Tips & Tricks
106-120

106. There's a hundred thousand dollar education available between covers of books and magazines on just about any subject. Those with computers and the Internet have exceptional "face to face" opportunities to learn. Subscribe to, or buy, treasure magazines to get first hand accounts that you can put to use. Buy some of the numerous books that are available to learn about different fields of treasure hunting that tweak your interest such as water hunting, cache hunting, coin shooting, etc. Above all, when you buy a detector read it's manual; once, twice, a dozen times. If you don't understand the detector and how it works, your chances of much success are very slim. Pursuing the above will enhance your ability to become a successful treasure hunter.

107. Here is my suggestion for a pair of detecting gloves: Buy a good pair of leather "drivers gloves" from your local home supply or hardware store, they will run you about $15.00. Wash them well with warm, soapy water and let them dry. After completely dry, soak them down with baseball glove conditioner, which you can buy at any sporting goods store for about $2.00. Make sure that you saturate them well, and let them sit for a day. They will become very flexible, soft, and tough, as leather should be. I often scrub them and re-coat them as the season goes on. These gloves are the best thing that I have found to protect my hands from sharp metal objects and glass that you often find in your dig holes. Especially if you hunt old homesites, these gloves are the ticket. Because the baseball conditioner is an oil, the gloves will also be fairly waterproof. These gloves will also protect your hands from drying out, as they will from all of the dirt.

 

108. My top tip is once I have located a coin or artifact, I stand on the hole I,ve dug, and really concentrate on the area within the radius of the detector. It amazing the number of people who lose more than one artifact

 

109. Winter isn't the end of everything! We have had one snowfall that brought the plows out to a local shopping mall. Reasonably warm weather returned briefly and I ran my detector through the remaining snow the plows had deposited at the perimeter of the parking lot. Results? 2 silver rings, $2.53 clad coins and a very nice 1948 "D" Wheat cent. I have found a way to TH all through the winter months!

110. When you are out in the park in the early morning watch the squirrels and the crows. It seems that city animals and birds are somewhat different that their country cousins in that they are part pack rat. They find the darndest things while they are out foraging. Squirrels will pick up anything shiny and so will crows and then they will hide it, squirrels hide things on the ground while crows hide things in trees, either in nests or the crotch of the tree. Try it and you will be amazed at what you will find.

111. If you live in a large city go to the Engineering Department and asked for the oldest aerial maps of the part of the city you wish to hunt in. These maps show what used to be in the area.
For example; I got copies of aerial maps for a large residential section of downtown area which was bought up for a new freeway. The construction of the freeway was put off for several years, however the streets and sidewalks were still left in place.
I used the aerial maps to find which how houses were oriented in relationship to the street. This allowed me to hunt the area where there was yard, where the trees were, where the driveway was and where the clothes line was in the backyard. If you hunt an old house it is a good bet that the clothes line will be a productive area for dimes and pennies which fell out of the pockets as Mom shook the pants and folded them before putting them in the basket. I used this same technique to locate an old park that used to be along a river which was channeled to divert the water flow. The old park was sold to developer who subdivided it into a commercial business center. I used the map to located areas where people congregated by a band stand.

112. For a real cheap and efficient pinpointing device try an electronic stud finder. I got one at the local hardware store and believe you me it works great. You cant poke it down in the hole but if you excavate the dirt on a drop cloth and check it out with the stud finder it becomes a coin and jewelry finder. Ive tried it for over a month now and am on the second set of batteries and it has saved me a lot of time. If its not in the dirt on your cloth its still in the hole and all you have to do is take out a little more dirt. These things sell for about fifteen dollars for a good one.

113. Research: We all know the value of research to make our hunting outings more productive. But sometimes, research isn't possible -- especially if you have an hour or two to kill in a town in which you've never been and happen to have your detector in the back seat. One of the first places you should seek out (particularly if you're in an older town) is the main park. Almost without exception, they'll be in the downtown area either on or within a block or two on either side of the main drag thru the heart of town. It's also usually near the town hall. Pass up the temptation to hunt parks in areas of town where streets aren't laid out in a grid pattern (streets traveling straight north and south and east and west). Neighborhoods with winding streets are recent inventions (post 1960s), and will yield only modern clads in almost all cases. The oldest areas of town were always laid out in grid pattern and parks in those areas will yield the highest percentage of older coins and possibly relics.

114. Hunting Picnic Areas--When hunting picnic areas, be on the lookout for large, isolated trees that are sitting in the middle of nowhere. Besides providing lots of shade, they also provide a measure of isolation for folks looking to put some distance between themselves and families with screaming, rambunctious children and beer drunks intent on practicing the Rebel Yell. Sweep the bases of these low and slow -- there's definitely a few clads (and sometimes lots more) just waiting there.

115. Picnic Areas--While hunting in a picnic grove at a fishing lake during early spring, one thing occurred to me as I surveyed the landscape and saw a bazillion picnic benches just seemingly dying to be searched for clads that have fallen out of pockets over the past year(s):
Early in the year (especially if you live up North where the snow flies), pass these by in favor of any picnic benches that are permanently anchored or cemented into the ground. In my neck of the woods, the forest preserve guys collect all the picnic benches for winter storage every October or November. When spring rolls around, they load 'em all up on trucks and drop them wherever they please. So the end result about this time of year is this: Just because a picnic bench is sitting there *now* doesn't automatically mean a picnic bench has always been sitting in that exact spot last year or the year before.
Permanently anchored benches are another story. They've been there for some time and will turn up at least one or two clads somewhere within a 5' radius at least 90% of the time, especially if the site doesn't get much THing pressure.
However, that's not to say it isn't possible to find spots where picnic benches *have* been. Look for areas where the ground is bare or well worn in long strips about the width of a typical picnic bench. People sitting at these benches have a habit of wearing down the grass to nothing where their feet go under the bench when sitting at it. The areas just behind the bench seats also get a lot of wear and tear. The exception to the moveable bench rule is, obviously, just after major holidays between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when the area has drawn enough people to sit wherever the bunch might've been dumped off during spring.

116. Old Homesteads---Here's some wisdom passed down to me by some old-timers years ago when I was living in rural Florida. When hunting old homesteads and you come to a large tree near the house, take a good look up before you look down to sweep the base. To mark the exact spot of their hidden stash so they'd always remember the spot on their next visit, it was common for people to hammer a nail into the tree (usually somewhere on the lowest large overhanging branch) over the dug spot. Then next time out, they'd bring along a length of string with a metal washer attached to one end and wrap the other end around the nail -- allowing the the weighted end to point straight down to the spot where the valuables were kept. If you ever see a nail in a homestead tree, take extra time and care sweeping the area beneath it.

117. Keep your hands clean While metal detecting, make sure to carry a small bottle of Purell hand sanitizer. It's great for sanitizing the little nicks and cuts I invariably get during digging as well as a quick way to disinfect my hands after scooping up a buried dog turd at the beach. The plastic bottles of Purell (as small as .65 oz.) are available at your local outdoor store.

118. In the area I treasure hunt in (Southwestern PA) there are a lot of rural areas that are used by hunters. In my searches I have come across numerous spent and unspent cartridges which can present a hazard if one is not careful while digging. Whenever retrieving coins, relics etc. be careful in removing what may appear to be "a harmless piece of brass", it may turn out to be a live cartridge that could explode in your face if you happen to hit the primer by mistake with your trowel.

119. I love to watch old documentaries that include footage or photos of out-of-the-way events such as boxing matches, races, etc. I tape the show, then photograph the needed view and when I visit the actual site I can compare the now view with the old view and head for the area where the crowds congregated. Read your camera's manual or visit your library for how-to books.

120. Don't scratch that coin! Get a solid fiberglass fishing pole (thrift store, less than $5); a rasp's wooden handle with metal band near hole ($2); all-purpose white glue (8 fl oz - $1). Cut pole in equal lengths of about 9"/10" and fit into handle and add glue. Let dry, sharpen blunt tip to almost a rounded point. Use.