Revolutionary Fields...Why Cant I ?

[undertaker]

Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

I have searched and found about 30 musketballs of all shapes and sizes recently in a couple of large fields that connect. I have only searched a small area because of the large size of these fields. Why am I not finding anything but musketballs. It would be nice to dig a button, coin or some other cool relic but it seems like lead is all Im finding. I 'am useing a garrett ace 250 on coin mode with sensitivity one from max. Ive been thinking of switching to all metal mode in hopes of finding a cannon ball. My son did find a small plain buckle and I also found a copper or brass gromet that looks like it may have come from tent or tarp. Any suggestions? Planning on hitting the fields again this weekend.

 

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[jgas]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

Not sure about the Garrett, but those finds will come...Keep at it. Someone here will get you the needed pointers on your machine...Sounds like a great place to hunt....jgas

 

[N.J.THer]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

When relic hunting I would go to all metal mode and dig everything. If you are finding musketballs then there is most likely other things out there. Go back over the area you already covered from a different angle this time. Make sure that you are keeping the coil as close to the ground as possible with the coil level through the entire sweep, go slow and overlap your swings by about half the size of your coil. That should help you find more.

When I'm not sure where I want to focus on a field I randomly walk around detecting until I find a keeper then I focus on that area. It seems to work for me. If I know I will be coming back to the same site a few times then I will break it up into parts and rotate through the different areas.

Congrats on the musketballs. Most people detecting are not finding musketballs especially in quanitties so enjoy it. If you plot out where you are finding the musketballs in the field it may reveal a pattern. You can even tell by the size, shape and weight which forces it was most likely used by and that may reveal advance or retreat routes which in turn may lead to other productive sites.

Good luck

NJ

 

[Detectingfreak]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

If the field is huge you bet theres probably stuff in the middle of it!

 

[Iron Patch]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

You don't really have to run in zero because something like a cannonball will override your discrimination and sound off. What you do have to keep in mind is the lower you set the disc. the deeper the detector will see it... just knocking out nails is a good balance for relic hunting.

Remember it's got to be there. Most times it comes down to whether there was a house or not. If not, then the finds will probably be limited. Look for the Iron Patch!!!

 

[romeo-1]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

Of course there is always the possibility that all there is to find is musketballs.

I hunted a field for three days straight and left with over 100 musketballs and little else. It was probably a target range...

 

[VERMONTPACKRAT]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

I have the ACE 250 also. I have been hunting a hay field with alot of success. Some of the finds are being dug at 8". I like to run my machine in all metal with my sens. at two bars from the top. The finds are there just really spread out over about 25 acres.
Although not Revolutionary finds I have pulled out a nice 1803 Draped Bust Cent and a George Washington Inaugural button.
Keep looking........ The stuff is there.



VPR

 

[kdismuke1]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

Sounds like you have a good area to hunt. Kept hunting you will find good thigs. Go all metal. Good luck.

 

[MrBling]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

Musketballs are a good find in themselves and you've got a high probability of other relics there.
As an Ace user I can give you a few tips
Since you're not in a high trash area, just run in all metal mode
All metal allows you to easily know how target rich a specific part of the site is, which is important in a large field
Also, all metal allows you to hear the full sound of the signal-some good relics tend to bounce around
As others have said, keep the coil as low as possible and overlap tightly
However-and this is important- don't swing too slowly!
Some people on this board talk about swinging very slowly to pick up difficult targets, but they are not using an Ace
If you swing too slowly, the Ace will not register a target
Swing at a moderate pace, say about 1 foot per second
If you hear any sound above iron, even very briefly, stop and swing over the area, and try to lock onto the target
On a site like that, I would dig everything above iron, and maybe the iron too if it wasn't too overwhelming

 

[allen]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

id definetily use the all metal mode...
i keep my sensitivity about two thirds of the way up...

 

[DaChief]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

I have had lots of luck finding relics in what I dubbed as "The Field of Dreams". Several Confederate buckles, hundreds of buttons and a ton of coins came out of the field over the years. It was located near Augusta, Georgia and was populated from what we can tell from the late 1700's to just after the Civil War. It appeared to be used during the War of 1812 through the Civil War as an encampment.

You can bet that your field has a ton of iron pieces in it. If it is a field that gets plowed about twice or so a year, it will continue to produce forever until something happens to change that.

Here is my bit of advice for you. I am not sure how small of a coil you can get for the 250 but I would drop down to the smallest possible. I used a 4 inch coil on my Tesoro machines to hunt the field I refer to and that is when I really started pulling out the good stuff. The small coil allows for you to see through the abundance of iron that is there. You will be more productive that way. Secondly, go extremely slow and take your time. It takes a little while longer for your machine to react when working near and around iron. Because the Tesoro I was using was a near non motion discriminate machine, I was able to move very slowly.

If your field is getting a regular plowing, try to hit it fresh after one and you will really do well. I believe you are missing lots of stuff if you are finding lots of musket balls and nothing else. Try the smaller coil and go slow, set your discriminate down low but keep it on. Lots of two piece buttons can fall down in the junk range. Flat buttons will mostly read in the coin range. Cannon balls will show up regardless. You will also hit on large plow share blades and other large iron pieces. Those large iron pieces should sound off like crazy. On the Tesoro, I could tell iron by a tell tell crackle and pop sound mixed in with the loud tone it gave off.

Good luck and one other thing. Hunt that field hard while you can because they do tend to disappear. My field of dreams lasted about 10 years and then one day when I went there, a brick company had dug it up for the clay that was just below the top soil. Nothing there now but a big lake. Lots of relics were destroyed and that recoverable history is no more.

 

[Iron Patch]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

I have had lots of luck finding relics in what I dubbed as "The Field of Dreams". Several Confederate buckles, hundreds of buttons and a ton of coins came out of the field over the years. It was located near Augusta, Georgia and was populated from what we can tell from the late 1700's to just after the Civil War. It appeared to be used during the War of 1812 through the Civil War as an encampment.

You can bet that your field has a ton of iron pieces in it. If it is a field that gets plowed about twice or so a year, it will continue to produce forever until something happens to change that.

Here is my bit of advice for you. I am not sure how small of a coil you can get for the 250 but I would drop down to the smallest possible. I used a 4 inch coil on my Tesoro machines to hunt the field I refer to and that is when I really started pulling out the good stuff. The small coil allows for you to see through the abundance of iron that is there. You will be more productive that way. Secondly, go extremely slow and take your time. It takes a little while longer for your machine to react when working near and around iron. Because the Tesoro I was using was a near non motion discriminate machine, I was able to move very slowly.

If your field is getting a regular plowing, try to hit it fresh after one and you will really do well. I believe you are missing lots of stuff if you are finding lots of musket balls and nothing else. Try the smaller coil and go slow, set your discriminate down low but keep it on. Lots of two piece buttons can fall down in the junk range. Flat buttons will mostly read in the coin range. Cannon balls will show up regardless. You will also hit on large plow share blades and other large iron pieces. Those large iron pieces should sound off like crazy. On the Tesoro, I could tell iron by a tell tell crackle and pop sound mixed in with the loud tone it gave off.

Good luck and one other thing. Hunt that field hard while you can because they do tend to disappear. My field of dreams lasted about 10 years and then one day when I went there, a brick company had dug it up for the clay that was just below the top soil. Nothing there now but a big lake. Lots of relics were destroyed and that recoverable history is no more.

He didn't say anything about iron, it's what he has to find!

Sounds like your spot was killer. Were you the one to dig the buckles?

 

[treasurefiend]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

Keep lookin... I would sugest that you buy the 9x12 coil though. When I use my Ace 250, that is the only coil I use. I used to hunt with a buddy that also had an Ace 250, but he only had the standard coil. I beat the pants off of him everytime we hunted.

 

[wwwtimmcp]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

at the start of the revolution the british tried consficating guns and ammunition. the rebels hid alot of these items in fields. over the last 200 years they may have been lost and redistributed by farming,rainstorms, kids playing with them, etc,etc,.

 

[trixster]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

back your sensitivity off about 2 notches and use it in all metal and see if this helps ...trixster HH

 

[Goes4ever]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

Keep lookin... I would sugest that you buy the 9x12 coil though. When I use my Ace 250, that is the only coil I use. I used to hunt with a buddy that also had an Ace 250, but he only had the standard coil. I beat the pants off of him everytime we hunted.

not in an iron infested field, he would do better with the stock coil nad slow the swing down. I have hunted several fields with my ace, I hunted in all metal and dug about everything above iron. You'll dig a lot of junk, but you'll get goodies too!

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

I have had lots of luck finding relics in what I dubbed as "The Field of Dreams". Several Confederate buckles, hundreds of buttons and a ton of coins came out of the field over the years. It was located near Augusta, Georgia and was populated from what we can tell from the late 1700's to just after the Civil War. It appeared to be used during the War of 1812 through the Civil War as an encampment.

You can bet that your field has a ton of iron pieces in it. If it is a field that gets plowed about twice or so a year, it will continue to produce forever until something happens to change that.

Here is my bit of advice for you. I am not sure how small of a coil you can get for the 250 but I would drop down to the smallest possible. I used a 4 inch coil on my Tesoro machines to hunt the field I refer to and that is when I really started pulling out the good stuff. The small coil allows for you to see through the abundance of iron that is there. You will be more productive that way. Secondly, go extremely slow and take your time. It takes a little while longer for your machine to react when working near and around iron. Because the Tesoro I was using was a near non motion discriminate machine, I was able to move very slowly.

If your field is getting a regular plowing, try to hit it fresh after one and you will really do well. I believe you are missing lots of stuff if you are finding lots of musket balls and nothing else. Try the smaller coil and go slow, set your discriminate down low but keep it on. Lots of two piece buttons can fall down in the junk range. Flat buttons will mostly read in the coin range. Cannon balls will show up regardless. You will also hit on large plow share blades and other large iron pieces. Those large iron pieces should sound off like crazy. On the Tesoro, I could tell iron by a tell tell crackle and pop sound mixed in with the loud tone it gave off.

Good luck and one other thing. Hunt that field hard while you can because they do tend to disappear. My field of dreams lasted about 10 years and then one day when I went there, a brick company had dug it up for the clay that was just below the top soil. Nothing there now but a big lake. Lots of relics were destroyed and that recoverable history is no more.

I can see a ton of stuff being around Augusta.. I went to the base there as a contractor for the USG a little over 12 years ago and was pretty bent for NOT bringing my metal detector with me..

MB

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Re: Revolutionary Fields...Why Can't I ?

Good sign that you are digging lots of lead, get a big coil, search the area quickly until you get a good area, then slow down. Then use a smaller coil. Look for pottery shards, burnt soil, glass, etc. All metal works best. Basically stare at the ground till you walk into something. Oh, and buy a Whites. Then send me a nice aerial photo of the area, marking known areas of production. Google Earth works well. You're gonna be posting something real nice, real soon.
Carl