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How To Search Tall Grass Area


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So Im open to any suggestions using my XP deus. There is a very old site that used to be a school but now is an old church. Not being used much but the grass always seems to be pushed over as opposed to cut and bagged. So been hard to get my coil to the ground. There is an old wooden baseball diamond back stop thats falling down etc. Whole diamond is tall grass just being mowed over on its side. Don't know why they don't actually get a real mower in there and cut and bag it.

I wonder if I should try non motion mode and just keep poking at the ground best I can? Has anybody ever used non motion modes? I havn't tried it yet but thinking of going back and trying that.

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57buick, just a few questions and comments.

We all have different opinions when it comes to site description.  You said the following: "... a very old site that used to be a school but now is an old church" - "... an old wooden baseball diamond back stop thats falling down ".  My question is, what do you consider very old or old to be? 

I know many people get into the metal detecting hobby in recent years and consider an 'old site' to be something that dates to the 1970 or even 1980 era.  For me, any dated location would have had human activity in the 1940s or '50s if it was a school or church, but more preferably sites that date from the 1800s up through the 'Depression Era' here in the USA.

You also said: "So been hard to get my coil to the ground."  Just a reminder, you don't want to get a search coil 'to the ground' or 'on the ground', just work it close enough to the ground to achieve the best performance.  Most manufacturers will caution detectorists to stay off the ground by working the search coil at a height of ± 2" off the dirt.  Get the coil too close, especially in black sand, pea gravel or other highly mineralized conditions, and you can have a negative impact on performance.

Therefore, the actual coil-to-soil distance might not be that bad if the grasses are matted down really well.  It sounds like pinpointing a target and target recovery would be more difficult in a dense, matted grass and weed environment.  I have encountered that in abandoned ghost towns, old church and school sites, and even old homesites that are in-use, but an adjacent field or garden area had a very weedy or grassy growth, yet that was where the original homestead cabin used to be.

In those situations I have done the following things, depending upon the site, or gaining permission from the property owner:

1.. Grid or progress through an area by trampling the grass/weeds down.

2..  Grid or progress through an area using a flat piece of wall-board, plywood, Plexiglas or other object that you can stand on and detect through.

3.. Maybe hold off until a better time of the year when some weed and grass growth is minimal or almost gone.  In many places that might be very early spring, just coming out of winter, especially if you live in an environment that endures a snowy season.

4.. Use a weed-eater to clear an area to be searched.

5.. If the place of interest is still used and just not cared for, ask to mow it.  That's what a friend & I did since he had a riding mower and made quick work of the overgrown weeds and grass.

Before I went to any significant effort, however, I would first search parts of the site that would be more likely to hold lost keepers and determine if the site is really worth the effort.  Time might be more wisely and productively spent search other places, or doing research that might lead you to another potential site to hunt that is accessible and grass/weed free.

Monte

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Old meaning. The current building is from I'm guessing the 50's or 60's but considering its on the edge of plowed field i think there was probably a homestead before that from judging the location.

I have found a few 50's to 80's clad coins so far just poking around in the grass as best I can. There is no way I would be able to take a mower in there myself. The grass is too thick to actually swing the coil closer than 4 or 5 inches from the ground though. 

I'm perfectly aware I could just go somewhere else LOL thats not the point, this site has been intriguing me for a long time because of its location. Im gonna keep working it because nobody else ever has

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Have you hit the ploughed field at all to see whether any finds have been distributed away from the actual house/homestead site?  Last old house site I detected with ridiculously high grass, I just dropped the reactivity right back, and managed to pick out some coins despite not being able to get coil right to the ground surface.  After a while just walking around the site, it was enough to both see where I had previously detected (gridding), and also helped with the actual detecting itself - almost needed to retrace my steps the second time around once the grass was pushed flat.  Lastly I utilised the 13x11" Deus coil which has a bit more weight to it, and made it a bit easier to get closer to the ground, though made it rather tiring to swing from side to side.  

Usually I don't tend to make it a habit of detecting high grass, espeically in summer with snakes being a real risk.

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2 hours ago, Goldpick said:

Have you hit the ploughed field at all to see whether any finds have been distributed away from the actual house/homestead site?  Last old house site I detected with ridiculously high grass, I just dropped the reactivity right back, and managed to pick out some coins despite not being able to get coil right to the ground surface.  After a while just walking around the site, it was enough to both see where I had previously detected (gridding), and also helped with the actual detecting itself - almost needed to retrace my steps the second time around once the grass was pushed flat.  Lastly I utilised the 13x11" Deus coil which has a bit more weight to it, and made it a bit easier to get closer to the ground, though made it rather tiring to swing from side to side.  

Usually I don't tend to make it a habit of detecting high grass, espeically in summer with snakes being a real risk.

I havnt hit the field yet but I am planning too when the weather allows. I don't have the big coil but yea with any coil its a real chore swinging a coil against grass lol wears you out quick.

I did manage to pick out some trash and modern clad coins so far in the grass. The rainy season just started so I have to wait for good weather again

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In most old school I never found much because the kids and their family didn’t have any money. There was nothing at the school for them to buy in the way of food and back then all had their lunch from home.

Why do all that work cutting the grass when winter is on us and it will knock the grass down. It takes a lazy man to find a better way.

Chuck

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10 minutes ago, Ridge Runner said:

In most old school I never found much because the kids and their family didn’t have any money. There was nothing at the school for them to buy in the way of food and back then all had their lunch from home.

Why do all that work cutting the grass when winter is on us and it will knock the grass down. It takes a lazy man to find a better way.

Chuck

First I disagree with finding nothing at schools. Some of my best finds have been at old schools. Silver dimes and silver war nickels etc... Found a few rings at schools too. Usually just silver or copper but still. I'm not searching for gold at schools lol Second metal detecting is as much about the history to me than finding valuables per say.

I'm not going to go and cut their grass for them, that would be too much work for little gain. But any old site has potential for history. Old wire rim glasses, buckles etc excite me just as much as the silver dimes. Its all about the history

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Just maybe what you call old and what I do is a big difference. At 76 anything older than that is old. Now if you’are talking about in the last 50 60 years that’s a different story.

Next time if you state  the age of the area you’re hunting I’ll better understand.

My trouble is if I hunt with anyone most still have baby fat.

Chuck

PS I’m talking the old one room school house. To put it simple their family didn’t have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out.

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well fact is theres no telling how old. I recently got to go detect in cow pasture that it turns out used to have 3 different homesteads on it the 1800's in different spots around the field. You would never know driving down the road looking at this field.

This site i've been talking about I don't really know the history but I know the area has been farmed for well over 100 years. But I don't know for sure if it was a school here or a homestead. I just know the area has been used

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