Late fall / Winter hunts on old Nebraska farm home site

[Diggitdaddy]

Hello, havent posted here in about 6 months, but having the winter duldrums...cant hunt frozen ground. So decided to post all the finds from one Nebraska old home site found on a 1900 Atlas. Probably 6 seperate hunts. They are turning the land into commercial lots, so wont be too long and these finds maybe would have been lost forever. Real peaceful feeling to walk this field and find this with my trusty White V3i. Cufflinks, an old clock, brass buckles, axehead, and my best find a 1900 bar token from nearby town. Thanks for looking !

 

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[Tony in SC]

Good finds! I like the alarm clock. All my old spots down here are now subdivisions.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Nice job on the relics.

 

[WannaDig3687]

Welcome back! That piece above the nail looks interesting. It's good you got to detect before it gets developed.

 

[dts52]

Nice finds. I was stationed in Nebraska in the late 70s and was into bird hunting back then. I remember driving from farm to farm, asking for permission to hunt with my Labrador. Many, many responses were the same - “I’d love to let you but this land has been bought up by the Japanese. I can’t give you permission.”

It happened far too often to be a polite way of saying “no”, but then again, Nebraska farmers, like farmers all across our great nation have no problem coming right out and saying “no”. In fact, I’ve gotten a few “Hell, no. Now get the F off my property.” Now that I’m MDing instead of hunting, it seems to be just as difficult obtaining permission.

I hate seeing so much of America being paved. I guess that’s what they call progress. (Holy smokes, now I sound like my grandfather back when he was still kicking!)
HH
dts

 

[Diggitdaddy]

Hello wannadig...yes that is an interesting piece. I dug it on a last minute search while heading back to to the car. Surprised me when I saw the detail, its definitely part of a brooch that held a stone at one time, the little anchors for the stone still intact and decorative. Looks Victorian style. Your quote from Daniel Webster is a keeper ! Thanks for the comment

 

[Diggitdaddy]

Hello DTS52...were you stationed at Offutt ? I work there now. Still a great place. I can see the farmers spouting a line about being owned by the Japanese, in the 1970s there were no doubt WW2 vets that were joking but telling you no. Its still tough to get permissions. I feel a little uneasy about hunting someone else's property unless they are also excited about what may be buried there... using old maps and atlas is the only way we have left to find these old sites. Cornfields cover most of them now...thanks for the reply !

 

[Diggitdaddy]

Hello wannadig, I wrote a reply to you but it ended up as the reply for the next comment. Your YouTube video was a real nice home site, whereabouts is it and did you detect there any luck?

 

[scruggs]

Beautiful old relics!

 

[WannaDig3687]

Hello wannadig, I wrote a reply to you but it ended up as the reply for the next comment. Your YouTube video was a real nice home site, whereabouts is it and did you detect there any luck?

Thanks for looking at the video, Diggitdaddy. We bought 40 acres to build on. It is actually right off from the driveway. It’s an ongoing process now that I metal detect. It all started with bottles being found in the creek. Not much coinage, just old stuff.

 

[Diggitdaddy]

Well at least you got to those spots before the developers did The clock was one of the deepest finds I ever dug, a good 12 inches down. The field has been plowed over a few times. Thanks for the comment Tony in SC !

 

[dts52]

Hello DTS52...were you stationed at Offutt ? I work there now. Still a great place. I can see the farmers spouting a line about being owned by the Japanese, in the 1970s there were no doubt WW2 vets that were joking but telling you no. Its still tough to get permissions. I feel a little uneasy about hunting someone else's property unless they are also excited about what may be buried there... using old maps and atlas is the only way we have left to find these old sites. Cornfields cover most of them now...thanks for the reply !

Yes, I was at Offutt. I had never seen electrical plugs hanging out of the front of vehicles before but got a quick education when I went out to start my truck only to find that it was frozen solid. Bought a radiator hose heater that very afternoon.

I don’t think that the farmers were kidding. In the 70’s the Japanese were buying up American property at an alarming rate. I suppose the Japanese business men had been convinced that it was a good investment. The farmers told me that they were tenant farmers so they technically didn’t have the authority to give me permission. I’m pretty sure that they were being honest with me.

Back then the cornfields went as far as the eye could see. I did get one permission and asked the farmer where his property lines were. He took me to the road and pointed out a telephone pole barely visible on the horizon. He said “You see that pole? It goes about a mile beyond that.” There was more cut corn than I could hunt in an entire season. Pheasants everywhere but only the roosters could be shot and those birds were very wily. It didn’t help that my Labrador was a total maniac who lost his mind when he got on the scent of birds. He’d run out ahead and flush every bird within a quarter mile. Great dog, I still miss him.

Good luck out there.
dts

 

[Diggitdaddy]

Sounds like it hasnt changed much around Nebraska, still fields as far as you can see. My metal detector friend and I are researching old schoolhouses now, most are in those cornfields now, long gone but for a sign placed on the gravel road. Needs to thaw more here before we can start on our list. What types of finds do you come across in NW CT ? bet its a lot older than what s in the midwest . Good luck DTS 52