Plowed Fields advice nerded...

[DiggityDiggity]

Howdy. Just asking any advice on detecting plowed fields. No great battles were fought near my area but there are plenty of early 1800's homes with plowed fields next to them. One home I've been researching was built in late 1700's and has a field next to it. Judging from my research, the field has always been there so it seems to me that there wouldn't be much action in the field, but maybe I'm not figuring something in my equation... Ever detect a field next to an old home where it looks like it's always been a field, and had success? I ask because I think the owner might be more apt to give me permission to detect the field than his own yard.. but if it's not worth it, maybe I'll just roll the dice on asking about the yard. Any advice would be much appreciated from this noob.

 

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[G.A.P.metal]

Diggity
I hunt fields all the time and look for old pottery and the "iron patch" to find older sites.
Log cabins were built first and then the Plank built house...some cabins were incorporated into the house ,but not always the case.
We do real good in the fields...while your swinging the coil in the fields,look for Indian artifacts.
Some field have a large tree in the middle of the fields, that lone tree...had 3 purposes #1,lighting rod to protect the house, #2 anchor point to pull all the stumps out of the field,#3 shade for the farmer to have lunch brought out by the wife,while working the field.
Any way you look at it the fields have a lot of action in the old days,but some are good and some suck... just like home/park sites .
Gary

 

[Jason in Enid]

It's ALWAYS worth it to try! There could have been a short encampment in that field. Maybe a church used it for picnics. Maybe there were giant family reunions there every years. I say you should work lines moving 50 feet every row to give it a test. If you start finding pottery, china, or lots of metal in one spot, you need to go back and focus more on that area.

 

[mangum]

Hit it up! I love hunting plowed fields. They are easy to hunt & have been good to me.

 

[New Orleans Relic]

Yea Jason, I've wanted to hunt the sugar cane fields in the Raceland area every year when the cut.
Don't know how to research property sites. I'm thinking they cut in November.
Ray

 

[AQUA]

It's ALWAYS worth it to try! There could have been a short encampment in that field. Maybe a church used it for picnics. Maybe there were giant family reunions there every years. I say you should work lines moving 50 feet every row to give it a test. If you start finding pottery, china, or lots of metal in one spot, you need to go back and focus more on that area.

what do you mean by--- lots of metal on one spot ?

I was at a 250 yr old house--they let me detect there back fields and invited me to detect their lawn as well...haven,t done the lawn.

In the field behind the house in the far upper corner there is a spot that is loaded with iron..about 50 x 20 .....detector goes crazy.

What does this mean ?

 

[cactusrat]

Ask the owner to hunt the field first. When he/she sees that you respect their property, maybe they will let you hunt the yard on the next trip.

I would start hunting the edge closest to the house. As said before, any trees, brushes, and any odd looking areas could hold treasures.

 

[Jason in Enid]

what do you mean by--- lots of metal on one spot ?

I was at a 250 yr old house--they let me detect there back fields and invited me to detect their lawn as well...haven,t done the lawn.

In the field behind the house in the far upper corner there is a spot that is loaded with iron..about 50 x 20 .....detector goes crazy.

What does this mean ?

That means a lot of activity has been in that spot. A ton of iron could mean there was a blacksmith shop or barn or something there. Even if the exact spot is too junky, hunt the immediate area and likely paths to and from a house, outhouse, creek, road, etc.

 

[RJGMC]

I would definitely hunt a plowed field. In your location, the odds are with you. Many things may have been there or happened there several hundreds of years ago. when the farmer plows, the top is taken under, and the underneath is brought to the top. The supply of targets will take many years of hunting to find it all. The iron patch as they call it, is likely where a structure once stood. I t gives you more understanding where the building may have been located.

Good luck! Wish I was hunting with you. I just drove by a cornfield east of Kansas City, MO tonight that it would like to hunt. It was harvested last week or so, and now some one has cut the cornstalks down to the ground but it has not been planted with anything else yet. Just can't seem to find out who owns it.

Keep us posted.

RJGMC
HI BOB!

 

[Jason in Enid]

Just can't seem to find out who owns it.

You need to go to your county tax assessor office. If you can point on a map where it is, they can look up the owner. The bad part is that most farm land is owned by one (or a trust) and leased for farming by another. So you often times need to get permission from multiple people.

 

[whammy]

It is well worth hunting fields. I have made many good finds in the farm fields around here. One sure sign is if you turn up the old square nails, or bits of brick in a field. You never know what will turn up. Farmers may have lost coins out of their pockets while plowing or working the field. The field that I work often has given up 23 large cents, 3 spanish reales, several indian head pennys, a gold wedding band, and an 1834 coin from Bolivia. How that got in a corn field in central New York is anybodys guess, so don't pass up farm fields. Happy hunting to ya.

 

[DiggityDiggity]

It is well worth hunting fields. I have made many good finds in the farm fields around here. One sure sign is if you turn up the old square nails, or bits of brick in a field. You never know what will turn up. Farmers may have lost coins out of their pockets while plowing or working the field. The field that I work often has given up 23 large cents, 3 spanish reales, several indian head pennys, a gold wedding band, and an 1834 coin from Bolivia. How that got in a corn field in central New York is anybodys guess, so don't pass up farm fields. Happy hunting to ya.

Ahhh NICE! I'm just a couple lakes over from you. That definitely gives me peace of mind. Worked up the courage to ask the house owner about the field. Asking tonight! Being in central NY, have you ever found indian artifacts in the fields you've dug? Do you bring a shovel with you, or just your lesch digger? Cheers & HH~ Drewski

@RJGMC I'll definitely keep you posted if I get the permission. Thanks!

 

[Jason in Enid]

The best time to hunt for indian artifacts is right after a rain, right after the field has been plowed or disced. All the newly surfaced items will be washed clean by the rain and are much easier to find that way.