Farm Field Hunting

[~MetalDigger~]

Is their any way to tell about how long an area has been used for Corn, Soybeans, Tabaco, ect? I know theirs this one little soybean field a brisk walk behind where I live. It seems to have been made in the past 10-15 years something lick that. The fild is pretty rocky, all ove, and theirs piles of tree stumps pushed up where where it was cleared. They apear to have been their for some years, just guessing.
The other fields all around my neck of the woods in lots, and lots of huge fields. Anywhere from 20 arcres on up in size.
These have no sighns of timering, or clearing so they muct be pretty old. I was hoping spome of you may have a rule of thumb about guessing the age of the cleared land, and how long it has been farmed, and maybe know of the lickly hood of their being finds worth looking for.

Thanks

 

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[Buried Crap NJ]

Farm Field Hunting, This is how I always approach this type of question.
Do you know what was there 250 years ago? NO! Neither do I. Go hunt it.
This is so true of every place you can thing of. I took some time off from hunting and just started again. I did a simple search of my new neighborhood and found several open wooded area's that once housed multiple homes back as far as 1920 all within walking distance to my house.
steve

 

[bazinga]

Get some old plat maps for your county and find the old house sites. Don't just go into a field blind like this other guy is telling you to do unless you are positive something was there. If you can't find old maps, go walk the field and look for signs of past human use of the land. It is a LOT of work to just walk into what could amount to an empty field and not hear a signal for several hours. Focus on the fields that houses or battles or some kind of previous human activity.

Hunt smarter, not harder. Your time is a luxury that you can't ever get back.

 

[~MetalDigger~]

I'm looking for some how to tell the age of a peice of land, How long it has been in use in it's present state. Thats all. No matter if their is anything in the ground or Not.

This may seem silly to some people, But I know someone has the awnswer.

Maybe The Soil Type.
Color.
Surounding Tree Size.
How many rocks are around.

One Field has a Huge pile of rocks that has been picked up over time from in the field.

Guess this is just to far fetched of a question.

 

[KJ$IPW]

Not sure of how to tell age of field, but you could always walk the place looking for any kind of human evidence", such as broken bricks pottery, etc. Here in the South, it is(was) not uncommon for an old house to burn, and get buried, plowed under, and then you have an "empty" looking field. I searched a field just like this(found all kinds of broken bricks, pottery etc, and a 1889 IH, good luck, and HH
Steve

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I'm looking for some how to tell the age of a peice of land, How long it has been in use in it's present state. Thats all. No matter if their is anything in the ground or Not.

This may seem silly to some people, But I know someone has the awnswer.

Maybe The Soil Type.
Color.
Surounding Tree Size.
How many rocks are around.

One Field has a Huge pile of rocks that has been picked up over time from in the field.

Guess this is just to far fetched of a question.

I guarantee you the land is very old but, to tell if it was occupied can be very simple.
Field hunting is what I primarily do here in NC and what I look for is a water source, pottery shards, older plant life or vegetables. Fruit trees etc... My skirmish sites I discover are usually on slopes of hills in open fields. High land and water was what the Rev troops fought for. Older dwellings not visible today were used on these areas. I know where you are and you have some of the oldest history in America...You just have to find it.
There's no tricks. You must be in good shape and be willing to work for the good spots. Sometimes I have to hike miles into my spots. Read, Read and read some more. Then execute.
Good luck!

 

[oneeye]

Do you know what was there 250 years ago? NO! Neither do I. Go hunt it.
This is so true of every place you can thing of.

I agree 100%!

I found a flying eagle cent in the alley behind my parent's house. I also found quite a few coins from the 1800's. This is in a neighborhood that the homes were built after WWII.
Dan

 

[ppratt]

Very good question and I've been thinking the same thing. My local spots are being used up but the fields are not. I was talking to a guy that did a house that i did years ago. He told me he didnt find to much around the house but decided to do the field around it and found a large cent spill and a couple of half dollars. That will teach me.

Now heres another question I'm a grid kinda guy I work it till it is worked out. I realy doubt that the grid work would work in a field. I think you would have to walk around until something pops up to slow down. Is this correct?

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Those are some great awnsers, and questions. Guess I'll have to put the old boots on, and get out in the fields. Thanks to all that replyed.

 

[dirtdigger57]

Plat maps from the county courthouse is the key, like the previous post mentioned. To go into a field blind to what was there and the approx. location may pay off if you have a lot of time on your hands. Better to have a general idea of where to go.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Get some old plat maps for your county and find the old house sites. Don't just go into a field blind like this other guy is telling you to do unless you are positive something was there. If you can't find old maps, go walk the field and look for signs of past human use of the land. It is a LOT of work to just walk into what could amount to an empty field and not hear a signal for several hours. Focus on the fields that houses or battles or some kind of previous human activity.

Hunt smarter, not harder. Your time is a luxury that you can't ever get back.

While I am not saying you should not do research before you hunt, what I am saying is if you get the opportunity to hunt a field just go do it it. I have been hunting since 1974 and have done my fair share of research to find great old locations to hunt. I can also say with all my research I have done there have been very very few locations I researched that I have been there first! I have driven miles into the woods and hiked miles to get to places no one should have ever been only to fine 100's of holes dug prior to me getting there.
To date my best coolest or most valuable finds have come from walking in the woods and being first to detect. Then I do a reverse research to find out why I found them there.This is by far been the best method for finding great finds. I live here in NJ and there aren't very many parcels of land not build on, the forest have been claimed by the State Parks and are off limits. I will admit that detecting for hrs without a single hit is boring, but when you get that one hit and you dig a coin from 1693 or 1787 all that wasted time goes away very fast. You start calling seated new stuff and think as them as wasting time digging! There doesn't need to be an old house or building or anything around to find stuff, it does help but these lands have been walked on far longer that they have been driven on. You just have to work at this, they don't jump out of the ground or they would call this finding not hunting. If you don't have time to put in, then have fun digging those new seated coins.
steve

 

[Gator01]

Yep, you gotta have time.
Like some of the others have said, walk that field and look for broken pieces of pottery, bricks, anything that gives a hint a building once stood there.
Just a few months back I received permission to hunt an old plantation, several thousand acres, been in the folks family since before the Civil War. They have showed me where several old buildings once stood and Ive found a couple on my own, the only thing, the oldest coins Ive found dated back to the 40s, wheaties,merc dimes etc. Heck, Ive even found marbles, but from the looks of them, they were from the 30s, 40s or 50s. I dont think they know where the older buildings were ( dating back to the 1800s). I found a spot in the woods where slaves were buried.
I guess the lesson here, these folks only recall what was standing when they were younger, so you cant always go on what someone tells you. So, Im gonna find the older buildings for them,in time,lol.
John

 

[SkyPirate]

Try using spell check in your posts, it's hard to tell what you are asking.

 

[SkyPirate]

I'm looking for some how to tell the age of a peice of land, How long it has been in use in it's present state. Thats all. No matter if their is anything in the ground or Not.

This may seem silly to some people, But I know someone has the awnswer.

Maybe The Soil Type.
Color.
Surounding Tree Size.
How many rocks are around.

One Field has a Huge pile of rocks that has been picked up over time from in the field.

Guess this is just to far fetched of a question.

Age of the Earth

Modern geologists consider the age of the Earth to be around 4.54 billion years (4.54×109 years). This age was determined by combining the interpretations of oldest-known terrestrial minerals – small crystals of zircon from the Jack Hills of Western Australia – and astronomers' and planetologists' determinations of the age of the solar system based in part on radiometric age dating of meteorite material and lunar samples.

 

[Tnmountains]

If you are still seeing the remains of dozed up trees the area has not been cleared and planted that long. Now cedars will last a long time. Still could be a good site. Hit it real quick and look for glass and blue china and arrowheads. Many good fields were cleared by ancient man and used thru out history.
My humble opinion. Good luck.

 

[fmerg]

i spend most of my time in farm fields some things i have noticed is:
most finds will fall in a line based on the direction of the plowing
this line can be found by looking for broken glass pottery bricks ect
piles of rocks are usually on the outside of the field line (the field may have been expanded after the fact)
when doing a new field use a wide grid pattern (swing a line then move over 4 to five feet for next line)
use flags to mark finds then transfer to a map at end of day look for a pattern

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Try using spell check in your posts, it's hard to tell what you are asking.

Us country folks, try to keep the hogs slopped, and chickens feed, no time for spell check round here. I did get a GED, and some of that college stuff one time, but forgot where I put it, might have to dig around in the shed, see if I can fin'ed it.

Thanks for all the post, I missed a good day here hunting, it was 60F, but had to go with a friend on a wild goose chase, went to look at a truck for sale, but the man could not find the title. Hmmm. What a waste of my day.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

i spend most of my time in farm fields some things i have noticed is:
most finds will fall in a line based on the direction of the plowing
this line can be found by looking for broken glass pottery bricks ect
piles of rocks are usually on the outside of the field line (the field may have been expanded after the fact)
when doing a new field use a wide grid pattern (swing a line then move over 4 to five feet for next line)
use flags to mark finds then transfer to a map at end of day look for a pattern

This works for me as well.

 

[twinsrule]

I looked up a plat map, and all i could figure is... landowners? What really is a plat map, and what does it help with?

 

[Keppy]

I have to go along with every one that tells you if you find a field go hunt it. I don't waste my time to research a field or with platt maps for a field. I just go hunt a field some times i have good luck and then times i have no luck at all. But every time they plow a field it will bring up new things if they are there. In the spring after the ground is thawed out that pushes items to the surface.And i always look at it this way no matter who hunts the field or how many they don't get every thing......... I KNOW THAT FOR A FACT.>><<><><