THE Random Chat Thread - AKA "The RCT" - No shirt or shoes required - Open 24 / 7

[ARC]

Recommended for all you "buffs" out here...

You like period correctness... or just 1700's life in general...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duchess_(film)

 

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[pepperj]

Welcome to bureaucracy. You'll encounter it again. And again.
If your last name starts with a J , then you have an ally that has been trying to bring attention to the slow process. I won't post the article so not to post names.
And the crap method of trying to get an appointment online was well covered.

Your state representative would be next. Then the governor.
Not so much to expect a quick result , but to suggest the Sec. of State be accountable. It claims it's all up and running for drivers tests and did not explain the backlog.

Here's what one place said to contact with concerns about scheduling.
I'd try it. Nothing to lose if they can't help but some time. It's either smoke being blown , or the public affairs office sincerely trying to help.
Be like me and polite as you can be. (More so if aggravated.) It can really help folks who are used to riled up contacts from upset people and have to deal with them all day for a living. I've been thanking folks for thier time and efforts more lately even if they can't help in a timely fashion ,or help at all , and I say we'll get through this. You'd be surprised at the contacts that return being nice in return.
Some actually appreciate the civility.
The S.O.S. gal I talked with was kind enough to send me a parking placard based on my having a disabled plate on the other truck. She probably didn't have to. But was not told she had to either. Just a pleasant fellow citizen calling , trying to get things squared up on the other end of the phone.

[Citizens who have questions or concerns regarding a scheduled appointment are encouraged to contact KSP via [email protected], the account is monitored Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. — 4:30 p.m."

Sgt. Billy Gregory

Kentucky State Police

Commander, Public Affairs]

So true RC you probably don't have to think too hard about the red tape, hoops one has deal with a disability claim.
Clearances for medical, age, for the privilege to drive, or other things.
After 45 yrs of it I've got pretty good at dealing with issues.
A lifetime battle and it really never ends, just simmers away in the background of life.

 

[releventchair]

So true RC you probably don't have to think too hard about the red tape, hoops one has deal with a disability claim.
Clearances for medical, age, for the privilege to drive, or other things.
After 45 yrs of it I've got pretty good at dealing with issues.
A lifetime battle and it really never ends, just simmers away in the background of life.

I get farther it seems when the person I'm dealing with is inspired to laugh.

Sometimes it's the opposite when assistance is not what I'm after.
The people that convinced Dad he needed home repairs ,got personal information from him , and somehow opened a construction type account with it , it took a couple hours to track down thier bosses business.
Boy howdy I was hot.
But stayed civil (yet firm) while explaining to the gal in corporate (the owners were well hidden as far as phone contact. They simply ignored calls) where the case stood currently , and where it stood locally with the sheriff , and where I was quite willing and able to go with it in the near future.
She asked me what I wanted done , and it was done. Yes , I thanked her politely for her help in the matter.

 

[Noah_D]

Noah,

I don't do farm/field hunts, however, a hardcore farm hunter says he uses the Union Jack approach when test hunting a field.

In other words he'll do a diagonal sweep from the Northwest corner to the Southeast corner. Then go up to the Southwest corner and go diagonally to the Northeast corner.

He's hoping to get a good cross section of what is available in the field and looking for hot spots at the same time. Hopefully that's of some help.

Thanks Bill, I'll have to try that sometime!

My current strategy is just to start at my car, walk 5-10 yards into the field and then go parallel to the road. Assuming the majority of sites are fairly close to the road it works but I can't help but wonder what I'm missing out there in the other parts of the field.

 

[pepperj]

Thanks Bill, I'll have to try that sometime!

My current strategy is just to start at my car, walk 5-10 yards into the field and then go parallel to the road. Assuming the majority of sites are fairly close to the road it works but I can't help but wonder what I'm missing out there in the other parts of the field.

Noah the 5-10yrds sometimes produce some of the keepers. Yet I tend to do the same as you even after decades of doing it.
Turn it on walk out and start, but I try to make a habit of doing it on the return (to cover that strip).
I have read more than once a fellow hunter (England) getting a real nice keeper, a hammered silver, or a gold coin just at the van-After years of the site being hunted multiple times in the spring and fall.
Reason just as you stated it seems to be a universal habit-walk out a bit and start detecting.

 

[ECS]

well,
those warm waters are home to Manatees that live there....not good for anything if its as bad as they say...

...and of ot gets into the Tampa Bay or worst, Florida's aquafer, which would affect South Florida drinking and agriculture irrigation water.

 

[releventchair]

Thanks Bill, I'll have to try that sometime!

My current strategy is just to start at my car, walk 5-10 yards into the field and then go parallel to the road. Assuming the majority of sites are fairly close to the road it works but I can't help but wonder what I'm missing out there in the other parts of the field.

Time on a site seems to help me more than anything.
I'll try the flag X trick though....

When a breather is taken sometimes , I try to imagine where horses were stopped temporarily. Parking for visitors ect..
Often time was spent along with bending ect. checking hooves and adjusting tack and folks squirming in and out of devices they rode on.

Then where was shade back when? Some stumps are long gone. Some are mere mound. Some have no sign remaining. But I look for vantage points of view , or some comfort.
Water is a draw. A vital oft visited or used somehow draw.
And wherever there was a home , there were often other structures visited often. But where?

I guess I'm saying , time I think a pattern of a quick search is effective , I'm as wrong as I am right....
Fields where crops were that I've hunted are not that old. Well the ground is , but not the Euro occupation.
A brief animal labor followed by tractors. And few drops.
Non mechanized farming or cropping seems more likely to cause drops in my imagination.

But maybe , my time on a site eventually relates to the time others spent there more. It's a matter of duplication by being right where they were then.
The adage of many people for a short period of time , or a few for a long time , still holds .
But being on the exact place of another time when something was left is the key. Even if it was a one time one moment event.
That could be anywhere.

 

[Sheperdess]

Good Morning Guys. Keep your sun shining.

 

[Noah_D]

Time on a site seems to help me more than anything.
I'll try the flag X trick though....

When a breather is taken sometimes , I try to imagine where horses were stopped temporarily. Parking for visitors ect..
Often time was spent along with bending ect. checking hooves and adjusting tack and folks squirming in and out of devices they rode on.

Then where was shade back when? Some stumps are long gone. Some are mere mound. Some have no sign remaining. But I look for vantage points of view , or some comfort.
Water is a draw. A vital oft visited or used somehow draw.
And wherever there was a home , there were often other structures visited often. But where?

I guess I'm saying , time I think a pattern of a quick search is effective , I'm as wrong as I am right....
Fields where crops were that I've hunted are not that old. Well the ground is , but not the Euro occupation.
A brief animal labor followed by tractors. And few drops.
Non mechanized farming or cropping seems more likely to cause drops in my imagination.

But maybe , my time on a site eventually relates to the time others spent there more. It's a matter of duplication by being right where they were then.
The adage of many people for a short period of time , or a few for a long time , still holds .
But being on the exact place of another time when something was left is the key. Even if it was a one time one moment event.
That could be anywhere.

Very interesting to think about... my imagination runs wild trying to figure out what the landscape looked like back in the day!

What do you mean though when you say the fields aren't that old? My oldest (I discovered the location of one of the oldest non-native sites in this part of the state!) and most productive sites have all been fields, people have picked over the oldest still-standing homes in the area and it's the ones that take some 'lookin' that have been the most productive for me.

 

[Noah_D]

Noah the 5-10yrds sometimes produce some of the keepers. Yet I tend to do the same as you even after decades of doing it.
Turn it on walk out and start, but I try to make a habit of doing it on the return (to cover that strip).
I have read more than once a fellow hunter (England) getting a real nice keeper, a hammered silver, or a gold coin just at the van-After years of the site being hunted multiple times in the spring and fall.
Reason just as you stated it seems to be a universal habit-walk out a bit and start detecting.

Thanks pepperj!

 

[releventchair]

The earliest settlement near me is post Civil War.
The terrain and resources were not attractive prior.
And that area is hilly. (Kept folks with draft animals for plowing from desiring it.)
But post War there was incentive through land grants to homestead there.

Prior , logging was the draw in the greater area.
But the areas with homes ,villages, are mostly covered today with homes.

The "Uncle" who got me started in detecting in the late sixties was a historian and quite a detectorist ,and more.
I have a book he wrote of old villages ect..
Not only did he beat me to most places. Others did too.
So when I turn up something from around this states statehood era , I'm finding a crumb someone missed. Usually.

I joked to a friend after detecting his family's four generation farm and finding twentysome cents in clad , that he neglected to tell me they were all poor. (Not exactly true though.)

I used to comb the fields for native stuff too there. But my biggest recovery of an oil fill engine cover for a tractor was not that old. L.o.l..
Glass mason jar lids were about the only other notable finds.

 

[pepperj]

Noah, if you find a site that produces some good finds, have a little thought as it might not have been the main house. We all seem to start with the starter home. Just like the earlier times, they might of built a little cabin and lived there for a decade, then built the homestead house.
I have found many undocumented sites just a hundred yards from the main site.

 

[ARC]

The earliest settlement near me is post Civil War.
The terrain and resources were not attractive prior.
And that area is hilly. (Kept folks with draft animals for plowing from desiring it.)
But post War there was incentive through land grants to homestead there.

Prior , logging was the draw in the greater area.
But the areas with homes ,villages, are mostly covered today with homes.

The "Uncle" who got me started in detecting in the late sixties was a historian and quite a detectorist ,and more.
I have a book he wrote of old villages ect..
Not only did he beat me to most places. Others did too.
So when I turn up something from around this states statehood era , I'm finding a crumb someone missed. Usually.

I joked to a friend after detecting his family's four generation farm and finding twentysome cents in clad , that he neglected to tell me they were all poor. (Not exactly true though.)

I used to comb the fields for native stuff too there. But my biggest recovery of an oil fill engine cover for a tractor was not that old. L.o.l..
Glass mason jar lids were about the only other notable finds.

Heh... earliest site to me was right down my street... 1528... and that was just the date for the Spanish landing of 300 men... in particular... Panfilo De Narvaez...

and the location of the first Catholic Mass in Florida.

BUT... this spot was site of The Tocobaga Tribe that inhabited it for over 600 years... the mounds of conch shells was unreal... never heard of or seen more... and i have seen alot.

This spot was by far my favorite spot... and hangout / fort building / game playing / hide and seek / meeting spot... etc... and then later... "party spot" in the woods.

And believe it or not...

Was not even considered a "Historic place" or park or anything other than woods until 2003. heh

 

[releventchair]

 

[Noah_D]

Heh... earliest site to me was right down my street... 1528... and that was just the date for the Spanish landing of 300 men... in particular... Panfilo De Narvaez...

and the location of the first Catholic Mass in Florida.

BUT... this spot was site of The Tocobaga Tribe that inhabited it for over 600 years... the mounds of conch shells was unreal... never heard of or seen more... and i have seen alot.

This spot was by far my favorite spot... and hangout / fort building / game playing / hide and seek / meeting spot... etc... and then later... "party spot" in the woods.

And believe it or not...

Was not even considered a "Historic place" or park or anything other than woods until 2003. heh

There's a very small number fur trade sites near me that date to the mid 1700s but other than that we've just got a bunch of native stuff. The oldest non-native site I personally have hit dates back to around the 1790s. I'm coming down to Florida for some detecting next month and I'm pretty darn excited!

 

[Noah_D]

Noah, if you find a site that produces some good finds, have a little thought as it might not have been the main house. We all seem to start with the starter home. Just like the earlier times, they might of built a little cabin and lived there for a decade, then built the homestead house.
I have found many undocumented sites just a hundred yards from the main site.

Interesting! Come to think of it, my family has an old homestead in the mountains and my grandma always told me that it wasn't the first house they built on the property... now I've just got to find the old one. There's got to be some other sites on some of my permissions, just got to.

 

[WHADIFIND]

Seeing all the tips above reminded me of one.

A lot of times I just do the blind squirrel method. But as I go, sometimes I just treat a find as a....find. What I mean is that I dig it up, repair the ground and just continue in the direction I was headed. I forget to consider that it might not be just a find but rather a place/area.

Make sure you do at least a check in the area to see if there might've been something else in that pocket.

 

[pepperj]

Some folks are just too focused grid/grid/grid. Some do the drunken sailor method-
Then on the open fields and targets are there but not plentiful, or if scouting a site I was told by I think Chicago Ron when I was in England. He found that doing a spiral off the last find covers the vicinity near the target.

I have had really good results by doing this over the past decade.
I usually do many drunken sailor hunts, then a few grids-to satisfy my need to move on from a main site to let it rest.

 

[releventchair]

Some folks are just too focused grid/grid/grid. Some do the drunken sailor method-
Then on the open fields and targets are there but not plentiful, or if scouting a site I was told by I think Chicago Ron when I was in England. He found that doing a spiral off the last find covers the vicinity near the target.
View attachment 1915895
I have had really good results by doing this over the past decade.
I usually do many drunken sailor hunts, then a few grids-to satisfy my need to move on from a main site to let it rest.

How much shorter is your right leg than your left? Danged ridge-runner you. L.o.l..

Spiral vs grid in game recovery when hunting is similar. Both rely on not overlapping too much for efficiency , and too little for effectiveness , depending on target size.

I've been lost a time or two. (Or maybe three. Or four...)
I'm a natural circler.....

If going back and forth in a field , if I can't see my previous tire tracks/tracks , I really have to watch a mark on the far side(s) to not meander. (And yes , I still meander often.)

 

[WHADIFIND]

Yep, there are lots of techniques to cover an area around a find, when one's brain allows them to remember! My problem? I tend to forget. I find something and unless it happens to be something really good. I just think, quarter, neat, next?

Thing is, there might have been a 25 carat diamond ring in the same pocket as that clad quarter.