Relic Hunting for Beginners
danhughes
Unlike coinshooters and beach hunters, they are seeking history rather
than money. True, many relics - especially Civil War items - are
worth big bucks, but many relic hunters are more interested in finding
clues as to what happened where and when.
And they hunt in more isolated places than those of us who frequent
the parks and schoolyards. They even face dangers that we
coinshooters cannot imagine.
In this podcast (radio show you can listen to on your computer any
time), I offer some tips - and some warnings - to the beginning relic
hunter.
Listen at http://thetreasurecorner.com. Click the pink button to hear
the short (under five minutes) show.
---Dan Hughes, http://danhughesbooks.com
Relichunter
Dan,
You sure described us fanatics with that one. Couldn't have put it in
any better description.
And very true, we don't just walk off into the nearest forest, we go
out with a specific site in mind and kind of know in advance what we
are likely to find. As you mentioned, we are searching for "history"
and the things we find are the result of the search for history. The
history part is the challenge and what I enjoy most about relic
hunting. Just a few period items from a site I knew had to be
somewhere and found is more than enough to make a great day.
As you more or less said, we each have our own types of relic hunting
we prefer. Those do include anything from old homesteads and ghost
towns to the military campaigns.
Battlefield sites tend to be lower on the list of the areas we want to
hunt. Digging musketballs and maybe cannon shot fragments is exciting
for a while but the more interesting things are rarely found on a
battle site. Personally, I much prefer to hunt camp sites that may
have been used from only several days to maybe several years.
Yeah, we do sometimes get far from "civilization" and most of us know
we need some specific survival knowledge to get us to where we want to
hunt and more importantly, to get us back out.
It is pretty common knowledge I make extensive use of books, USGS 7.5'
maps, mapping software by Oziexplorer and Fugawi, compasses, GPS,
different modes of transportation (bike, canoe, kayak, etc.), even to
a survival gear if the need arises. Being prepared extends to
different clothing depending on where I plan to hunt and how far from
civilization I will be, and the time of the year. I hate "Ticks".....
Self defense, mostly worry about wild dogs but Deliverance still
lingers in the back of my mind:) I have had some strange encounters
with both.
You're right about the Boy Scout training manual:) I was a Boy Scout
and still have my near 50 year old manual and my "official" Boy Scout
knife (though admittedly rusty as heck:) A lot of what I know comes
from my Boy Scout years and getting around in the forests starting
wild game hunting at an early age. I have a lot of respect for the
dangers of even a small trip into the woods. Slipping on a rock or
fallen branch hidden by weeds can break an arm or a leg. Climbing up
and down steep hill sides requires a lot of physical exertion so
staying fit and a yearly complete physical is a must.
Very well put together podcast. I have to say I enjoyed it a great
deal. Many thanks!!!
Warmest Regards,
Relichunter
celtex
I added a link to these pages on our club website. If not ok let me know.
It is on http://www.amarillotreasure.com/links.htm if you want to see it.
Jim
Love you insight and common sense when it come to treasure hunting.
"danhughes" <danhug...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:0a2c9ce7-b489-431e...@d20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
danhughes
anyone would object to free publicity!
Thanks again,
---Dan Hughes, http://danhughesbooks.com
On Dec 13, 5:15 pm, "celtex" <jimdnich...@suddenlink.net> wrote:
> Dan,
> I added a link to these pages on our club website. If not ok let me know.
> It is onhttp://www.amarillotreasure.com/links.htmif you want to see it.
> Jim
> Love you insight and common sense when it come to treasure hunting.
>
> "danhughes" <danhughesm...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:0a2c9ce7-b489-431e...@d20g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Relic hunters are a different breed.
>
> > Unlike coinshooters and beach hunters, they are seeking history rather
> > than money. True, many relics - especially Civil War items - are
> > worth big bucks, but many relic hunters are more interested in finding
> > clues as to what happened where and when.
>
> > And they hunt in more isolated places than those of us who frequent
> > the parks and schoolyards. They even face dangers that we
> > coinshooters cannot imagine.
>
> > In this podcast (radio show you can listen to on your computer any
> > time), I offer some tips - and some warnings - to the beginning relic
> > hunter.
>
> > Listen athttp://thetreasurecorner.com. Click the pink button to hear
celtex
Jimnews:5f933ede-9b98-407b...@e27g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
celtex
homes (20-30s) I have found much more good coins in just the front yard. I
was very surprised at the lack of finds in the backyards. Any corollary to
your hunts on that empirical observation?
Jim
Relichunter
Hi Jim,
I'll throw out my thoughts based on my experience when I first started
detecting (which was mostly for older coins). I have found well over
10,000 coins, again mostly from my earlier years of detecting before
becoming addicted to relic hunting.
Please excuse me for writing somewhat disjointedly as I am just
throwing down my thoughts as they come.
I have hunted everything from old one room school house, old church
yards, old parks, and old household yards.
School house were the worst places to hunt. I think I got skunked at
almost every old one room school house I tried. Kids back then didn't
have any "loose change" in their pockets. When you consider the wages
paid for a days work, a quarter was worth a whole lot more than it is
today. Kids didn't have to "buy" a lunch at the school cafeteria
because cafeterias didn't exist. In essence, the kids had no reason to
bring any loose change they might have saved to school.
Obviously, the greater the number of people gathered in a small area
greatly increases the chances someone would loose a coin or two.
Old churches were a favorite hunting ground because many people
gathered there on Sundays. Sunday church was different in the days
past. After church, people often gathered in the church yards maybe
seeing their nearest neighbor only on that day. Strawberry festivals
and such kept the families at the church yards for longer periods on
Sundays (no one rushed home to watch sports on the TV's that weren't
invented yet).
Likewise old parks attracted people to get together.
Assuming kids didn't carry loose change in their pockets because they
had no place to spend it, most of the old coins found today were lost
by adults.
In a typical neighborhood imagine a couple of neighbors stopping their
chores to gab with one another on one of their front lawns. The
neighbor across the street sees them and decides to stroll over and
join the conversation. Then maybe another and another and so on until
there was a group of adults gathered around. Maybe the "informally"
chosen hosting family brought out some chairs, maybe a card table,
some food and drink, etc. and the group kind of had a little get
together to discuss the weather, the crops, whatever they might have
had on their minds. In general, neighbors would see each other in the
front lawns and tend to gather there. Maybe the kids played out back,
but the parents stayed out front.
I guess that would be my thoughts on why the front yards of a home
produce more lost coins than the back yards. The simple fact that
neighbors tend to congregate when they see each other and they have to
be in the front yards to be able to see someone is outside.
Not any different today for my neighborhood. Maybe a couple of us
might see each other and I might go over to my neighbors front yard to
chat with him. Another husband and wife out for their nightly walk
might stop by and join in the chat. My wife who was inside the house
might have wondered where I was at, looked out the door and see me
chatting a few doors down. So she comes out and walks over to join us.
We do that pretty often in my neighborhood and I can't recall any time
we actually had a group idly chatting in anyone's back yard. These
informal get together happen here pretty often during the summer
weekends and we'll have 5 or 10 people gathered together at various
times of the day.
Just some thoughts based on human nature. I use those same thoughts
when relic hunting. I assume people won't congregate (or camp) on
muddy grounds or without a fresh water source nearby. Not much
different than a family going camping for a weekend.
Warmest Regards,
Relichunter
celtex
news:3p8ni5l7dfhlpdn1r...@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:49:26 -0600, "celtex"
> <jimdn...@suddenlink.net> wrote:
>
>>I do have an take for you from my hunts locally. Here where I hunt older
>>homes (20-30s) I have found much more good coins in just the front yard. I
>>was very surprised at the lack of finds in the backyards. Any corollary to
>>your hunts on that empirical observation?
>>Jim
>
> Hi Jim,
>
> I'll throw out my thoughts based on my experience when I first started
> detecting (which was mostly for older coins). I have found well over
> 10,000 coins, again mostly from my earlier years of detecting before
> becoming addicted to relic hunting.
>
> Please excuse me for writing somewhat disjointedly as I am just
> throwing down my thoughts as they come.
My hunting companion has hunted Amarillo yards for decades and he says, no
reason to doubt him, that kids and parents congregated in front yards "to be
seen" so we find more silver in the front yards. What little empirical
knowledge I can offer says he is right about the lack of finds in back
yards. I always thought the clotheslines would produce a bonanza but not
yet. So as I hunt more yards the more accurate John seems to be. I tend to
do pretty good by the street. People getting in and out of cars makes it
very good chance of dropped goodies. Also the driveway side of the lawn
nearest the front door or walk. I really nail the sidewalk edges now. I have
found a couple coins up against the concrete sometimes touching it.
Thanks for your insight. Congregations of neighbors never crossed my mind.
Jim