Clearing trash targets

I guess I do without doing it purposely. I dig most good signals so I get a lot of trash so as a result I guess I'm also unmasking good targets...except I really don't get any good targets...so not really sure what the heck I'm doing..digging trash I guess...lol

Nubster said:

I guess I do without doing it purposely. I dig most good signals so I get a lot of trash so as a result I guess I'm also unmasking good targets...except I really don't get any good targets...so not really sure what the heck I'm doing..digging trash I guess...lol

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I have kind of done the same. I have never actually dug a surface target only to swing over the hole to find something else beneath it. I at times I'm sure I totally forget to do that though.

At sites like basketball court perimeters I have literally "dug it all" in the past.
Extreme trash, usually, especially the older ones but I do it in several visits because hours upon hours of trash removal can drive you insane.
More than a dozen gold rings and more than that in silver rings and chains had been my reward so worth it in my opinion.
Private lawns are a different story, I dig a lot of trash at those sites too but nowhere near the amount I am willing to dig at the court sites.
At homes and lawns I prefer to hunt them way more than once changing directions and sometimes changing settings, and even sometimes changing detectors instead.
It is a privilege to hunt private property, not a right, and no use even taking a chance on antagonizing homeowners if they even think I am digging too many holes..even if I cover them all up perfectly.
Sometimes I find great treasure on my first visit but any times I finally get to the good stuff on my 4th, 5th or 6th or more trip to the same site.
Digging it all will logically yield more efficiently overall but I have been shocked at what I have found at some homes when I finally hit certain masked targets from the exact, right angle without digging everything in repeated hunts.
Masking is a big issue, I believe, a much bigger than a lot of hunters think, and in my experience massive trash digging and less trash digging but repeated hunts can both show great results...if you have the time and patience to do it either way.

longbow62 said:

How many folks here actually try to remove trash targets in order to unmask good targets?

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I absolutely have uncovered good targets while removing trash. I bet most of us have also uncovered a good target while removing a good target.

Here's a report where I did it as an experiment.

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showpost.php?p=3229791&postcount=45

I wouldn't do it just anywhere. But, it stands to reason that a highly productive area where the coins are 4+ inches deep has some more masked coins where the trash gets denser. You don't have to dig everything out. Rather, just thin out the shallow mid conductors.

At most of the urban and suburban public spaces that I hunt, the aluminum trash level is moderate to high near the surface. I usually basically try to cover the whole area that I think might have the best chance of jewelry or coin drops which (like the basketball court example) are usually also places with lots of junk targets. I clear out the obvious most recent drops whether good targets or trash first, and later I grid the areas I want to concentrate on and gradually clear enough trash to hear the deeper stuff. I also rotate where I hunt so I don't stress the grass by returning everyday to the same place. I'm lucky to have so many sites to make that work.

Using the Equinox I have to clear out enough of the low to mid conductor aluminum targets to unmask better targets underneath. The Nox will hit so hard on aluminum and other low to mid conductor targets that deeper targets, especially higher conductors underneath could be masked. I have experienced this repeatedly.

Jeff

jmaclen said:

......The Nox will hit so hard on aluminum and other low to mid conductor targets that deeper targets, especially higher conductors underneath could be masked.

Jeff

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Yep.

Well the place I was talking about was actually a pair of house tear downs that were side by side. We hit the front yards from every direction multiple times, but the trash and iron is pretty rough. There are many screws and small rusty tacks besides the shredded aluminum, twist offs, zincs, and pull tabs of all shapes and sizes. Just for giggles the following is the outcome of many hunts at this site in the last two weeks.

Those small iron tacks sound just like IHP's on the Nox. I have run into this on several sites. It's quite annoying. I did get one 1883 IHP. So between my buddy and I the best coin finds were 2 IHP's, 1 V nickel, 1 War nickel, 4 Mercs, 1 Barber dime, and 1 Barber quarter which was the last silver found after many many hunts. Probably close to 10 wheats with many being teens.

I dug 4 silvers personally, and did not dig a silver that I would call an easy signal. They all sounded like silver but all were quite for their depth and not solid numbers a full 360 degrees around them. I'm sure both Barbers were on edge, and I am not surprised they were missed initially.

Besides my Nox 800 which I found all my good stuff with, I tried my Etrac with 5" sunray coil and bombed! Just shallow pennies with the Etrac. I don't consider myself great with the Etrac, but I'm certainly not a novice with it. I just never have any luck using it unless I am in cleaner spots without iron.

My buddy used his Etrac with a NEL Sharpshooter, and his CTX with 6" coil. I don't remember what he found most of his silver with, but I am assuming his Etrac as he used it the most.

Another buddy hunted a couple of hours using his Etrac with a small SEF coil and found no silver. I was surprised because he has dropped the Nox 800 and went back to the Etrac full time. He swears he gets better performance out of the Etrac even in trash using the SEF 8"x6". I will say he is very good with it and occasionally pulls stuff out of places that are pretty much considered hunted out.

I am not sure if I will go back again. I went today for a couple of hours digging nothing but a few pennies and a lot of trash. It's been really hot and humid with the heat index near 100 or above. Sure I could go back and try to clean more trash out, but after the number of hunters and many hunts I doubt it's going to be worth it. If they remove some trees and possibly move some dirt around I might hit it again.

I was hoping for a Seated to be pulled from this place since it's old enough. Sadly it was not to be. We get very few sites old enough for seated here so it was a a big disappointment for me.

Just change the date of the post Tony to say...1980? word for word it would be the same except the detectors would be different which supports the fact that site choice still wins out over latest and greatest.

longbow62 said:

My buddy used his Etrac with a NEL Sharpshooter, and his CTX with 6" coil. I don't remember what he found most of his silver with, but I am assuming his Etrac as he used it the most.

Another buddy hunted a couple of hours using his Etrac with a small SEF coil and found no silver. I was surprised because he has dropped the Nox 800 and went back to the Etrac full time. He swears he gets better performance out of the Etrac even in trash using the SEF 8"x6". I will say he is very good with it and occasionally pulls stuff out of places that are pretty much considered hunted out.

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I use ctx and etrac and nox 800. I have found with the ctx and etrac if you want it to unmask better, you have to open the screen up or they just won't give you any tone. I have some really bad masked targets in my test bed and i discovered this while playing around. You have to listen to a lot more signals but you can pick out the better ones. Will have to dig a lot more trash than say Bill's trashy park program, but some people don't mind if they can find something. Also playing around with the normal, pitch hold, long, smooth you can help dial in masked targets as well. I still prefer my 800 though in trashy spots as it just unmasks so well when you finally understand what it is telling you and i don't have to dig near as much trash to get good targets.

longbow62 said:

I have kind of done the same. I have never actually dug a surface target only to swing over the hole to find something else beneath it. I at times I'm sure I totally forget to do that though.

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I have removed zinc cents and found silver masked underneath which I only found by removing the offending items. It is very possible that heavy trash will mask good targets and especially gold targets.

In an old site I would do the work in a small defined area and then evaluate whether it is worth your time. Good luck. May you be rewarded for your work.