Detecting in the woods

Monkeys Uncle

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
435
Location
Waxahachie, TX
For years, I hunted strictly in "high traffic" venues...city parks, school grounds, older homes, fair grounds, vacant city lots, etc. Watching internet videos, I see detectors hunting in "wooded" sites and have wondered HOW do they decide where to hunt???

What specifically, attracts them to detect "here" verus "there"? :?:

I'm asking for your input/feedback/hints and stories as to what works and what doesn't. TIA!!
 
Yes, you're right. It's not just any "wooded" area. You gotta study history of your area, to know where old sites were. THAT'S where they decided WHERE to hunt. Eg.: old stage stops, old defunct picnic grounds, etc.... That's what "specifically attracts them".
 
I try to find old locations on Getmaps. Zoom in on the area you are looking into hunting. Click on that area. Old maps and date of map will pop up on right of screen. Click on a date. You can go back and forth by clicking Hide and Show. Looking for old churches and graveyards help. If there was a church or graveyard in the area, people lived near it. Also, old rail junction sites and loading stops.
 
You have to look at the woods as any other hunting spot, and ask yourself "what was here 1,2,300 years ago... I've found wooded spots that were once parks that held almost nothing, and I've found wooded spots that never showed any activity that produced multiple silvers. Best way to find out if a spot will produce, start scanning!
 
I like wooded areas with a small stream. When I was a kid, we sought out places like that. We fished, played, and built forts. And we lost stuff. I don't think that kids do that kind of stuff now. Sad.
 
I like wooded areas with a small stream.

Great comment. Streams were also critical to farmers who needed them to water their livestock. Streams with stone walls leading up to them are best. Follow those walls and you'll almost always find coins, flat buttons and other relics.
 
I do a lot of bottle dump hunting in woods, and, like others, I research online, and then also go and look for telltale signs something was (or may have been) there once, like rows of trees, or non-native trees or vegitation, depressions in the ground, old fenceposts, rolls of barbed wire. Also pieces of metal, pottery, glass, stone rows. Any sign of not being virgin untouched woods. It's cold in winter in my area, so I use that time researching online. That may be the only way to find the really old areas.
 
Those spots were once something... research, research, research. You mention fairgrounds...some of those old ones are now those wooded spots or just open fields you mention.
 
I like wooded areas with a small stream. When I was a kid, we sought out places like that. We fished, played, and built forts. And we lost stuff. I don't think that kids do that kind of stuff now. Sad.

I'm 49 and even guys 10-15 years younger than me with kids of their own say the same. Not just sad, its scary. It shows this change in trend is kind of exponential. There is a flipside to it, however. Back when I was that age lots of us had dirt bikes and/or pellet rifles...and some of us were very destructive with those things. Wildlife suffered and so did other natural features. It was so typical for early teens to go around slaughtering harmless black snakes, etc, and tearing up general habitats. I really saw a fluctuation in the number of species of various creatures. Species I saw all the time in the 70's and 80's became rare in the 90's. Then home video game consoles took over and soon after the internet followed suit. So when I began to work as a surveyor/soil tester in the early 2000's and spend alot of time outdoors, I began to see some of these things creep back without so many kids wreaking havoc in the woods. It seems to be reaching a balance, where some kids indulge in both types of activity, and where environmentalism is making a strong stand in the media.

One thing that is mysterious is the spread of ticks throughout the northeast. When I was a kid they were almost non-existent. Now you cant even go for a walk in the woods in June without bringing home a few in your waistband. My wife is apprehensive about letting our 12 year old romp around outdoors unsupervised now because of that. I hate it, but I dont fully disagree. I have had Lyme disease at least twice and have been treated many times after countless tick bites over the last 20 years. That's enough to reduce the number of humans trapesing nonchalantly through the woods, and some places have become real jungles where youd need a BIG lawnmower to go. So places like that where people used to go may be becoming so tick infested and overgrown with prickers that they are nearly inaccessible without some forestry skills. I lived in the boonies from 1985 - 1994 and never had a tick on me then, ever.
 
I have come to time in my life where I finally can afford to 'waste time'. So when I hunt, no matter where it is, my primary objective is to be alone, quiet and relaxed. Finding stuff has become a secondary goal for me. So, I'll gladly spend hours in a wooded area that has no signs of prior habitation. And it's pretty amazing what I've stumbled on doing so. In fact, I've found some sites with a detector that ended up pretty productive, and that have no researchable history that I could find.
 
I'm 49 and even guys 10-15 years younger than me with kids of their own say the same. Not just sad, its scary. It shows this change in trend is kind of exponential. There is a flipside to it, however. Back when I was that age lots of us had dirt bikes and/or pellet rifles...and some of us were very destructive with those things. Wildlife suffered and so did other natural features. It was so typical for early teens to go around slaughtering harmless black snakes, etc, and tearing up general habitats. I really saw a fluctuation in the number of species of various creatures. Species I saw all the time in the 70's and 80's became rare in the 90's. Then home video game consoles took over and soon after the internet followed suit. So when I began to work as a surveyor/soil tester in the early 2000's and spend alot of time outdoors, I began to see some of these things creep back without so many kids wreaking havoc in the woods. It seems to be reaching a balance, where some kids indulge in both types of activity, and where environmentalism is making a strong stand in the media.

One thing that is mysterious is the spread of ticks throughout the northeast. When I was a kid they were almost non-existent. Now you cant even go for a walk in the woods in June without bringing home a few in your waistband. My wife is apprehensive about letting our 12 year old romp around outdoors unsupervised now because of that. I hate it, but I dont fully disagree. I have had Lyme disease at least twice and have been treated many times after countless tick bites over the last 20 years. That's enough to reduce the number of humans trapesing nonchalantly through the woods, and some places have become real jungles where youd need a BIG lawnmower to go. So places like that where people used to go may be becoming so tick infested and overgrown with prickers that they are nearly inaccessible without some forestry skills. I lived in the boonies from 1985 - 1994 and never had a tick on me then, ever.

I hear ya man! When I was a kid, ticks were not unheard of, nor a rarity, but there were many occasions when you could go into the woods for a day or so, and return tick free. (Now mosquitoes, that's another story!) Fast foreward to now, and in Missouri, the unofficial tick capital of the US, you can hardly venture outside without being covered in the things! I saw a cottontail last fall that looked like it had a necklace made of grapes! We got ticks that cause all kinds of illnesses, including the lone star tick that makes you allergic to meat. Not trying to incite a tick contest here.:laughing:

For the past three years, I have resorted to spraying outdoor clothing down with a .05% mix of permethrin. It works gangbusters on ticks, and everything else for that matter. Pretty toxic stuff, so some discretion is advised. It does remain effective for 6 washings.
 
[QUOTE
For the past three years, I have resorted to spraying outdoor clothing down with a .05% mix of permethrin. It works gangbusters on ticks, and everything else for that matter. Pretty toxic stuff, so some discretion is advised. It does remain effective for 6 washings.[/QUOTE]

Try pyrethrin instead of permethrin. Permethrin is the synthetic 'improvement' over pyrethrin. Pyrethrin is extruded from chrysanthemum flower and is much less toxic to humans and animals, and only remains viable as an insecticide 24 hours after applied. Sold in garden centers for applications to plants, but I use it regularly in the woods with good results and no ill effects.
 
[QUOTE
For the past three years, I have resorted to spraying outdoor clothing down with a .05% mix of permethrin. It works gangbusters on ticks, and everything else for that matter. Pretty toxic stuff, so some discretion is advised. It does remain effective for 6 washings.

Try pyrethrin instead of permethrin. Permethrin is the synthetic 'improvement' over pyrethrin. Pyrethrin is extruded from chrysanthemum flower and is much less toxic to humans and animals, and only remains viable as an insecticide 24 hours after applied. Sold in garden centers for applications to plants, but I use it regularly in the woods with good results and no ill effects.[/QUOTE]

Good to know. Thanks! And FYI, I have had good success around my campsite by using permethrin soaked dryer lint stuffed into empty toilet paper tubes. I hide these under rocks and inside hollow logs. Mice, chipmunks, squirrels and such find these "caches" and use the lint to line their nests with. Kills the ticks on the little critters, and more or less breaks the life cycle of the bloodsuckers. It works to some extent in the yard, but with fewer places to hide the tubes.
 
As for those little critters...

Galldang chiggers are my biggest nemesis (they obviously love me for din din)...I use mosquito spray on shoes/socks and lower pants leg, then apply flea collars on each leg. Never thought about apple cider vinegar...but like the idea. Just hope some 'wind-n-crazy' rabbits don't mistake me for 'salad'. :cool3:
 
Galldang chiggers are my biggest nemesis (they obviously love me for din din)...I use mosquito spray on shoes/socks and lower pants leg, then apply flea collars on each leg. Never thought about apple cider vinegar...but like the idea. Just hope some 'wind-n-crazy' rabbits don't mistake me for 'salad'. :cool3:

That reminded me of the fire ant mounds we have to watch for here, that is why doing yard work or detecting I like to remember to tuck my pant legs into my socks just in case I bump a mound by mistake :lol: I have learned to watch where I step outside and not to step backwards so it has been a very long time since I got bit by a fire ant.

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Can't agree more with the ticks. I got bit in 2018 while detecting and it led to lyme disease. One of the worst ordeals for almost a year, definitely do not recommend. It hasn't kept me out of the woods but I do take better precautions.
 
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