Anyone have a good hint for detecting in woods ?

Gribnitz

Hero Member
Aug 1, 2004
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I have tried it, but the underbrush is such a pain. Sticks get stuck in the coil and are contsantly pulling my headphones off my head. Is it even worth playing around in the woods? How many people could have walked through an area like that ? I have one spot I want to check, but haven't gotten around to it just yet. It is an old tin shed buried in the woods (no idea why a shed would be out in the middle of the woods, but it is there).

Do you just go without the headphones and put up with sticks getting stuck in the coil ?
 

That shed area sound like a good spot. Now if that is out there my guess there is another place close by. An old homestead or something like that. Check around and look for things out of the ordinary.

Goodluck Kerry
 

don't see any old broken mason jars and cooper tubing do ya ?
 

Well, come to think of it an old booze still wouldn't be out of the question. The big thing in Warren County Missouri now though is Meth Labs. I think Warren is one of the higher counties in the country for those labs, which would be a bad place to stumble across. But I think this shed is just what it looks like. An old tin shed that was hardly used and got overgrown. I am off all this week, think I will check it out.
 

be careful if still in use in either of above could spell bad day at bedrock. now if it's real old you might have a 20-30's whisky still. remember to look for old bottles while metal detecting.have fun,and lets be careful out there.
 

I would say go without the head phones in the heavier stuff,remember what is there now most likely wasnt there 50 years ago work the clean area first and if you have somewhat easy access to the brushy areas give it a try i have found some good stuff on my hands and knees ,tho saftey glasses are a must whan playing in the brush ,and remember to bring bug repellent and watch out for the poison ivy!
 

My friend if you want easy, go to the beach. When you go into woods, you are looking for
history.When you go into the woods next time, try to imagine how it was a hundred years ago.
Looking for history is the hardest part of our hobby.
 

It may be the hardest, but it's my favorite part. Especially when it pays off after a visit. ;D
 

Well, i hit the shed. Knew it was a bad sign when I saw the concrete floor in it, but it sure was an odd place. A rotten cot and and rotten chair were inside like someone had lived in the place or something. It was just a tin shed (no insulation) and if you know Missouir winters, you realize the problems I am talking about if someone actually tried to live in this thing. They were the only 2 things inside besides a glass bottle that said "illegal for resale" sitting on the cot.

Detected a bit outside the place, but didn't get any hits and the walls of a tin shed drove my detector nuts. I was afraid the Blair Witch would show up, so I didn't stick around too terribly long ???. I wandered around a bit looking for some decaying foundation of a house and never found anything. I still have no idea why a shed was sitting in the middle of the woods. Very odd. mabye it was an old moon shine hut that had the still moved someplace else.
 

I am not from a woods area myself, but found out the hard way by visiting in-laws in Virginia. Summer - take bug repellant like DEET. Check for ticks when you get out of the brush and change your clothes. Comb your hair also.
I kept running into tons of spider webs and had a hell of a time with branches and leaves being in the way.
It was so damn hot that I was wearing shorts and open toed sandals of all things (in the forest). I was constantly on the alert for three things snakes (they blend in really well back there), bears (tons of forest, I figured there has to be bears around), and large bucks (big racks, don't want to tangle with these). I even had visions of running into a wild pig.
A few years earlier, during the fall, I had been to this desolate spot and it was awesome. I made a mental note to get back some day to hunt it. There were no leaves on the trees and visibilty was great. The weather was cool and I figured next time I got back there it would be the same.
Wrong!
I learned that if you are alone in the forest, you do hear trees fall (and sometimes you almost get killed by them)
It's probably best to hunt with a partner and to wear your headphones only on one ear unless you can see a great distance in front of you. You never know when Bigfoot is going to show up! 8)
 

? ? I agree with the above poster saying early Spring and Fall are best. The temperature is down along with the underbrush.
? ? My tip is to buy some women's sockings, cut the feet off, and wear them on your arms. You can choose your colour. I prefer tan myself :). Get the cheapest available. This to ward off the oil on poison ivy. I don't know if it works, but after getting poison ivy twice I came up with this idea. Long sleeved shirts are too hot for me.
? ? Look for the easy, open ground and do that first, like the above poster said.
? ? One day I charged up and down the riverbank and tired myself out from the get go. Should have done the top. The top, edge of the bank, has lots of stuff. Maybe hunters chase the deer to the river and run them along the bank. Because I found an old musket ball and bronze arrowhead up there.
? ? For cutting roots in the hole I got a big, cheap survival/rambo knife. The sheath has a belt loop. I got some inner tube rubber and cut long strips about 1.5" wide. Sewed it onto the lower part of the sheath for a thigh strap to keep it from flapping around. Small, plastic backpack clasp to fasten the band on. Another bit of band, a loop, to keep the hilt tucked against the sheath. Just lift the loop up and off the hilt peg to be able to remove the knife. Sewed that onto the sheath, too.
? ? Cheap knife because hacking roots is bound to hit rocks in the soil.
? ? Very nice md-ing in woods. Enjoy.
? ?
 

a good way to hunt the woods is just using your eyes. look for what used to be a clearing, or a place in the woods where nothing is growing. sunken in places, soft groud, trees that dont look too old. i usually cover myself in bug spray, and carry a 4-10 shotgun pistol. one thing i learned hunting in tennessee woods, is never to sit down on the ground and start digging, untill u check around the spot first, ran into a rattlesnake one time, while sittin on my knees digging in the underbrush.. very scary. but just look around in the woods for things out of the ordinary, clearings, nothing growing in certain spots is a good clue to remains of something, sunken ground can be any number of things, but if its the size of a body, stay away from it!
 

The best tool I have found for cutting thru roots etc. is a sheet rock saw from Lowe's it has a knife handle and agressive teeth and only cost about $5.oo.
 

Found my oldest IH (1867) in a wooded area of a park. Pinpointed the signal, brushed away the leaves and found it less than an inch down practically on the surface. I have to agree though it is difficult hunting wooded areas and twice as hard when they are sloped as is the case with this park. Perseverance should pay off. Good luck and HH.
 

For sticks in your coil you might try a coil cover. These cost $5-15 at Kellyco, and they make them for most any detector. Its a plastic skid plate that keeps wear and tear to a minimum on the underside of your coil, and will plug the hole in the center.
 

Hey guys, you all just keep working the side walks and parks and leave ALLLLLLLL the woods for me. 150 years ago everyone walked or rode a horse, and they weren't riding down the shoulder of the I-90. They took the closest route through the woods on little more than trails. If your looking for coins the parks are probably your best choice, but if it's history you want the wooded areas are rich with the artifacts of our pioneer ancesters. Good Luck To You All!
Hambone
 

Boy are you guys making me glad I live in MA because our woods don't sound NEARLY as treacherous. The poison Ivy is the big nemasis....well that and the bugs and humidity. Thanks for the tips on going in Spring and Fall. What about stone walls? does that indicate anything?
 

I've found old homesites in the woods. Went to one today with my wife. Only there for a short while, but she found this:
 

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I basically have the smae thing in my back yard there is alot of woods and out there in the woods there is a tin old shed partially in the ground. What i have found there is a couple of quarters, pennies, dime, nikles etc. All form around from the 1950's and some old parts from a wood chipper and a lawnmower. Where I like to check in my woods is in my stream i am not sure why but i have found worthless shoutgun bullets old shovel handels, arrows, fishing lures. I am not sure why there are fishing lures ??? since the only fish in there are minnows and sunfish and the stream is only about one to four feet across.
 

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