Detecting in the woods....

[Copperhead]

I have permission to hunt an old schoolhouse site dating back to the early 1700’s . The area was farmland back at the time. From what I have been able to deduce, the site was abandoned and left to nature in the late 1700’s. Presently, it is heavily wooded with maple, oak and some large pine trees. My concern is that a couple of hundred of years of compost buildup will have placed any potential finds out of the detecting reach of my Ace. For those that detect in the woods; Have you found the depths of your finds to be significantly deeper in heavily wooded areas? Am I mistaken in believing that leaves decomposing will have amounted to any significant soil build up? I won’t be detecting it until spring, but I’d like opinions on the likelihood of success hunting this site with my present machine…thanks

 

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[hollowpointred]

actually i have found the opposite to be true. most finds in the woods around here are quite shallow. in the woods around here there are tons of small roots that prevent items from sinking to really deep depths. i think you might be surprised how shallow some of those old relics can actually be.

 

[Highwater]

Copperhead,
All you can do is go for it. Ya gotta run what ya brung. Go with what you have and give it a good test spin. There is always something to be found, even with a build up of vegetation. Always go around the older trees because the roots not only help hold targets, but for some reason keep them suspended above all the build up of compost. If you do ok and suspect there is more to be found then it is a good excuse to upgrade to another detector.
I will relate an experience I had several years back. I grew up near a coal mining area that went back to the 1870's. As a kid I used to drive my motor scooter all over the old logging and mining roads in the area, so knew about all the old ghost sites. When I got into this hobby I remembered the old sites and decided to take a shot at them. I worked one old town site very hard and made a few good discoveries, but couldn't seem to find many old coins. A few years later I was at a friends house and he happened to have a couple books about this old town. They were produced by the local university archeology dept. They used this town to excavate as a class project each year and everything was photographed and logged with the site location, depth, ect. When I looked through the book I was amazed to find that a lot of stuff, including coins, were at a depth of about 4 feet. There are a lot of alder trees in the area and they really cover things up when their leaves drop each year, but 4 feet,,,,,, I couldn't believe it.
Don't let that scare you off from trying though. Every place is different. If it is a really good site it may even be worth while to take a weed whacker with you and after you hunt any open spots you can get to you can do a little land clearing to get your coil to the ground. It sure sounds like it has great potential. Good luck. Highwater
PS: While I was writing this Hollowpoint made a post. I didn't notice the area you are in. My experience was in the Pacific NW. Maybe things in your area stay shallow...?

 

[Copperhead]

Thanks for the replies...I guess I won't know until I try....actually there isn't really much brush, mainly trees and leaves..the schoolhouse site has been narrowed down to a pretty small area, so worst comes to worst...maybe I'll try digging some larger "test" holes and see if anything turns up..

 

[Highwater]

Copperhead,
Don't forget to search for the outhouse. See if you can spot a trail leading from the school house site and detect it. Use probes at the end of the trail to try to find the outhouse site and dig it. Sometime there will be more than one site. When one filled up they would usually dig a hole next to the old one and just move the house over the new hole, then fill the old hole with the dirt from the new one.
Also try to find the dump site. Turn your detector to the all metal mode and make loose pattern in some obvious places, usually over a bank or in a low spot. You will know when you get to it as all the tin cans and rubbish will set your detector off. Then take a 4 tined potato fork and start raking the topsoil. Some dump sites were shared by a few local places and can turn into small gold mines. If you find a very big one it is worth building a screening box and screen all the dirt that comes out of the dump.
Be sure to keep us posted as to when you are searching this site and what you find. Lots of luck..... Highwater

 

[leddel]

hello Copperhead , i've hunted a few school sites like your talking about and while almost all don't have any kind of cellar hole to them , there is always some kind of stone work still visible unless the area has been completely bulldozed over.i have found coins and relics very deep at some and shallow at others , you just don't know what to expect at each site until you detect there .if it was left abandoned in the late 1700's or early1800's and wasn't used for a dumpsite there shouldn't be alot of trash un the area of the site so i would be digging almost everything with as little discrimination as possible . best of luck to ya and would love to se a few pictures of the site . Del

 

[EDDE]

actually i have found the opposite to be true. most finds in the woods around here are quite shallow. in the woods around here there are tons of small roots that prevent items from sinking to really deep depths. i think you might be surprised how shallow some of those old relics can actually be.

ditto i found a 1891 indiann top of the ground just dusted with dirt

 

[birdman]

I found a roman coin in the woods in Germany at about 5 inches but have dug 100 year old coins up deeper then that so its all about the soil .Sandy ,rocky roots ,has the soil been disturbed . I also dug up a nice old copper of some type at about 1 inch so it just varies. Good luck sounds like a nice spot!

 

[nc-joe]

holI agree with many of the above, the roots hold the target from dropping, and the trees growing can actually push targets up over the years. The down side I see with this spot is the fact it was vacated in the late 1700's. There would be no US coins and I doubt you would find much at all, since those in school back then seldomly carried money.

 

[Captain Trips]

If you're concerned about depth with your Ace, go for the larger (12x9) coil -- it will get several inches more depth than the 9x6.

 

[Digginman]

If you're concerned about depth with your Ace, go for the larger (12x9) coil -- it will get several inches more depth than the 9x6.

I received the larger coil for Christmas. Helps out alot, especially for relic hunting. Still trying to figure out coins with it.

DM

 

[BARGuy]

Hey Highwater...Last time I heard "Run what you brung" it referred to the drag cars we ran in the Atlanta area back in the 60s...along with Phil Bonner, Don Nicholson, the Platt brothers, Arnie Beswick, et al.

If it would fit under the hood, it was legal!

HNY, DR