whats your Technique?

[treasure trekker]

I'm just curious how some of the more advanced TH'rs look at a site.

When you walk out onto a new site what do you look at first? how do you evaluate an area? What landmarks do you look for and why?

Just thought this would help teach some of the newer trekkers.


Thanks much!

 

[johnnycat]

I look for the front yard. A direct path to the barn or work shed. A direct path to the outhouse . Large shade trees that are close to the house. Any trees close to a pond that could have been used for swimming.

 

[Sandman]

For water hunting I look for parking and the area going to the swim area and toward the concession stand if there is or was one. Around any large tree and in the shady side in the afternoon.

 

[hollowpointred]

depends on the site and how heavily hunted i believe it is. for a site where i think I'm the only one to hunt it, i agree with johnnycat. at a park or school, where chances are 100s of others have hit it, i will hunt the out of the way areas first, hillsides, under shrubs, in heavy woods,trashy spots, anywhere where others might not have wanted to go for whatever reason. i might also hunt in undisturbed fields or large areas where the odds are in your favor that lots of ground was missed by the coils of others. if i start finding good stuff or even old trash ( the key word here is old) i will slow Way down and pay extra attention to my swing and grid pattern. also old undisturbed ground has a wavy quality about it when you really look at it, with dips and rises. i can also tell a lot of the time if a piece of ground is undisturbed by the way the soil looks in the hole. if it is dark soil and kind of comes out of the hole in layers, that's a good sign.

 

[Unicorn]

A person who detects on the banks of the River Thames in London is called a "Mudlark". Just a piece of info I thought I would throw in here. but then ..... maybe you all knew that.

 

[Burdie]

I get on my hands and knees. Take a big heavy sniff and dig the coins out of the ground. I have not found many coins lately.

Burdie

 

[warsawdaddy]

I get on my hands and knees. Take a big heavy sniff and dig the coins out of the ground. I have not found many coins lately.

Burdie

He learned that at the cow-chip throwing contest at the CTH2 hunt.

 

[Burdie]

I get on my hands and knees. Take a big heavy sniff and dig the coins out of the ground. I have not found many coins lately.

Burdie

He learned that at the cow-chip throwing contest at the CTH2 hunt.

Matter of fact I did.

Burdie

 

[warsawdaddy]

Long ago,I learned the best technique for me was just to walk over,raise one eyebrow,and say,'such pretty hair and eyes,would you like to dance?'Wore out many a pair of shoes in those early 50's,but found many a treasure also.

 

[radarwill]

A person who detects on the banks of the River Thames in London is called a "Mudlark". Just a piece of info I thought I would throw in here. but then ..... maybe you all knew that.

Interesting.

 

[sniffer]

look for the area that nobody has been digging at LOL

 

[rwsnc]

Good question. I was thinking about asking the same thing.

In the south, people tended to gather in the front yard. In the north, the tendency was to gather in the back yard.
In the south, in the summer, I would look for a shade tree. A big shade tree.

Living in NC when I detect an old house, I like to try the front yards first, focusing on areas where there's plenty of shade and around porches, driveways and walkways, especially the left side of the driveways.

If I find something, I'll beat that area to death going back and forth in 360 degrees. Just this weekend I found a couple pennies in one spot on a driveway. Went over the same spot from different directions and pulled out a merc. Went over the spot a couple more times and didn't get anymore signals. About 20 minutes later, I worked my way back, went over the same spot and got another faint signal. Turned out to be a silver Rosevelt dime.

 

[Eu_citzen]

When you walk out onto a new site what do you look at first?

When coin/relic hunting: (old sites)
What it looks like now and compared to the old maps, even a rough idea will do.
Then I look for likely spots to loose coinage and such, i.e fields, old trees, wells and so on.

When coin shooting: (modern sites)
I just walk trough it all.

And just general speaking I:
Look where people are/where likely to gather in masses, if it is tight there is a bigger chance to loose coins etc.
Looks for where people where likely to travel in general, roads are forgotten treasure chests in some places.

how do you evaluate an area?

I look at old maps the more old buildings close by the better.
I talk to locals
I look how much land the owner had
I look when it was build, remember banks came first in the late 1800's.

What landmarks do you look for and why?

I look for old trees, when it was hot out side they had no AC back in the time so they had a seat under a tree for shadow.

I look for old wells, logical they needed water and it's easy to loose stuff when hauling buckets.

Large rocks, if you wanted to hide something why not do it in a location thats easy to find?

Barns/buildings/ruins, daily traffic there from people back in the days.

 

[N.J.THer]

This question could take pages of typing depending on the site. I usually like looking for older coins/relics but if you were looking for modern gold jewelry or clad these would be different.

Farm/Rural site:

1. Search around existing buildings, cellar holes, wells or any other man made items.
2. Search around any trees that would have been there while the site was occupied - no A.C .back then.
3. Search around any source of water: river, steam, lake, spring, etc.
4. If none of the above exists then hit the high ground.
5. Freshly plowed fields. Then check it again after a few rains. The rain sometimes exposes surface items and the ground settles which may give you a little more depth.
6. Try to figure out where they would have hung their clothes to dry and hit that area.

Old Parks:

1. Any area that is hard to get to. hillsides, far side of a stream, under old bushes, etc.
2. Large cleared areas that may have been picnic groves or other gathering areas.
3. Around any old man made items: buildings, fountains, arches, etc.
4. Around any large old trees.

Woods:

1. Around old cellar holes and wells.
2. Around any plants/trees that are not natural to the area and may have been planted.
3. Look for signs of old roads or trails.
4. If an area looks promising make sure you check under fallen trees. Some people don't move items when searching.

General:

1. Look for oyster shells, old glass and broken pottery.
2. Try to do as much research prior to detecting the site. Check old maps, photos and talk to some old timers.
3. The first time to a site just walk it prior to pulling out the detector.
4. Check walk ways: House to the well, outhouse, big tree, barn or any thing else.

Good luck and happy hunting.

NJ