Revisit Old Permissions

There's nothing like a brand new permission, especially one that's never been hunted by anyone before. Unfortunately, you're not going to have access to virgin ground every single time you want to hunt. That's okay, because there is nothing wrong with revisiting old permissions.

If you watch YouTube detecting videos you will hear seasoned detectorists say over and over again that nothing is ever hunted out. They say it because it's true. And they don't just say it, they demonstrate it. If you watch enough videos you will see them revisit sites that they've already hunted, and they usually do well again.

Our friend Welchie owns a house that was built toward the end of the 1800s. It's not a huge property, but it has a fairly large side lot and the first time we hunted it we all got silver as well as a few other items. Chris dug an Indian Head Penny, Bill found a fantastic old good luck token and there were plenty of matchbox cars to go around. Bill and Chris both live in Syracuse, 45 minutes away, and Dave lives a good 20 minutes away in the other direction. But I only live a few blocks from Welchie's house, so it was easy for me to go back there whenever I had a free moment, and go back there I did. For a while it seemed that every time I went there I walked away with at least one silver and a few wheaties, but eventually the finds started to dry up and I moved on.

Time also moved on. There were sunny days and rainy days. Days in the 90's and days where the snowfall was measured in feet. The ground froze and thawed again and again, and gallons of water were absorbed into the earth. When that happens, things in the ground tend to be pushed around. A coin buried on it's side and difficult to detect may get pushed flat making it easier for the machine to pick up.

After a very snowy winter followed by a rainy spring, I decided to revisit Welchie's property and I'm glad I did. It was a short hunt, barely an hour or so after work, but I walked away with my first (and to date only) three Indian Head day. Over the next few weeks I pulled out a couple more silvers, a few more indians and plenty of wheaties. It really is amazing how time and weather can make an old permission new.

Do you have an old permission you've given up on because you've hunted it clean? Give it some time and let the rains work their magic. You might be surprised the next time you give it a revisit!