First target best target

[McCDig]

After hours of driving today, to Loudon Co. VA and back, I headed down for a short end-of-day hunt for some relaxation.
Weather was windy with occasional light showers, but it was great to get out. First target dug turned out to be something I rarely dig, a bale seal. As you see from the rest of the finds, I was going after repeatable, deeper high tones. Had to park 5 blocks away due to the O's game, which ended up being postponed...due to the weather.

 

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[vpnavy]

Nice finds! Thanks for sharing...

 

[trapperart]

Nice find congrats

 

[Garrett424]

Cool find. I like the tool tag and of course, wheaties are always good.
I actually dug my first old lead seal about a week ago. I wasn't sure what it was but of course as soon as I posted it here I got educated.

So I see you're in Baltimore. I'm in the Granite/Woodstock area. What area are you in??

 

[McCDig]

Hi Bob,
I'm in Harford Co., but do most of my detecting in Baltimore City. Tried Loch Raven last summer...mostly shotgun shells, but I know there's more out there.

 

[Garrett424]

Hi Bob,
I'm in Harford Co., but do most of my detecting in Baltimore City. Tried Loch Raven last summer...mostly shotgun shells, but I know there's more out there.

Never hunted Loch Raven but I've thought about it.

I've also dug lots of shells of all kinds. I've hit Liberty watershed a few times and although they don't mind if you detect; don't let them catch you actually digging any targets. It's yet another nutty policy. What's the point of allowing detecting if you can't dig a plug and recover the target??

I know some people are really good with using probes or a screwdriver but I really have no desire to do that. On the upside, you rarely actually see any law enforcement. You can lose yourself real easy too. It's a huge lake; about 17 miles from the source to the dam and not hard to keep a low profile. I've never found much there though. I thought the place would be loaded with silver but I think it may have been hit hard decades ago. There are also MILLIONS of pull tabs. It's one of the trashiest sites I've hunted.

So do you stay away from the bad areas like the east side?? I've had a couple of close calls in that area.

I hunted an old city park last summer with very little luck I expected to do way better. The trash was unbelievable. But for the most part I only go into Baltimore if it's absolutely necessary. I just don't like the place. I tend to hunt more rural areas as well as a few schools and parks. I wanna get a permit for Baltimore Co. parks this year and try a few spots I have in mind. I think they're only 25 bucks.

I do have some cousins who live in the city. They own a semi famous restaurant in Fells point; it's called Bertha's. Maybe you've heard of it.

 

[Chug And Red]

Depending on the Area you are Hunting Most of the Time It Good To Have A Hunting Buddy!!! I Have Red as My Back up She is Kick ass And Can Do it also!! And Very Beautiful that Distracts the Bad ones Until I Come over to talk to them Then they Just Run I Don't Know Why 6 4 240 pounds of Chug Carrying a Sharp digger!!!lol

 

[against the wind]

Nice hunt, ,
I have a good friend in Baltimore.
He just texted me and let me know that The Baltimore Orioles are the only undefeated team.

 

[Scrappy]

Nice seal. Those things are wayyy underrated but are super cool. Nice snag and thanks for posting

 

[rfloyd5]

Nice finds.
I new to all this. What was the seal used for? Is it Gold?

Also, I was curious what most people do with the lead junk and such things. Do you just trash it? Or do most people keep just about everything they find?

Today I went out and found a bottle. I posted that, but I also found a Iron thing looked like a very heavy iron Rake head about 8inch down in the dirt, and a very thick spark plug ( about 2 times the width I would see used in a modern car) it was found in a creek about 3 inches down. These items I trashed.

Thanks all

 

[McCDig]

Hey ATW, The O's are rockin' this season. They're off to Boston, so we'll see how the do on the road, but it was a great homestand.

 

[McCDig]

Hey Scrappy, thanks. Cleaned up well and has that tan patina of older lead. These have proved elusive for me to identify. Not sure if anyone has done an exhaustive study of Baltimore area bale seals. Tell be you dug that 8 reale!

 

[McCDig]

Hi rfloyd5. Here's a link to bale seals. baleclothseals
The seal is made of lead and it was used along with wire and a device similar to pliers that had the maker's seal on each face.
Let's say the produce was sold in a cloth bag by quantity. To assure the buyer of the quantity and origin, the neck of the bag would be sealed by wrapping the wire about the top, passing the wires through the seal, and then smashing the seal over the wires with the pliers that left the maker's mark impressed on both surfaces of the lead.

Sometimes you'll find these with the wire still inside. The one I show here was just the seal itself, the wires either pulled out of rotted away.

 

[Isaac]

Great finds. Love that bale seal. I find tons, and some have text I CAN desipher on it, which are my favorites!

 

[McCDig]

Hey Chug, thanks. Was setting up a hunt with some friends, one of whom commented that "it's good to have a "wing man" when hunting Druid Hill Park. DHP borders on the area of town where the riots broke out after the death of Freddie Gray. On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray, Jr., a 25-year-old man, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department for possessing what the police alleged was an illegal switchblade. While being transported in a police van, Gray fell into a coma and was taken to a trauma center. The unrest lasted a full day but spread to other parts of town with numerous fires and much property damage. It out Baltimore in a bad light for awhile, but it's not the true picture of the city. There are a lot of people who care about there community and are taking steps to make it a better place to live.

 

[captbo]

very nice ! thanks for sharing

 

[McCDig]

Bob,

Never tried Liberty. Have read stories of police hassling detectorists at Loch Raven. The city parks I've concentrated in are Druid, Riverside and Patterson. Patterson is a "treasure-trove" but we have recently been asked not to detect there; the Friends of Patterson Park raised a stink and got the City to put it on the "no-hunt" list. The City is open to a community forum later this year and we hope that we will be able to return in the future. The finds I've posted since mid-March have all come from Druid or Riverside. It's true that these older parks have been hit hard by the limited number of detectorists that were doing this in the '70s and '80s, but there's still good finds out there. I would say it's better to get some good permissions, but I haven't gone that route yet and still like hitting the older parks. There are other parks I'd go to with one or more detectorists.

 

[Garrett424]

Bob,

Never tried Liberty. Have read stories of police hassling detectorists at Loch Raven. The city parks I've concentrated in are Druid, Riverside and Patterson. Patterson is a "treasure-trove" but we have recently been asked not to detect there; the Friends of Patterson Park raised a stink and got the City to put it on the "no-hunt" list. The City is open to a community forum later this year and we hope that we will be able to return in the future. The finds I've posted since mid-March have all come from Druid or Riverside. It's true that these older parks have been hit hard by the limited number of detectorists that were doing this in the '70s and '80s, but there's still good finds out there. I would say it's better to get some good permissions, but I haven't gone that route yet and still like hitting the older parks. There are other parks I'd go to with one or more detectorists.

I've had my eye on Patterson but never hunted it. I use to drive by there a few times a week when I was doing work for Bayview and delivering it. Unfortunately I was not yet into detecting but I can see how it's probably a great site.

I hear the best time to hunt Druid Hill is EARLY Monday mornings. I'm told that the Sunday crowd drops quite a bit of bling. I work with a few people who live on the West side and I got this from the horse mouth.

Apparently many drug dealers and other knuckleheads hang out at Druid Hill in large numbers on Sundays when it's warm outside and love to show off their bling and other toys. Again, I've had it on my list for over a year but haven't made it yet. I REALLY do not like the city. I'm a country boy and always will be.

The one park I did hunt is very old and quite small. I expected to do much better. I plan on hitting it with my Omega soon. Maybe I'll have better luck. We'll see.
Stay in touch. Maybe we can organize a hunt at some point.