A little field trip in the name of research

[halfdime]

Over the last week or so, I've gotten acquainted with DrDetector, a new member of this site. He told me of a potential hunting site out in the boonies he wanted to check out, so we arranged to meet and ride together. As we chatted about our mutual love for this mistress of a hobby, we discovered that we had both had our eyes on some of the same sites; this, even though we live probably 25 miles from each other. After he initially told me what he was looking at, I talked to my uncle who grew up nearby; this way, I got a little history of the place we were going. Right now, our area is blanketed by about 3 or 4 inches of snow, but we were both eager to get out so it didn't stop us. We did not, however, take our detectors, though I suspect the Dr had his in the trunk! Arriving at this remote site, near a stream with a single lane bridge over it, we began to look around. Finding some "No Trespassing" signs, we structured our tour accordingly and eventually found a foundation of cut sandstone. Thirty or forty feet away, we found a privy pit, so we knew we had found an old homestead. The beauty of the site is that it is not overgrown, and this place might have some potential. As we explored, we noticed two older gentlemen drive up, park nearby and get out of their cars. It was obvious, as we drew near, that they were talking about the site we had found. We introduced ourselves and found out that the men were members of a local historical society and one was the author of a book we had brought with us! He laughed when I asked him to autograph my copy. They explained the history of the place, and weren't quite sure who currently owned the land we were interested in. We saw a sign close by identifying part of the woods as State Game Lands, which we knew would mean open season with our metal detectors. Even as members of the historical society, they didn't think hunting would be a problem and even found the idea interesting.
On our way back, we checked out another site the Dr knew about; it turned out to be an old Elks park that was now home to broken down cars and a few donkeys. There were no signs, so we looked around briefly for signs of human occupation. Shortly, the owner of the property drove up and the Dr engaged him in conversation. After explaining what we had on our minds, the owner said it had been gone over many times. We got in the truck and left, and I noticed my partner's eyes were open very wide. It was then that I found out the owner had driven up with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on a hand gun. His place had been vandalized in the past, and he wasn't taking any chances. We parted on friendly enough terms, though I might have been more nervous myself had I seen the piece. The Dr and I decided that we wouldn't be back to visit the park, but settled on a few other places to hunt. We'll keep the forum posted about anything we might find together, and we hope never to find the wrong end of a gun again!

 

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[Pulltab Parson]

WOW, great story, I hope that you will keep us updated on the homestead search, I think it would probably produce some good finds. WIth the other guys showing up, it seems to me that there could be more to that site than just a foundation and a privy.

I look forward to reading more about this adventure!!

 

[DrDetector]

Oh, we had a great time for sure. If I remember correctly the homestead was originally constructed in the 1830s by a Native American who was prominent in the area. Definitely has potential to produce some good finds! And boy I'll tell you, that guy who drove up to kick us out of there was not happy at all at first...he was using his handgun to point to things to make positively sure I saw he had it. And yeah it was kind of weird...he clearly didn't want anybody on his property but there was not a single 'no trespassing' sign or 'keep out,' only a 'Beware of Dog' sign on a tree headed down the long driveway. It's a shame, too, as I suspect that the place would still have some things to find. I do believe we will be heading back to the old homestead site though as soon as the ground thaws out and the snow melts. Plus it was great to meet up with a hunting partner from the forums here. Nice post, HalfDime.

 

[halfdime]

We might hire the gunslinger for muscle