Old road bed

[DrGrip]

A location I have hunted once in the past that had an old home site on it has turned up a new twist for me.

It seems that the main farm to market road used to go straight across this property. It is still outlined with a slight tree line and is elevated.

I've never hunted an old road bed before and was wondering if one should concentrate on the outside edges or towards the center of the road?

Heading out there this Friday to swing at the old home site and wanted to check out the old road as well... Thoughts?

 

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[incajoe]

I've never had much luck with old roads. The road beds usually have a fair amount of junk in them which can make things difficult. I would look for places along the road where someone may have stopped to rest/camp. Look near a water source since this is where people could rest and let their horses take a drink. Any place that has a nice view or an open field may be good too. Look for old trees and since these may have been used for shade. Good luck!

 

[bula]

Hunt it all, you never know where it will be. Just the other day I was looking for a new site & stopped along a old road, thought what the hell. As I started down the middle of the road looking off to the sides for dump sites I got a good signal. Right in the middle of the road, at first I thought kids on 4 wheelers had dropped a quarter. Dug a small hole & out popped a 1897 quarter, I spent another 2 hours there & found nothing.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I'm with inca-joe on this. Why hunt roads (old or otherwise)? You should be hunting where people stopped for the night. Camped, ate, drank, recreated, slept, etc... Like stage stops, saloons, etc....

Sure, anything's possible, and yes, coins can end up just about anywhere. But your odds of just assuming because a road is old, that therefore, there must be coins along it, doesn't logically follow. At least not as far as potential goes. Hunt where people congregated, not where they were bundled up and not stopping.

 

[DrGrip]

I'm with inca-joe on this. Why hunt roads (old or otherwise)? You should be hunting where people stopped for the night. Camped, ate, drank, recreated, slept, etc... Like stage stops, saloons, etc....

Sure, anything's possible, and yes, coins can end up just about anywhere. But your odds of just assuming because a road is old, that therefore, there must be coins along it, doesn't logically follow. At least not as far as potential goes. Hunt where people congregated, not where they were bundled up and not stopping.

Very good point about being packed up and moving along. There are 2 locations along the road I will try that I have discovered since looking at the old survey maps of the area and a couple of topos.

One is a stand of BIG oak trees that I've been meaning to hit anyway, they are adjacent to the road at the east side of the property. The other is the bridge over the, now dry, creek bed that is listed on the survey map as "year round creek". Those 2 would be good spots to stop for a bit.

The VAST majority of the time out I plan to spend at the old home site. Thus far it has proven to be very interesting.

Thanks for the replies all, I got what I was after,

Grip

 

[goldencoin]

Had a relative walking along a dirt road and found a silver dollar...heard of good finds on other roads. But, you'd probably have more luck somewhere else...

HH
-GC

 

[DrGrip]

Had a relative walking along a dirt road and found a silver dollar...heard of good finds on other roads. But, you'd probably have more luck somewhere else...

HH
-GC

The road bed is "high ground" compared to the home site. After a good rain I can't get back to the old house without the possibility of getting stuck.

The road and fencelines will be the go to option when rains come. I now have 100% access to this place and the 200 acres around it! Lots of hunting time coming up as well!

Grip

 

[bazinga]

I've hunted in and around an old road in a field that no longer exists on any modern maps. The entire road seemed to have stuff pushed into it to pack it down. There were lots of cinders, etc. in this road and the machine would go nuts. Never found anything.

Hunted an old road in the middle of a woods one that still had the wagon ruts. All I found was some shotgun shells from modern hunters.

Like others have said, there are better places you can spend your time.

 

[Bum Luck]

I see my share of old roads, and although I've never hunted the middle of the road for coins, I've seen lots of junk off to the sides as folks used to throw junk along side the roads as they traveled them. Old pails, fenders, cans, and even old bottles.