BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
I got together with Rodeo Recon and Bonzaibrandi yesterday to do some Serious Housesite-Huntin'. It ended up being a 10 hour hunt in the woods and the edge of a soybean field--and there are some great finds to show...but first let me say a word or two about how we got there...
It had been a slow morning. We'd heard the word "No" a few times--one of which was from a real A-Hole. I'd asked the guy if he knew who owned the property across the street and he simply said "Yep." (In trying to track down the property owner, this type of answer was NO help to us!) So then I chatted with him for a second, and he asked what we wanted. I told him about our hobby, and the types of things we usually find, and he then said that the property was "pretty much off limits" At that point, I asked if he knew where the owner lived so that I could ask him in person the guy said "He don't live in town, but I don't think he'd want ya'll tramping across his land." (I then knew that this dude had no intention of helping us at all!) And then this jackarse added "I own all of this down to the corner opposite his land, and then on down from the corner all the way to the next road, and I wouldn't want ya'll tramping across my land either."
I thought about saying "I didn't ask permission to set foot on YOUR property, A-HOLE!" but instead I thanked him for his time, got into the car, and drove away. Steam was ROLLING out of my ears!!! Fellow Tnetters, I WILL find out who owns that property, get their name and number, track them down, knock on their door, get permission, and start hunting right across the road from A-Hole's House! We might just pitch a tent and camp there, wake up the next morning, and keep hunting!!
Then there followed another heartening episode where we got what I like to call a "soft NO." It's where the owner says to try back later, or tells us that they'd love to BUT..." It's a variety of delaying tactic, and I've found that folks either don't quite know what to make of our request, or have already decided not to let us detect their property and feel a little guilty for saying "no." I always make notes of this type of "no," write down the date, and then come back when they told me to (fall, next week/month, etc.)
Sometimes I get a "Yes" then, and sometimes not--but it never hurts. Anyhow, the other wierd thing about the situation was that this lady asked us if we had any "credentials." 
(At that point I was wondering if that certificate for completing the course "Serious Detecting" was gonna finally come in handy 
) I asked her what kind of credentials she had in mind, and she stuttered over her lack of answer for my question... so I told her I'd give her my number if she'd be kind enough to give me hers, and that I could give her time to talk it over with her husband...and I wrote down my name and profession, plus the University website for my online Bio. I told her I'd call her back in a few weeks if that'd be o.k.
So at that point![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
we then knocked on two doors where the property owners weren't home. (That's one of the perils of a regular TUESDAY hunt.)
Then, Ladies and Gentlemen, we got onto a site.
Got permission from a great farmer and drove to the spot.
We walked the 4/10ths of a mile through the tall grass to the site, and let the Serious Hunting commence!
We got into the woods--and found them to be surprisingly clear of brush and relatively tick-free.
And then we turned on our machines...
Canning Jar Lid. Canning Jar Lid. Canning Jar Lid. FREAKING CANNING JAR LID!!!
Now I'll admit that I didn't have high hopes for this spot, since it was LITTERED with these lids (which had even been sliced and diced by the plow in the adjoining field, and had formed a veritable CARPET of turn-of-the-century CAN SLAW all over the site.
But we pushed ahead with our hunt...
Bonzaibrandi got the first good find of the day--a beautiful green 1873 IH. Considering how few 1870's IH's I've found, compared to the vast numbers of later-date ones, I consider this a Solid Find.
Next thing I know, the Professional Woman had an early Wheat in her hands. At this point, I knew Rodeo and I would have to work hard to keep up with her. I then dug a great signal to find a CW-era .69 cal. minieball. 
(What a bullet of that caliber was doing in a housesite, I'll never know...but it was a fired one.) After a few more targets that all started with "C" and ended with "--anning Jar Lid," I flipped a clod of dirt and saw a shiny thimble. Now let me tell you, I've found brass thimbles. I've also found aluminum ones. (And I've always been secretly envious of the Tnet members that have dug a silver one.) So naturally I assumed it was aluminum and walked over to Rodeo to see where it pegged on his Ace 250. "Dime" he said. As I looked at it closer, I realized that the Ace doesn't lie. It's my first Silver Thimble in 16 years of hunting--and if I didn't dig anything else I would've been perfectly happy all day with Silver Thimble Bliss.
But then I heard BBrandi talking to Rodeo and I could tell by the look on their faces that she had something good. She came over, and her hands were shaking. She then dropped a beautiful 1851 Large Cent into my hands. Awesome! Bbrandi's FIRST Large Copper. (There will be many, Many more for you in the future, sweetie!)
At this point, the Professional Lady was ON FIRE. Within minutes she had another coin! This one was an 1893 V Nickel. This one is in pretty darned nice shape for a nickel. In a little while, I got a cruddy 1936 wheat--not much compensation. 
But then she managed a wheat that had been shot. (That put the silver stake in what little Wheaty-Love I still harbor.) At this point, we were at six coins from the site. 8) (We average one good coin every two sites or so here in this area.)
Then we took a periodic breaks in the edge of a bean field and enjoyed the scenery. See that look of determination on Bonzaibrandi's face? That's the "I'm gonna skunk the guys this hunt" look.
Pretty exhausted by afternoon, we walked the 4/10ths of a mile back to the car to go for a cold drink--having consumed over 250 ounces of water between us already. I also got a KILLER Bologna sandwich from a little General Store in a little town down the little road. After a short rest, we headed back to the site, walked the 4/10ths of a mile through the grass again, and started to clean the site out a little more.
Rodeo and I happened to get into a flat button patch, and again I took a photo of the first one--since I was so certain that it was a small cent. Flat-Button-False-Alarm again:
We harvested SEVEN flat buttons in no time, hoping that there might be a coin or other excellent "keeper" hiding there... No luck. We pounded the most Jar-Lid-Littered part of the site some more--digging another 15+ zinc lids to go with the 15+ zinc lids we got during the first chapter of our hunt eariler. Sorry for the blurry photo--but hey, they're only jar lids.
Rodeo also got a parasol clip and most of a brass, gas-lit chandelier.
Then when it was almost 9pm (we'd left this morning at 9AM!), we walked the 4/10ths of a mile back through the grass to the car and left with BIG smiles on our faces. Here are some interesting sights we saw on our walk out. (Special thanks to Rodeo Recon for some of the Awesome photos for this post...)
I got together with Rodeo Recon and Bonzaibrandi yesterday to do some Serious Housesite-Huntin'. It ended up being a 10 hour hunt in the woods and the edge of a soybean field--and there are some great finds to show...but first let me say a word or two about how we got there...
It had been a slow morning. We'd heard the word "No" a few times--one of which was from a real A-Hole. I'd asked the guy if he knew who owned the property across the street and he simply said "Yep." (In trying to track down the property owner, this type of answer was NO help to us!) So then I chatted with him for a second, and he asked what we wanted. I told him about our hobby, and the types of things we usually find, and he then said that the property was "pretty much off limits" At that point, I asked if he knew where the owner lived so that I could ask him in person the guy said "He don't live in town, but I don't think he'd want ya'll tramping across his land." (I then knew that this dude had no intention of helping us at all!) And then this jackarse added "I own all of this down to the corner opposite his land, and then on down from the corner all the way to the next road, and I wouldn't want ya'll tramping across my land either."
I thought about saying "I didn't ask permission to set foot on YOUR property, A-HOLE!" but instead I thanked him for his time, got into the car, and drove away. Steam was ROLLING out of my ears!!! Fellow Tnetters, I WILL find out who owns that property, get their name and number, track them down, knock on their door, get permission, and start hunting right across the road from A-Hole's House! We might just pitch a tent and camp there, wake up the next morning, and keep hunting!! Then there followed another heartening episode where we got what I like to call a "soft NO." It's where the owner says to try back later, or tells us that they'd love to BUT..." It's a variety of delaying tactic, and I've found that folks either don't quite know what to make of our request, or have already decided not to let us detect their property and feel a little guilty for saying "no." I always make notes of this type of "no," write down the date, and then come back when they told me to (fall, next week/month, etc.)
Sometimes I get a "Yes" then, and sometimes not--but it never hurts. Anyhow, the other wierd thing about the situation was that this lady asked us if we had any "credentials." (At that point I was wondering if that certificate for completing the course "Serious Detecting" was gonna finally come in handy ) I asked her what kind of credentials she had in mind, and she stuttered over her lack of answer for my question... so I told her I'd give her my number if she'd be kind enough to give me hers, and that I could give her time to talk it over with her husband...and I wrote down my name and profession, plus the University website for my online Bio. I told her I'd call her back in a few weeks if that'd be o.k.So at that point
we then knocked on two doors where the property owners weren't home. (That's one of the perils of a regular TUESDAY hunt.) Then, Ladies and Gentlemen, we got onto a site.
Got permission from a great farmer and drove to the spot.We walked the 4/10ths of a mile through the tall grass to the site, and let the Serious Hunting commence!
We got into the woods--and found them to be surprisingly clear of brush and relatively tick-free.
And then we turned on our machines...Canning Jar Lid. Canning Jar Lid. Canning Jar Lid. FREAKING CANNING JAR LID!!!
Now I'll admit that I didn't have high hopes for this spot, since it was LITTERED with these lids (which had even been sliced and diced by the plow in the adjoining field, and had formed a veritable CARPET of turn-of-the-century CAN SLAW all over the site.
But we pushed ahead with our hunt...
Bonzaibrandi got the first good find of the day--a beautiful green 1873 IH. Considering how few 1870's IH's I've found, compared to the vast numbers of later-date ones, I consider this a Solid Find.
Next thing I know, the Professional Woman had an early Wheat in her hands. At this point, I knew Rodeo and I would have to work hard to keep up with her. I then dug a great signal to find a CW-era .69 cal. minieball. (What a bullet of that caliber was doing in a housesite, I'll never know...but it was a fired one.) After a few more targets that all started with "C" and ended with "--anning Jar Lid," I flipped a clod of dirt and saw a shiny thimble. Now let me tell you, I've found brass thimbles. I've also found aluminum ones. (And I've always been secretly envious of the Tnet members that have dug a silver one.) So naturally I assumed it was aluminum and walked over to Rodeo to see where it pegged on his Ace 250. "Dime" he said. As I looked at it closer, I realized that the Ace doesn't lie. It's my first Silver Thimble in 16 years of hunting--and if I didn't dig anything else I would've been perfectly happy all day with Silver Thimble Bliss. But then I heard BBrandi talking to Rodeo and I could tell by the look on their faces that she had something good. She came over, and her hands were shaking. She then dropped a beautiful 1851 Large Cent into my hands. Awesome! Bbrandi's FIRST Large Copper.
(There will be many, Many more for you in the future, sweetie!) At this point, the Professional Lady was ON FIRE. Within minutes she had another coin! This one was an 1893 V Nickel.
This one is in pretty darned nice shape for a nickel. In a little while, I got a cruddy 1936 wheat--not much compensation. But then she managed a wheat that had been shot. (That put the silver stake in what little Wheaty-Love I still harbor.) At this point, we were at six coins from the site. 8) (We average one good coin every two sites or so here in this area.)Then we took a periodic breaks in the edge of a bean field and enjoyed the scenery. See that look of determination on Bonzaibrandi's face? That's the "I'm gonna skunk the guys this hunt" look.
Pretty exhausted by afternoon, we walked the 4/10ths of a mile back to the car to go for a cold drink--having consumed over 250 ounces of water between us already. I also got a KILLER Bologna sandwich from a little General Store in a little town down the little road.
After a short rest, we headed back to the site, walked the 4/10ths of a mile through the grass again, and started to clean the site out a little more. Rodeo and I happened to get into a flat button patch, and again I took a photo of the first one--since I was so certain that it was a small cent.
Flat-Button-False-Alarm again:We harvested SEVEN flat buttons in no time, hoping that there might be a coin or other excellent "keeper" hiding there... No luck. We pounded the most Jar-Lid-Littered part of the site some more--digging another 15+ zinc lids to go with the 15+ zinc lids we got during the first chapter of our hunt eariler. Sorry for the blurry photo--but hey, they're only jar lids.
Rodeo also got a parasol clip and most of a brass, gas-lit chandelier.
Then when it was almost 9pm (we'd left this morning at 9AM!), we walked the 4/10ths of a mile back through the grass to the car and left with BIG smiles on our faces. Here are some interesting sights we saw on our walk out. (Special thanks to Rodeo Recon for some of the Awesome photos for this post...)
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