Newbie Question

[kldrawdy]

Hi all,

I am going to be visiting my sister later this week. She lives on a farm in middle Tennessee. Her house is built over the original footprint of a pre-civil war home (the original burned down), there is a creek very nearby and this area saw a lot of Civil War activity. My question is this, the ground there is very rocky, can anyone give me some general tips on how to detect this type of soil? and any other pointers that come to mind.

Thanks in advance

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[Nana40]

Have patience, go slow and wear gloves! Sounds like a dream of a site to get to hunt! Can't wait to see what you find! Good luck!

Nana

 

[Sandman]

Nana is right about having patience and going slow. Remember the brush may have been growing in different places before. Check any depressions in level ground too. Look for marks in the bark of very large trees near the creek.

Be very careful of snakes like your Timber Rattlers, and Copperheads in that area. Tuck your pant legs in and tape them with tape to guard against chiggers and ticks.

Good Luck

 

[davesx]

As above,and don't forget to to md the creek edge and in the ceek if its not too deep.

good luck

Dave.

 

[John (Ma)]

Bug spray, water and a towel to wipe the sweat, but I am sure the rewards will be worth it.

 

[BioProfessor]

Are we talking big rocks (softball size or so) or just rocky area (gravel size)? If it is big rocks and lots of them, you have a problem. You won't have much room to swing your detector. You're going to have to move some rocks to get a huntable area. If it is just a rocky area, the problem will be swinging your coil without hitting rocks and making your coil move sharply up or sideways. That usually results in a false signal. It'll drive you nuts. You keep getting good signals but there's nothing there. If you can take out the rocks that stick up and would deflect your coil, you'll be OK.

Since the original house burned, there will be lots of iron around. Be prepared for lots of nails and such. You may have to dig some to make sure you recognize them so you can stop digging them.

The creek was probably their source of water. See if you can still tell where the path was to the creek. It was well used and should be a fairly deep rut. See if you can find other paths. There should be one to the outhouse, and another to a small dump if they had one. Path hunting is good. The creek may not be in the same place it was 150 years ago. Look for bends and such. The real creak bed and bank would be back from where the sharp bend is today. Big old trees now away from the creek may indicate where the creek was.

So, hunt slow, move stuff out out of your way, swing level, learn what the iron sounds like, and dig lots of targets. If it is repeatable, clean, and steady, dig it.

You might try looking at the area with Google Earth. If the resolution is good enough and it is the right time of year, you can see the old footprint of the house and any paths that may be there.

HH

Daryl

 

[captain Jack]

I'm sure people went down to that creek all the time. One thing I try to do when detecting old houses is to imagine, if I was coming out of the house headed for the creek, how would I go? The most direct or easiest route right? detect along that route, people probably walked it a thousand times. Same goes for the route to where the clothes line used to be, the cars used to park, the horses used to be kept, the mailbox is, etc.

People think remarkably the same. If you're by the creek and you see something "cool" or just catches your interest. You're not the first, go detect around that. Same goes for nice spots to sit, where would YOU sit? Where would YOU have a picnic?

 

[kldrawdy]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

In answer to Daryl's questions, the ground is very rocky but not big in-your-way boulder type rocky, there is a thin layer of dirt overlaying limestone, fot this reason the area is difficult to farm, and people here usually have above ground pools rather than in-ground pools. The farm had and still has a well for water.

The creek is at the end of the road, pretty far for someone to go to haul water to the house, they probably used a well.

There are so many places to think about hunting it's going to be difficult to decide. Prior to my sister moving in the previous owner used the farm for pony rides, so the arena would be a great place to hunt, there's the creek and the grounds around the house itself. I know Civil war soldiers came through fairly often especially towards the end of the war to conscript soldiers. I am sure they camped near or at the creek.

In fact there is a rumor the old house was haunted by a young boy and his father. The story is the Confederate army came through and "recruited" the young boy, he not wishing to go hung himself in the smokehouse and was found by his father. When the old "haunted" house burned and was rebuilt it was carefully not rebuilt in the exact footprint to avoid having the ghost return.

As far as the snakes and ticks and chiggers go, there are plenty of them there, so I will take all the precautions I can. I actually lived with my sister on this farm for about a year in 1999-2000 so I am familiar with the area.

I think going slow is going to be my biggest problem, I am an impatient person but this area has never been detected to my knowledge so it ought to be fun. I am taking my camera so I will try to post pics when I get back next week.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and helpful suggestions, it is really appreciated, and if anyone thinks of anything else please feel free to reply, I am as green as a gourd when it comes to metal detecting. I have mostly fooled around in my yard and a nearby park. I have about a handful of newer coins and some long lost keys so far.

Kathy