When I first started in finding Civil War items I neglected to mark the locations of my finds using a GPS. I thought I would always remember the locations where they all came from. At first it worked fine and I could tell you exactly where each item came from even the location on Google Earth. Over time the memory fades and land changes. I can show you the exact location where found my first bullet. The landscape hasn't changed and it is burned into my memory. I can also show you where the last few items came from because these are fresh in my mind and the ground is still disturbed there. Other than that I may be able to show the area a few items come from but other than that I would be lost. Next I tried just using a blown up print out of the area and marking the locations on it and what the item was. This was cool at first especially in an area that doesn't change. It paints a great picture but it is still not perfect. Then came the time I would plug each item and then write it down in a log book to keep track of them all. Great records but doesn't paint a very good picture unless it is entered int Google Earth or the likes to see where you found them at. Right now I am in the process of taking a basic GPS and entering each coordinate into it. This will be what I use to see where each item came from when I am out in the field. This will paint a picture of the layout of the camp or battle site. The basic GPS will hold up to 1000 way points so the average person will more than likely never fill it up with finds. I still plan on using the blown up print outs and writing down the coordinates but the fresh GPS with nothing but item coordinates on it will help me when I get out to sites and need to know where other items came from. It doesn't take very long to log the information after each hunt. A basic GPS is fairly cheap at around $80.00. To me this is cheap because of the information it will provide and will save me time trying to guess where I had found items before. I wish I would have started this from the beginning.
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GPS Your Finds!
- Thread starter CampCache
- Start date
Cajuncoinhunter
Moderator
This is a Good idea which can add to the bigger picture when trying to determine new sites.