Would you give it a swing?

[Oldhead]

There is a big field right next to my development that has been nothing but a farm field since the 30's. It's now township owned and has a ball field on one end. I was thinking of swinging the more open end away from the ball field. Power lines split the field down the middle so anything more than 4 to 5 inches I doubt I'll find due to the settings I'll have to run to keep the machine quiet. Think it is worth a swing hoping to find coin that may have fallen out of a farmers pocket while plowing?

 

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[Murphy]

Wow, this is an eye-opening thread. I have often wondered why I bump into people who've given up, d/t they don't find stuff. And they come to me asking me to loop them into sites I'm working. And when I scrutinize the rationales of what led them to wherever-it-was they were working (with meager results) I point out to them the "better odds" (ie.: the backgrounds of types finds I've made).

When I reflect back on 40+ yrs, of having scouted out virgin stage stops, virgin county picnic sites, etc.... Their was always something that pointed me in the direction of research. Ie.: they weren't just "random forest" or "random farmer's field". Yes, I know they do that in Europe, but .... here , I can point you to ag. land that's had continuous cultivation for 100 to 150 yrs., and guaranteed: You will go for days before finding a wheat penny or barber dime that "farmer bob might have lost there 100 yrs. ago".

And yes: I grant that the east coast has had 100 to 200 years more history. But if you talked to the guys over there who are "bringing in the finds", you'd probably see that, they too are hedging their bets and hitting sites where it was known that some past activity (homesites , battle sites, etc...) occurred .

Again and this is how I approach it and feel, I go anywhere I get a chance to. I haven’t been d/t long but enjoy every chance I get to just get out. Honestly if I don’t find anything at a certain site I’m ok with that and had fun anyway, If I do find things well it’s all a plus. I too am researching some sites around me and hope to get some permissions. So I approach it both ways. For me it’s the thrill of anything could be found anywhere... you never know unless you look.

 

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[RustyGold]

My advice? Hunt that field!
Do it just for the exercise or getting more familiar with your detector. Take some pictures. Breath in the air..
Don’t forget your gloves and water. Have some fun!

 

[cudamark]

We all know that good finds can be had just about anywhere, but, depending on what you are trying to find, some areas will likely be more productive than others. If you have choices, pick the one most likely to have the items you seek. I don't go to modern urban parks to find jewelry, for instance. I find much more jewelry at a swimming beach. Does that mean I can't or won't find jewelry at a park? Of course not. Others I know are willing to put up with digging tons of junk, spend countless hours sifting through that crap to find just one piece of decent jewelry. That just isn't my cup of tea. It just boils down to choices you can make and what you wish to do with the detecting time you have. If you want to hunt a random field or site with unknown history knowing that it could be a total waist of time, why not? You might discover it does have a very interesting history that was previously unknown. It might also be so quiet that you fall asleep. Sometimes it's the unknown and promise of adventure that keeps our juices flowing. This is also how some great discoveries are made. Good Luck!

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

Lots of things have been found in New England that have no business being here.Celt bronze dagger,Roman oil lamp,Roman amphora off the coast of maine,etc.the list goes on.

Perhaps, our Great, Great-Grandfathers' were souvenir collectors...

 

[Nevada Prospector]

If you have the time go ahead and detect that field. I have hunted several farm fields in the west and didn't find anything significant but a friends uncle dug up some Spanish armor in his field just south of Red Bluff, CA. This show that you just never know if you don't try. I prefer historical sites but even they will sometimes produce nothing except junk.