how do you find your places to hunt?

[Goes4ever]

well what I do is hunt homes that are normally from late 1800's.........they have had 100+ years of human activity there, what more is there to research? I also hunt fields where houses once stood and are long gone. I have a 1886 platt map, but no matter how you look at it, if you hunt old homesteads YOU WILL find goodies, old coins and cool relics. I don't see how you could even say "hit or miss" your statement makes no sense to me

and why would the chances NOT be in my favor?? Private property is where it is at, hands down

 

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[godisnum1]

I'm not trying to argue your methods... but do you use that plat map? If so, that's a part of research. If you talk to people about history of an area, that's another method of researching. And as for my "hit or miss" statement... just because a place is old, doesn't mean that it "will" produce a multitude of finds for you. In your case, apparently they do... but they don't always, or everywhere.
Just for instance...
I hunted a house with two other T-Net friends back up in Missouri... the house was built in 1863 by a Civil War Captain that fought in the Battle of Springfield. The current owner has the original deed, signed by the Captain. Of course anyone would assume that the property would be filled with great finds... but instead, it was filled in at some point, and the only decent finds were a Merry Widows tin, an Ultra Casting fishing line case from the late 1800's, a small broken buckle, and that was about it.

And yes, most property these days are privately owned... and that's usually where we find ourselves detecting.

Bran <><

 

[SwampHunter]

One of my best ways is to talk to the older people. I have found alot of great places just by talking to people.
Just the other day I went by an older lady's house. I have been looking for a cavalry camp in an old part of town and talked to her about it. She said that she didn't know anything about a camp and has never found anything relative on her land but she did tell me about some of the history of the land. She said in the late 1930's the owners cleared the trees off of the land. She said the kids in the neighborhood would use the hill there for sledding. She showed me some maps of the town in it's early state and right where I was showed the name of the property I was searching for. She told me that I was more than welcome to look all I wanted and asked me if I could find her property stakes for her as well. I found the stakes and did a bit of searching. I didn't have very long to look but what time I did paid off. I found part of a Spencer cartridge and a Wheat penny. I also got a really nice quarter signal from under a tree root. I didn't want to tear up her yard too bad so I left the quarter signal where it was at. I will be back a bit later.
Talk to the older crowd. They can help you out.

 

[Goes4ever]

I use platt maps for fields around me, I contact farmers I know, ask them if I can hunt their fields, if they say sure, then I pull out the 1886 map and find where the houses, churches, schools etc were and hunt them, but that is only about a month or two out of the season, the rest of the year I just knock on doors, no research is needed. I pay a lot of attention to foundations, I look for brick foundations, flagstone foundations etc.....

You'd be surprised just how many houses are virgin and have NEVER been detected. Many owners I talk to have lived in the same home for 50 or more years (old farmers) and most have never had anyone detect on their land ever. Sure every house does not produce old coins and relics, but 9 out of 10 farms DO have indians, wheats, silver, relics. The ones that don't are the homes where no kids were raised, in that case your lucky to find 2-3 coins. But just one old indian or one silver coin makes a successful hunt.

It is rare for me to come home w/o old coins, and that is only because I hunt where old coins are at. Normally I have no interest in hunting a site if it does not have enough age to produce a 100 yr old coin.

if a site is old and was occupied by people that is all the research I need.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Top Secret

 

[TreasureHunters]

Someone contacted me about hunting their house, she said we can share the treasures and her house will be 100yrs old in 2015, my questions is

Is that old enough to hunt for anything good?
How do I split the treasures? Let her pick or what?

thanks

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Someone contacted me about hunting their house, she said we can share the treasures and her house will be 100yrs old in 2015, my questions is

Is that old enough to hunt for anything good?
How do I split the treasures? Let her pick or what?

thanks

Tell her she can have everything dated 1965 or later.

 

[Goes4ever]

sounds fair to me....lol

 

[truckinbutch]

I was the quiet little kid with the good memory sitting in the corner listening to the old folks talk in the early '50's . Roamed square miles of countryside at the same time when old old homesites were still visible .
Just can't seem to find enough time to cover all the untouched sites that are still available .

 

[buckeyehunter]

I'm not trying to argue your methods... but do you use that plat map? If so, that's a part of research. If you talk to people about history of an area, that's another method of researching. And as for my "hit or miss" statement... just because a place is old, doesn't mean that it "will" produce a multitude of finds for you. In your case, apparently they do... but they don't always, or everywhere.
Just for instance...
I hunted a house with two other T-Net friends back up in Missouri... the house was built in 1863 by a Civil War Captain that fought in the Battle of Springfield. The current owner has the original deed, signed by the Captain. Of course anyone would assume that the property would be filled with great finds... but instead, it was filled in at some point, and the only decent finds were a Merry Widows tin, an Ultra Casting fishing line case from the late 1800's, a small broken buckle, and that was about it.

And yes, most property these days are privately owned... and that's usually where we find ourselves detecting.

Bran <><

Your talking about one site and you even say it was filled in at one time. I believe in research and I do it often but if you have the nerve and can speak to folks (which it is a struggle for me) try it sometime! not every single house will produce but MANY will, like goes4ever stated though not any house but OLD houses.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Someone contacted me about hunting their house, she said we can share the treasures and her house will be 100yrs old in 2015, my questions is

Is that old enough to hunt for anything good?
How do I split the treasures? Let her pick or what?

thanks

If that is your agreement--to split the treasures--then I'd honor it! And yes, a house from 1915 is old enough to hunt. I once went door to door in an early suburb of my town (every house a carbon copy of the next, and all built in the early to mid 40s). I ended up with rolls of mercury and roosevelt dimes, a few silver quarters, some nice jewelry, and hundreds of wheats.

Another thing to ponder: You have no idea if there was an earlier house on the same site or not! If it is in a city, then it is Certainly worth hunting (odds are there was something there earlier than 1915). If it is in the country, then you'd better come armed with research about that and any other acreage they own. It would be a shame to miss the early 1800s site in favor of hunting the 1915 one.


Regards,



Buckles

 

[kawalabear]

i dint think i had the nerve to just go ask someone but, there is a place we've wanted to hunt but everyone says hes a mean old man .. so what do i have to lose right..

i was thinking about offering a trade to hunt..

like maybe i would clean his house or trade a bushel of local crabs or some rock fish for the right to hunt the hole property.. maybe hes not that mean and if he is well at least i tried.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

i dint think i had the nerve to just go ask someone but, there is a place we've wanted to hunt but everyone says hes a mean old man .. so what do i have to lose right..

i was thinking about offering a trade to hunt..

like maybe i would clean his house or trade a bushel of local crabs or some rock fish for the right to hunt the hole property.. maybe hes not that mean and if he is well at least i tried.

Kill em all with kindness

 

[BuckleBoy]

i dint think i had the nerve to just go ask someone but, there is a place we've wanted to hunt but everyone says hes a mean old man .. so what do i have to lose right..

i was thinking about offering a trade to hunt..

like maybe i would clean his house or trade a bushel of local crabs or some rock fish for the right to hunt the hole property.. maybe hes not that mean and if he is well at least i tried.

Kill em all with kindness

Absolutely. I wouldn't necessarily offer to clean their house--they may worry about a stranger being inside. I would offer to cut the grass for a month, mend fences, etc. That's a Service--which is better than a gift or outright bribe with goods.


-Buckles

 

[Goes4ever]

I have never had to offer anyone anything in order to get permission to hunt their property. But One idea I remember seeing one time is a guy would offer the homeowner a silver half dollar in exchange for hunting their grounds. And even with the price of silver being where it is, I'd GLADLY give a homeowner a silver half worth $7 bucks to hunt!

I still believe if you wear something half decent (not ripped up dirty jeans) and approach the homeowner with a smile, and just be yourself, you have a great chance at getting permission. People are a lot nicer than you think. Tell them about your hobby, most are pretty interested in it, explain why you do, what you like to hunt for, etc.....Sometimes I am standing on a home owners porch for a half hour shooting the breeze before I ever even ask to hunt there. If they are elderly, they will LOVE to tell stories and they love for someone to listen. Soak up all the info you can. It is actually EASY to ask face to face permission. Get used to it, or this hobby is really not for you. Private property is where it is at.

Plus another thing no one has mentioned in this thread is craigslist. I re-run my ad 2x a week and I have gotten a lot of houses that way. Makes it real simple when the homeowner responds to your ad with an email that says "hey you can come detect my yard!"

 

[rjw4law]

Eyes wide open.

 

[Seamuss]

Eyes wide open.

I have found folding money laying on the ground that way. Among other treasures.

 

[stefen]

First, I obtain a map of the county, and using dowsing rods made of refurbished laquered chinese chop sticks...