Are you the average cache hunter or ...........

[LuckyThirteen08]

Ive read alot of threads on here about all types of cache stories,Civil war,Lost mines,stolen fortunes,family lore,War Loot,Treasure Stories,etc...I have also realized that most people use the same methods when looking for caches most of the time, A few i.e., Under fence posts,outside of kitchen,bedroom windows,fireplace hearths,privies,census records etc........I started thinking about this and i realized something,Most of those places have probably been checked 50 times by 50 different ppl in the last fifty years,So i started a new approach here in the VA,KY area through researching its known history.There was never a permanent indian habitation in this area,More or less just hunting villages etc,but if the indians came through for mass amounts of wild game animals,so would have the early settlers,The chances of indian attack on traveling settlers coming through the breaks,aka the cumberland gap from Va through KY into Ohio. Indian attack would be almost guarnteed.Shelter would have been few and far between in those days for early travelers so they would be at the mercy of the landscape,cliffs,rock ledges etc,those places would also have been landmarks to retrieve personal belongings at a later time due to there readily identifiable appearances. We all know in the early settlements in america most settlers traveled with there personal belongings,Alot of those areas have probably never had a metal detector swung over them due to the major effort a person would have to mount just to access the area and hike the terrain.With the amount of national forest land stretching throughout VA and KY(over 1 million acres btw) There is no doubt silver and gold is there waiting to be found,Along with countless other valuables.I plan to hike the break from dickenson county into KY in the early spring,spend next year mapping the area and finding some very promising hunting grounds. If anyone else has a cache hunting method thats out of the norm,Please feel free to share it with me.Thanks for Looking!!


HH John!!

 

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[austin]

I think you have hit on a wonderful plan. Good sound reasoning. Go for it and don't forget all caves, shallow creeks, hollow trees, well, anyplace that you think wasn't checked before. And let us know what turns up...

 

[LuckyThirteen08]

I think you have hit on a wonderful plan. Good sound reasoning. Go for it and don't forget all caves, shallow creeks, hollow trees, well, anyplace that you think wasn't checked before. And let us know what turns up...

I most certainly will!

HH John

 

[Frankn]

Basically cache hunting is all the same. You find a good promising story, do the paper/computer research, then the boots on ground research, then you hit it with the detector. The time span varies, but the process is all the same. Your suggestion looks good, but when you consider all the boots on ground time, the return will be minimal except for the pure enjoyment of being out there with nature. Frank

 

[Jason in Enid]

You need to check the status of all that land you intend to hunt. Lots of federal and state land is closed to ANY use of a metal detector. Getting caught will means fines, jail time, loss of equipment and loss of your vehicle that you drove there.

 

[LuckyThirteen08]

National Forest property is open to recreational metal detecting. Although you do have to obide by the rules of antiquity laws on national land,as well as anything thats of historical signifigance is to be left alone and reported to the dept of forestry.But in no way is it illegal to metal detect in a national forest,at least in VA that is.

 

[LuckyThirteen08]

Basically cache hunting is all the same. You find a good promising story, do the paper/computer research, then the boots on ground research, then you hit it with the detector. The time span varies, but the process is all the same. Your suggestion looks good, but when you consider all the boots on ground time, the return will be minimal except for the pure enjoyment of being out there with nature. Frank

Minimal is what i aim for when searching for caches,usually when you find nothing at all for hours and then start getting the high tones,you know you are working in the right direction.I dont expect to get rich by any means of the word from metal detecting,I just like to find things from a long forgotten time in american history. Its the thrill of the hunt.Just love when im way out into an area that has been giving up nothing and then out of nowhere my detector starts screaming to the top of its speakers.The feeling when you start to uncover your target whether it ends up being valuable or not,That's what its all about to me.Thanks for reading!!

HH John!!

 

[Dixiegal]

The only problem I see with your plan is that if you are hunting a large area that has no known history of Spanish, Indian or KGC activity or settlements with homesteads your chances are recovering any significant treasure is really limited. Most caches of gold and silver would have been from people burying their savings in the back forty, Spanish or Cherokee (some Cree) gold caches and KGC caches. Most Indians did not trade in gold so if you are not in an area where the Cherokee lived you are not going to find much. The only other thing would be if you had moonshine activity in the area as the old shiners used to bury their money all the time. You could walk around in the National Forest until the cows come home and never find anything.

Since you are in VA I would suggest researching the KGC activity, areas where there used to be stills and old homesteads.

 

[LuckyThirteen08]

Cherokee and Xuala territory in southwest VA

 

[LuckyThirteen08]

The only problem I see with your plan is that if you are hunting a large area that has no known history of Spanish, Indian or KGC activity or settlements with homesteads your chances are recovering any significant treasure is really limited. Most caches of gold and silver would have been from people burying their savings in the back forty, Spanish or Cherokee (some Cree) gold caches and KGC caches. Most Indians did not trade in gold so if you are not in an area where the Cherokee lived you are not going to find much. The only other thing would be if you had moonshine activity in the area as the old shiners used to bury their money all the time. You could walk around in the National Forest until the cows come home and never find anything.

Since you are in VA I would suggest researching the KGC activity, areas where there used to be stills and old homesteads.

Yep,You are absolutely right,Never found a thing

 

[Jason in Enid]

The only problem I see with your plan is that if you are hunting a large area that has no known history of Spanish, Indian or KGC activity or settlements with homesteads your chances are recovering any significant treasure is really limited.

I don't think he's talking about those types of caches. He is talking "old road" caches. Travelers used to all take the same paths as they traveled (many of them are today's interstates and highways). Since people could only travel a certain amount of miles in a day (typically 20) there were regular stops along the route and they weren't all in towns. If your stop was in the wild, you might want to bury you gold and silver close by in case of attack, you could flee and come back later. Not everyone got to come back.

I think it's a good plan. It will involve a lot of research and planning, and won't be just "random" hunting. Good luck to you!

 

[LuckyThirteen08]

I don't think he's talking about those types of caches. He is talking "old road" caches. Travelers used to all take the same paths as they traveled (many of them are today's interstates and highways). Since people could only travel a certain amount of miles in a day (typically 20) there were regular stops along the route and they weren't all in towns. If your stop was in the wild, you might want to bury you gold and silver close by in case of attack, you could flee and come back later. Not everyone got to come back.

I think it's a good plan. It will involve a lot of research and planning, and won't be just "random" hunting. Good luck to you!

FINALLY,Someone gets it!!!

 

[medicffjt]

I thinks its a good idea. Why not try something different. You never know what you might find out there.

 

[Connecticut Sam]

Maybe treasure.

 

[CWnut]

I used to go up on the mountains behind the old mining camp at Westbourne and get under the rock overhangs where i would find coins, scrip and relics... it was a popular place for drinking and gambling