Wood hunting

[Southernreign]

Anyone have experience/advice for hunting woods?
I am here in Indian (Indian Trail) country in NC.

[FrankieOwls]

look for mossy stones and of coarse older trails and try to get a TOPO Map fot that area.. do some reasearch asking older folks where older trails used to be..

[Marcucco]

There are several posts with links to databases that have access to free historical maps.
A lot of these early maps will include the locations of early farms, stores and taverns.
Sometimes it's a little tricky, but try and match up the old maps with new maps from sources like:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH7
Bing blows the doors off Google or MapQuest, be sure and try the "birdseye" feature in the pull-down aerial menu.
A little research will give you a good idea where to start scouting for a site.
It's kind of a chore, but it really works.
Go look at my albums, I've located enough sites to keep me busy for the whole year.

If you get stuck, drop me a PM and I'll hook you up with some links and some pointers.

[stanger]

Detect in all metal mode, and dig everything.

[Survivor]

Originally Posted by stanger

Detect in all metal mode, and dig everything.

You are lucky because your soil is free from splinters. WW2 brought TOOOO MAAANYYY splinters to my territory. There are some places where detector goes crazy sounding every inch of a ground. So many nice items are shielded by iron splinters. But digging everything brings a success.

[Rickster]

Hello Southernreign
MY house is surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods! I am an avid outdoorsmen and trying to apply this to my new hobby MD'ing. Look for people
trails, horse trails, atv trails. Look for clearings or any small open areas. Look
for brooks, streams, ponds or lakes. Old large trees may have been a landmark
years ago. I also recommend good digging tools and a small folding saw for the tree roots. Don't forget to post pics of your finds! Happy Hunting!
Rickster

[hoser]

What Rickster said was spot on. I would rather hunt the woods as you just never know what will pop up. Where I do the most hunting is where the national guard has camped since the early 1900's and it is littered with spent brass casings but it also holds a lot of good finds as well. I look for large clear flat areas that would have been prime location to set up these camps and grid it off to hunt. Outside of the ton of brass I find, I have found a lot of old coins and military stuff too. Keep your digger sharp and carry a small tree saw for roots. You WILL have a ball.

[Mtnmn]

Look for old apple trees, they are a sure sign of former human habitation. Where ever you find pieces of old iron, parts of broken crocks and bottles and such are good areas to hunt. Walk along small streams looking for signs of the above as many early settlers either built along a stream or next to a spring. The former parking spots of long gone camps are especially worthwhile to checkout. Take a look at MyTopo-Historial Maps and if the ones of your area are old enough, they are an excellent place to look for long gone camps and homes. Good luck with your searching!

[NCBounty15]

MtnMan...I agree, apple trees are a sure fire way of determining if someone once inhabited the area! Only exception with that being in wildlife clearings, but these are in the National Forest, and detecting is prohibited without special permission anyways... HH
NC

[RickO]

In my area, I look for stone walls, old woods trails (wagon ruts), cellar holes, apple trees, water sources and quarries. HH RickO

[Merc]

i like looking for hills. people are always trying to get a good view of there surroundings.

[yandosan]

I go out in the Woods around Chapel Hill sometimes.
Lots of bullets. Lots of old farm equipment too, mostly iron and rusted out.