What comes first?

[chipveres]

Here is a question from someone who would like to be a successful cache hunter: Do you first locate a place, like an old homestead or cellar? Or do you try to first locate a person of interest, and then figure out if / where he hid money?

Chip V.

 

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[jeff of pa]

I read, If something Sticks out as a Maybe,
I research.

Also I listen. IF someone Mentions something that
Sounds like a Maybe, I research.

Research : Read
Look over the Area
Research
Look over the Area.
Ask More Questions
Look over the Area.

Decide if it's worth a Try.


OH, By the way,
I am a Successful Cache Hunter.
I have Hunted for Several.
and still Am.

Now if I could only Become
a Successful Cache Finder.

 

[Cynangyl]

lol Jeff...if you figure out the sucessful cache hunter thing, let me know! I wanna be one too!

 

[TreasureTales]

Chip, welcome to TreasureNet, glad to have you aboard!

You raise some interesting questions. Before addressing them, however, I have some questions for you.

1) Do you have a metal detector? If so, is it appropriate for seeking caches? Unless you are going to be dowsing for your caches, or digging based on some obvious signs and clues, you'll need a good, deep-seeking metal detector.
2) Do you know who Karl von Mueller, Deek Gladson or "Hardrock" Hammond were? If you don't know who these men were, you should read all you can about them. Here's a hint: Karl von Mueller and Deek Gladson were basically the same guy. The "team" of Karl von Mueller and "Hardrock" Hammond probably found more caches than any other guys in their day. Read von Mueller's books and you will gain much information about how to go about finding cache sites.
3) Do you have lots of patience and do you enjoy doing lots of research? Without patience and a love for research, you might not be suited to cache hunting. Finding caches is usually not easy. Very few people find caches without great effort.
4) If you have the patience, enjoy research, and if you have a good cache detector, you may be ready to circle around back to your original questions. If not, you may want to try a different type of treasure hunting.

There is no single best answer to your question. Sometimes learning about a potential cache site from a relative of a cacher is the easiest way to proceed...just start searching the grounds. Since few people are willing to share information -- especially about buried treasure -- you might have a long wait before you meet someone willing to talk about a cache that might be buried on their land. Sometimes the only way to get a clue is to read hundreds of obituraries, looking for these tipoffs: did the deceased have any heirs? Did the deceased's hometown have a bank? Did the deceased have any money to hide? Did the deceased own land? You will also need to ask yourself if the property is accessible? Is the current owner going to let me search the property? Do I need to have a legal document drawn up to cover myself and my discovery? Is the cache big enough to warrant my attention?

In my opinion, the best way to find caches is to do some pro-active research. Go to the library and read old obituaries, look for people who had no heirs, or no heirs in the vacinity. Look for people who lived or grew up during the Great Depression -- folks from that period seldom trusted banks. Check directories to determine if a bank was in the town where the deceased had resided. No bank, no place to deposit money -- except in a cache. And think outside the box. Try to think like the cacher. Try to determine where you would hide something, while visualizing the terrain and the location of buildings at the time.

Cache hunting is hard work and often frustrating. If you find a good cache, however, all the work and frustration will be worthwhile. I have only found 3 small caches in my whole life, I would not have been able to pay the bills if I depended on caches to support me. Others, like the men I mentioned earlier, supplemented their incomes with other things while they searched for caches. You may not want to give up your job or home or whatever in pursuit of caches unless you are independently wealthy or you can supplement your income with other things while working to find that first big cache.

The best places to do research: libraries, county/state archives, newspaper archives, historical societies, genealogy societies, universities/colleges, used book stores, antique shops, county recorder's office, and any other place that has information about people and places.

Sorry to have rambled so much, but your question leads me to believe you are just starting out and may not know some of this stuff. Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[eagle77]

(get Jeff on a talking spree, I bet you find some of the useful hints)

 

[ericwt]

I look for the person first, but the place is important too.

There is lots of good advice above. History and thinking like the person who hid the cache will provide answers.

Civil War or any war in the in the USA.(Revolutionary, 1812 and others).

Any house around in 1933(?) when the government required all people to turn in their gold.

As mentioned the great depression.

Moonshiners, drug runners, organized crime people. Embezzlers and con men and people who did not want to pay taxes.

Hermits and survivalists.

Houses where prostitutes worked.

Corrupt political figures.

Camping site areas on old trails (think water and natural protection).

People who had a fear someone would take their money and did not have banks around.

My local History Society published a book and it told me the date the first bank opened in my area. Any house that was there before the bank opened is a good candidate.

Learn to use a detector well and practice. Bury a mason jar full of coins and see how deep you can go.

Dig every signal on your detector.

Learn where people hid things.

Keep you mouth shut if you find anything big. Do not tell anyone!

Learn how to liquidate your finds slowly and safely.

Good luck and strike it rich!

 

[chipveres]

Thanks to you all!

Replying to TreasureTales in particular: Yes I have a metal detector, in fact I have three. A Garrett Freedom Ace with a ten-inch coil, a homemade pulse-induction unit that's waterproof for diving, and a homemade magnetometer. The pulse-induction unit goes pretty deep and detects all metals, so also useful on land.

I place no faith in dowsing. Somebody may be able to do it, but I sure can't.

By trade I'm an electronics technician tasked to support a school & library, so I'm pretty used to long slow searches.

I have read two books by Karl von Mueller, but when I found out his given name was Charles Miller, I wasn't sure he was the real deal & didn't persue it any further.

By example, there is a book of hokum called something like "I Dive for Treasure". I caught on to the humbug when the diver was attacked by an octopus, the shyest creature in the water. A little more research disclosed the writer to be an advertising man from New York City, who has never been in water deeper than his bathtub.

Last but *not* least, thanks for the tip about towns too small to have a bank. So obvious I missed it.

Chip V.

 

[diggummup]

Reading old local newspapers will also give some clues as to who, where, what, why and how.Often "reading between the lines" is necessary.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Do research. Your library probably has at least one story of an old man who was supposed to have buried his money. When you find him, do further research, you'll be amazed at what you can find. Most stories of buried treasure are a bunch of hooey, but not all of them. After awhile you will be able to tell the difference in a hoax and a story that might have some truth. I have a stack of treasure leads, and maybe 3 or 4 of them are ones I really feel good about. Collect them all and pick 2 or 3 that sounds right and then just go for it.

I suggest KVM's books, as well as any hunter who has been successful.
Study what they say about usual hiding places of different kinds of people such as misers, bootleggers, etc.