First musket balls in a battle against a stingy potato field

[Z.K.]

Between ticks and hunting season the cellar holes and less visible cornfields that treated me well in early fall have been a no-go for a few weeks. I've been trying my hand at a very large sweet potato field. Three visits in the last two weekends have brought a few nice things, including a very cool large buckle, a variety of projectiles, watchworks, a buckle with leather still attached (don't want to imagine the farm equipment accident that led to that one) and a 1919 Merc. Each of these got my hopes up, but the only things that were at all close to one another were the .63 balls.

I'm happy with all the finds, especially going from a 0 to awesome musket ball collection. That said, I don't think I'm much of a field hunter...what an unholy number of swings between decent targets! My hat is off to folks with more patience and/or richer fields.

Hope the weather holds, as rifle season ended tonight. Back to the woods!

Thanks, hh

 

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[coryg]

Nice finds!...The ticks are brutal here in NY. It definitely deters me from swinging in the woods.

 

[bigfoot1]

guess I'm lucky...8000 ft.up here.never seen a tick or flea.no fields either so I can only imagine the determination it takes to hunt one.nice finds for sure !!but I'm with you....love hunting in the woods especially the old mining areas.

 

[Z.K.]

Thanks, Coryg. We're in the same boat. I tried to go out twice before hunting season, and dispatched over 50 of them found on my pants. In spite of heavy precautions I still had one get through and attach for a few hours. Done. This is the best hobby I've ever had, but it ain't worth tick-borne illnesses. Hope you have some alternate sites till their activity dies down.

 

[Z.K.]

guess I'm lucky...8000 ft.up here.never seen a tick or flea.no fields either so I can only imagine the determination it takes to hunt one.nice finds for sure !!but I'm with you....love hunting in the woods especially the old mining areas.

Right now that sounds a bit like md heaven. Though do you have much rattlesnake trouble?

Incidentally, I had a great weeklong camping trip up to the champion mine in the Sierras when I was a kid. I've heard that the bunkhouse since burned down...bummer, it was like having your own ghost town.

 

[bigfoot1]

yup...snakey...mt.lions(tho rare) and bears...I'll take them all instead of ticks...they scare the heck out of me from what I've read.

 

[CRUSADER]

When field hunting, do you grid, when a better find turns up?

 

[Z.K.]

When field hunting, do you grid, when a better find turns up?

I start out in a field by either walking lines or running around like an ant fueled by intuition. When I find something good, I do about 500 square feet around it. I'd enjoy knowing more about how you approach gridding...a word I've heard used here and tried to adopt, but without clear definitions. Thanks

 

[WHADIFIND]

I'm right there with you on the respect of the true relic hunters like our own Tennessee Trio. I tried my first
cornfield last year and all I can say is WOW! That's a LOT of work!

You did better than I did! LOL

 

[CRUSADER]

I start out in a field by either walking lines or running around like an ant fueled by intuition. When I find something good, I do about 500 square feet around it. I'd enjoy knowing more about how you approach gridding...a word I've heard used here and tried to adopt, but without clear definitions. Thanks

I would need to understand the 'field'. Was it ploughed or pasture/grass?

PS. just re-read your post & it sounds ploughed. So once you get a good area use the lines as guides & cover every inch. What helps us is 4 flags that we space out about every 50 metres to keep us on a straight line, more for Dads benefit, because I can follow my footprints. Going straight is now natural to me after many years. If at the turn around point you start to get finds, expand your grid in that direction. Sometimes you expand in all 4 directions & end up doing the whole field.
Our last site we systematically covered over 30 acres.

 

[CRUSADER]

Break down larger fields into smaller chunks by using things like large trees as the turnaround point. Any marker in a field that makes a good point to turnaround. Then when you return to grid, you know where you have been.

 

[Z.K.]

Break down larger fields into smaller chunks by using things like large trees as the turnaround point. Any marker in a field that makes a good point to turnaround. Then when you return to grid, you know where you have been.

Wonderful instructions, Crusader. Thanks for sharing some of your hard won tactics.

 

[coryg]

Z.K. That's crazy. They always find a way through. The nymphs are the worst. That's good you got it out right away. It's not definitely not worth it...I try my best to find swinging spots away from potential tick habitat.

 

[Old Dude]

I enjoy field hunting after crops have been knocked down. The rows themselves help grid and as Cru said, use a large object as a turn around point. I will usually place larger rocks at the ends of rows to mark my stopping point so I can continue where I left off on my return trip. The ticks here are terrible this year and all the poison they sell to deter them scares me even more than the ticks!

 

[Diggin Dude]

Cool silver Merc and great relics. I really like finding musketballs, congrats!! HH

 

[CRUSADER]

I enjoy field hunting after crops have been knocked down. The rows themselves help grid and as Cru said, use a large object as a turn around point. I will usually place larger rocks at the ends of rows to mark my stopping point so I can continue where I left off on my return trip. The ticks here are terrible this year and all the poison they sell to deter them scares me even more than the ticks!

Yes, thats a good point & one I nearly made. We generally use the first tractor tyre track that runs down both ends of the field as a turnaround, then you can leave stones or as we do, dig a small open hole that can be filled on your return as your ending spot.(only use in large fields not used by walkers/riders etc..)
That leaves the ends to do seperately in the opposite direction, hope this makes sense?