PDA

View Full Version : So far the new year looks only mediocre with hunts



MangoAve
01-19-2017, 12:58 PM
The weather still seems to be surprising this year. The ground has been of and on frozen, but it has allowed for some detecting to still continue. I thought things were bleak with the last snow that dumped 6", but the blanket didn't last long.

The first hunt of the year I was met up with Kev at a house he found. It is estimated that it dates back to the 1880s as the assessor has inaccurate records of the build date. Most of the items I pulled look like they were from early 1900s. Cant believe 3 spoons came up from this one yard. The only coins I got were a 1940 wheat and a clad quarter. The make up compact was by a big tree out back of the house. It took me a min to realize the date on the registration tag. I have straightened it out. The key says P.F. Corbins, New Britain, Con. The button is just a 2 piece, but it shined up really well with some diluted CLR. There was plenty of activity there and more to be found, but the oddest thing was to find an old shotgun shell there. The owner was really nice. I also pulled a salt/pepper shaker that's pink depression glass. Seems like those are collectable.
573935740257400573995739857405
I found a pic of a non dug item I found on Etsy.
57403
This weekend was a lot of hiking. The finds were mediocre, but at least I wasn't skunked and I'm overwhelmed that I found my lost shovel. Grave digger has been out of stock for the xmas rush and I never heard back about using one style blade with the other style handle. I want a short shovel cuz no matter what you are going to be kneeling down to recover the item.

Saturday I got back to two cellars after checking a new spot. The new spot was kind of a dud. I thought the cellar sat farther back from the road and I thought people missed the barn site. Nope. I squeaked out a Paris buckle from this heavily grown area.
5739757396
I used the small coil again on the cellar where I pulled that 1865 (pat) scale dial. I thought I would bring the rake along to move the leaves out of the way to help compensate with depth loss of the smaller coil. After realizing the last rain was now frozen to the leaves, it made it very difficult to move, so I abandoned that idea after a short area was cleared. Maybe I will do it in the spring. This time, I happened to move some of the overload iron targets and sure enough It cleared up some finds. After moving one of the big round iron discs (prob for a stove) I was able to pull up a spoon and a crushed thimble. ( I must have a nack for spoons lately. It's the flavor of the month). I think the thimble is aluminum. Between the house and barn (or more likely carriage house that was in front of the barn) I pulled up a coin purse clasp. Yet again, 3rd time with no coins. ugh. And a 1900s spigot got it's own pic, but only cuz I forgot to include it in the total finds pic.
5740857407
At the other cellar I was able to nab a few more items. The floral button was near the cellar and I had been over the spot before with my other detector. Nice early button and I think I have seen a similar one somewhere along the line from another digger. The last item was a 1906 V nickel. It ain't much to look at now after letting it dry. It is in the pic above next to the Paris buckle. It rang like a 22 VDI in the ground. Out of the ground it was mostly reading iron. And now it looks like it has a green patina color to it. Idk... The only time I ever saw a greenish nickel was when two were touching in the ground for many years. The bottle came from inside a barn footprint and is a commemorative Paul Jones whiskey bottle with a patriot and ships on it. I couldn't nail down an exact date as supposedly the company ceased in 1922. But The bottle has the embossed phrase from after 1935 from prohibition time. At the bottom of the bottle, one of those numbers is a manufacture date '57 or '41.
573955739457401


Sunday I was ecstatic that I was able to finally locate my lost shovel. Esp after breaking the backup shovel on Saturday. Wooded handle does not work for woods. I looked at the root assassin (which is 48") and the ground shark and gravedigger and even another on FB J&S digging tools. None are exactly what I wanted. Sun morning I texted Dan asking him if the snow was gone. Last time I went, the snow was gone in the areas I drove by, except for the town I needed to be in. I still tried that time but using the detector. I knew Dan was out Sunday and expected him to be out East. He affirmed there was no snow. So off I went. I looked around for a bit in the same area but to no avail. At one point I decided to go near the end point of my travels before I lost it. I made it down the hillside, which is at least a 200 ft long hill with major growth. About 2/3 the way down I was trying to spot a definitive tree which I took a rest at last time. I realized I was def in the thickest area, prob close to where I came down. I moved a bit, and sure enough it was standing straight up with the brush holding it there. No what kind of recoverist would I be If I couldn't find it. Lol. I grabbed it and went back up the hill, took a pic and short vid. Then realized I should have taken a vid of when I found it, just 30 sec earlier.

So far I painted it so that I will not lose it again. And I have a gps tracker, that was cheap, that I will attach to it so I will never lose it again. The pinpointer I at least have a heavy duty tether so that wont get lost. I may take a pic of all the gear for wooded hunting. And I will get a pic of latest paint. I went with a simple design.
5740457406
It felt so good to be able to dig again with the shovel. One hole had a spill with a toe plate, lantern piece (2x I have not pics of yet as they are in the bin still), and a suspender clip. I am not certain what the ornate gold gilt piece is, but It is obvi Victorian era design. No defining nubs to make it a pendant or a pin. No hole to make it an escutcheon for furniture. idk. Oh, and Deer pellets were marking a spot for a fired musket ball. Fourth musket ball recovered from this site, and it was maybe 4 inches away from a pile. lol. Hoping for more time to dig and a quick recovery from a cold. Oh, and the dog license was a let down I pulled it up thinking it said 1878 and was overwhelmed, but once I cleaned it and saw '19' It was a let down. And a 1910 wheat is being cleaned still. It rang high for a penny too. Like 110 VDI (when they are usually 88 on the BH.. which I decided to change up and use on this site).
Here's the gold gilt piece.
57409

del
01-19-2017, 01:05 PM
I'm glad you found your shovel , because some one else would of (I've found a few over the years)! I see the shoe buckle streak has ended for you but you found some interesting relics .

Dan

MangoAve
01-19-2017, 01:44 PM
I'm glad you found your shovel , because some one else would of (I've found a few over the years)! I see the shoe buckle streak has ended for you but you found some interesting relics .

Dan

Thanks, Dan. I am happy, but by the location it was.. I doubt it would have been found for a long time. I went again through a direct distance (or at least I tried to) vs taking the road. Street view had a stop sign and looked like it was closed off. I didn't wanna drive in there and have people questioning, even tho it was legit to be there. Just less headache. I prob should have tried driving. As far as buckle streak.. yeah. But bound to find more sometime. Like those thimbles. I found all of mine this year. Three years there are none, now all the sudden I have 5 of them this year. Hope something more significant can have a pattern like that.

aloldstuff
01-19-2017, 07:38 PM
I'd say a not to shabby start to the new year. Glad to see you found your shovel, which begs me to ask....how did you lose it?

MangoAve
01-20-2017, 02:48 PM
I'd say a not to shabby start to the new year. Glad to see you found your shovel, which begs me to ask....how did you lose it?

I actually don't exactly how it got lost where it did. I almost left it at one spot with kevin in the rain. That time I forgot to put it back into the clip. This time, however, was a tad odd. First leg of the hike you have the most energy so of course I was bouncin' up that hill, yet the shovel stayed in the clip. About 1/3 the way there I tripped over a downed tree falling flat forward. My shovel stayed clipped in. I walked through this heavy brush where the shovel got caught a few times. Still had no problem staying clipped in. Descending down the side of the hill in the thick brush, and somehow it popped out. Go figure. And now I know it was only about 30 ft before I realized it was gone. Grey isn't very bright, hence why the new pinpointers come with neon covers.

Lodge Scent
01-20-2017, 05:31 PM
Good digs Jim...especially the shovel ;) Good idea on the paint job. You won't leave it behind again.


Hey what GPS trackers do you use for your gear?

aloldstuff
01-21-2017, 06:43 AM
I actually don't exactly how it got lost where it did. I almost left it at one spot with kevin in the rain. That time I forgot to put it back into the clip. This time, however, was a tad odd. First leg of the hike you have the most energy so of course I was bouncin' up that hill, yet the shovel stayed in the clip. About 1/3 the way there I tripped over a downed tree falling flat forward. My shovel stayed clipped in. I walked through this heavy brush where the shovel got caught a few times. Still had no problem staying clipped in. Descending down the side of the hill in the thick brush, and somehow it popped out. Go figure. And now I know it was only about 30 ft before I realized it was gone. Grey isn't very bright, hence why the new pinpointers come with neon covers.

Sounds exactly like my relationship with my 1st wife..:lol:

Ken C
01-22-2017, 07:49 AM
Nice finds, great start to 2017!

OxShoeDrew
01-28-2017, 04:28 PM
Five thimbles?! Wow! We're having quite the winter for hunting! I wish I had more time to get out. Nice going, Jim!

MangoAve
01-30-2017, 11:20 AM
Good digs Jim...especially the shovel ;) Good idea on the paint job. You won't leave it behind again.
Hey what GPS trackers do you use for your gear?

Thanks, Jeff. Lol.. the shovel is worth $60 new. Better than an LC, right? Lol. Already they paint is chipped around the handle from my pocket knife. I wanted to put some shrink sleeve 1 1/2" on there a while ago. That, and I thought about powder coating it (red of course) after I had painted it. But I don't have a disposable oven for such a thing. As far as GPS tracker... I have 2 on order. They haven't arrived. So after trying them out, I'll let you know.


Nice finds, great start to 2017!

Thanks Ken. Altho the last few outings were meh. Nice cellars, but not much finds.


Five thimbles?! Wow! We're having quite the winter for hunting! I wish I had more time to get out. Nice going, Jim!

Yeah, Drewsy. Speak of the devil... I pulled another thimble the same day you posted. I was out your way too. The ONLY thing I found was a thimble. I do like the winter so far as well.

MangoAve
01-31-2017, 10:15 AM
The last few times I been out I caught some nice views even tho not much with finds. The cellar that had the chimney toppled (across the road from the cellar) hid a jar lid, fork, and a conestoga bell. The clacker is still inside and moves freely. Either no one bothered with this area or they just passed over those targets. It was a trashy area. A few old pots were on the surface on the opposite side of a hill just behind where I nabbed these items.
5751457516
This bell looks more like a pic from the latest march on DC. :lol: I finally got a bell with the clacker intact and it has to be mangled.
57515
Now for some cellar porn along with the solo thimble I got. Go figure that the thimble came from the only site that had iron on the rocks. The big cellar had an over abundance of shotgun shells and even a live .22 round. There were two silos along the cart path which only hid a modern penny. Ugh. Idk if the spot with the snow will warrant another peek. I cant believe people would find this spot, as it is not on the old maps, but the one nearest on the old map had some items still hiding. This place had a possible starter home at the NW corner of the walls with a few big iron and rocks with heavy iron content. There were child car seats on the path outside the stone walls and a big tire. And by the main cellar having the well behind it, there was an old lawnmower and stove parts visible.
57519575205752257517
This was hike #2. I put 8 miles on my odometer that day according to my tracker. Not bad for exercise at least.
5752157525575235751857526
And thimble #6.
57524

MangoAve
02-07-2017, 11:16 AM
Hey what GPS trackers do you use for your gear?

Jeff, this is the tracker I bought. It's an unbranded/generic one. They were only like $2 a pc so I picked up two. One for the shovel, and one goes on Dan. I bought a different one as well that is still otw. I have not tried this unit out yet; I have only loaded the app to the phone. The app got bad ratings, but there were a few people who knew what they were doing when they used it and rated it normally. Seems a pic the other one on order is inside the instructions for this one. There were many other ones out there with buttons, but you want a sealed unit when it comes to a shovel... there's mud and snow that you sometimes dig in. I did see someone at work has the one that was on kickstarter a while ago about the size of a quarter. I'll give this one a try and prob do a report in one of my next posts. Can't comment on if it's any good yet.

57584