Need Veteran Cache Hunters Advice

[Lucky13]

A little bit about myself and what im trying to accomplish first off.My name is John and im a scout troop leader here in southwest virginia,Recently the Boy Scouts of America have started getting involved in the geocache adventures offered by state parks using GPS,Our older eagle scout groups are doing legitimate cache hunting and artifact recovery throughout virginia as well. We were issued a permit to metal detect in jefferson national forest this past summer and some of the coins recovered were just absolutely amazing,once i saw them with my own two eyes i immediately became hooked on the idea of metal detecting,prospecting,and cache hunting as a full time personal hobby.Ive read alot of the posts here on the forum about ways to research cache hunting sites as well as attending some hunts organized by groups within buchanan county where i currently reside. Ive met alot of friendly ppl and have recieved some great advice on treasure hunting and recovery,But with fall here and the onset of winter rapidly approaching i have a few questions for some of you veteran MDers out there.

I recently recieved permission to search around some old houses that were bought by a mining company in the early fortys along US Route 460,These homes have been empty for seventy years that im aware of.Some probably longer than that. The problem is that they are over grown with a vine called Kutzu(not sure if thats spelled correctly).The kutzu literally covers the entire house sides and roof through the spring and summer months and dies out in the fall and winter,But even when the leaves on the vines are dead,the vine its self remains about four inches thick on the top of the ground. Would i still be able to detect this area in the fall without first moving the vines and still get a decent signal with my metal detector?

My next question is,does the ground being wet or frozen ultimately effect metal detecting in the winter months? The main reason for waiting until winter is because of snakes,These vines are perfect habitat for rattlesnakes and copperheads in the summer months. These are probably common sense questions for most veteran guys out there but i just started this hobby in june of this year,even with the mass amount of metal detecting advice online,There isnt alot of discussion about the good/bad effects of metal detecting in different ground conditions throughout changing seasons. I will try to add some pictures of the area i plan to hunt after this weekend when im up that way. Any Advice you can give on metal detecting in the winter months or advice on detecting in areas with alot of underbrush will be greatly appreciated and if in the future i can help you with a question about something or give you information on an area im familiar with,Id be more than happy to oblige you.
Thanks again and HH.

John

 

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[gollum]

Hey John,

Congratulations on your new addiction!

Kudzu was a big problem in the South for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time! HAHAHA Bring machetes.

Being wet or frozen does not affect the ground as much as its' mineral content. The biggest effect frozen ground has on detectorists is how deep are you willing to dig in frozen ground for what might be a bottle cap, pull tab, or gold ring? Some places with a high iron content in the soil will adversely effect detectors. Depending on the detector used, high power lines can affect them as well.

You didn't mention what types of detectors you are using, so it is kind of hard to make recommendations, because different detector manufacturers deal with varying soil conditions in different ways.

There are several good books on cache hunting out there.

Here are a few of the quickies that should always be hit first when detecting an old home site:

1. Fireplace Floors. People used to hide money under their fireplaces all the time. Not too long ago here in SoCal, a contractor found an old jar with about $75,000 under a fireplace in an old house he was demolishing.

2. Fenceposts. Find where the old fence for the house was. Look for regularly spaced depressions from where the old fence posts rotted away in the ground. People used to love hiding caches at the base of those posts. Most likely because it was easy to remember one number. Count that number of posts from the house and dig.

3. Large Trees or Rocks on the property. Anything that REALLY stands out that is within sight of the house. Easy to remember those landmarks.

4. Old Wells (filled in). Another popular place for hiding valuables.

5. Old Basements.

6. Walls. If anything remains of the walls, money and valuables have been found inside wallspaces. Be careful though. More snakes, spiders, and rats have been found than caches!

I'm sure I left out a ton, but it's a good start.

Best-Mike

 

[Arizona Bob]

Check everything! We hunted a few older ~1900's houses. One house had a small alcove built into the wall. It had a beautiful marble base. It looked like it was built to hold a statue of an angel/god/whatever. The marble base showed no obvious visual clues that it was anything more than just a decorative, marble base. Since the homes were going to be bulldozed anyway, I decided to see if I could easily remove the marble base. It slid out without much effort. Under the base was a compartment containing an old (1950's style) metal box. It held the keys, and was mostly empty. There were two more small alcoves in that house, and they had removable bottoms with empty compartments.

 

[pyledriver]

Be patient! Use a targeted approach to clearing stuff unless you think it's worth hiring day laborers to clear out massive areas. With that kind of covering, you might not be able to scan the yards for lost coins-at least not much anyway. Clear an access point into the house and proceed with caution! I think this stuff is a must for shaking down old houses:

Be up to date on your tetanus shot
Carry a first aid kit
Mentally prepare yourself to be patient
Have a full charge on your cellphone battery
Safety glasses
Good gloves
Sturdy boots (snake boots are great)
A GOOD flashlight is a must
patience
Small prybar
Hammer
A dust mask-especially the kind with filters for particulates
headlamp
patience

Don't forget to put yourself in the shoes of the person that lived there. If you can picture what the place looked like when occupied, what areas would YOU hide something in? Also, be prepared that while the house may be 'unoccupied' by humans, that doesn't mean skunks or other critters haven't moved in!

 

[Lucky13]

Thanks everyone for all your help,Its much appreciated.I had planned to get up to my site this weekend but the weather and the old lady were against it,More the old lady then the weather lol. But i`ll defiantly keep you guys posted and put up some pics if i find anything worthwhile. Thanks again.

John

 

[Steve07]

Don't forget walkways leading to the house, some caches are hidden on the side of the walkway, at least that's where A friend and I found one at his house that was built in 1947. Found a mason jar with around $10.00 in silver and old nickels. It was the north side midway point of the walkway. The kid that buried it probably thought he was going to remember where he hid it.

 

[Connecticut Sam]

Thanks for the great information.