Top Metal Detector Hunting Tips by John Donaldson
Thousands of people take up metal detector hunting every year - and just as many give up within weeks. Why?
Simple - they think all they need do is switch on the detector, head over to the nearest beach, field or derelict building and coins, jewelry and other valuables will jump into their hands.
It doesn’t work like that. Metal detecting is a great hobby but it’s a hard one to do successfully. It can take years of frustration, trial and error. I know. I’ve been doing it for years.
Owning a decent detector certainly helps. However, I’ve known people with some top of the range machines who have quickly given up.
If only they’d done just a little bit of research before going out in the field. The rewards would certainly have come. Guaranteed.
And there is no greater thrill than pulling a 200-year-old coin out of the ground - except unearthing a 600-year-old coin!
Yes, I’ve done both, hundreds of times over the years, and I don’t consider myself an expert in the hobby. I find there is always something new to learn.
This article is about metal detector hunting tips, so I’d better give you a couple. And they are EXCELLENT tips which I use all the time. If you do the same then you WILL pull up some interesting finds.
First, obtain an old map from 50, 100, 150 years ago or older. You can buy them online. Just put “old maps us” or “old maps uk” in Google for a list of suppliers. Beg, borrow or steal a modern OS map. Then look at both side-by-side.
What you are trying to do is identify small areas (a field, a track, an area of ground) that appear to be the same in both maps, that have changed very little over the intervening 100 or 150 years of development.
You’ll find lots of such areas. It’s amazing how tracks, or shortcuts from A to B, which often appear to be temporary and modern, have actually been around for a hundred years. And if they’ve been around a hundred years (because they appear in both the old map and the new), chances are they’ve been there for 200 years or 300 years … you get the idea.
They survive because they are useful. Field boundaries are another area to look at. They might change slightly as land is bought and sold over the years. But basically they remain the same. I have found some of the oldest coins and artifacts in such fields.
When you’ve identified the areas that are the same, or nearly the same, in both the old map and new map, mark each area with pencil.
That’s your target areas to search. Now go and physically check each. Spend a day, or two or more doing this. Find out who owns the land concerned and ask permission to search.
At the same time, keep your eyes open for areas that appear to have changed but in fact have TINY sections that have escaped development over the years - perhaps too small to identify from the maps.
I remember passing a tiny copse of trees, surrounded by housing developments on all sides, that appeared to have been left relatively undisturbed. And sure enough, two minutes after searching with my metal detector (a Tesoro Cibola), I pulled out a 250-year-old coin!
And that illustrates a great point. When you find such areas, you’ll unearth great finds often within minutes - as if they’ve been waiting for you all those years. It’s a thrill.
So don’t give up metal detector hunting. If you only ever follow the tips above, great finds will come your way. Of that I am sure.
About the Author
Discover more secret exciting tips and techniques by clicking here! Don’t give up on the hobby!
Tags: metal detecting, metal detectors