Where are the sweet spots?

[ManFromMu]

Greetings all, I'm just starting out and have spent the last few weekends out in the woods and fields looking for history. So far I've been finding mostly garbage, which ive actually enjoyed, so I cant wait for the feeling of finding something legit. I'm hoping I can benefit from pooling all of your collective experience. I live in an area of SE Connecticut full of old farms hidden in the woods. I've got all the old maps, checking it against the state LiDAR hosted by UCONN, read historical accounts of my town and have mapped out and found countless walls and foundations. Heres an example of an old estate from somewhere between 1750-1850. A local family owned a farm here since 1750s and then in 1800s heirs built an estate on it:



But I'm dealing with extensive brush and growth along most walls and foundations, making access tough and swinging the detector almost impossible. So if im going to be able to even check the spots I assume are going to be best I've got to do some significant clearing. Presumably fall will be a little easier but I dont want to wait. In your experience where should i be spending my time? Are fields away from the main house generally fruitful? The still cleared centers are the easiest places to access and use my detector, but does anything ever turn up in the middle of an old crop field or should i stick to checking along the stone wall boundaries? Are corners better than the center? Do things usually turn up on the inside, next to or just in the vicinity an old foundation? Do I just go all in and spend a few days clearing brush from around the foundations? What other tips do you all have? I'll take any advice.

Thanks in advance!

 

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[Scrappy]

My advice is if you're just starting out, hunt some local parks and learn your detector. You don't want to miss a good target under your coil for a lack of understanding.

Oh, and don't publish information on sites. I googled the pond name and found the site in 20 seconds. People steal sites. If you want it removed contact a moderator.

Good luck and welcome to Tnet

 

[Ahab8]

I have never had much luck hunting the stone walls. They are generally property boundaries or the edges of what was a field that needed the stones cleaned out. The one area I have had a little luck is when you find a break in a stone wall. These were usually used to travel through. Oxen or horses would have carried people through these breaks. Any old field can be productive depending how much use they got. But the cellar joke is where you typically find the big concentration of keepers. I prefer to start a fair distance away from the old homestead location and work my way in. This can be a good indicator of it's been detected before. But my reason for this is that I don't jumping straight into the thick iron. I like starting on some fairly clean ground and seeing if I can pick up a few early buttons, coins or in my case a pile of shoe buckles. Then I will work my way towards the cellar hole very slowly. The iron will become thicker and faster. Doing it this way makes it a bit less overwhelming than walking straight into it. It's also a good idea to him any areas that are obvious high spots on the property. And I've had great luck on the edges of bodies of water in historic areas. Almost all of my Spanish silver has come from water areas. My Mass silver also came from the edge of a river.
Good luck. I'll be watching for your posts

 

[Ahab8]

Btw I have spent countless hours moving brush and dead trees to hunt a site. It pays off big time at a good site

 

[ManFromMu]

Thanks for the response. I spent some time last summer and these past few weeks screwing in the fields around with a cheaper Bounty Hunter model doing exactly that. Still not very skilled but I'm done practicing.

And thanks for the heads up on the photo, right after I posted it I realized I might be giving away all that research I did and tried to delete that one photo with the name, but clearly did not do it correctly. But if somebody else talks about a spot or shows a map of it is it breaking "the code" to then detect that site? Hell, I need the help clearing some of that damn brush. Zemko Pond Reserve in Salem, bring your garden shears.

 

[Ahab8]

Thanks for the response. I spent some time last summer and these past few weeks screwing in the fields around with a cheaper Bounty Hunter model doing exactly that. Still not very skilled but I'm done practicing.

And thanks for the heads up on the photo, right after I posted it I realized I might be giving away all that research I did and tried to delete that one photo with the name, but clearly did not do it correctly. But if somebody else talks about a spot or shows a map of it is it breaking "the code" to then detect that site? Hell, I need the help clearing some of that damn brush. Zemko Pond Reserve in Salem, bring your garden shears.

Simply put....if you steal somebody's site you are a piece of s$!t! If you can't do your own research like the rest of us and poach a site you're a pathetic loser! Have I gotten my point across? Lol. I have put hundreds of hours into research and trekking miles through the woods, kayaking and canoeing, climbing mountains etc.
Here's another bit of advise. Go with your gut. Don't overcomplicate things. Settlers needed a few things. A water source, high ground that wouldn't flood, and a bit of shelter ideally. I have hunted spots with no recorded history just because they seemed like a sensible spot to settle. A couple of times I've been handsomely rewarded. Get out there with your machine and hunt spots that you think look good.
Now this is my thoughts on the technological side of things....depending on your budget of course. My first machine was a Teknetics T2 SE. I wanted to give myself the absolute best chance to find the goods. I will never knock another machine. But I will tell you this. Not all machines would ha e found a lot of my better finds. 1600 and 1700 coins and relics can be way down there. The research is the most important part but your only as good as your technology as well. Good luck

 

[ManFromMu]

Thanks for the response, I was definitely wondering about the stone walls. Also I had been ignoring a lot of iron because my detector handbook suggested to not waste your time, but now realizing that it means for people who are coin shooting. Definitely going to start digging a lot more of the iron hits.

 

[DownNDirty]

Thanks for the response, I was definitely wondering about the stone walls. Also I had been ignoring a lot of iron because my detector handbook suggested to not waste your time, but now realizing that it means for people who are coin shooting. Definitely going to start digging a lot more of the iron hits.

When you say that you are ignoring a lot of iron do you mean big iron signals or a LOT of small iron (i.e. nail) signals? If it's the latter, test dig a few if they are at least 3 or 4 inches deep and if they are square or cut nails that is exactly where you should be concentrating. A heavy "iron patch" or "nail bed" always signifies a structure. Keep your coil on the ground, swing SLOWLY and investigate all non-ferrous repeating signals. It's a lot of work but that is how I find most of my really good old relics.

Another piece of advice-when you find a productive old site, work it again and again (multiple times over the same spots) until you aren't finding any more keepers. You'll be surprised how many goodies you will find after you have worked the site several times. As they say a site is never really hunted out.

Also I agree with Scrappy-don't post any maps or pictures that may give away your site-and turn off the feature of your camera that imbeds the GPS coordinates. It's unfortunate but if you post pics of good finds people will look up the location and clean out the spot you worked so hard to locate.

 

[Ahab8]

Just a little hint for you. Lots of the earliest homes had no cellar holes. All you will find is an iron patch to identify early settlement. I recently found a site that produced close to 20 pre 1750 copper coins as well as a beautiful 1749 real. Cufflinks, spoons and buttons. The beauty of these sites is that 98% of the time they ha e never been hunted. But they are thought to find. They were cabins or earthfast homes

 

[Scrappy]

Just a little hint for you. Lots of the earliest homes had no cellar holes. All you will find is an iron patch to identify early settlement. I recently found a site that produced close to 20 pre 1750 copper coins as well as a beautiful 1749 real. Cufflinks, spoons and buttons. The beauty of these sites is that 98% of the time they ha e never been hunted. But they are thought to find. They were cabins or earthfast homes

That's a good point Abe. Many look for stones and spots showing human alterations. Nope! My earliest (undocumented) sites were cabins. Iron gave them away and iron does not lie. An iron grunt in the middle of nowhere feels so nice. Next comes a chirp and the possibilities are endless.

Oct, Bro!

 

[Ahab8]

That's a good point Abe. Many look for stones and spots showing human alterations. Nope! My earliest (undocumented) sites were cabins. Iron gave them away and iron does not lie. An iron grunt in the middle of nowhere feels so nice. Next comes a chirp and the possibilities are endless.

Oct, Bro!

I almost exclusively look for these sites now. They're the best I've ever hunted and most of the earliest homes in my area were constructed this way. There's a 1600s settlement that was built almost exclusively on flat stones. No hole whatsoever

 

[OutdoorAdv]

...But if somebody else talks about a spot or shows a map of it is it breaking "the code" to then detect that site?...

To me... YES, it certainly is breaking "the code"! But people do this all the time. They feel that just because someone puts in the time to do the research, they are still entitled to seek permission or hunt it if its public. Like Ahab8 said, those are the type of people who don't put in the time to do their own research. There are many of us though that are ethical and just by seeing a post like yours, that would automatically make that site off limits to us. There are lots of sites out there and its not worth poaching someones spot and being a jerk, just to get a couple buttons and coins. I can say the guys who have commented here so far (Ahab8, Scrappy and DownNDirty) I would trust 100% with sharing my research with as they are some of the best guys in the hobby. So its probably best to Private Message someone you trust for site feedback since we don't know who reads this stuff here.

I am very impressed with your research right out of the gates. Overlays, LiDAR and reading historical accounts of your town... you are on the RIGHT track to being very successful.

I cant really add much because everyone else has steered you in the right direction already. A lot of new guys stay away from iron patches, but as others have explained... that's just where you want to be. However, it can be overwhelming to jump right into the iron without some experience first. So like Scrappy said, hunt some local parks and dig some targets for a bit... then get into the iron. A day of digging nails can be frustrating so stick with it.... you certainly have the research part down solid.

I look forward to your future posts.

 

[ManFromMu]

Thanks! Thats the second mention of an "iron patch", im gathering you dont mean the big slab of iron laying in a field I was picturing when first mentioned? Guessing a concentrated spot where I get a bunch of hits for iron? Ive been noticing them here and there when i was just scouting not really digging, is it possible for that to be iron in the soil or are strong iron signals definitely going to be something man made?

 

[Ahab8]

Thanks! Thats the second mention of an "iron patch", im gathering you dont mean the big slab of iron laying in a field I was picturing when first mentioned? Guessing a concentrated spot where I get a bunch of hits for iron? Ive been noticing them here and there when i was just scouting not really digging, is it possible for that to be iron in the soil or are strong iron signals definitely going to be something man made?

If you hit an area with a lot of iron signals you are definitely on top of an old structure of some sort. I will normally dig up a few iron signals and try to decipher what I'm into. If you find rosehead nails you're at an early site. You can basically figure out exactly where the house stood, approximate size, age, and several other things from an iron patch usually. Not to mention some iron can clean up beautifully. Here's a couple pieces that OutdoorAdventurerdid for me. Keep asking questions my friend. We're here to help and I like your enthusiasm



As I mentioned previously my best sites by far have been spots with no cellar hole. If you want to look at some early nails OutdoorAdv has some in his post in this forum. Check em out. They are a great sign

 

[Scrappy]

I have never had much luck hunting the stone walls. They are generally property boundaries or the edges of what was a field that needed the stones cleaned out. The one area I have had a little luck is when you find a break in a stone wall. These were usually used to travel through. Oxen or horses would have carried people through these breaks. Any old field can be productive depending how much use they got. But the cellar joke is where you typically find the big concentration of keepers. I prefer to start a fair distance away from the old homestead location and work my way in. This can be a good indicator of it's been detected before. But my reason for this is that I don't jumping straight into the thick iron. I like starting on some fairly clean ground and seeing if I can pick up a few early buttons, coins or in my case a pile of shoe buckles. Then I will work my way towards the cellar hole very slowly. The iron will become thicker and faster. Doing it this way makes it a bit less overwhelming than walking straight into it. It's also a good idea to him any areas that are obvious high spots on the property. And I've had great luck on the edges of bodies of water in historic areas. Almost all of my Spanish silver has come from water areas. My Mass silver also came from the edge of a river.
Good luck. I'll be watching for your posts

I was just rereading this thread and you touched upon something I wanted to expand upon. You mentioned not wanting to start in the middle of the iron, and I agree.

Often enough I'll find a colonial foundation and anyone's natural inclination is to start right on top. I've found that backing off 30, 40, or 50' to "clean ground" as you also mentioned, allows me to adjust to the site. Any experienced hunter knows that each site has its own set of attributes and idiosyncrasies and I find starting at a distance helps with that learning curve. The first indicator I look for is depth-to-age. The second is stratification. Next, average target age (including nail types). Once I figure out those few basics I feel more prepared to enter the iron curtain.

 

[DownNDirty]

Just a little hint for you. Lots of the earliest homes had no cellar holes. All you will find is an iron patch to identify early settlement. I recently found a site that produced close to 20 pre 1750 copper coins as well as a beautiful 1749 real. Cufflinks, spoons and buttons. The beauty of these sites is that 98% of the time they ha e never been hunted. But they are thought to find. They were cabins or earthfast homes

I was going to start another thread about this but since Ahab touched on the subject I will put in my two cents worth here. I live in South Carolina; here in the South our forefathers in the 17th and 18th centuries did not (as a general rule) build houses with root cellars as they did in the Northeast and they didn't build rock walls along the roads. Because of this most colonial home sites leave virtually no visible signs, save an occasional slight depression and possibly a few brick fragments on the surface.

This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, finding these sites is extremely difficult. Images of the original plats for land grants are available (at least in South Carolina), but only a small handful of them show a house. Also, just because land was granted to an individual doesn't mean they lived there, as many landowners in the 1700s owned multiple tracts.

Finding these old sites takes a LOT of research, knocking on doors for permission, extensive scouting expeditions and luck. The upsides, however, are big. Very few people in the South seriously pursue these old sites and a most relic hunters spend their time looking for Civil War relics. As a result, when your efforts pay off and you do find a colonial home site it is almost always VIRGIN. I like it that way and don't mind putting in the effort to locate them because the rewards can be very high. When I find a colonial era home site I detect it over and over until the finds are slim to none. Then I hit it a few more times. As has been already discussed, a heavy iron patch is difficult to hunt because the nails mask the good targets, but if you swing your coil VERY slowly and dig all non-ferrous signals you can find more goodies even after you think there are none left.

One more way to find these sites is to walk plowed fields and look for pipe stem pieces, old brick fragments, old ceramic pottery shards and black glass shards. The presence of any of these means that you are either at or near a very old home site. Even if what you are seeing is remnants of a trash pit the house wouldn't have been far from there. Then it's time to break out the detector and have some fun.

 

[Ahab8]

I was going to start another thread about this but since Ahab touched on the subject I will put in my two cents worth here. I live in South Carolina; here in the South our forefathers in the 17th and 18th centuries did not (as a general rule) build houses with root cellars as they did in the Northeast and they didn't build rock walls along the roads. Because of this most colonial home sites leave virtually no visible signs, save an occasional slight depression and possibly a few brick fragments on the surface.

This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, finding these sites is extremely difficult. Images of the original plats for land grants are available (at least in South Carolina), but only a small handful of them show a house. Also, just because land was granted to an individual doesn't mean they lived there, as many landowners in the 1700s owned multiple tracts.

Finding these old sites takes a LOT of research, knocking on doors for permission, extensive scouting expeditions and luck. The upsides, however, are big. Very few people in the South seriously pursue these old sites and a most relic hunters spend their time looking for Civil War relics. As a result, when your efforts pay off and you do find a colonial home site it is almost always VIRGIN. I like it that way and don't mind putting in the effort to locate them because the rewards can be very high. When I find a colonial era home site I detect it over and over until the finds are slim to none. Then I hit it a few more times. As has been already discussed, a heavy iron patch is difficult to hunt because the nails mask the good targets, but if you swing your coil VERY slowly and dig all non-ferrous signals you can find more goodies even after you think there are none left.

One more way to find these sites is to walk plowed fields and look for pipe stem pieces, old brick fragments, old ceramic pottery shards and black glass shards. The presence of any of these means that you are either at or near a very old home site. Even if what you are seeing is remnants of a trash pit the house wouldn't have been far from there. Then it's time to break out the detector and have some fun.

All great points. When I first started detecting a few years back I had some very early maps. I would go into some of these areas and search and search and search. I would drive myself crazy because the map showed a homestead but I could not locate a cellar hole. I started to question these maps and thought maybe they were just not very accurate. Then I learned about these cabin sites. I was shocked at how much great stuff was in the ground where there was no visible sign of a home ever being there. My all time best finds have come from these areas with no sign of life. The 1600s homesteads very rarely had a cellar. Some of them had flat stones laid out that are long buried by time.
Like Scrappy said it's an incredible feeling when your me swinging in a remote area and you suddenly hit an iron patch, then a high tone and you know you've found a hotspot.

 

[DownNDirty]

There are a couple of questions about colonial era plats that I have been trying to get answers to for a while. 1) Many of the plats that I have viewed (like the example below) have an "X" on them. Does this signify the location of a house, the high point of the property or something else? 2) the plats all have some sort of coordinates on them. Can these be converted to GPS coordinates with any accuracy?