Summer lawn hunting tips

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Hi Tnet’ers-

I have a friend in W PA that recently bought a 60 acre farm with a standing 1855 house. This is their weekend home, they are hobby farmers. They are slowly restoring the home and cleaning up the yard, fields and surrounding woods. Basically it is not a pristine farmstead, but there are some large mowed areas around the house and they gave me permission to detect this weekend.

We have had another fairly wet summer, but it is looking like no rain for the next 4 days, highs about 80 degrees. I’m expecting the ground to be moist in the mostly shaded areas and fairly dry in the sun areas.(because of the rain this year yards in my area are lush and green, no burn out effects)

I typically do 8” diameter 6” deep hinged holes in grass. I don’t do a lot of lawn hunting and was wondering if there is some advice out there for minimizing brown plugs.

BTW, my find of the day is this.

I bought my Carrot 2 years ago, finally started acting funny, then stopped detecting metal. Contacted Garrett and they gave me the return authorization code for free warranty repair without any fanfare. What they returned is a brand new unit! Pretty sweet service.

 

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[HighVDI]

I love Garrett CS!

Only thing you could really do is water the areas with plugs. Hard not to get brown spots this time of year.

Or.....a can or green spray paint? Lol.

 

[Joe-Dirt]

I usually cut deeper, bigger plugs with my big shovel at an almost vertical angle. I’ve found the smaller plugs turn brown during the summer months.
My carrot has started to act up too, if I drop it from 2 or 3 feet it’s back to normal, something is loose and getting ready to die.

 

[Tpmetal]

bigger plugs helps tremendously, also water your plug before putting back in if it is really hot and dry out.

 

[Johncoho]

I also dig a nice plug 5 or 6 inches in diameter and about 6 inches deep and leave it hinged. When I put it back in place, I carefully press it back in and smooth the grass around it. I learned a long time ago not to stomp or pound the plug back in because this will surely kill the grass for awhile, until it gets some water on it.

 

[xr7ator]

I try and make the hinged plug smaller, like 4 inches in diameter. I never use a shovel. If it does turn brown it will turn green again in about a week. Push all the surrounding blades of grass away from the hole when reinstalling the plug so that all the grass around the plug will stay healthy and concealing.
For shallow coins flip them out with a screw driver and leave the aeration hole as it's good for the sod.

 

[A2coins]

Carry some water to put on the edge of your plugs so they don't dry out and turn brown There are many settings on that pinpointed and you can balance it and pinpoint more accurately in holes love those carrots

 

[smokeythecat]

I rarely do grass this time of year. That being said if I do, I make smaller plugs, like 4", hinged and water them. I do NOT dig iffy targets in lawns before Labor Day. This time of year is normally reserved for artifact labeling and sorting out stuff.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Garrett sure takes care of their customer base!

 

[IDXMonster]

If and when you’re digging 10-11” coins, you need to dig a BIG plug with vertical sides. You can put it back in just like a huge cork and it’s “self sustaining”....meaning, you don’t have to hinge it, water it or even paint it, and animals CANT dig it up. A 10” diameter plug is not uncommon for me. Everyone does it differently for their own personal reasons, and this subject has been re-hashed to DEATH! A nicer manicured place where coins are shallow....pop them or perform a less intrusive recovery. However, those just aren’t the places MOST of us hunt, if I’ve paid attention at all over the years. It really comes down to the type of ground being worked with, how deep the target is and how YOU feel is the “correct” way.