FOWLER — Most people walk on the ground without giving it much thought. Treasure hunters walk it listening for history.

With their metal detectors, members of the Trumbull Treasure Hunters scour the area, searching for items such as coins, jewelry, bullets and lost treasures.

Jim Bacorn of Bazetta, the metal detecting club’s president, said they spent one recent weekend searching for items at Fowler Center near the Butts Family Museum.

“We were invited by the Fowler Historical Society to demonstrate and show what we do to the public. We are also here looking for history,” Bacorn said.

He said he answers people’s questions, such as why people do metal detecting.

“We get questions from people who may want to get into this hobby and want to know more before taking that step,” Bacorn said.

He said the biggest change in the hobby is the equipment in the last 30 years.

Bacorn said earlier equipment ran off a single frequency, but with the new machines today, multiple frequencies with different frequencies are used to find different types of metals.

He said the newer machines are more able to detect items at deeper depths in the ground. Bacorn said 30 years ago machines gave about 4 inches of depth and today, they can give 10 to 12 inches.

In the summer months, Bacorn said, the group tries to explore a special location at least once a month.

“We have been this summer to the Kinsman Library. In the winter months, we do searches using maps and reading books,” he said.

Treasure hunters in the group range in age from teens to senior citizens.

Bacorn said he has seen younger people who have family members buy them metal detectors get interested in the hobby.

“When they get their metal detectors, we show them how to use the equipment and how to dig,” he said.

He said the most common items found are coins, bullets, jewelry, car keys, watches, rings and newer items from the 1960s to the present.

Bacorn said Tom Becker of Kent got him interested in water detecting, so the two go to Mosquito Lake and can detect in water as high as their collarbones. He said they use scooping equipment to retrieve submerged items.

Bacorn said people in the water often get cold fingers, which then shrink and their rings fall off. He said an unusual item found was railroad locks.

Bob Woofter of Johnston, who founded the club, said he was curious about what was involved with metal detecting.

“My curiosity got the best of me, so I researched the idea of starting a metal detecting club,” he said. “This group has been very rewarding and very successful. Over the years more and more people have been learning more about the hobby.”

Many people think that when they get into metal detection, they need to find really old items like old coins and relics, but Woofter believes the best place to find items is a city lot. He said any house in the city of Warren has a yard and anyone can find coins, jewelry and relics.

Bacorn said his father’s home was built in the 1970s in Bristol, and he has found two Civil War buttons in his yard and a brass Deringer pistol.

“With the technology today you can take a map from the 1800s and overlay it with the software on phones right now and make the map GPS-enabled,” Bacorn said.

He said he can then go to a location using a map to show where a house was located.

GROUP MEETINGS

The group meets 10 a.m. to noon the first Tuesday of the month at the Johnston Senior Center off state Route 5. Woofter said anyone with metal detectors is encouraged to bring them to the meetings.

Bacorn said the club has 30 active members who have been metal detecting in Kinsman Park; Packard and Perkins parks in Warren; Willow Park in Cortland; and Mosquito, Pymatuning and West Branch state parks.

Bacron said a metal detector costs between $350 and $375, but there will be more costs as needed items are added.

Woofter said some entry-level detectors can be purchased for $100 or less.

“Those are good for introducing someone to the hobby, and they will be able to use them to find things. My daughter bought my first metal detector for $75 and found property pins, which surveyors use when they survey a property and they put an iron pin in the ground,” Woofter said.

He said the club members get calls from people who want them to find their property pins. Woofter said more expensive machines do have more “bells and whistles.”

He said one of the first things the club members do when someone is new is show them how to actually dig at a site.

“We show them how to actually dig a special way so that when it is restored, no one can tell that anyone was there. Too often beginners who don’t know what they are doing will dig a hole and leave a mess and give us all a bad name,” Woofter said.

Patti Williams of Cortland said she purchased metal detectors for her two grandsons, MJ Nosich, 15, and Brady Nosich, 12, both of Cortland.

“I was interested in metal detecting, and I thought they would be too, so I bought them metal detectors. This gave them an opportunity for them to enjoy this hobby,” Williams said.

Brady Nosich said, “It is interesting to see what we can find under the ground. There have been some coins and nails we have found today.”

MJ Nosich said he is glad his grandmother purchased the metal detectors.