bigscoop
Gold Member
- Jun 4, 2010
- 13,535
- 9,072
- Detector(s) used
- Older blue Excal with full mods, Equinox 800.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
So this is pretty much the bulk of my good recoveries from my local old park so far this year (minus a few pieces of jewelry that I’ve apparently misplaced and the other trinkets like knives, toy cars, etc.) Clean clad, and coins that still need cleaned make up the vast majority of the collection, with the jewelry and silver coin production being pretty dismal so far this year. But the main reason I wanted to show you all of this is to point out the number of plugs that I’ve had to dig, this not including those other trash targets that are also dug. And all of these plugs in one old park, and it’s only May, so just a couple of months of hunting. So I’m guessing that we’re talking an easy 1000 plugs or more.
Now my good/trash target recovery rate is probably around 80% because, given this is a public park, I have to be pretty selective when creating plugs each time I venture out to this park so many of those “iffy” targets get passed over. Otherwise this number of plugs would be even higher. Yet, if you were to spend a day searching this old park for the plugs that I leave behind you’d be hard pressed to locate very many of them. If I don’t make certain of this then I would be leaving a real mess in my path and we all know where that is going to eventually lead. “No More Metal Detecting!” Just one of the subjects I wanted to briefly mention in this writing as it is vital to our continued access of these public places. But now back to the number of targets, the quality of the targets, etc.
In all fairness I’ve pounded this old park pretty good over the years and I’m certainly not the only one so in one respect the number of good recoveries is rather amazing, and it also helps to explain the low production of silver coins and jewelry. And there is another factor too, not too long ago this park had a very-very active volleyball court that probably hasn’t been used a handful of times in recent years, and in fact, I believe they are even talking about covering it over now due to its inactivity. And one more interesting observation, the adult activity in the park isn’t the same anymore, most of the activity being undertaken by children and young adults now, so less gold and silver jewelry to be lost. And the last observation, the class of income of those people using the park these days has dropped considerably in the last 30-50 years or so due to the declining economy in the area. Per example, that old volleyball court is just a children’s sand box now and it’s been that way for the last several years or more. What once had three softball diamonds now only has one and it seldom gets used anymore. And so on and so on, so the replenishing of quality targets has been greatly reduced over the years.
Upgrades. Back in the day people lost items in the grass, the sand, the dusty dirt, or in beds of pea gravel and even loose wood chips, but today these targets fall onto rubber matting where it can be easily spotted and quickly recovered by those who lost it.
The lose of ground. Those two old ball diamonds are now the Park’s pride and joy attraction, having been converted into flower gardens with all of the bronze statues, fountains, groomed and stoned surroundings and walking paths, new buildings, this now being that area that host wedding receptions, small evening concerts, and other such special events, etc. Don’t want to get caught dead inside this area with a metal detector. Get caught digging plugs in here and there’s little doubt that the doo-doo is going to hit the fan. So, acreage has been lost, and a lot of it being very old acreage where a lot of that older adult physical activity took place. But not anymore.
So, now to the point of this little article. If you’re someone who is hunting one of these old parks and you’re getting a bit dismayed you just have to keep everything in perspective. Given all of he above setbacks it certainly isn’t as easy as it used to be, BUT, given all of the trash hiding those good targets they are still out there to be found. You just have to keep plugging away, pardon the pun. Don’t let it get you down, instead, keep things in perspective because quite honestly, with all of the above coming into play, I’m actually pretty amazed at my total take so far this year. Set your mind and your machine to cherry picking mode for just those good targets and get out of it whatever you can. Sure beats sitting in front of the TV……Cheers!
Now my good/trash target recovery rate is probably around 80% because, given this is a public park, I have to be pretty selective when creating plugs each time I venture out to this park so many of those “iffy” targets get passed over. Otherwise this number of plugs would be even higher. Yet, if you were to spend a day searching this old park for the plugs that I leave behind you’d be hard pressed to locate very many of them. If I don’t make certain of this then I would be leaving a real mess in my path and we all know where that is going to eventually lead. “No More Metal Detecting!” Just one of the subjects I wanted to briefly mention in this writing as it is vital to our continued access of these public places. But now back to the number of targets, the quality of the targets, etc.
In all fairness I’ve pounded this old park pretty good over the years and I’m certainly not the only one so in one respect the number of good recoveries is rather amazing, and it also helps to explain the low production of silver coins and jewelry. And there is another factor too, not too long ago this park had a very-very active volleyball court that probably hasn’t been used a handful of times in recent years, and in fact, I believe they are even talking about covering it over now due to its inactivity. And one more interesting observation, the adult activity in the park isn’t the same anymore, most of the activity being undertaken by children and young adults now, so less gold and silver jewelry to be lost. And the last observation, the class of income of those people using the park these days has dropped considerably in the last 30-50 years or so due to the declining economy in the area. Per example, that old volleyball court is just a children’s sand box now and it’s been that way for the last several years or more. What once had three softball diamonds now only has one and it seldom gets used anymore. And so on and so on, so the replenishing of quality targets has been greatly reduced over the years.
Upgrades. Back in the day people lost items in the grass, the sand, the dusty dirt, or in beds of pea gravel and even loose wood chips, but today these targets fall onto rubber matting where it can be easily spotted and quickly recovered by those who lost it.
The lose of ground. Those two old ball diamonds are now the Park’s pride and joy attraction, having been converted into flower gardens with all of the bronze statues, fountains, groomed and stoned surroundings and walking paths, new buildings, this now being that area that host wedding receptions, small evening concerts, and other such special events, etc. Don’t want to get caught dead inside this area with a metal detector. Get caught digging plugs in here and there’s little doubt that the doo-doo is going to hit the fan. So, acreage has been lost, and a lot of it being very old acreage where a lot of that older adult physical activity took place. But not anymore.
So, now to the point of this little article. If you’re someone who is hunting one of these old parks and you’re getting a bit dismayed you just have to keep everything in perspective. Given all of he above setbacks it certainly isn’t as easy as it used to be, BUT, given all of the trash hiding those good targets they are still out there to be found. You just have to keep plugging away, pardon the pun. Don’t let it get you down, instead, keep things in perspective because quite honestly, with all of the above coming into play, I’m actually pretty amazed at my total take so far this year. Set your mind and your machine to cherry picking mode for just those good targets and get out of it whatever you can. Sure beats sitting in front of the TV……Cheers!
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