Virgin ground?

[Walleyeman]

General question to advanced detecters. I started this year, and after some luck...lm in love.
My biggest challenge is finding new spots. When I do my research and go to a new spot, I go fast to find hints to see if its old untouched ground.
One hint that slows me down and gets my blood going was old shotgun shells.......but most time thats all I find. Do most past up this targets or set there detecters not to peep shotgun shells? I have a cheaper detecter and I found I should dig it all.......I would anyhow ....except maybe some iron. But when im digging up thousands of old headstamps and no other relics makes me think these where past up, any advice would be much appreciated.

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Think about this for a second - If you are finding lots of shotgun headstamps, then you are NOT in a place where people gathered. You are in a place where people hunted. You need to research old fairgrounds, Community meeting houses, farm fields. If you are in the woods, you need to look for old foundations, cellar and ice-house holes.

 

[Crappies-n-Coins]

Start out digging some iron, see if you find any evidence of buildings, like nails.

 

[Cletus]

most if not all Relic hunters will dig on a signal that shotgun brass or rifle cartridges give off.
if not they are taking a big chance of leaving great targets in the ground.

 

[Joe hunter]

I always dig shotgun and brass but it not all I find .they do ring in very well maybe your sensitivity isn't high enough to catch fainter signals of coins and buttons and such but like Terry said a stay in the general area of cellar holes and foundations.
I would think hunters would lose as much as anyone .
(Perhaps an upgrade is in your future)

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I have been in stage stop emigrant camp type spots, where those shot-gun butts abounded. At a certain point, early on (when the location was still brimming with scores of targets to choose from), I passed those shotgun butt signals. Provided you have a good TID detector (like an explorer, for instance), you can pass those. Because few coins (not even gold coins) mimic their sound. So earlier on, we cherry-picked around those. But as time went on, and less and less gimmee good signals to choose from, then we went back and started to clean out all the shotgun butts. A deep half dime, or some odd-relic can mimic those afterall.

Terry brings out a good point: You might find a better location to hunt, if your site has scores of those bullet shells, and zero coins.

 

[CTwoods]

I hunt for early stuff only. I am in a very old area in CT. I always dig every non-iron target in woods, homesites, and fields. Anybody who thinks their detector can knock out hunting relics, without missing early stuff is really kidding themselves.

I do find very rotted very old headstamps barely under the recent leaves in the woods, and that seems to say that these were dug by someone and left there. If I find plenty more down a lot deeper, then I assume the area is not hunted properly.

I sort of quit the hobby for a decade, but then got back into it with the attitude of just looking for early stuff and not expecting much, and not getting bummed about getting skunked. I will keep trying a different field or woods, because no matter what, something must be there someplace, and it's pretty cool to find a needle in a haystack as far as colonial things. I have zero interest in common 1900s silver coin talleys, I'd rather hunt all day for one early flat button.

Don't let lofty goals ruin your hobby.

My best favorite colonial super find came from woods not near any homesite, so you'll never know where your lifetime best find will come from.

My best colonial site that I ever found so far, was about a year ago in a cornfield that shows no above ground signs of a home, and old maps do not show a home.

 

[ironhorse]

Like your detecting skills you also have to hone your research skills.
Keep at the digging and your detecting skills will improve, keep at the research too, once it pays off you will learn to see what you are looking for at the sites you find.

 

[Walleyeman]

Good stuff everyone, Thank You