A system and method of for underground line location using motion based responsiveness includes an underground line locator. The underground line locator includes a receiver generating raw measurement data based on a location of an underground line relative to the receiver, a motion sensor generating motion data based on a state of motion of the underground line locator, a processor coupled to the receiver and the motion sensor, and a display coupled to the processor. The processor determines a measurement signal based on the raw measurement data. A responsiveness of the measurement signal to the raw measurement data is based on the motion data. The display shows a representation of the measurement signal. In one or more embodiments, the measurement signal may be determined using a primary signal detector that adaptively filters the raw measurement data using an adaptive band-pass filter.