Old orchards,any luck hunting in one?

GA_Boy

Bronze Member
Jul 30, 2006
1,433
1,579
Jefferson, Ga
Detector(s) used
BH LRP
1265X,
GoldBug II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
One can never tell. Just have to be patient and try. Ya never know but you may recover relics from a period of "Before the Orchard".
Good luck, Marvin:icon_thumleft:
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
GA_BOY is right about what might have happened on the land before it became an orchard.
 

Last edited:

ARC

Gold Member
Aug 19, 2014
37,156
130,945
Tarpon Springs
Detector(s) used
JW 8X-ML X2-VP 585
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wasn't always an orchard I am sure.
And if it has always been an orchard... yes for me anyway.

I have hunted an orange orchard once...
mostly found stuff by the edges of the orchard... near where I deduced the "main building" was...
just inside the orchard line near the buildings produced a ton of change ... but also a ton of bottle caps as well.
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We have a bunch of cherry orchards on Flathead Lake. Most have a camp site where mygrant workers stayed. We've done pretty good on some of them. A few foreign coins and more religious charms than your normal sites.
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
I'll be a kill-joy and say it's not worth it. Not UNLESS something were there, going on, before the orchard/cultivation. Because random fumble fingers losses from those workers (harvester, planter, passerbys, etc...) is not worth the effort. Sure there will be a random wheatie or something from an apple-picker in 1955 (if you knock yourself silly canvassing acre after acre). But the places to hunt are where commerce/travel-campers/recreation, etc.... occurred. Like a stage stop, park, camping-spot, etc.... Not just random orchard or row-crop land.

Perhaps in a place like Britain, where fields and orchards have had 1000 to 2000 yrs. of continuous cultivation, can you go out to just "any random field" and find metal. But the history of the USA is too new for that level of accumulation to have occurred. So your best bet here, is if you have isolated that some structure or gathering spot had been. Esp. if where $$ changed hands, like stage stop, saloon, etc.... had been.
 

ARC

Gold Member
Aug 19, 2014
37,156
130,945
Tarpon Springs
Detector(s) used
JW 8X-ML X2-VP 585
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I forgot to add a thought to that...
Florida... as far a "history" goes... is the oldest place as far as only "exploration"...
But as far as colonization really goes... not here...
not in orange groves here...
AND...
My thought is...in areas that have more "activities" in history will produce cool crapola.
EVEN if...
Now an orchard.
Or...
Was one.
Good luck. :)
 

OP
OP
CoilyGirl

CoilyGirl

Gold Member
Nov 8, 2012
6,424
5,155
Nashville
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab x-Terra 505
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
I forgot to mention the orchard and an old house were there in the 1800's and there we soldiers nearby as well as a small schoolhouse so I guess it's feasible there could be something there. This orchard also sold their produce so who knows? Thanks for the responses and wish us luck!
 

relic nut

Silver Member
Nov 29, 2014
4,000
7,275
VA
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030 TELEKINETICS 4000 GARRET AT PRO
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Some of my best finds have came from old orchards in my area, including my CS buckle and lots of bullets, buttons and coins. We try to find where they were near CW camps because the soilders spent a lot of time there. Even if there is no history close, lots of people spent time there. Won't know till you try. Let us know.

HH, Relic Nut
 

S

stefen

Guest
Most picking laborers were seasonal and followed the crops...primarily were extremely poor and lived hand to mouth.

That being said, the only places to search are the sorting sheds, loading docks and equipment barns.

Slim pickins at best.
 

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I hunted an old orchard about two months ago for an entire day and all I found were a few old horseshoes and some trash; mostly nails.

But you never know; every site is different and anything can turn up anywhere at any time (or not).
 

Tuberale

Gold Member
May 12, 2010
5,775
3,446
Portland, Oregon
Detector(s) used
White's Coinmaster Pro
Partner and I researched a cache that was just off an orchard. Had $10,000 in gold coins in it. The orchard is said to contain a 5-gallon crock with silver coins in it. So yeah, I think orchards might be a good place to hunt.
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
Partner and I researched a cache that was just off an orchard. Had $10,000 in gold coins in it. The orchard is said to contain a 5-gallon crock with silver coins in it. So yeah, I think orchards might be a good place to hunt.

But do you see how this is outside the pale of the question ? If the case you cite, you've researched a potential treasure, to a particular orchard. Hence it is not a random orchard.
 

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Partner and I researched a cache that was just off an orchard. Had $10,000 in gold coins in it. The orchard is said to contain a 5-gallon crock with silver coins in it. So yeah, I think orchards might be a good place to hunt.

So did you actually recover any of that treasure??
 

Tuberale

Gold Member
May 12, 2010
5,775
3,446
Portland, Oregon
Detector(s) used
White's Coinmaster Pro
We found where the treasure was hidden, inside a McCormick twine binder, which was conspicuously hidden on top of the ground (with lots of bullet holes in it). We started looking for the crock, but ran out of time. I still think some of that crock money might be there.
 

lastleg

Silver Member
Feb 3, 2008
2,876
657
Yeah most times 'they' don't take it all might leave some for the next guy. Or it might be a
country bank where folks take a little or leave a little as needed. Most crock caches are a
booger to find.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top