What else would anyone suggest........

[SwampHunter]

for searching Civil War sites?
I have a new Tesoro Silver uMax with an extra 12x10 coil on the way, I just got a new Garmin eTrax Legend, Thomas and Thomas': "The Handbook to Civil War Bullets and Cartridges", Dave Poche's: "Exploring Civil War Campsites" is in the mail and the buddy I search with ordered McKee and Mason's: "Civil War Projectiles II". I will be getting a set of electronic calipers and a set of gram scales for measuring and weighing bullets. I have several different types of maps of my area. I have all of the basic metal detecting diggers, bags and such.
I have $150.00 that I can spend on more reference materials or something that I haven't thought of that might be handy to have in the field. Can anyone suggest something that they use to help them while searching CW sites?

Thanks!

 

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[BuckleBoy]

Yep. Research.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

May wanna do "puter" research on the state laws re. MD'ing & Th'ing from the VARIOUS states AND Fed laws BEFORE you do ANYTHING... hate to see you lose ALL yer "stuff", 'cause you didn't know; BE CAREFUL out there! hh & good luck!

 

[SwampHunter]

BuckleBoy,
I research ALL of the time. I have the research thing down.

Rebel - KGC ,
Well ahead of the game there. Checked all of the laws and have permission from all of the landowners on the sites I have found so far. Most of the landowners that I have permission from also own the majority of land in the county.


I know I need a digital camera and that might be my next purchase, but I just wondered if I missed anything else that might help me better.

 

[civilman1]

The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War......Not saying it will help you,it has me,but for $20.00 at Barne's and Noble,can't go wrong.Also enough material's to get a electrolysis set up started,you're probably gonna need one if you don't already have one.Best of Luck!!!!

 

[SwampHunter]

I have all of the maps from the CW Atlas copied that I need. They are not the greatest in the world but they do lend a bit of insight.

I have been thinking about the electrolysis set up, but not sure how would be the best way to go about doing it. Any info on what I will need?

 

[civilman1]

Go to "Cleaning and Preservation"......Pick the set-up that suit's your need's.

 

[SwampHunter]

Thanks for the info! I will sure check it out.

 

[Shortstack]

You might consider a pair of snake-proof boots. Bass Pro Shops have them for $99 and up. Hunting in open fields is safe enough, but searching the creeks, bogs, and brushy areas will put you in position to meet Mr. No-shoulders. Antivenin is very expensive---IF a local hospital even HAS it on hand.

 

[SwampHunter]

Already got the snake boots.

 

[BuckleBoy]

I know you said you've got the research thing down...


But you still might be interested in this old post of mine:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,102059.0.html



Good Luck and Happy Hunting,


Buckleboy

 

[Montana Jim]

Seems to me all you need is...

to get out there and detect!





Do you have batteries?

 

[BuckleBoy]

Seems to me all you need is...

to get out there and detect!





Do you have batteries?

Those are pretty important too LOL. There a time that I was in a hurry to get to a great site that I had permission to hunt, and when I made it out there...I had forgotten... MY DETECTOR! I had to use a buddy's White's Classic 5 that hunt instead of my Fisher...but we won't talk about that little incident.

 

[SwampHunter]

Buckleboy,
I have been researching my area for almost a solid year so I am not new to this. I have read your article several times and it helped me greatly. You and I have even corresponded through PMs on certain campsites and such. I have the research down, but I am always willing to learn something new. It has been a tough road since our major towns were burned and most of the records with them. I have found several campsites and battlesites. I also know where several of the house places, plantation boundries and roads were back then.
I keep a pretty extensive log of everything. Recently I made a section grip map book. Basically I went into Microsoft Word and typed out:

Township_________ Range________ Section__________ Year_________

Next I had a section grid map.... it's basically It's just a 4x4 Microsoft Word Table that I squared up to where I can draw in roads, house and such. It represents a section block of 1 sqaure mile.

Underneath the section grid map book I have the parts of the section labeled as such:

NWNW_______________________ NWNE________________________

NWSW_______________________ NWSE_________________________

SWNW_______________________ SWNE_________________________

SWSW_______________________ SWSE_________________________

NENW_______________________ NENE_________________________

NWSW______________________ NESE__________________________

SENW______________________ SENE__________________________

SESW_______________________ SESE___________________________



Source:______________________________


I printed up several copies of this.... not as many as I needed since there is over 600 square miles in my county, but enough to get me started on the major roads. The top of the section grid map allows for you to put down the legal descrption. It hasn't changed so it's the same as 1861. I can put the approx. year. I can draw out a map of what the area looked like with roads, houses and such. The bottom part allows for me to put who owned what parts of the section. Then I have a place to put my reference at the bottom so I will know where the information came from. I am also making up an alphabetical list of everyone that owned land in my county during the CW, as well as where they owned land. It's going to take ALOT of time and work, but it will be worth it.
I love the research of it and have gotten pretty good and have the makings of a simple order to find things.



The whole point of the post was to maybe see if there is something that would be useful in the field. In the field is where I have been coming up a bit short so I am revamping in that department to make it easier on us.
Thanks for the replies though. Keep them coming. We might be able to learn from each other.

 

[Montana Jim]

Man... I take a detector, a digger, and a one gallon bucket.

I don't own one book about metal detecting after over 30 years of it.

Use that money you have left over for gas!

 

[Shortstack]

Man... I take a detector, a digger, and a one gallon bucket.

I don't own one book about metal detecting after over 30 years of it.

Use that money you have left over for gas!

Yep!! Sometime or other, you need to stop reading and start doing. My Grandpa used to have a saying, "Study long; study wrong."

 

[SwampHunter]

Yep, just digging is one way to go about it. However I am into the history of the CW in this area and that's the whole reason I got into metal detecting. I want alot more out of what I find.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Yep, just digging is one way to go about it. However I am into the history of the CW in this area and that's the whole reason I got into metal detecting. I want alot more out of what I find.

I think that is an EXCELLENT philosophy! That's why I study so hard--I wanna know what it is that I've found, and what its significance is the moment I find it. The less time I have to spend in the "what is it" threads, the better (although I am damned thankful that they're there). I also don't want to stumble onto a site and have no clue as to how the artifacts got there.

Best wishes to you in your search,


Buckleboy

 

[Montana Jim]

Hey - I agree with the importance of research... But once the permission is granted or a site is known... the wheels should be turning on the treasuremobile!

 

[truckinbutch]

I agree with Buckleboy.I wish to put it all in context so I can attach some relevance to my search.Follow the trail ,if you will.