- Joined
- Dec 13, 2025
- Messages
- 177
- Reaction score
- 937
- Golden Thread
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Equinox 900
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Sorry for the long post in advance. Just wanted to share my experience at Digstock. I really didn’t know what to expect going in. I had a great time meeting new people and just enjoying the outdoors. I was honestly surprised by how many people showed up. I met folks from Canada and all over the United States. I even made a new friend from Virginia who invited me to hunt his property for Civil War relics later this year! Unfortunately, I had to cut the trip short and head home a day early.
Day 1 – Check-In
I drove in that morning and really enjoyed the trip through the countryside. It was great seeing all the historical houses along the way.
I arrived a little early, so I stopped by the historical marker for the Battle of Boones Mill where the confederates were attacked while bathing naked!
I drove around for a while to get a feel for the area and came across a bald eagle feeding on a carcass. I managed to get a nice picture of him before heading to check-in. When I got there, the line was extremely long.
Day 2 – First day of digging.
The only real item of interest I found was a boot heel plate with a heart cutout. At first I had no idea what it was until someone explained it to me. They told me that “ladies of the night” supposedly wore them on their boots so they would leave heart-shaped impressions in the dirt, giving men something to follow to find them. Pretty interesting story!
I also found what appears to be a musical reed and a toe tap. I believe the reed is too thick to be from a harmonica. Most of my hunting that day was in the wooded areas, and like most hunts, I ended up digging the usual trash — shotgun shells, bullets, and other random metal.
Day 3 - Second day of digging.
I checked out a few homesites in the woods. I ended up finding three modern pennies and a gear of some kind. I spent most of the day in the fields digging quite a bit of can slaw and junk. I also found an interesting Ball Company bottle at a abandoned house on the side of the field.
With only about three hours left to hunt and after digging so much trash, I was starting to get a little discouraged. I decided to head to different homesite that was marked on the map they provided. While looking at historical aerial imagery, I noticed another homesite in an adjacent field that wasn’t marked. I decided to check it out, and it gave me a little renewed hope. I ended up finding a buckle, a horse rein guide, some broken pottery, and what looked like a piston from a motor. I also found two brass rings about ten feet apart, along with a 1917 wheat penny and a 1918 wheat penny.
Overall, I had a great time and really enjoyed the experience. Looking back, there are definitely a few things I would have done differently. Even though I didn’t find anything spectacular myself, there were tons of incredible finds being pulled out of the ground all weekend — Spanish reales, Barber halves, Seated quarters and dimes, bust dimes, and plenty of other great relics.
!
I learned a lot from the other hunters, met some great people, and gained some new opportunities for future hunts! Thanks for looking!
Day 1 – Check-In
I drove in that morning and really enjoyed the trip through the countryside. It was great seeing all the historical houses along the way.
I arrived a little early, so I stopped by the historical marker for the Battle of Boones Mill where the confederates were attacked while bathing naked!
I drove around for a while to get a feel for the area and came across a bald eagle feeding on a carcass. I managed to get a nice picture of him before heading to check-in. When I got there, the line was extremely long.
Day 2 – First day of digging.
The only real item of interest I found was a boot heel plate with a heart cutout. At first I had no idea what it was until someone explained it to me. They told me that “ladies of the night” supposedly wore them on their boots so they would leave heart-shaped impressions in the dirt, giving men something to follow to find them. Pretty interesting story!
I also found what appears to be a musical reed and a toe tap. I believe the reed is too thick to be from a harmonica. Most of my hunting that day was in the wooded areas, and like most hunts, I ended up digging the usual trash — shotgun shells, bullets, and other random metal.
Day 3 - Second day of digging.
I checked out a few homesites in the woods. I ended up finding three modern pennies and a gear of some kind. I spent most of the day in the fields digging quite a bit of can slaw and junk. I also found an interesting Ball Company bottle at a abandoned house on the side of the field.
With only about three hours left to hunt and after digging so much trash, I was starting to get a little discouraged. I decided to head to different homesite that was marked on the map they provided. While looking at historical aerial imagery, I noticed another homesite in an adjacent field that wasn’t marked. I decided to check it out, and it gave me a little renewed hope. I ended up finding a buckle, a horse rein guide, some broken pottery, and what looked like a piston from a motor. I also found two brass rings about ten feet apart, along with a 1917 wheat penny and a 1918 wheat penny.
Overall, I had a great time and really enjoyed the experience. Looking back, there are definitely a few things I would have done differently. Even though I didn’t find anything spectacular myself, there were tons of incredible finds being pulled out of the ground all weekend — Spanish reales, Barber halves, Seated quarters and dimes, bust dimes, and plenty of other great relics.
!
I learned a lot from the other hunters, met some great people, and gained some new opportunities for future hunts! Thanks for looking!
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