder. As far as places I hunt in the cold are strictly farm fields or basically places you can use a shovel with offending someone. I should also mention my first good coin of the year was found on January 1 and it was a 1856 Seated Half Dime... <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=""> in a farm field behind a church. Good luck! HH!
-Bill

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Erik,
If you can stand the low temperatures, then the only problem, in my view, are the batteries.
If they get to cold, it might be that they will loose power.
What you can do is clipping an extention cable to your battery clips (two for the DE280) and pack the batteries in your pockets. They will last a little bit longer.
In fact, the chemical reaction inside the battery slows down with the temperature falling. If you warm up your cold batteries, they will reactivate.
But, the colder the PCB, the better the performance of the detector, unless you have to read an LCD... I don't think that your DE280 has an LCD <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">)
Best luck
Paul

 

[Anonymous]

I've used a whites eagle 2 sl,and a spectrum (both with lcd displays) in below freezing weather on tubing hills with very good results. The displays worked fine. I also was using rechargeable batt in both machines. No need to dig the ground the finds were in the snow.

 

[Anonymous]

What a great idea! We have some tremendous tubing hills in the semi-rural area where I live and I hadn't thought of hunting there after the masses have finished belly flopping their way down the hills. Thanks!
Erick

 

[Anonymous]

i have hunted in the winter if the snow is not to deep . i ussually do wooded areas because the leaves on the ground act as insolation. and the ground might not freeze at all or there will be less frost there. but heck just get out there and expermint with the conditions for your area . and enjoy. we live in n.y. 100 mi north of nyc. good luck

 

[Anonymous]

I imagine it gets very cold in your part of the world!
I am glad that folks have encouraged me to try winter hunting, I wanted to make sure I wasn't trying something that would be completely futile.
Take care!
Erick

 

[Anonymous]

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