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Hi Ya'll!

Jim, I agree that I shouldn't have asked.  I checked the Forsyth Co Park and Rec website and there was absolutely nothing about metal detecting in their precious parks.  From what I understand, if there is no rule, then all they can do is tell you to leave if some Barney Fife Wannabe takes offense to someone cleaning their park for free?  The park manager at Arrowhead Lake didn't know what the lake was named for?  Sad, but typical.  I hope I'm wrong, but I foresee a day in my lifetime when the only places you will be allowed to detect is public beaches and private property.  It's already like that in many eastern states.

I went to the Old Federal Day Use beach area yesterday.  I put my 800 in Field 2 all metal mode, upped the sensitivity to 23 and left everything else on the default setting.  If you like bottle caps, then this is the place to go!  It wasn't a total waste of 5 hours as I got really good at avoiding the nasty little things.  Except for the really rusted ones and the steel Corona caps they all have jumpy all-over-the-place ID numbers.  Most of them will even ring up a negative number (or several) as long as you are running all metal.  Of course, if the trash and iron is dense, it seems that you might miss a good target by using this method.  I got 41 cents and no jewelry.  Sometimes you can learn a lot from a day of digging a mountain of trash.   It seems like this beach is well-hunted. since the only shallow targets were bottle caps, which most detectorists can avoid.  Despite the lack of quality targets, I was very pleased with my 800.  The coins were DEEP,  like dig-past-the-sand-and-into-the-
Georgia-clay deep.  I also dug quite a few of the old ring style pull tabs, which were also about 10 to 14 inches down.  I feel that these would have been already dug, since they sound soooo good, if they had been within range of most detectors.

Today I put on my jacket and braved the 58 degree Siberian tundra conditions and went down to the smaller Federal Campground beach.  Similar results, just less of it.  I did get a tiny little pierced earring back.  Woo hoo.  It rang up a solid 5.

Old Federal Day Use Beach5ad91c9161d65_OldFedDayUse.thumb.jpg.0cc478fec262ca9f1bc610ffbec20da8.jpg

Old Federal Campground Beach20180419_140441.thumb.jpg.a7427ecb8f1d7b750591f766a9b8bd51.jpg

Area that I wanted to detect. :angry:20180419_165142.thumb.jpg.9c2af089a4a26518809b9d39792c8351.jpg

Ya'll have a good weekend!  Tomorrow we move to Sawnee Campground.  We'll see what those beaches have to offer!

Ammie

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Just a note. Thanks for the info on the beaches you have abandoned in Brevard!  I'm going to hit them hard this summer with my young son!  

As an aside, I think this post is going to put me in the 3.11g club (Copper Member)!  100th post!  LOL! :biggrin:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Yall!

Well, we left Georgia and are now parked in my mom's yard in Obion County, TN.  I hunted several of those Lake Lanier beaches (on the 4 days out of 10 when it wasn't raining), and I must say I won't be in any hurry to go back. I've never dug so many pull tabs without even a tiny piece of silver to show for it.  And not only are the beaches bare of anything but trash, but all the city and county parks seem to be off limits to detecting.  I did try another little city park in Sugar Hill, but after seeing all of the security cameras I changed my mind.  It's not worth the risk of having my 800 confiscated by some local podunk city cop for a handful of aluminum trash.  

Now for the good news.  There's a friend of a friend who lives near a West TN Civil War battlefield and he's going to let me detect his 3 acre lot!  I've looked at the old maps and while the battle wasn't actually on his property, there was certainly Confederate troop movement and very possibly camps there.  Any suggestions on 800 settings to squeeze the most out of my 4-5 hour (Hubby's metal detecting attention span) shot at this will be welcome.   I'll also be detecting some of the local parks here, and since the mayor of our little town was my 3rd grade teacher maybe I won't be harassed by the local law enforcement!  It will be interesting to see if the 800 finds any silver since I know these little parks have been pounded to death by every other VLF detector ever made.  I just hope I'm the first one there with an Equinox!

Here's some pics I did of the Lake Lanier beaches.  Ya'll have a good week and Happy Hunting!

Ammie

 

Sawnee 5.jpg

Sawnee Beach 1.jpg

Sawnee 6.jpg

Sawnee 7.jpg

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Thanks for the update..Being from California I find it hard to believe that parks are off limits to detecting in so many places on the east coast. I've only ran across one park that specifically had a sign that said no metal detecting in an uppity neighborhood... Hope you find something good soon..

strick 

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2 hours ago, strick said:

Thanks for the update..Being from California I find it hard to believe that parks are off limits to detecting in so many places on the east coast. I've only ran across one park that specifically had a sign that said no metal detecting in an uppity neighborhood... Hope you find something good soon..

strick 

 I know, Strick!  I can not wait to get to Montana.  There are some cool places I'll be detecting, I mean prospecting for gold nuggets, that, back east, would be roped off with a big ole Hysterical Marker sign in front of it.  Montana is how it should be.  If you're not bothering anybody or trespassing on their property, no one really gives a crapola what you do.

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Hi Ammie… it’s too bad those Lake Lanier beaches proved to be barren of any valuables, but I have a feeling that your fortunes are about to change. Searching a property adjacent to Civil War battleground should yield some interesting finds. I sure hope you’ll find at least a few valuable artifacts, and I think the law of averages ought to work in your favor this time around.

I can’t advise you about settings for the Equinox, other than perhaps to adjust it to eliminate small nails and other small non-descript iron. And only then because your time there is quite limited, so in all likelihood you’ll have to focus on the more promising signals. Now if time permits, I’d search in the motion all-metal mode (if there is such a mode, and I think a forum friend mentioned there is) for maximum depth and refer to the target ID to decide what to dig. Just keep in mind that deeper non-ferrous targets might also read as iron, so I would suggest you dig those deep targets regardless of target ID. 

A disclaimer is appropriate here because I’m not a knowledgeable relic hunter, most of my experience lies elsewhere. But it is an interesting question because there are doubtless valuable or desirable civil war relics comprised solely of iron / steel. I really do think that your limited time on site has to take precedence in deciding what types of signals to dig. Hopefully, someone with relic hunting experience will step into this discussion and offer you more knowledgeable suggestions.

Thankyou for sharing your most recent activities with us, and also for those wonderful photos. Good luck with everything Ammie, and please do keep us posted. :smile:

Jim.
 

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Hey Jim!   Thanks for the advice on 800 settings.  I already have a few bullets, so this is what I'm mostly looking for.  I've heard they ID like a squished aluminum can.  Does anyone know for sure?

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Hello Everyone!

Well, I had a great time yesterday at a one-shot permission.  My mom and I went yard sale-ing Saturday and we stopped at one in the old part of town.  And what did I spy next door but an empty lot that was just screaming "old torn down house" (see pic 2).  So long-story-short I got the owners name/email and permission and went out yesterday.  It was a really big old house that was demolished recently, and according to my Sanborn maps it had been there since at least 1897.  Woohoo.  Google earth even still had a photo of it pre-bulldozer. (see pic 1).  So I spent 4 hours there yesterday and was really expecting some old silver, but was disappointed.  I did get 4 wheat pennies, an old shoe buckle, a "Cougar" Whiskey Good Luck token, and some other odds and ends.(see pic 3)  It was really tough detecting since they buried a lot of the old house in that dirt- bricks, nails, screws, aluminum siding, chain link fence, copper pipes and all.  I was surprised my 800 found any coins at all, truthfully, with all that trash. I knew my time was limited and I don't dig pennies on purpose, but those darn wheats can sound so close to a dime!  I suspect there is silver there, but probably about 2 feet down under all that bull-dozed dirt.  I wish I could go back, but the dance card is pretty full with family stuff and we're leaving Obion County in 10 days.  So anyway, I'll finally be hitting the Civil War site (hopefully) on Wednesday.  Ya'll wish me luck!

Ammie

 

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I'd feel lucky to get a shot at that one myself.  Right place at the right time.  At least you beat the locals.  Nice finds!  GaryC/Oregon Coast

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