How Bad Does Logging Affect Being Able to Find Targets?

[coinman123]

I just found the location of a cellar hole today, but it is on public land which was logged a year or two ago. Based on Google Earth it is in the corner of the logged section, the cellar hole might not even still exist after the land around it was logged (appears on LiDAR from 5 years ago). I am just wondering if the logging will make it hard to find any targets (making them much deeper than they should be due to disturbing dirt). The woods directly north of the the cellar hole look fine at least.

I will probably go there soon to check out the area, the cellar hole is close to the center of town and doesn't appear on any maps of the town (even one from the 1850's). 99.9% chance of it being a real cellar hole though, it shows up as a perfect square on the lidar, and it near the road and close to the corner of two stonewalls.

 

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[releventchair]

Much depends on the type logging.
Clear cut? Or selective logging?
Were tops (limbs and twigs not desired as trunks were prepped to be hauled out) ground/chipped and removed? Or chipped and left?
Slashings where debris was left on the ground can be a foot or more above soil. Good for soil eventually ,and mice ,and ticks...

Second growth flourishes when sunlight hits the floor after the canopy has been removed. Depending on habitat ,tree type removed ,and the seed bank in the soil a jungle can follow in a couple few years....

Skidder trails can move soil. Most equipment has weight distribution designed into it's "feet" to avoid sinking into soft ground.
A lot depends on the crew and time of year it was logged. And the plan type of volume ect...

A recon scouting of the site would be quite telling , much more than my speculation.

 

[galenrog]

A couple of other things common to logging debris: Tiny bits of cable, chain, and other equipment. Other debris common to logged areas are spent bullet fragments, shell casings, and about any other kind of human refuse you can think of.

My advice: Dig everything.

Time for more coffee.

 

[coinman123]

Much depends on the type logging.
Clear cut? Or selective logging?
Were tops (limbs and twigs not desired as trunks were prepped to be hauled out) ground/chipped and removed? Or chipped and left?
Slashings where debris was left on the ground can be a foot or more above soil. Good for soil eventually ,and mice ,and ticks...

Second growth flourishes when sunlight hits the floor after the canopy has been removed. Depending on habitat ,tree type removed ,and the seed bank in the soil a jungle can follow in a couple few years....

Skidder trails can move soil. Most equipment has weight distribution designed into it's "feet" to avoid sinking into soft ground.
A lot depends on the crew and time of year it was logged. And the plan type of volume ect...

A recon scouting of the site would be quite telling , much more than my speculation.

Based on Google Earth, it seems to be clear cut, sometime around 2014 or 2015. Now it looks like bushes are growing back on the bare land, which will probably it hard to swing a coil. On the bright side, I can clearly see the cellar hole on Google Earth and much of it looks undamaged. Most of the stone walls around it look fine, except for one that is completely destroyed. It's nice to have such clear satellite imagery on Google Earth, it can tell you a lot about a place before even getting out there.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Thats why i wear headphones. Blocks the noise from chainsaws.

 

[coinman123]

I went there yesterday. There area where the cellar hole is was so overgrown with thorns, I wasn't able to even go in. Areas around it are fairly clean though luckily. Going to try metal detecting there on Sunday.

 

[Rookster]

I just got a premission Tuesday of this week for a logged piece of land and on top of that a scraper operator told me I might want to hunt the tops of the ridges because he had taken a lot of top soil off the bottom land. The history on this land is some troop movement during the CW. This is more of a hope to find site than a sure thing. Gonna give it go anyway. You never know.

 

[coinman123]

I just got a premission Tuesday of this week for a logged piece of land and on top of that a scraper operator told me I might want to hunt the tops of the ridges because he had taken a lot of top soil off the bottom land. The history on this land is some troop movement during the CW. This is more of a hope to find site than a sure thing. Gonna give it go anyway. You never know.

Good luck! Better than what I am dealing with for sure. My site was logged probably around 5 years ago, and tons of bushes and thorns have already grown back everywhere!

 

[against the wind]

If you're going in with an ATV,, I would take a small chainsaw with me. Just cut the base of the thorn bushes and let them die off and dry up for your next trip back. Then you can move them a little easier and search the ground. Make sure you wear a good pair of gloves.
Good luck.