Honing My Skills

I'm just curious as to whether or not those of you who metal detect actually "train" yourselves, or if you just turn on the detector and go?

I ask because I suddenly realized yesterday that I've been able to predict fairly successfully what I'm detecting recently, and perhaps I'm actually honing my skills. Recently I had a garage torn down and the scraps literally dragged away, nails and screws popping out and littering the area. (I should have a guessing contest as to how many roofing nails Frick and Frack left in the alley, but I stopped counting after about 3 dozen!) So I fired up the old White's and started scanning for nails, as part of the area I want to clear and use as a garden; most of it was a carport covered with broken concrete, and as it turns out, other artifacts. I've recovered literally hundreds of nails, from 16-penny to finishing, from the area, some other odd pieces of metal, clear up to ... a car wheel, a rim from the '40's or thereabouts! That artifact I didn't predict, but I find that I can identify one-inch roofing nails just from their "sound". (It was only about three inches down and returned an enormous signal ... and there's a similar signal right next to where it was excavated, so I'm anticipating another car part when I get around to digging there.)

So - I just wondered if anyone else has been "in training" as I've been, by clearing nails and debris from a set area? I might also mention that I've dug up about a dollars worth of cents and two dimes from the rental house yard next door, so I've at least had a little fun digging something else besides junk.