request permission to speak! question; what are the chances that someone has already hunted all the areas ive been and are about to go? my answere in the form of an equation; (age of sport) + (I.Q. level of players (estimated) )- (my I.Q. (est.)).= 99.99%. thank you for playing, for answeres to be considered one must show their formula(s).respectfully.

Having been in this for 30 yrs. (since Jr. High) and having been pres. of a club, participator on forums, etc... I see many people get into this, hit the books, tips, etc... that we hit decades ago. They'll come to you with a "sure-fire site" blah blah, and we just roll our eyes and tell them how we strip-mined that place years ago (country picnic sites, adobe sites, etc...) , or ...... "nah, that site is under a parking lot now", or whatever.

Naturally, the machines have gotten better over the years, so that brings new life to "worked out" places (where depth, masking, etc... was involved). Also, there sites that are always coming up new: beach storms reveal new spots, old-town demo's come and go, etc....

But all in all, it was easier in the late 1970s/early '80s to find sites, easy pickens, etc.... For this reason, any manufacturer will tell you that those were the boon years for the sales of detectors, or, at least, the success of those picking it up at that time.

there is this thing called the baby boomer generation, supposedly priviledged, but the front end cleaned up. im at the opp. end , we coined the term "day late and a dollar short". anyway your response appreciated,thanks....

I pretty much agree with Tom..though, it would also depend on where you are located..geographically.
Where do you live? Does it have some history? Is it an area where it's not uncommon to see people detecting?

Guess my point is...there are still places where seeing a person metal detecting would be out of the ordinary. Not every little town has detecting enthusiasts living there. No detector dealers locally. No shop or hardware store that sells them.
Heck..there might not even be a smoke-shop, drug-store or grocery store that carries any treasure related magazines.
So..if you found an area like this..you might do pretty good. (if you have a connection)
There are small farming towns along the coast..just 25 miles from me,that have big potential. They are small in poulation and very close knit area. The same families have worked the land there for generations.
Everybody knows everybody.

It's one of those places where you most definately need an "IN"..or you can forget metal detecting there.
I mean. You're going to be stopped and asked, who you are?..what are you doing and who do you know? There is no question about it!
And alot of the ranchers still carry rifles in their vehicles They aren't shy about chasing you off with one..either.

If you can find spots like I've described and make contacts there..then I would say NO..not all places have been hit..or worked to death.

Now go to you local library or historical society and do some reasearch. You might find there is an obscure or long forgotten site, not far from you.
You just never know.

Bill

The real question is have the spots been Explorer'd?!?!?

With the one exception to that rule- 925Bill swinging any machine...



No Explorer= good stuff below 6" as sure as the sun will rise.

If there was an Explorer in the area the good stuff ratio then depends inversely on the operators skill divided by the operator's spoiledness.

If the Explorer user has been to Europe and detected England, expect good stuff, if the operator has about 2 years or more on the machine and no trip to England, the area is pretty much clean... :blink:




Or in other words...





No spot is hunted out, with the one exception above (of course)....




Best thing about this hobby, you just don't know what is going to turn up where...

Yo Vindog, I've been learning to use a metal detector for about a year now and I'm thinking I'm getting an idea of how it may work (maybe?). The most I've found out so far is location is the ticket. I've been practicing daily at the local parks and the local beaches and have found a couple a rings a month, and nothing more than clad with an occasional silver thrown in, and had to seperate alot of trash to get to them (oh and I'm learning what trash sounds like). I also believe that if your going to come up with some great finds it's going to be a place where no one has been in years (private property that you get permission to hunt, freshly excuvated property like sidewalk repairs and road repairs, building demolitions, etc.). Or you have happened across something that no one else has seen, or skipped in researching your area. Location, Location, Location. They say that no place has ever been searched out, but that doesn't mean it has been gone over with a fine toothe metal detector (I feel your pain!). HH Rick