Beetle's Metal Detecting Blog

Sorry for the, um.... LONG delay!

2009-01-15T10:34:00.001-08:00

Been darn near a year! Wow.... lots of changes going in, but it's all good!

Anyway, I just recieved my new Minelab XTerra 70 detector. Ground is frozen... it's 11 degrees outside... and the detector is just sitting there calling my name!

As soon as I get out I will let you all know how I do!

Wish me luck!

A little bit o' Silver!

2008-04-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

And a WHEAT to boot!

Sure was nice to get out this morning. My initial plans were to hit the local soccer complex and up my clad total substantially. But my brain wanted to know that I could still find a silver coin. With no real options closeby, and not wanting to waste time asking permission, I hit a closed school where I already have permission.

I dug through a lot of junk, and the ground was saturated in spots to the point that you heard that awful sucking sound when you put your digger into the earth.

The WHEAT penny was about the 5th coin I dug, so I was pretty pumped about that. I had previously dug wheat cents here, but never any silver.

As I was getting ready to leave, I decided to hit a small patch of grass about 30 feet by 15 feet that butts up against the rear of the school. First coin I dug was penny. Just off to the right of this I get a solid dime target, in the 4 inch range. Much to my surprise, I dig a 1941 Mercury Dime! But oh what a pleasant surprise!

Keep the faith folks. Look in the not so obvious places!

2008 Clad Total: $3.19

My 2008 MD Goals

2008-04-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

We all set 'em... this year I'm going to keep track of them!

I've always set goals in the past for how much or what I want to find, but I would often lose track or get lost in my quest.

So, this year, I'm keeping track of them on my blog here! At least it will force me to keep up with th blog and post every now and again if nothing is really going on!

So... may I present to you... my 2008 Metal Detecting Goals!

1) $150.00 clad.

2) ANY Seated Liberty coin.

3) Hunt MORE than once with a couple of my buddies.

4) A GOLD piece of jewelry.

Here are the official standings of 04/08/2008:

1) $2.17

2) Nope

3) Nope

4) Nope

Wish me luck!

Detecting and Crack Problems

2008-03-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

Don't be a victim!

A few posts below I published a checklist for getting ready to go detecting. Somehow, I managed to forget to cover a most important topic. CRACK!

Gentlemen (and ladies too... you know who you are), please, please, PLEASE spare us the disgust of finding that you have decided to go detecting with either too loose pants, or too small of a shirt, or both. I don't want to be out with my kids swinging the detector and have to explain THIS:

Not only have we now churned the stomachs of fellow detectorists, but you have brought shame to a hobby that needs to explain itself all too often enough already. And not to mention the bad Karma you're sending out... I mean how can we focus on our detectors with THAT staring at us?

So please.... do us all a favor... CHECK YOUR TROUSERS BEFORE YOU GO OUT. Bend over in front of your spouse or significant other and ask , "can ya see anything ya don't want to?". He or she should be honest with you after all and let you know one way or the other. If you don't have a good pair of detecting pants, then please invest in larger (longer anyway) shirts.

This public service announcement has been brought to you by Detectorists Against Crack...

March 17th Hunt Results

2008-03-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Are ya sittin' down???

I know, I can hardly believe it myself! I don't know for sure in which order they came out of the ground, but at this point it doesn't really matter? Let's take a closer look at how really, truly great this hunt was!

First off, lets look at how many pennies the U.S. Government has issued for circulation (roughly) since 1967... the oldest penny I found today. The answer: almost 393 BILLION (392.978 roughly). That's alot!

Let's break this down a bit more:

1967, 3.048 billion pennies were made

1972D, 2.665 billion pennies were made

1980, a whopping 7.414 billion pennies were made!

Not done yet...

Assuming that NO ONE collects pennies and every single one made is still out there in circulation

my chances of pulling a:

1967? 0.775%

1972D? 0.678%

1980? 1.886%

What does that mean to me?

It means that if I had a jar full of 393 pennies with each year appropriately represented by their mintage numbers, I'd have a 0.775% chance of pulling a 1967 penny, 0.678% chance of pulling a 1972D, and 1.886% chance of pulling out a 1980 penny.

Why is this important?

I have no idea...

But... to my buddy AUDIGGER... my offer is still extended to you! I will trade you the first two items of my NEXT dig, for those 2 beautiful finds shown in the post below!

STAY TUNED!

The Big Trade (or How to Score Gold For Sure!)

2008-03-17T07:58:00.001-07:00

Pictured above is what I am GUARANTEED to get on my hunt today! How do I know this, you ask? Here's the deal:

A fellow detectorist who frequents a particular forum known as AUDIGGER took it upon his gracious self to hunt for me last week while I was stuck in blizzardville (see previous posting). Being equally gracious, I offered in return the first two keeper items I find on my next hunt!

Well, today looks like it will be hunt day. The rain is holding off... I have (what I believe to be) virgin property to hunt. House was built in the 1940's.

So... guess who will dig his first ever big old diamond encrusted 24K ring today????

Successful Searching... Grid Style!

2008-03-17T03:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a trip from your Uncle Larry (well, not really... it's from me). Grid off your detecting area into a four sided polygon. Square, rectangle... it don't matter so long as it has four sides. Now close your eyes and imagine that area as, let's keep it simple and say it's a square. Starting in the upper most left hand corner, work your way across the top to the upper most right hand corner. Move down so you swing overlaps your first trek, and go back to the other side. Repeat this process until you have made it down to the very bottom. You can keep track of your starting point witha golf tee if you wish, that way you nkow you will stay the course.

Now, start at the same spot as before, the upper most left hand corner, but this time work your way DOWN to the lower most left hand corner. When you get there, scootch yourself on over a step or two and work your way back to the top... progressively until you have made it all the way over to the other side.

Congrats! You just did a Grid Search! This will give you very good ground coverage of an area, as well as coverage from a different angles. We all know how stubborn some targets can be, since nothing in the ground ever is truly "flat". That's why I recommend the following step for Grid Searching as well:

Yup... make diagonal passes as well! YOu'll be surprised how much stuf you will unearth by simply hitting your already covered ground from yet another angle!

Wth a little luck, I might be able to get out a bit today... wish me some Irish luck and I'll catch ya'll later!

Cruel, cruel Mother Nature!

2008-03-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

How could this happen.....??? HOW???

Dateline: March 7th, 2008. 8:00AM.

As I head out the door to take my son to school, and chaperone his trip to the local childrens theater, my wife stops me dead in my tracks. "I have something to tell you... I've done something and now I'm in a quandry". Hmmm... those are certainly words that NO spouse ever hopes to hear!

"I did something behind your back, and now I guess I have to tell you". WTF? My mind is definitely racing now!

"I rented a party room and was going to have a huge surprise birthday party for you tonight. We are going to have a blizzard, 50 people were supposed to come, and I planned it a month after your birthday so we wouldn't have to worry about snow."

WOW! I felt horrible! My wonderful wife went through alot, and I do mean ALOT, of trouble to pull this off and I had NO idea! So... party cancelled... 14 inches of snow on the ground... and the detector waits in the corner...

Spring Cleaning Time!

2008-03-02T09:52:00.001-08:00

Detecting season is upon us. Are YOU ready?

Just a few tips and reminders of things you can do to make sure your first trip out is a successful one. But if you dont' find anything, don't blame me!

1) Make sure you have FRESH batteries. Don't open that pack that's been hiding in the garage since last fall. Open the wallet and splurge on a fresh pack. A few bucks ain't going to break the bank, and you'll be more likely to find a few bucks with a working detector than with a dead one.

2) If you have rechargeables, make sure they are powered down, and then charge them up completely the day/night before your first detecting trip.

3) Clean your detector! A mild solution of soap and water is all you need to clean the coil and the lower stems. Don't carry any extra dirt around with ya. And make sure you can see the display screen. If it's dirty, CLEAN IT!

4) Power on your unit now that you've got it working again and make sure all your programs are operational, and all buttons function they way they should. Run the detector through your test garden if you have one, or just do some air tests with coins and junk you have from last year. That's way we save all that junk, right?

5) Don't forget about your pinpointers. Clean 'em up and put fresh batteries in them as well. Make sure it functions properly!

6) Hone your diggers. Chances are the edges might have gotten a bit dull during the last summer. Believe me, you'll be glad you did this.

7) Check your heaphones. If they don't work, at least go find an inexpensive pair for that first trip til you can get your regular ones fixed.

8) Permits / permission. Make sure you have what you need to hunt, where you hunt! Nothing worse than losing your rig to the law because they busted you for trespassing! Check with your local government to make sure public lands are still detectable and what, if any, permits you might need. In the case of private property, make sure the owner is still good with you detecting there before you just go ahead and do it!

Those 8 steps are very simplistic, but should certainly help you have a good, if not succesful and uneventful first hunt of the year.

Good luck everyone and keep me posted on your finds.

Email pics, questions, or ideas to me at beetle662@yahoo.com

Detecting in the winter...

2008-02-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

More specifically, detecting in the SNOW!

So... you got the winter blues? Snows up to your food recycler and ya can't get out the door? Have no fear! check out these two...

Still haven't really figured out the point for this adventure, other than they just got the urge to get out. Either that or their wives kicked 'em out for one reason or other. Anyway, check out how deep this snow is. The guy swinging seems to really not be too interested in being there based on his swinging patterns. Swinging patterns.... hm... maybe THAT has something to do with being locked out in the cold by the old lady!!!!

How NOT to dig craters!

2008-02-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

Did Buzz Aldrin make all those craters?

When it comes to recovering a detected target, practice makes perfect. Well, not really, but at least we get a little better over time and the craters we leave behind get a little bit smaller.

Target recovery is such an important part of the hobby, and can be the difference in being given permission to dig on someone's property or getting kicked out of the park. The smaller the hole you dig, and the better job you do replacing the plug you did dig, the more likely you will be allowed to return. Hence, we have not since put an astronaut on the moon in a long time... makes you wonder. Maybe Buzz should have watched the video below!

Welcome to my new AND improved Metal Detecting blog!

2008-02-22T04:11:00.000-08:00

Howdy! The name's "beetle", and I'm creating this blog for all fellow detectorist to blow off some steam, ask some questions, submit their "whutzit" pictures, post finds, and just discuss the hobby!

I intend to update BMDB at LEAST once a week to start with.

This is a new venture for me, so start submitting! Make suggestions, offer advice, give me a clue!

Got something for me? Send it here: beetle662@yahoo.com

So stay tuned for the 1st report here on new blog!

Hope to see ya around!