River or creek hunting, anyone?

jrzboy

Full Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
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144
Location
Hillsborough, New Jersey
Been thinking about hitting up some rivers & creeks (if I get permission, of course) so I have a few questions:

1. What's been your experience? Was it worth it? Tough to hunt?
2. What kind of goodies did you find?
3. I have an Ace 250 - is it the tool for the job?

Thanks for any and all responses!
-Jeff
 
I did it a couple of times. A couple of clad dimes and nickels was about it.

The creek beds around me are gravelly and tough to dig. And then it gets muddy as well, so you can't really see what you're doing until it washes away. I found it hard, and gave up on the idea. I'm sure others have had better luck.

If I read about people finding good stuff doing it, I'll give it another go someday.
 
This is just my two cents on the river/creek hunting: Do a little research up front and it will make your hunting so much better. My father is the one that reminded me of the value of knowing the terrain. I research places on dry land, but for some reason I didn't bother with the rivers. Dad asked me how my hunt at a park's river frontage went. I told him it was productive but the coins were all new so I was disappointed. He said, "Just how old do you want the coins to be? Coins are coins." I replied telling him I wanted coins before 1965 - silver. He said, "Well, there's the old car wash..." I hadn't seen any car wash facilities anywhere. I asked if it had been tore down. He then went on to explain that folks didn't waste their money on fancy car washes like they do now. There was a low water spot on the river (about a foot deep or so) with a good gravel bed and solid bedrock just below it. They would drive their cars into the river or at least partially into the river and clean it right there on the spot. Floor mats where pulled out, laid in the river with a large rock to keep them in place. He didn't quite have his story told and we were walking for the car. I just had to detect this spot. I was only able to detect it once and for just a short time, but it did turn up a few mercury dimes and handful of wheaties. After that, I started thinking about all the low water crossings where covered wagons may have crossed. My leave was up (I was active duty military at the time) and I never pursued researching the old wagon roads and water crossings. I can only imagine they would be productive as well. One more thing, I found most of the coins about 15 feet below the "washing" area. I don't know if the river changed that much or if the coins were just carried that far before they settled. I hope this helps you find some silver.
 
Thanks, DW. You've got just about the same idea I had!

I live in an area rich in Revolutionary War history. Just like the covered wagons you speak of, I can imagine batallions of both American and British troops utilizing the rivers. Roughly 45 mins. to an hour away from me is a place called Washington Crossing, where (You guessed it!) Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware River occured.
Although my understanding of that era is quite limited, I have learned enough that I can tell you that there were some heavilly travelled trails and roads between Philly and New York which often ran parallel to, or crossed over creeks and rivers.
The other part of this that really intrigues me is the idea that there were more than likely robbers along these roads. Who knows? Maybe in a hasty escape they could have dropped some of their ill-gotten gains, or were forced to bury some of their loot along one of the waterways...

I'm most interested in the Raritan River. Here are some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raritan_River
http://www.raritanlanding.com/

With proper permission and more intensive research, I think there's potential.
 
Last edited:
Favorite post

This is just my two cents on the river/creek hunting: Do a little research up front and it will make your hunting so much better. My father is the one that reminded me of the value of knowing the terrain. I research places on dry land, but for some reason I didn't bother with the rivers. Dad asked me how my hunt at a park's river frontage went. I told him it was productive but the coins were all new so I was disappointed. He said, "Just how old do you want the coins to be? Coins are coins." I replied telling him I wanted coins before 1965 - silver. He said, "Well, there's the old car wash..." I hadn't seen any car wash facilities anywhere. I asked if it had been tore down. He then went on to explain that folks didn't waste their money on fancy car washes like they do now. There was a low water spot on the river (about a foot deep or so) with a good gravel bed and solid bedrock just below it. They would drive their cars into the river or at least partially into the river and clean it right there on the spot. Floor mats where pulled out, laid in the river with a large rock to keep them in place. He didn't quite have his story told and we were walking for the car. I just had to detect this spot. I was only able to detect it once and for just a short time, but it did turn up a few mercury dimes and handful of wheaties. After that, I started thinking about all the low water crossings where covered wagons may have crossed. My leave was up (I was active duty military at the time) and I never pursued researching the old wagon roads and water crossings. I can only imagine they would be productive as well. One more thing, I found most of the coins about 15 feet below the "washing" area. I don't know if the river changed that much or if the coins were just carried that far before they settled. I hope this helps you find some silver.

I have only been posting here for a couple of months, but this is my favorite post, so far!! I have a crossing in mind that has been used for a swimming pool for more than 60 years. I heard that poker games were frequent there as well. I wonder if it was a car wash, it is very drivable.
 
I did some creek hunting yesterday. Didn't find anything to speak of, but it was fun and I probably would have had alot better luck if I had been more methodical.
 
40 some years go I also swam in the Delaware at Washington Crossing (PA side) or just above it. Yes we did change clothes there and I am sure we were not the only ones. You may find coins and even fishing lures.
Good Luck hunting it.
 
A few creeks here, but mostly mod bottoms, hard to find an arrow head which is tops on my wish list along with a Meg tooth.
 
Good thread! One thing I've always wondered about river hunting....(I have a few tubing spots in mind)...is how to dig them? Our rivers in WNC are rocky, with clay bottoms, and sand or gravel bars in other places, but mostly rocky. Are most finds practically on top of the "ground"? Thanks,
NC
 
Well I'm new to MD, just have the chance to detect a couple of times. But my experience in a creek was very pleasant. Almost no trash and a very nice 1951 50 Centavos! :yes:

I can imagine people taking off their clothes to have a bath on the creek. On the countryside many houses don't have tap water so people use creeks or rivers to do laundry and to take a bath.
 
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