Working on a new plan of attack

Gauntlet · Sep 1, 2017

I'd hunted a field last week (tall corn stubble) where a house stood in the 50's. Doing a map overlay, I pinned it's location on GoogleEarth, then used the measuring tool to determine distance into the field from the road (220yds) and off a fence line (145yds).

Due to knee issues, I can't step-off distances with accuracy, and there were no discernible landmarks to work off of. I did however notice a small grassy patch in the corn, just about where I thought it would have been.

Now, this farmer is as nice a guy as you'd ever meet. I'd see him and his helpers in all the nearby fields over the past couple years on my way into town, so I stopped into his shop one day, and asked if he happen to have any property that he knew had a house standing on it at any time. He told me he did, just a couple miles around the corner, and I was more than welcome to detect it.

Since then, I've discussed other properties with him, about permission, which he kindly granted, and it turns-out that he knew they had homes on them in the past :laughing:

Not that it matters, but I don't know if he intentionally neglected to tell me, or if he just didn't think about them at that time because he was busy.

Anyway, back to this field I'd hunted....

When I told him there was a house there in the early 50's, he told me he knew there was a barn there, but never saw a house.I'm gonna guess this guy is mid to upper 70's (age). The 1st time I hunted this field (last week), the grassy spot had some good size pieces (6"x 6") of aluminum siding/trim in the dirt. So I started my way working outward, pretty much using that area as a center point. I'm guessing this was the barn location.

In 2 days of hunting, I found 2 Wheaties (one each day), and a clad Rosie. Now I'd have guessed I'd have done a little better than that, especially digging the amount of trash I did.

On the 2nd day, I did try stepping-off the distance, and wound-up closer to the road than where I'd started the prior day. Not much in the way of iron signals, but did find the 2nd Wheatie. I will admit, hunting in this stubble is a pain, and causing me to be unable to detect a good 1/3 of the dirt.

Now since I'm waiting for other fields to become available, I'm going to take this field on as a challenge :mad:

I do have a 300' tape, but really didn't want to have to fool with it, so the best (and cheapest) solution I've come-up with is a measuring wheel for $36 (and actually has better reviews than many at twice the cost) .

It will work fine between rows, not so well across them, so I'll take my initial measure alongside the road, then walk down that row and measure to the depth in the field I need to be. This should take the guesswork out of it, and I'll drop a survey flag where the house should have sat. I'm just hoping it was an accurate location on the 50's map.

I'll actually be surprised if I hadn't been-over at least a decent portion of the area, as I ended-up basically just wondering-around that area of the field. So I plan to give it a shot next week, assuming I can pick-up the measuring wheel in the AM. It will come in handy in other fields as well, so it won't just collect dust.

I used both The DeLeon, and Caquero, each sporting the 5.75" coil. I was in the "covering ground" mode, but will now work much slower, row by row, until I either give-out from exhaustion, or show this field "who's boss"

I'm hoping my extra effort will pay-off with at least a couple more meager finds. Something silver, an Indian Head, or maybe another pair of Wheaties, and I'll feel vindicated :cool:

I have since decided to name this field.....

The White Whale

If ye don't hear from me next week, it's been nice knowin' ye :laughing:

Gauntlet · Sep 2, 2017

Got out early this AM in hopes of finding the measuring wheel, HD-no luck, Lowes-no luck, even tried TSC-no luck. They all had some, mostly Lufkin brand, which reviews claim are notorious for the handle latch breaking (plus they're $60).

So I just ordered the one I wanted (pictured) for under $40 with free delivery (from HD), have it in about a week. Now if I wear my orange vest, I could probably get my way into all sorts of construction sites :lol:

georgeinsc · Sep 2, 2017

A hand held GPS is excellent for measuring distances traveled. Most of them will put you within a few feet of the area you want to get to.

Gauntlet · Sep 2, 2017

georgeinsc said:
A hand held GPS is excellent for measuring distances traveled. Most of them will put you within a few feet of the area you want to get to.

Have one, and according to what I've read, no they aren't that accurate. Wish mine would have worked, would have saved me $40 :no:

Ice Scratcher · Sep 2, 2017

Gauntlet said:
Have one, and according to what I've read, no they aren't that accurate. Wish mine would have worked, would have saved me $40

I use a Garmin etrex (very affordable), out on lake Erie ice, alone, at night, miles away from anything living above ground.. My life depends on it, so much, I actually run two at the same time, in case one fails...

They have always helped me find my way back, in whiteout conditions, actually get me right back on my original tracks...

Might not be accurate enough for official survey type stuff, but between that, and listening for the iron patch, you should be right where you need...

Good luck!

<°)))>{

Mud-puppy · Sep 2, 2017

By God somebody is thinking too much! :laughing:

You must be some sort of engineer Gauntlet! :laughing:

Why not just stick to totlots? Easy parking, short walking, and you can always sit down on a bench if you get tired? :laughing:

Gauntlet · Sep 2, 2017

Ice Scratcher said:
I use a Garmin etrex (very affordable), out on lake Erie ice, alone, at night, miles away from anything living above ground.. My life depends on it, so much, I actually run two at the same time, in case one fails...

They have always helped me find my way back, in whiteout conditions, actually get me right back on my original tracks...

Might not be accurate enough for official survey type stuff, but between that, and listening for the iron patch, you should be right where you need...

Good luck!

<°)))>{

You would think that would be the case (in my situation), but this site seems a bit different for some reason. I'm "generally" a fairly decent judge of distance (to a certain point), but if baffles me why I didn't get as many iron signals as I'd have expected. This makes me wonder.....

Was the house demo'd by hand, and materials re-used elsewhere? Could it have been knocked-down and buried with an excavator? I found no "relics" like harmonica reeds, silverware, lamp parts, something you generally find around a home site. I know it's not a written in stone type thing, but generally speaking, if there was a barn, there was a house somewhere nearby.

Inquiring minds...... :lol:

I may go give it a try Monday, that'll give it a chance to dry-up a little (after 4" of rain). In the meanwhile, I may just measure what is a normal number of strides is for me over a given distance (say 25'), and work off that. I'm determined to pull something else from this field.

Mud-puppy said:
By God somebody is thinking too much! You must be some sort of engineer Gauntlet! Why not just stick to totlots? Easy parking, short walking, and you can always sit down on a bench if you get tired?

You know, this is one of the smartest posts I've read in a long time :laughing:

I tend to get a bit OCD on hobbies :lol:

georgeinsc · Sep 2, 2017

At one time I geocached. I could find film cans in the woods with a hand held GPS. they always put me in a few feet of the item that I was looking for.

I have used them to measure the distance that I walked I then verified the distance with my car. The GPS was very accurate back then and I would suspect that they are even more accurate today.

Curbdog · Sep 2, 2017

Interesting how much goes into "the hunt" for a long gone target like a house. Best of luck in your endeavor, Gauntlet.

Ice Scratcher · Sep 2, 2017

You could even use the GPS to assist in a grid just tight enough to catch a house footprint, if you don't hear a lot of iron, there probably wasn't a building there, even horses lost nails from their shoes..

Iron is your answer...

<°)))>{

Gauntlet · Sep 2, 2017

georgeinsc said:
At one time I geocached. I could find film cans in the woods with a hand held GPS. they always put me in a few feet of the item that I was looking for.

I have used them to measure the distance that I walked I then verified the distance with my car. The GPS was very accurate back then and I would suspect that they are even more accurate today.

I suspect its the fact mine is near 20 years old, and was a cheap one to boot. I'll spend $40 for the wheel, but not $200 for a new GPS or Rangefinder.

Curbdog said:
Interesting how much goes into "the hunt" for a long gone target like a house. Best of luck in your endeavor, Gauntlet.

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do :yes:

Thanks CD!

Ice Scratcher said:
You could even use the GPS to assist in a grid just tight enough to catch a house footprint, if you don't hear a lot of iron, there probably wasn't a building there, even horses lost nails from their shoes..

Iron is your answer...

<°)))>{

Fully agreed on the iron, but what if the house was dismantled and moved, or buried? Why no relics?

The field I'm really waiting on had 8 houses on it, most likely share-croppers. I know life was hard, but can't believe there's nothing there.

Ice Scratcher · Sep 2, 2017

The iron happens before the teardown...

All sorts of cobbling of whatever things happened all around the structure during and after it being built...

<°)))>{

Gauntlet · Sep 11, 2017

Big Brown Truck just delivered the wheel pictured in OP (not to be confused with "The Wheel" staring Vanna White

).

I'm impressed, seems well worth the money and even came in a zippered carry bag with a shoulder strap.

Who knows, I may take it back to the White Whale field just to play with it, and see how close I was. Then again, that may be opening-up a Pandoras Box :shock:

flyguy784 · Sep 11, 2017

When you look at the old (50's) topo maps, isn't there some points of elevation, still standing buildings etc that you can triangulate off of ???
You are right though, corn stubble is a PIA. I hunt a lot of it. I've always felt that swinging between rows, perpendicular to them is easiest and most productive for me. IE, reach your detector over a line of stubble into the open area, swing left and right far as you can, step over that row of stubble and repeat. Trying to swing between stubble rows with that little 18 inch or so swing is terrible. Keep your eyes open for anything building related that's been plowed up. Chips of pottery, brick, glass etc. As was mentioned, there should be all kinds of miscellaneous iron. Horse shoes, tack buckles, strap hinges, nails and fence wire. Look for slight changes in the elevation, where the access road to the barn was. A gully, a winding change in the topography that doesn't fit. Find where the path to the barn came off the main road, sometimes that's obvious. Using the old topo you should be able to locate that wagon/tractor road. If the barn was there in the 50's, look at historicaerials.com and look at the images of the barns location.
With all the trouble you're having finding the barn, make sure, beyond a doubt, there was in fact a barn there, topo's, historic aerials etc.

Gauntlet · Sep 11, 2017

flyguy784 said:
When you look at the old (50's) topo maps, isn't there some points of elevation, still standing buildings etc that you can triangulate off of ???
You are right though, corn stubble is a PIA. I hunt a lot of it. I've always felt that swinging between rows, perpendicular to them is easiest and most productive for me. IE, reach your detector over a line of stubble into the open area, swing left and right far as you can, step over that row of stubble and repeat. Trying to swing between stubble rows with that little 18 inch or so swing is terrible. Keep your eyes open for anything building related that's been plowed up. Chips of pottery, brick, glass etc. As was mentioned, there should be all kinds of miscellaneous iron. Horse shoes, tack buckles, strap hinges, nails and fence wire. Look for slight changes in the elevation, where the access road to the barn was. A gully, a winding change in the topography that doesn't fit. Find where the path to the barn came off the main road, sometimes that's obvious. Using the old topo you should be able to locate that wagon/tractor road. If the barn was there in the 50's, look at historicaerials.com and look at the images of the barns location.
With all the trouble you're having finding the barn, make sure, beyond a doubt, there was in fact a barn there, topo's, historic aerials etc.

Not new to field hunting, done it for years

Nothing that couldn't change (trees, rolls of hay, fence lines, etc) is close enough to be usable for triangulation.

Not understanding why you keep mentioning the barn? I'm not looking for the barn, and stated in my 1st post I knew where it was, it's the location of the house I'm looking for....which since I found all 3 Wheaties in the same general vicinity, I'm guessing I was close to it.

More than one house around here has been shoved into a hole and burned/buried, which would take much of the evidence/relics/finds with it. Decades ago being able to hop on an excavator to bury a house wasn't as commonplace as it is these days.

flyguy784 · Sep 11, 2017

Read where you talked to the old guy and he said he remembered a barn there, not a house.

Gauntlet · Sep 11, 2017

flyguy784 said:
Read where you talked to the old guy and he said he remembered a barn there, not a house.

The 1st time I hunted this field (last week), the grassy spot had some good size pieces (6"x 6") of aluminum siding/trim in the dirt. So I started my way working outward, pretty much using that area as a center point. I'm guessing this was the barn location.

He has a lot of properties he'd never knew about the houses and/or roads that were on his properties, so not exactly following your line of thinking.

No matter, have a good one.

NectarDetector · Sep 11, 2017

"I'd hunted a field last week (tall corn stubble) where a house stood in the 50's. Doing a map overlay, I pinned it's location on GoogleEarth, then used the measuring tool to determine distance into the field from the road (220yds) and off a fence line (145yds).

Due to knee issues, I can't step-off distances with accuracy, and there were no discernible landmarks to work off of. I did however notice a small grassy patch in the corn, just about where I thought it would have been."

...

CTX 3030 has GPS feature, you coulda walked right to it, just sayin! :lol:

Gauntlet · Sep 11, 2017

NectarDetector said:
CTX 3030 has GPS feature, you coulda walked right to it, just sayin!

For $2500 it would have to come with a Ferrari :laughing:

NectarDetector · Sep 11, 2017

Gauntlet said:
For $2500 it would have to come with a Ferrari

HAHAHA I've spent more than that in a month on beer and back in the day going to a club! Might as well spend it on a viable product instead....lol

Detecting IS my entertainment, it IS my movie night out, it IS my beer drinkin money (I dont drink) it IS my vacation money, it IS my video game money, it IS my ... you see the point where I spent less on my machine than I would if I spent that money doing all of those things I dont do...instead I put that money in what I DO go out and do, so for me, I got off CHEAPER than I would with my other "hobbies"

It's all in your perspective.... every silver coin I find with my 3030 proves to me it was worth every penny!!! Depends on how you look at it.

Working on a new plan of attack

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