Questions about hunting farm fields and getting permission

[golden silver]

Hey y'all,

I have been detecting for 3 years and a visitor to this web site for about half that time. I always see you guys finding some great things in the middle of farm fields where there seemingly should be nothing. Are these really good places to hunt? Are there certain things I need to look for in order to identify a good spot or are most fields bound to give up something good? And my last question is how do you guys go about getting permission to detect. I always feel ackward knocking on someones door. I know that I would be hesitant to let a stranger on my property so what is the trick? Thanks in advance.

-Golden Silver

 

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[Kas]

First, get over the awkward feeling. You're no worse off if the person says no than you are if you don't asked them. You have a 50-50 shot of getting permission to hunt. Farm fields have nothing that can be damaged. I haven't even been denied permission for a farm field. If you are that shy about asking, write a letter and tell them what you want to do, and give them your phone number and address. Tell them in the letter you'll come by in a week to see them.

Now, to what's in a field to find.

You have to know what was there before. This is very easy to do by going to www.historical.maptech.com


You can get old quadrant maps of your area, free, where you can see the old houses and rural one room school houses, churches. Drive to the spot and see if the houses are gone and an empty field remains.
Another little trick is when you are driving out in the country, watch the ditch. You can see a raised flat area in the ditch where the driveway once was, leading to the now empty field.

Good luck.
Ken

 

[golden silver]

Thanks Kas,
I guess I will just have to get over the ackward feeling and try it. I will check out that site. It also seems a bit discouraging to see acres in front of me. Sometimes I feel like I could be there all day and not find a thing. But I guess If I do some research that might increase me chances. Thanks!!

-Golden Silver

 

[fossis]

Ancient Americans built their homes on 'High Ground', near a water source, but out of the 'flood plane', signs of their being there, are 'flint chips', rocks, shell middens, broken pottery.
Early settlers used the same patterns, but if the 'foundation stones' have been hauled out of the field, there will still be bits of broken glass & pottery, marbles, metal relics etc.

HH, Fossis...........

 

[Kas]

When you do hunt the field and you know a house was there, you will see a raised hump in the field where the house and barn was. It is also possible that you will see morning glorys or other vegetation growing along the ground. Crop pestisides aren't geared toward so called domestic plants.

I did research on two sites this summer that I knew had log cabins on them. The field was raised in the area of the house and barn, the filled in ditch lead a straight path to the morning glorys. A quick search of the area gave up some signals. In a short time I knew the boundries because the signals would quit if I got too deep in the field, or too far one direction or the other. That only takes 10 minutes to figure out. Not mention the broken crockery and glass lying on the ground.

It's not all that complicated. Research is the key.

 

[Rob in KS]

Here are some other threads about getting permission.....Charter members can search...hint hint

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,112626.0.html
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,103576.0.html
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,69954.0.html
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,9194.0.html
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,25784.0.html
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,4275.0.html

There are a lot more, I just picked a few good ones

Good Luck

 

[Born2Dtect]

I hunt a lot of farm fields with my club. The nice thing is I don,t have to get permission, the club hunt master takes care of that. It is nice to have a guy who has done this for years.
When hunting the fields you can try to get an old map or just ask the land owner about old buildings or foundations on the property. Try looking for large old trees around the boundaries, they attracted a lot of activity over the years.
When you are hunting keep an eye out for red brick, pottery shards, old glass, or other signs of an old building. A lot of time buildings were located on the top of a hill. Once you find the first target look hard in that area, more finds will follow.
Run your detector as hot as you can, low discrimination, high sensitivity, If you want to find iron don,t reject it. If the area is free of or has little trash try to run in the all metal mode. When you first hunt a place dig all targets to get used to what is there. Learn the sounds and numbers of the good items you want and go at it. When it comes to a large farm field (100 acre plus) there is no such thing as hunted out.

Hope this helps.

Ed D.

 

[golden silver]

This is all great imput guys. I did go to one man's house here in Southern Virginia. I had noticed an old wooden house over grown with vegetation and a tin roof. It looked to be from the late 1800's so I pulled into the drive way. The man was working in the yard and came out to meet me. I was friendly and waved hi and introduced myself. I asked him if the house belonged to him and that I was interested in metal detecting. Before I could even fininsh my sentence he had cut me off and turned me down. I thanked him for his time and moved on. I also left a letter in the door of a house that is in an old part of town introducing myself and that I would like to metal detect his yard. I left a phone number and an email but never got a reply. I guess I should have followed up on that one. Anyway, thanks for the great advice. Keep it comin'

-Golden Silver

 

[Kas]

This is all great imput guys. I did go to one man's house here in Southern Virginia. I had noticed an old wooden house over grown with vegetation and a tin roof. It looked to be from the late 1800's so I pulled into the drive way. The man was working in the yard and came out to meet me. I was friendly and waved hi and introduced myself. I asked him if the house belonged to him and that I was interested in metal detecting. Before I could even fininsh my sentence he had cut me off and turned me down. I thanked him for his time and moved on. I also left a letter in the door of a house that is in an old part of town introducing myself and that I would like to metal detect his yard. I left a phone number and an email but never got a reply. I guess I should have followed up on that one. Anyway, thanks for the great advice. Keep it comin'

-Golden Silver

Farm fileds are a little different than hunting someones yard.

The percentages go down with occupied houses. Better thab not asking at all.

Ken

 

[golden silver]

Ken,

That first house covered in vegetation was deffinately not lived in. He just had junk cars parked behind it that he was working on. I think he lived in a house across the road. At any rate, I am certain there was some old relics in coins in the gound there.

One other quick question...If a place is abandoned and is not being used by anyone is it fare game? I have a place that is an old barn sitting on a corner lot between two busy roads with apartment buildings build behind it. From what I can tell there is no one there to ask for permission and no one ever uses the place. There are no No tresspassing signes or private property signs. Just curious.

 

[fleamarketmutt]

Trial and error. I'll work abandoned empty lots and fields til someone comes runs me off. Other times, you have to ask around for the owners and permission. I'm running into owners with the insurance issue, afraid someone will get hurt and sue them. Always remember to backfill your holes.