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More Ground Coverage And More Targets


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Hello all,

Over the past few hunts with a buddy of mine, there are a few differences that stand out between us in our results. 

I am using an Xterra 705 and he is using an AT pro. Both of us using a 9" to 12" double D.

 

The first thing I notice is that he covers FAR more ground than I do. 

He walks real fast and his swings are very broad with no overlap. Sometimes a 2 ft gap or more between his swings. 

Me, I seem to miss targets when I try and keep up with his pace. I have seen my machine miss some altogether on a sweep, then show up on a slower pass.

So I then slow my swing and back to my overlapping. 

 

He is also quick with his Target ID . He doesn't spend a long time deciphering the target. 

Me, I seem to spend a lot of time on false singles - never a solid,  consistent signal - but a coin number or ring number faintly pops up quick, in the trash clatter.

So I spend the time, coming at it from different angles and slower and faster swings. And it is usually nothing of course....or so deep, I'm not digging anyway. 

 

 And at the end of the day, he usually has double the finds, plus a ring or two (and usually no ring in my pouch is due to my impatience with trash and not digging everything).

 

My first reaction...Buy a bigger coil. And this will indeed help me in gaining more ground coverage.

But I still need work on Target ID and as in my other post, know when to walk away. 

 

I also question the machines and each ones reaction times? 

Are AT pros a "quicker" machine than an Xterra 705? Just the nature of the beast? 

Any advice on technique would be very much appreciated. Especially related to the Xterra.

 

Cheers

G

 

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The AT tolerates a faster swing speed than the 705. The 705 prefers a moderate or slower sweep speed. The main issue here however not knowing anything more is that I am guessing your friend has more experience with his detector. There is nothing that can make you more efficient at digging targets than digging lots of targets. It is a training thing. Sounds like he is cherry picking. Swinging like he is there are targets being missed, but it is about what you bring home, not what you miss. The reality whether you overlap or not each swing of the coil is covering ground and getting over potential targets. He is making quick dig decisions, no doubt also recovering target quickly, and is beating you by digging a larger volume of higher quality targets.

Or he could just be lucky and on a roll. It happens.

Personally, I usually am moving at anywhere from moderate to very slow speeds. I don’t like to rush. I don’t think getting a larger coil and “chasing” your friend is the answer. Work on your own technique and that means working at a pace that is comfortable for you. Don’t overanalyze targets. When in doubt just dig it. But do pay attention on every target to what the detector is telling you and when you get tricked make a mental note. With time and practice you will get better at it.

Main thing I would do though is have this discussion with you friend and work with him a bit to see what it is exactly that he is doing differently than you, and whether emulating any of his techniques might help.

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When my wife and I go hunting she usually ends up with more coins than i do.... With that said. I am the one that finds the gold. She has yet to find any gold, she has found some silver but still not as much as I have.....

She tends to cover more ground than I do and swings at a faster rate than I do... She runs my MXT while I use my V3i.

Even before I got the V3i when I ran the MXT and she ran my Eagle spectrum or we would trade machines the results were still the same.

I tend to look the area over a little more and try to see patterns while she tends to wander.

It all comes down to technique and patience... and knowing your machine..... 

 

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Gbonus, your friend sounds just like my friend I hunt with.  He covers an amazing amount of ground and finds an amazing amount of modern clad coins.   I call him the Clad King.  Brute force detecting works very well for him.  He also finds a lot of junk jewelry and other wired stuff.  I'm much more selective and leave a LOT of clad in the ground on purpose.. I use depth as a big factor to make my dig decisions.  I find what I call the old layer in the park and dig most everything non ferrous for example 5" and deeper.  I use common sense and don't hold hard to that rule.  I will dig surface quarters (silver rings)and sometimes dime signals.  I will also dig shallower coin signals around trees and compacted dirt areas. My friend probably digs five times or more holes then I do but last year I found roughly 3 time more old silver then he did.  He is very good at what he does and enjoys the Large number of clad he finds.  He also finds more neat trinkets and odd jewelry then me.  I'm more of a quality over quantity kind of detectorist..  I know a lot of guys would knock my style telling me to clear out the surface clad to find what's underneath... That's true but I don't want to.  I do very well with my own method and I enjoy the hunt..

I say pick a style of detecting you enjoy.   Just keep that coil low to the ground and learn your detector and what it's telling you..

Bryan

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Aside from use of larger coils and the swing speed you run with, it is really the brain that dictates how fast one can detect and pick up on good targets from amongst junk or iron.  After a while you do become accustomed to automatically picking out certain tones from the mix, and even on a fast sweep speed all you need is a brief snapshot of a desirable tone to warrant further investigation - often without consultation with the screen for reference to the ID.  Once your ears do prick up on a possible good target, then you can slow your sweep speed down to confirm it is indeed a diggable tone, or if any others are close by.

That's how I run, and it will vary depending on the site and expected junk typically found on such a site.  Will also vary if you are after deep and/or small coins, as this may dictate a slower sweep speed to effectively pick up on such targets - once again, all depends on the site and the age of the coins you are seeking.  Personally I find procrastinating on whether a target ID is a digger or not really slows down my finds rate, better to extract the target than wonder whether the target was indeed a digger (ie coin on edge, or off kilter ID due to coexisting with nearby junk).

I am not too concerned about overlooking targets, as most of my sites are revisisted on multiple occasions, and from different orientations. If I do find an area that has multiple diggable targets, then I will grid up the ground and go over it in further detail.

Using a larger coil for coverage is all well and good, though can be just as much of a handicap with regards to weight (fatigue), and having too many targets under the coil at any one time to make sense of what is going on under the surface.

I generally search for older coins, and have pretty much trained my brain to ignore shallow modern junk (no matter how good it sounds), whilst keeping an ear out for those quieter more mellow tones of deep coins.  You do find after a while that you can find an optimum swing speed to match the capabilites of your detector, some detectors dictate a faster sweep speed & some prefer much slower movements - also varies if you have adjustable recovery speed.

If I am targetting shallow modern coins, I just detect at a comfortable speed for the amount of time I intend to spend there, no need to run around swinging like a madman - you'll pay for it later that night.  At the end of the day it doesn't matter how many finds your friend makes at the conclusion of the day, the main thing is that you enjoy yourself in the moment, and gain some valuable knowledge along the way.

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8 hours ago, Goldpick said:

 

If I am targetting shallow modern coins, I just detect at a comfortable speed for the amount of time I intend to spend there, no need to run around swinging like a madman - you'll pay for it later that night.  At the end of the day it doesn't matter how many finds your friend makes at the conclusion of the day, the main thing is that you enjoy yourself in the moment, and gain some valuable knowledge along the way.

Yup , well said...

This is about getting out and enjoying yourself.... It's not a competition.

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Hello and thank you all for your detailed and thoughtful responses. You all hit the nail on the head on all your points. 

Steve, 

He does indeed have more experience and he hunts almost every morning compared to my maybe 2 times a week. And he's not much cherry picking either. He dig's it all if it's giving him the right number  - even deep ones. AND he is the luckyest SOB I know on top of it all! 

And I think you have a good idea. Tag along with him and listen to his machine and pay attention to his technique on what he digs, when he digs, etc.  It may help me out as long as I apply it to my machine.

Cabin fever, Goldpick Johnedoe, 

You are  also correct on all your points and I will run your words of wisdom threw my head on my next hunt. I too am not in such a hurry and I enjoy looking up from time to time just to taking the surroundings.  When I hunt alone, I really do enjoy ALL aspects of it.. The Hunt, The outdoors, blah, blah, blah, and keeping that in mind as my buddy is 100 yds ahead of me, will help me not let that get to me, and just focus on my own hunt.

Thank you all again, and this really is giving me the affirmations I've been telling myself - but needed to hear from like minded, as well as more experienced peers such as yourselves.

 

Cheers and happy hunting.

G

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G, my tip to you.... the Xterra has a slower response than most other units.  A larger coil is not going to be your friend.   If you really want to keep up with your friend's find count , turn your sensitivity down so you have less false signals to deal with and hunt shallow.    That will increase your ground coverage and increased ground coverage will increase your good find count. You would find that you would be coming closer to your buddy's good find count.   If that is the goal.

HH
Mike

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On 10/27/2017 at 8:22 AM, Mike Hillis said:

G, my tip to you.... the Xterra has a slower response than most other units.  A larger coil is not going to be your friend.   If you really want to keep up with your friend's find count , turn your sensitivity down so you have less false signals to deal with and hunt shallow.    That will increase your ground coverage and increased ground coverage will increase your good find count. You would find that you would be coming closer to your buddy's good find count.   If that is the goal.

HH
Mike

Thanks Mike and good points. I am adjusting accordingly for the 705 reaction time. And I have determined that I am not in a competition either at least for speed or quantity (but still a best find comp with my buddy) . I'll do my own hunt and enjoy it - but always learning and make some necessary changes too!  

Cheers and thank you.

G

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