Today I used Google Maps to look up some of my remote metal detecting areas. The imagery is great, in fact one of my hunting sites, you can see the foundation of the log structure that once stood there!

This tool can be used as a novelty to look up your sites, but today I started expanding my search. I started with the location of a mining camp that I’ve been to a few times. The area has multiple ravines and drainages, so I started to explore by moving away from my camp. I found two possible sites. I can’t tell if they are structures, but they definitely could be. Either way, this is something new to explore when the weather warms up.

We definitely need to take advantage of the tools that are provided by technology. Any edge that can be gained is an incredibly useful.

One idea that I’m kickin’ around and willing to share is to follow railroad tracks with Google Maps. Follow the old lines and look for bridges or tunnels. Then back off of that to look for possible camp sites. These structures were extremely difficult to build and took time. Workers often made camps somewhat close, depending on the location. It’s hard to see open areas and terrain from the car on the road, but Google Maps can give you a new perspective. Then if you can combine historical references to help ‘lock’ that spot, you got yourself one heck of a good lead for detecting.

While cruising around YouTube.com, I came across a nice movie titled, “Metal Detecting: Plug Digging Technique.” They also are using the square plug that I’m in favor of and practice quite often. Their example soil was extremely soft and nice.. ours is a little rockier than that, but it shows a similar technique. I also use a drop cloth for laying the extracted dirt on. This acts like a funnel when re-filling the hole. They are using the Lesche digging trowel. I’ve never used this before, but am seriously considering purchasing one for next season. I use the standard White’s trowel which is strong but dulls quickly. I can see the advantages related to their design. It is obviously built well and is meant to last. Not to mention the serrated edge for root cutting has got to be awesome.

Below you’ll be able to watch the video. How is digging in your area? Do you have a similar or different technique. Please don’t hesitate to share some information!

Along the lines of purchasing a Lesche digging trowel, I wouldn’t mind a good pinpoint probe. I’ve been eye balling the Sun Ray in-line target probe. Anyone have a chance to use one of these? I’m concerned about the added weight to the detector and the overall durability of the unit. Also, are there any performance issues with the unit being ‘in-line’ between the coil and receiver? I think the concept is brilliant though.

Either way.. I think it’ll be on the x-mas list this year.

Affirmative thinking is a mindset often taught in self-help books and “how to be a millionaire” books. We can use some of these techniques to help us out in the field. The concept is simple. Think about what you want, every day, and it will happen. For example (in theory) you could tell yourself every day that you will earn a million dollars next year. If you do this every day, you’ll have an excellent chance of making that a reality. I’m a firm believer of affirmative thinking, even though I don’t apply the millionaire thought process, but have applied it to others goals. I don’t believe there is any “magic” or “voodoo” to this. I think it’s all based off of logic and opportunity. The idea of things just happening auto-magically is incorrect. What I do believe is that it trains your mind to see opportunity and to explore other avenues to maintain your goal on a regular and consistent basis.

Okay, enough mumbo jumbo, how can this be applied to metal detecting? The first step is to think of goals. What do you want to achieve in metal detecting? Is it to find a gold coin? Or is it to find that great Civil War relic? Once you have that set, think about this every day. Every day when you wake up, say to yourself, “I’m going to find X this year”. Once the seed is planted, you’ll begin to think about how to achieve your goal. What do I need to do to get that gold coin? Your mind starts breaking this down the goal into pieces. You might say, “I need to go out way more to increase my opportunity to find that coin”. Or you might say it’s about more research before hitting the field. Once your mind has decided that it’s an achievable goal, you begin to explore how to meet those needs. How to increase your field time. How to increase your research time. You’ll catch yourself talking to new people and immediately wonder if this is a possible new metal detecting site and ask them? If you don’t end up with that specific treasure at years’ end, you at least improve your detecting skills, and hopefully make new contacts for the following year.

If anything, the affirmative thinking will result in action rather than complaining that you are not finding your treasures.

Economy of motion is something I catch myself saying. I think the term of Economy of recovery is better. What I’m talking about is recover speed. Often when I go with friends to the field, I’ll keep one eye on my search coil and the other on them, so I can see if they found something. I love the feeling when a friend or I find something and we share that experience.

I often find myself getting a signal, bend or kneel down to recover the target. While I’m doing that I see my friend do the same. I quickly recover the target and replace the plug of earth and move on. I get another signal, dig that and so on. But I notice my friend is still in the same original hole that I saw him 5 targets back. It was almost a common ratio of 5:1. I could dig five targets to his one. This is a significant development. That means I’m finding 5 times the junk as him, as well as 5 times the keepers (potentially).

Economy of recovery is broken down into two simple parts. Pinpointing and digging technique. If you’re off by a couple of inches in your pinpoint that will slow you down considerably. You’ll have to expand your hole after your initial plug, possibly causing unneeded damage to the ground and the target. There is nothing worse than gouging a piece of silver. Digging technique is a tough thing to learn for coinshooting since there are several methods used to dig a nice plug. I personally like to do square plugs vs. circle plugs. I feel like I can return the plug in the same position as it was extracted. Also, when I dig circle plugs, I notice I do the “cone” plug. When I do square, I take out a larger volume of earth in a cube configuration which gets me to the target easier. I also use a dirt collection cloth, where I dump soil onto the cloth instead of the grass. This separates the dirt from the hole so I can quickly scan the extracted soil and the hole. When the item has been recovered, you can use the cloth as a make shift funnel to fill the hole with your extracted dirt.

Next time you’re out in the field see if you can improve your recovery time. The more targets you dig, the more opportunity you’ll have in finding quality targets.

I was metal detecting with a partner today, and we got into a discussion about understanding your environment to better maximize your finds. This concept is not a new concept, but one I find myself thinking about often. This is particularly useful if you are very familiar with your digging grounds.

This concept is the ability to visualize what “could” be the target based off of facts that you have gathered in your detecting experience for that area and or condition. For example, I know that Wheat cents are usually found around 1.5 inches below the surface in hard packed dirt. I know that Indian heads will appear in the 4-5 inch range in standard pack dirt. This will vary from town to town and could vary considerably from one side of town to the other. Also this is based off of my personal experience, your results will vary.

When starting a detecting session, I try to understand my environment by judging the type of soil I’m digging in and the age of the area I’m in. Next I try to establish that base line by hitting Wheat cents at the proper depth. If these indicators are found it should help you recover targets faster and safer. Along those same lines, this information can help determine possible silver or large “bad” targets. If I get a strong signal reading at 2 inches, and my pinpoint is indicating a small target, my chances are good for a Mercury dime. Again, if I hit a strong signal at 2 inches, but my pinpoint is showing a large range, this could be a large ferrous item like a pipe. Either way, these two facts will dictate my recovery technique.

I also want to mention that this doesn’t mean to disregard shallow targets, either. If I enter a new area, I like to start with the shallow targets to help develop that base. Am I hitting zinc pennies at 3 inches or ½ inch? These all add up to help formulate a detecting “plan”.