The Newest bane of my metal detecting experience.

[Skippy SH13]

So,

Lately, I've been hitting a bunch of the newer parks. There's certainly ZERO pull tabs, but the occasional pop-top makes the appearance. What I'm finding hundreds of, though, is the little seal tops for bottled drinks. I'm assuming after little league games and puny-sized soccer games, the kids are all getting their sports drinks, yogurt drinks, and whetever drinks, and remove the "FRESHNESS SEAL" and it drops to the side.

Those suckers have a layer of foil on them.

Yesterday, at the ball fields, I finally gave up searching in some areas, because they were so prolific. My knees just couldn't take the garbage digging. The signals are weird only if they are vertical in the soil, otherwise they flash a nice solid signal back.

I think every Optimist group out there needs to include in their Rules for Parents, right below "no fighting with the coaches," a request to bring a sack to collect garbage after snacks!

I mean seriously, don't they KNOW I'm trying to find their lost jewelry, NOT their garbage? LOL

Skippy

 

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[gilgar]

I totally agree with you. There are a bunch of these at the tot lots and schools too.

 

[digger27]

There is some hope.
I also hate these things and their two evil twins, condiment packets and gum wrappers.
They all come in pretty much the same for me, generally just at 21 or so on my Fishers and just a hair above the N in iron on my Tesoros.
Unlike a lot of trash where they will come in jumpy for the most part and only once in awhile solid with no jumping, these things are different and come in solid and sound good most of the time.
There are a few things I figured out I can do to get a pretty good idea about these, maneuvering the coils and things like that, but they take a bit of time and I am not that all that patient.
In areas with a ton of these things I have settled into a way of thinking about these that has made my life and hunts much more pleasant.
Keep in mind I am a gold hunter first and foremost, and second I am the type of guy that will let the "what if's" kill me...if I let them.
If you believe this about me then you know this change to a different mindset about these things was a big deal...a very big deal, but I did it and I am happy about it.
I just decided I am just not going to dig them or at least most of them if there are too many at a particular site.
The biggest reason for this way of thinking is logical to me and has to do with numbers and percentages which rule my life in this hobby.
I have dug 35 gold targets in my 5 years, many have been down in foil and pretty low foil too, but only one small gold chain has been as low as these drink inserts come in and that was below this level at iron.
I am fully aware I could be missing some very small gold, and I can show you that very small and thin also at chain and a couple of really tiny silver chains that I did dig that came in below this level at iron, but sometimes enjoyment and peace of mind can trump those "what if" feelings if you want to stay sane and it will make you draw a line in the sand...and at sites with tons of these things this is mine.
I did the math, I would rather spend my time digging way more higher number targets, if only just slightly higher, than waste my time digging all of these and once I made up my mind I was fine with it.
Nowadays I usually hunt with disc levels set slightly above these things at infested sites, or hunting with low disc using my Fishers when I see solid numbers from 19-21 I usually just ignore them and move on.
Did it reduce my frequency of gold finds...not at all.
If anything I started finding more.
Did I miss digging a lot of silver chains by doing this?
I don't think so, but even if I miss a couple that come in exactly where these things do I don't care...the chances are remote enough that I refuse to worry about it.

I still dig a few no matter what at any site, sometimes they sound so good and solid my digging instincts kick in at least at the beginning of a hunt at a trashy park.
It doesn't take long or very many for me to stop digging them, however, I just think about the numbers and percentages and the 34 out of 35 gold targets that I dug that came in higher and just continue on.
This is me and how I think, you might be completely different.
My hunting time is limited, my energy levels are not unlimited and my logic and math skills are pretty good so add it all up and I will continue to think and do it like this until I figure out a better way.

 

[mikeraydj]

Digger, I always learn some great stuff from you. Thanks my friend.

 

[Skippy SH13]

There is some hope.
I also hate these things and their two evil twins, condiment packets and gum wrappers.
They all come in pretty much the same for me, generally just at 21 or so on my Fishers and just a hair above the N in iron on my Tesoros.
Unlike a lot of trash where they will come in jumpy for the most part and only once in awhile solid with no jumping, these things are different and come in solid and sound good most of the time.
There are a few things I figured out I can do to get a pretty good idea about these, maneuvering the coils and things like that, but they take a bit of time and I am not that all that patient.
In areas with a ton of these things I have settled into a way of thinking about these that has made my life and hunts much more pleasant.
Keep in mind I am a gold hunter first and foremost, and second I am the type of guy that will let the "what if's" kill me...if I let them.
If you believe this about me then you know this change to a different mindset about these things was a big deal...a very big deal, but I did it and I am happy about it.
I just decided I am just not going to dig them or at least most of them if there are too many at a particular site.
The biggest reason for this way of thinking is logical to me and has to do with numbers and percentages which rule my life in this hobby.
I have dug 35 gold targets in my 5 years, many have been down in foil and pretty low foil too, but only one small gold chain has been as low as these drink inserts come in and that was below this level at iron.
I am fully aware I could be missing some very small gold, and I can show you that very small and thin also at chain and a couple of really tiny silver chains that I did dig that came in below this level at iron, but sometimes enjoyment and peace of mind can trump those "what if" feelings if you want to stay sane and it will make you draw a line in the sand...and at sites with tons of these things this is mine.
I did the math, I would rather spend my time digging way more higher number targets, if only just slightly higher, than waste my time digging all of these and once I made up my mind I was fine with it.
Nowadays I usually hunt with disc levels set slightly above these things at infested sites, or hunting with low disc using my Fishers when I see solid numbers from 19-21 I usually just ignore them and move on.
Did it reduce my frequency of gold finds...not at all.
If anything I started finding more.
Did I miss digging a lot of silver chains by doing this?
I don't think so, but even if I miss a couple that come in exactly where these things do I don't care...the chances are remote enough that I refuse to worry about it.

I still dig a few no matter what at any site, sometimes they sound so good and solid my digging instincts kick in at least at the beginning of a hunt at a trashy park.
It doesn't take long or very many for me to stop digging them, however, I just think about the numbers and percentages and the 34 out of 35 gold targets that I dug that came in higher and just continue on.
This is me and how I think, you might be completely different.
My hunting time is limited, my energy levels are not unlimited and my logic and math skills are pretty good so add it all up and I will continue to think and do it like this until I figure out a better way.

Awesome post. I get the volume thing. Sometimes I just have to stop concentrating on Trash for a while and get my real finds up. Coin mode is good for that, but I always wonder what I missed. Inevitably, I'll start Discriminating (notching) back IN the various tones (i'll watch the screen, too, instead of just listening), and before I know it, I'm back to digging trash.

Just can't help myself.

I'm looking forward to finding enough clad this year to support an upgrade next year to a Garrett AT Pro (I want a little waterproofing, in addition to the pro-mode). I'm right at $50 in about 2 months. I figure I need to hit about $300 in total new finds to sell my ACE 250 (I'll keep my 350), and make the upgrade.

Sure would be a lot faster if I could find another $300 in gold rings, like I did in January!

Skippy

 

[digger27]

In some very limited time to hunt in Jan, in between freezing weather and even digging in some pretty frozen ground, I found these 3 little things all within a two week span.
I dug very little trash finding these, one because I just didn't feel like it, two because at times of frozen ground it was just too much of a hassle to go after much trash.
This streak was lucky but it proves it can happen.
You can avoid digging trash, or at least a lot of it, and still find great stuff.
10k with ice, 14k and my first 22k ring.

BTW...the one that says Neena is the 22k item and worth about $250 melt.

 

[Skippy SH13]

In some very limited time to hunt in Jan, in between freezing weather and even digging in some pretty frozen ground, I found these 3 little things all within a two week span.
I dug very little trash finding these, one because I just didn't feel like it, two because at times of frozen ground it was just too much of a hassle to go after much trash.
This streak was lucky but it proves it can happen.
You can avoid digging trash, or at least a lot of it, and still find great stuff.
10k with ice, 14k and my first 22k ring.

BTW...the one that says Neena is the 22k item and worth about $250 melt.

Beauties, all! The 22K ring must have been a total grin-fest.

I've found 100% of my rings in local parks. In Idaho, there's obviously no ocean beaches, so now that I've worked through pretty much all the municipal parks, I'm running out of options to dig. Are you hitting public places other than parks, or finding these on private property.

Luck is luck, and I appreciate that... but the finds have to be there to begin with. I don't buy into the belief that you have to dig X# of pieces to find gold. Probability increases ONLY if there's gold to be found amidst the trash. Sometimes, it's just trash!

Do you have hot spots that are generally transferrable to other locations? For example, I've heard baseball outfields are good, but all of our fields are populated 99% of the time by little league. No adult and teenager fields out there (they're on school grounds which are pretty much off limits in most of our cities).

-Skippy

 

[digger27]

I hunt some woods sometimes, but mostly public parks and that is where I find most of my jewelry.
I hit them over and over again, by the way, always find new things on most hunts, also.

The best place to look for jewelry for me by far is around basketball courts.
The older and trashiest the better.
I have found close to 20 gold targets around these things, a bunch of silver rings and chains, too.
Another great site is grass, pebble or chip filled islands that divide up parking lots...high school and college's are the most productive for me.
Lots of gold and silver in these things, too.

 

[hoser]

These are some great posts. I learned a lot from you all.

 

[Skippy SH13]

Interesting about the islands that divide up parking lots. I've hit a few a few times, and found only trash, didn't think to keep looking.

I'll give them a go. Unfortunately, it's only been the last decade or so that our city's growth has expanded. We only had one high school until roughly 2000, and now we have FOUR. most of the school areas are new...

One thing I've noted, when I hunt schools is that it switches from finding 100 pop-tabs to something good to finding 50 pencil tips (the metal ends) to something good. LOL

-Skippy

 

[voodoo]

great posts and love the rings. Always learning! Thanks folks.

 

[digger27]

Interesting about the islands that divide up parking lots. I've hit a few a few times, and found only trash, didn't think to keep looking.

I'll give them a go. Unfortunately, it's only been the last decade or so that our city's growth has expanded. We only had one high school until roughly 2000, and now we have FOUR. most of the school areas are new...

One thing I've noted, when I hunt schools is that it switches from finding 100 pop-tabs to something good to finding 50 pencil tips (the metal ends) to something good. LOL

-Skippy

About those islands...
Just remember that people walking over these pull out keys and jewelry can fall off and other pocket contents sometimes come out with those keys.
At schools kids hang out and sit on these things before and after school.

I have found lots of silver rings, a few silver chains and some gold rings in these.
Here is the best one.
Not marked and I still have to test it but notice the buttery look to the gold.
I suspect very old and 22-24k with a natural pearl.
Came in just past high foil in the low nickel area.