The CaneField Bandits Knocked it Out of the Park!!!

[BuckleBoy]

Hello All,

It has been an amazing 24 hours. Sorry to all for the delayed post, but when you see the quantity and quality of relics dug, you will understand why. Shanegalang and I went out on a hunt yesterday. Got up bright and early and hit the cane fields.







We decided to make a full grid of an area where we had been and dug a few CW bullets and a colonial shoe buckle earlier in the week. We started into the field all fresh and fueled up. As we made it down the first row, we dug a few bullets, mostly round .54 cal's.







Then all of a sudden, from the front of the row, Shane yells "I've got a coin!" When I got there, we realized that he'd just dug his first shield nickel:







I caught myself swinging too fast after that rush, and made my pace slow down, and soon I got a signal in the bottom of the row that blew my ears off. Flipping over the plug of hardpack silt, I saw a gilded flat button back. Turned it over and had a heart attack as an 1812 Era Artillery Button stared me in the face!!







We made it up another row, digging brass bits, camp lead, and a few bullets, and then I saw right on top of a row the back of a little two-piece button. For some reason, I didn't even think for a second what it might be. My first urge was to take a photo:







Turned it over and it was an eagle Artillery cuff button in great condition:







Made our way around the next row and Shane dug a nice early tombac button with a great design on its face. We dug a few flat buttons, a thimble, and Shane got a nice trigger guard piece. Then on to the next row, and this row was a honey of a row for me. I must have dug six bullets, two flat buttons, a minieball, and the bootstrap piece of a spur.

Rounded the next row and scooped up another piece of the spur and dug the other half of Shane's trigger guard, which I gave to him. Here's a photo of one of the bullets I dug:







I dug a nice V nickel (1899), and picked up a thimble and a beautiful, early pocketwatch winder with an anchor on it. Shane got a couple of heel plates, a tax token, and another couple bullets and camp lead. We both eyeballed early clay pipes in the stubble. 8) When I got home, I was amazed at the number of targets I had dug, and even more amazed at the quantity of keepers I had:











Then the cleaning marathon was on. From 7pm to close to midnight, I cleaned finds, hoping to make a post last night. Shane had dinner and a beer to ease the pain the field had inflicted on us, and started cleaning finds as well. Late last night I finished, and took photos and went to bed.


Here are the results. First off, some GawGag dug by Shane:







Next, his Luxury Tax Token from the 30s (Alabama). Probably a farmer drop:











More Photos Below!

 

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[Hill Billy]

WTG guys! I knew you guys would eventually get on a hot spot and your finds show you were on it. Buck it's great to see you carrying on in a different state, I think were ever you go, your going to find the right stuff. That's a nice looking 1812 button you found, congrats.

Watch out for the skunkin Shane, Bucks not playing around anymore.

HB

 

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[kuger]

first of all, great finds and post, enjoyed reading it.

Secondly, I can't imagine how difficult it is to hunt that field. Do you go with the lines, or against them to cover a gully, then hill, then gully, etc?

Lastly, what is this? I have a half of one I found the other week.

Thats a parasol piece

 

[Nana40]

Like that new name you two.

Most excellent finds!!

Nana~

 

[BuckleBoy]

first of all, great finds and post, enjoyed reading it.

Secondly, I can't imagine how difficult it is to hunt that field. Do you go with the lines, or against them to cover a gully, then hill, then gully, etc?

Lastly, what is this? I have a half of one I found the other week.

Bob,

What we have been doing is standing in the furrow, and detecting from there, hefting the detector up the side wall on either side (the distance is about 2 1/2 feet, give or take, from the bottom of the furrow to the top of a row). Fortunately we both hunt with Tesoros, which are lighter. I couldn't see someone hunting this with an old Eagle Spectrum or even an XLT, DFX, MXT without being worn out. Where we usually feel it is in our backs, and it is hard to keep the coil parallel to the side wall without a lot of wrist rotation..

The piece you have found is a parasol clip. It went around the handle of the parasol, and there were thin iron spokes attached to each of those notches that opened the parasol when you slid that pice up, like a modern umbrella.

Best Wishes,

Buckles

 

[BuckleBoy]

Nice finds in that huge field.....We know where you will be all summer long in 2012!

We'll be INSIDE, out of the 100+ degree heat! Seriously, by March and April here it will be up in the high 80s and 90s every day. Normally, a crop field would be planted by then, but sugarcane is a different animal. Won't get planted until summer, and then it will grow for over a year. So we will then lose the field for a year and a half after it is planted.

 

[umrgolf]

Nice finds in that huge field.....We know where you will be all summer long in 2012!

We'll be INSIDE, out of the 100+ degree heat! Seriously, by March and April here it will be up in the high 80s and 90s every day. Normally, a crop field would be planted by then, but sugarcane is a different animal. Won't get planted until summer, and then it will grow for over a year. So we will then lose the field for a year and a half after it is planted.

man, that bites.. didn't know that about sugarcane

 

[BuckleBoy]

Nice finds in that huge field.....We know where you will be all summer long in 2012!

We'll be INSIDE, out of the 100+ degree heat! Seriously, by March and April here it will be up in the high 80s and 90s every day. Normally, a crop field would be planted by then, but sugarcane is a different animal. Won't get planted until summer, and then it will grow for over a year. So we will then lose the field for a year and a half after it is planted.

man, that bites.. didn't know that about sugarcane

Yeah, some of the fields are out right now, with waist-high cane in them that was planted in summer and won't be harvested until November or December. The growing season is so long for that crop that we will get two windows every three years. Gotta get it while we can.

 

[FoxHound0985]

Fantastic hunt guys! BB, post a close-up pic of that 1812 button, it looks like there's some gilt left on that baby!!

 

[pganjon]

Pganjon, I use a Tesoro Cortes. Buckleboy was using a Tesoro Silver U max on this hunt. He also uses a Fisher 1266-X. I quoted him as saying, "Yes, the Tesoro runs so stable in iron it's like a dream. Fisher is choice for finding sites, Tesoro for actually hunting them--except CW low iron sites. Then it's 1266 all the way". Shane

Thank you Paul

 

[Joe88]

Great finds!!

Joe

 

[Deno]

Nice hunt BB.

Congrats on the button.

That would look good in my display case.

You got any idea how to clean it?


I haven't tried your method yet, but the results look great.

Congrats to your buddy Shane on that shield nickle.

I only have one of those.

You are a lucky dog to manage so much hunting time.

Good luck and good traveling.

Deno

 

[BuckleBoy]

Fantastic hunt guys! BB, post a close-up pic of that 1812 button, it looks like there's some gilt left on that baby!!

Here ya go. Took a while to clean it, and it didn't have as much gilding as I'd hoped. But still an attractive one.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Nice hunt BB.

Congrats on the button.

That would look good in my display case.

You got any idea how to clean it?


I haven't tried your method yet, but the results look great.

Congrats to your buddy Shane on that shield nickle.

I only have one of those.

You are a lucky dog to manage so much hunting time.

Good luck and good traveling.

Deno

Thanks for your reply, Deno. Not so much time as one might think. Two days in KY and two days here in Louisiana so far. But not sure how much hunting I will be able to do in the next five months. Last year I had almost no time to detect.

Gotta get it in while I can.

Cheers,


Buck

 

[Deno]

Fantastic hunt guys! BB, post a close-up pic of that 1812 button, it looks like there's some gilt left on that baby!!

Here ya go. Took a while to clean it, and it didn't have as much gilding as I'd hoped. But still an attractive one.

I have to say it.

That is an outstanding result.

 

[VOL1266-X]

I'd say I called the right person for button cleaning advice based on the pic you added of it after cleaning. There is nothing to be disappointed about there BB. Great button, Q.

 

[zaxfire69]

You two are killing the finds. Ya'll keep up the good work. By the way that is a sweet button. Congrats.

 

[tmanfromtexas]

Nice hunt guys. I am not much of a relic hunter but seeing those finds and me actually finding a musket ball and a 3 ringer and a clay marble last weekend in New Orleans may make me change my ways from a coin shooter to a relic finder. Keep up the good work and while I am here in the NOLA area, maybe we can meet up somewhere one weekend and hunt together. TMAN...

 

[Hutch911]

Thats one heck of a dig!!!!!! Great finds!!!

 

[johnnyblaze]

Oh man my heart started racing looking at the relics,pottery and finds


Covered in snow over here no hunting for a while


Amazing finds


Blaze

 

[Scar]

BB as I told you in a previous post on another thread, I can probably put you into an area that will date into the early 1700's maybe 1600's in Louisiana. It want be as easy a dig as a plowed cane field but I am sure the finds would be much different. This area would be in Northwest to central Louisiana. These properties total close to 75 thousand acres that belong to a friend of mine. I also have areas in Southwest Louisiana that total well over 6000 acres with some of the property bordering the Sabine River and some on the old trails and bayou crossings. All I ask is for some of your expertise to rub off on me.