New Site and Dont Understand

[Getty]

Hello all, I got out today to a site that I gained permission to today with 2 other buddies. They were Civilman1 and Matt. I am very depressed about this site. My research says that this is General Lees retreat from Antietam to Virginia. The site where we were at has a CW marker noting this route. We turned up NOTHING. I dont understand other than Lees men were $hittin and gitten and had no time to leave anything behind. The frustrating thing is I KNOW they came through there but I can only surmise that they perhaps "passed" through a little off of what the history states.After we split from there Me and Civilman hit a site on the way home of his. We were discouraged at this point. I saw him at the truck "ready to go home". I was swinging hard and fast toward the truck. This was a cornfield recently harvested and I saw a ground hog hole. I sped over there thinkin lemme check here then I ll go. First swing there rang solid 50-55 I dug and recovered a nice dropped Three ringer right in the dirt that he had kicked out. It was only about 1-2 inches. Then we left. All I can say is Im soo disappointed.

 

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[Hutch911]

Never trust the markers they are hardly ever spot on to what they said. I did the same thing got permission with a sign on the property that said Lee camped here on the way to Gettysburg and nothing but trash.

 

[VOL1266-X]

Never trust the markers they are hardly ever spot on to what they said. I did the same thing got permission with a sign on the property that said Lee camped here on the way to Gettysburg and nothing but trash.

Roger, I agree 100% with Hutch. These historical markers are located on roads and the actual site may be miles away. Sometimes you eat the bear, somtimes....you know. HH, Quindy.

 

[Getty]

So i guess that theres something to be said for "correcting " history? I dunno but certainly 4 hrs would not warrant that. But it is discouraging. Perhaps the markers and roads are off.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

So i guess that theres something to be said for "correcting " history? I dunno but certainly 4 hrs would not warrant that. But it is discouraging. Perhaps the markers and roads are off.

I can pretty much guarantee you they are...Usually a few miles off. But hey! You dug a 3 ringer You probably had a blast with Joe too

 

[civilman1]

It wasn't all a bust Roger.....you got a nice variant .58 There's still some property up by the river that hasn't been checked yet.Nice dig!

 

[romeo-1]

Welcome to detecting! More disappointment than not...but it's the "nots" that keep us looking!

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

hey it happens.keep your chin up and think about the next hunt! nice 3 ringer!

 

[Bell]

Agreed markers are usually off, but as good as anywhere as a starting point. Although keep in mind if the marker was right on you likely wouldn't be the first one there. As a general ruleb retreat routes tend to be pretty loaded with goodies and folks on the run shed weight and seem to be less concerned about dropping stuff.

 

[underarock]

Whats the soil like where you were digging? Maybe a faster sink rate has put the goodies out of a realistic MD range. Or like everyone else is saying… the spot could be off a bit. If theres no old structures around to accurately mark exactly where someone was at a certain time then its basically left to a "best guess" scenario for the people putting those signs up. I'm sure theres a 20 square foot spot somewhere on that property that will produce for you. Find it and pound it.

Hate to hear about fellow MD'ers who get skunked at primo spots. I would take that 3 ringer as a sign.

 

[gauge]

Maybe you should train the Ground Hog.

 

[ModernMiner]

Hey, you got a 3-ringer at least. For me that's a great day.
Sorry there wasn't more, but we all have those days.
-Dug-

 

[tennessee digger]

Getty... those markers are sometimes wrong and the only way to verify things are from people like us that actually try to find these historical sites. In Sumner county Tennessee near the city of Portland there are 2 civil war historical markers that are BOTH off by more than a mile each. We know this because we actually found the real sites where the soldiers camped. Both of these markers were suggested by the same guy who is an "armchair" historian. He doesn't metal detect but seems to know more about it than anybody else. Tennessee digger

 

[Nana40]

Yea, I agree with the others. But....you DO have some ideas to go on. Keep looking, you'll find it! Wonder if that ground hog is missing that bullet yet? That was pretty funny!
Nana

 

[Getty]

Thanx for the votes of confidence. This definately warrants further research. BTW ,the three ringer was from a site on the way home. the actual site produced nothing. I will keep diggin.

 

[matt092079]

Hey Roger! It sure was nice getting out and detecting with some new hunting buddies, even though we got skunked on that site and the other one. I did find the 1925 wheat penny...even though we didn't really go for pennies. lol I'm kinda thinking we were off a little in those fields we hunted further from where you found the other 2 bullets in the first field...

We need to get out and do it again before the grounds freeze!

 

[johnnyblaze]

Sometimes i get skunked and it reminds me thats why most people shy away
from detecting.
There are alot of detectors sitting in closets

But that means more treasure for us

Nice 3 ringer


Blaze

 

[Lanny in AB]

Great finds--nicely done!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[DaleGM]

just like fishing Getty, some times these lunkers are hiding in the next cove over but for the day you still walked away with one 3 ringer on your stringer, here in Ca. I'd love to have the opportunity you boys back East have for CW treasures, heck........the only bullets I can find here are from drive bys

 

[BuckleBoy]

Two things were probably working against you. First, the historical markers do not mark the actual spots, but rather the closest highway, or even a highway that is in the "general area" of the site. Sometimes the sites are several miles away.

Second, if there is a historical marker there, the area would've been obvious as a spot to hit for any detectorist in the area since the 60s. Even if it were on the right spot, there might not be much left to find. And if it wasn't in the exact spot, but rather only close, previous detectorists may well have researched and found the actual retreat route, because the historical marker reminded them to research it each and every time they drove by.

I may have missed some Big sites by looking for sites that nobody knows about, but I can tell you this...since I started doing that, over 99% of the spots I hunted since 2007 had never been touched by a detector--including Civil War sites. I figure there is the likelihood that others think the same way, and that some big virgin sites are avoided because they are too obvious. But I also think about the time I would've spent cleaning up someone else's scraps, and it just wasn't worth it.

Some food for thought.

We all strike out from time to time. Don't worry about it. Just keep moving forward.

Best Wishes,

Buckles