I decided to go out in the cold Christmas Eve day and treat myself to a little detecting. I found an old school marked on the topo maps not too far away. After a little research, found out that it was built in 1919, torn down in 1957, rebuilt on top of the same site and still exists today. After getting there, it looked promising but after hunting for a couple of hours I had yet to find anything really old. I did recover lots of targets but nothing spectacular. About the best thing I found was a junker necklace wrapped in saran wrap about four inches down. After filling that hole, I got another signal ringing in at 12-28 and I was surprised to find it was a Civil War era 48 caliber pistol ball. Hunted around a bit more with little success and then noticed a small wooded area in the very far corner of the school property. It was about 1/2 an acre in size and butted up right against a newly constructed playground. Seemed like it might be a spot others may have passed on hunting in the past.
I started to head into the woods and right away got a very nice 12-13, dug down 4-5 inches and got a nice no date Buffalo. A very good sign. I walked to the back edge of the woods and then started to run some rows. Just a couple minutes into it, I got a banging 12-45 and not very deep. I kicked the leaves aside, barely sank my digger in the ground and immediately saw a nice 1963D Rosie. I wasn't expecting to find that in the woods! I walked about 15 feet further and again got a sweet 12-45 signal signal. This one was a bit deeper at 6 inches and it turned out to be a 1948D Rosie. I was feeling pretty good as I filled the hole back in and checked it with my coil. Got another signal in the same hole reading 12-33 and showing 8 inches deep. Dug the hole back out again, went down a bit deeper and pulled out a 57 caliber Confederate Enfield bullet! I was shocked to see that come out of the hole and best of all it appeared to have been carved into a game piece by the soldier. I was pretty amazed that the bullet was found directly underneath the silver Rosie. Very cool.
Coin hunting and relic hunting all in one site? I was really loving this. Continuing on just another few feet produced another 12-33 signal underneath a large branch. Dug down 7 inches and out popped a wormed 3 ringer! My next signal sounded just like the last one and rang in at 12-33 as well. I dug down fully expecting another bullet but was very surprised when a nice deep green Indian popped out of the hole with a date of 1883. The next signal again rang in the 12-33 range and this one was a beautiful and hard to find dropped 54 caliber Confederate Enfield bullet. This was the type that measures 51 with the calipers but is classified as a 54 caliber in the books. A first type bullet find for me. It was beginning to get dark and I was beginning to realize how cold it really was out there. Decided it was time to end the hunt and was heading back to the car when I got a nice deep 12-44 high tone. Couldn't pass that one up so I dug down about 8 inches and pulled out a very worn 1920 Mercury.
What a day! Three silver, four Civil War bullets, an Indian and a Buffalo all found off the beaten path and in the last hour of hunting. Doesn't get much better than that!
I started to head into the woods and right away got a very nice 12-13, dug down 4-5 inches and got a nice no date Buffalo. A very good sign. I walked to the back edge of the woods and then started to run some rows. Just a couple minutes into it, I got a banging 12-45 and not very deep. I kicked the leaves aside, barely sank my digger in the ground and immediately saw a nice 1963D Rosie. I wasn't expecting to find that in the woods! I walked about 15 feet further and again got a sweet 12-45 signal signal. This one was a bit deeper at 6 inches and it turned out to be a 1948D Rosie. I was feeling pretty good as I filled the hole back in and checked it with my coil. Got another signal in the same hole reading 12-33 and showing 8 inches deep. Dug the hole back out again, went down a bit deeper and pulled out a 57 caliber Confederate Enfield bullet! I was shocked to see that come out of the hole and best of all it appeared to have been carved into a game piece by the soldier. I was pretty amazed that the bullet was found directly underneath the silver Rosie. Very cool.
Coin hunting and relic hunting all in one site? I was really loving this. Continuing on just another few feet produced another 12-33 signal underneath a large branch. Dug down 7 inches and out popped a wormed 3 ringer! My next signal sounded just like the last one and rang in at 12-33 as well. I dug down fully expecting another bullet but was very surprised when a nice deep green Indian popped out of the hole with a date of 1883. The next signal again rang in the 12-33 range and this one was a beautiful and hard to find dropped 54 caliber Confederate Enfield bullet. This was the type that measures 51 with the calipers but is classified as a 54 caliber in the books. A first type bullet find for me. It was beginning to get dark and I was beginning to realize how cold it really was out there. Decided it was time to end the hunt and was heading back to the car when I got a nice deep 12-44 high tone. Couldn't pass that one up so I dug down about 8 inches and pulled out a very worn 1920 Mercury.
What a day! Three silver, four Civil War bullets, an Indian and a Buffalo all found off the beaten path and in the last hour of hunting. Doesn't get much better than that!
