Found this morning in a soy bean field in NC

[beez0404]

Okay.........In October I took a trip to upstate NY to visit family and friends. Of course I brought along my metal detector. While there I met up with two other T-net members from the area who were gracious enough to take me and Smittyman to some of the farm fields they hunt. A couple large cents, flat buttons, and other goodies were found. I did not realize how much I enjoyed this until I got home and began hunting some of the local soy bean fields here in NC. Now sadly I am in western NC so our area has probably 200-250 years less history then the farm fields were hunted up in NY but I thought surely there had to be some goodies in these fields.

Well, I'm sad to say that I've logged probably 20 miles swinging my coil. And although I can find lots of iron targets I am not finding any good targets. Not one single coin, no buttons, and I have yet to find (to the best of my knowledge) where a house once stood. This morning I decided to give it one more shot. I hunted a section of a huge field where I saw on an 1886 map a house had stood. I zig zagged the area and finally hit a lot of iron targets. So I started gridding that area.......NOTHING! I did find this 12 ga shotgun shell which I believe dates from 1911-1914 if I read right.



What are your thoughts? Am I wasting my time in these fields? Should I go back to door knocking and looking for silver coins?

 

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[Kodiak43351]

Keep at it. I've been doing pretty good in the fields around me in NW Ohio and this was just Indian lands till the mid to late 1700s

 

[port ewen ace]

Jay I thought we taught you not to quit. since FMERG got me into doing fields I learned digging clad is rookie sand box play. think roundballs, buckles, buttons, anything brass, and any silvers. the fields gave me my 1/2 and 1 reale, barber dimes, wheats, Indians, Buffs, the occasional blacksmith iron relics, Colonial coppers plus all the one of a kind oddities that you can save for all to relish. 3 days next week around 50 degrees before global warming turns the ground into concrete.

 

[Gaspipe]

I'am in New England and have done many field searchs with very mixed success .In general it depends as you have stated upon the amount of history in the area. The success I have had searching fields is when past or existing homesites are nearby or along larger rivers that were travel corridors. In fields that have been cultivated for hundreds of years you will have luck if you are thorough and persistant since plowing etc was all done manually . But just to hunt a random field with minimal activity in the past is probably a lot of effort with relatively little chance of success. Again this is my opinion . Bottom line I have come to find is that we need to tailor our hunting to the area we live in and for me I am lucky to be in in a spot where lots colonial activity occurred and even so it's still not easy. Good luck

 

[ShovelNose]

I break out my smaller coil and work through the iron looking for non ferrous targets. Right now my favorite combo is the F75 Ltd and the 5" coil. Pick a area and work the signals. Its not going to cover a lot of ground but there are more than likely a few more coins to find.

 

[Ahab8]

Beez, prob a couple of things going one. First off there's a possibility that it may already be hunted. The other things to remember is that all the good finds can sometimes literally be in a 20'by20' area and it's easy to miss em sometimes. I once walked right thru an area that later on I got back into and dug 32 colonial buttons, a ct copper , 1802 draped, 2 shoe buckle frames and a beautiful colonial silver spoon. I had walked right through that spot once or twice before and missed it. It can happen so easily when you're detecting a site and you're not sure where the hot spot is. I too have detected a few cellar holes that were absolutely devoid of good finds. I once found a 17th century cellar hole after a very long hike. I was so excited that I located it but couldn't find one keeper there. It does happen.
My very best sites are either on islands or on warerways. They were an absolute necessity for life back then. Keep after it buddy. Nothing that's worth it in life comes easy. Every hole you dig is a learning experience and is putting you one hole closer to the find of a lifetime. It's a process that is admittedly frustrating at times but just make the best of it. Every time you get a signal and recover a target you just leaned a bit more about your machine . That can only equate to good things in the future. Trust me I've had lots of poor hunts. I think sometimes people see some of the killer stuff and think maybe some of us have only great hunts. That is certainly not the case. But it's always enjoyable to spend time outside and do what we love. Keep at it Brother Beez!

 

[WHADIFIND]

If I were you, I'd concentrate on hunting where you find yourself enjoying the most.

What else is there?

Hang in!

 

[rodarian]

I believe you read it right. 1911-1914, nice find. I like it.

 

[cjon455]

Beez, fields are not easy by any means, locating home sites in said fields isn't much easier either. The ONLY field I had success in was a total fluke, freak, chance. My kid spotted it and I made a b line for the one corner and bam, iron and pottery field, I pulled 12 lcs, a 2 center, and about 75 buttons in many many trips, I suck at research so this was just dumb luck, keep at it!!!