Hunting Locations

[Drogo Boffin]

I'm looking for tips on finding hunting locations. If anybody knows of some in Horry County SC and is willing to share Amy information would be much appreciated.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Just be aware, that if someone had a really good site they'd found, that was giving up nice old coins, .... then odds are .... they're not going to come on to a public thread like this saying "go here".

This is the bugaboo that bedevils persons just starting in this hobby, is they're sort of "cursed" to hunt new clad, and are condemmed to wander out to the same old obvious spots (that are no secret to local history books). Yet the old-timers .... of course .... had the SAME history books 10, 20, and 30 yrs. ago. So pity the poor new guy, who goes to the same spots, and all the 4-star easy signals are long-since farmed out. Naturally there's always new areas to research, there's always places the old-timers didn't go, there's always better/deeper detectors coming out, and there's always private property yards and such that are still virgin. But odds are, if a place is brimming with easy oldies, then no, it's not going to be given as an answer on a public forum such as this. Human nature, will of course, mean those persons will hunt that spot, till the point that it's no longer easy pickens, at least.

The only way to break the vicious cycle, I've found, and to get those old-timers to drop their guard as to where they're finding the old coins, is to have sites of your own research, to cross-share with them. You know, tit-for-tat. For example, I used to take any and all to my hard-earned hard-researched sites, since I enjoy hunting, and love company. But after awhile, I became exclusive, because I found that a lot of these guys simply wait around me for to research sites to take them too, while they never lift a finger. Or they find something old, but still loose interest, and I never hear from them again, etc... So I began to be tight-lipped, and only hunt with like-minded old-pro's. As you can see, that's a recipe for the poor newbie to "never break in" to that But the way to break in, find old sites, learn what's been been hunted, etc... in your locale, is to find sites that you, in turn, can turn old-pro's on to. The ONLY time I invite others to hunt my sites, is when I feel that they too can "bring to the table" equal spots, to ... in turn ... invite me to.

For example: when I first started, there was a fellow in a town about an hour from me, that had by all accounts (rumors that circulate through the rumor mill) lots of seateds, reales, etc... from his years of hunting. But whenever I'd run into this fellow, and ask "where can I find old coins?", he wouldn't give me the time of day. Thus I considered him snobbish, elite, rude, or whatever. It wasn't till I researched my own sites (that gave up a gold coin and seateds), and THEN bumped into him one day, and said "hey, got this $20 gold and some seateds at this stage top last week". THEN he started to open up, get chummy, etc... And THEN he started revealing his spots. And THEN we started hunting together. You see the trick? Otherwise those that work hard get the feeling they're just making a circus, baby-sitting, etc...

Yeah, I know, it's a catch-22 vicious loop, because .... how are you supposed to "know where to go to sites", unless someone tells your first? So all I can say is, research research, research in the dark dusty archives of your local historical society, library, etc... Volunteer to be a docent. Rub shoulders with history experts.

 

[Indian Steve]

Don't be afraid to knock on doors at old homes. It REALLY helps if you have a kid that hunts with you and is with you when you knock on the door.Be sure to be able to dig a hole and close it up so nobody can tell you have been there first. I've been turned down once because the woman was afraid her brother would be mad because he was the one who mowed the lawn. Everybody else has been great. If the owners are nice enough to let you hunt, offer to help them out at other things like picking up trash, mowing or whatever. Most will say "no thanks". I recently hunted a house that had never been hunted and got a 1864 2 cent and a 1925 dime along with the normal clad and trash. The owner watched me dig a few holes and the told me about another house site, 2 barn site and a store site in his hay fields and gave me permission to hunt all of them.All of them have been gone for over 70 years and never detected. Houses that are still standing are much easier to hunt than collapsed or down houses because of the amount of nails and rusty tin roof pieces. Go Door Knocking and Good Luck! steve.

 

[Frankn]

Drogo, Look for old yards where the well to do use to live. Get permission by offering to share a 50/50 split on valuable items found. If you make a good find, take a picture of it and use it as your "in" on the next request to search a yard. Also when you get permission also get the name of the neighbors. It's always easier to get permission using the neighbors name and knowing their name. Frank

 

[Drogo Boffin]

Thank you all for the advice. Just wanted to make clear I am not looking for secret sweet spots and probably should have been a little clearer in my original post. Also where so you go to find out if you can hunt public parks? There is an old Air Force base near here that has recently been turned into a housing area and shopping area that has few places that might sill hold some stuff from that time plus anything that's been lost since its closing.