Epic Hunt That Almost Wasn't

[Chase Goldman]

If you've been keeping up with my detecting buddy, Bob (@F350Platinum) lately, you can see that he has been busy hitting some new Virginia Northern Neck permissions this winter and finding some spectacular stuff.  Bob not only finds relics and coins on his outings, he also always seems to walk away with several hundred acres of new permissions when he chats up the landowners.  His integrity and reputation for respecting others's land while pursuing his relic detecting passion precedes him (word gets around in this tight knit but distributed community - the Northern Neck is a Virginia peninusla bounded by the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers - we are talking 5 counties, 5 million acres, and over a thousand miles of shoreline).  The landowners not only nearly always say yes to a permission request from Bob but they also give him their knowledge of the historic background of their properties.  Your're either in or out.  There are no shades of gray and no tolerance for bending the rules of engagement (trespassing, leaving craters, etc.)  You blow it at one permission, and you are likely toast elsewhere.  Bob knows how to ask and how to behave and has become an expert researcher as well as a damn good detectorist in a relatively short period of time.  It is impressive to see how far he has come in the last few years since he stepped into his back yard with his Garrett Ace 400, dug some spanish silver and flat buttons with ease (not realizing how fortunate he was to basically live in a relic detecting nirvana).  I passed on my Virginia relic detecting knowledge and knowledge of detectors as I could after striking up a friendship on this site and we have been digging together ever since.  He has the advantage of being retired and getting out frequently and I was able to only come down occasionally because of work and the long drive.  That changed when I retired at the end of last year and have been able to get down there 4 or so times since the beginning of 2023.  Regardless, the student has surpassed the teacher and Bob let's me tag along on his permissions, researches and scouts the sites, and provides the end of hunt caffeine fix so I can make it home in one piece.  All I have to do is show up and dig and I can only thank Bob for his generosity, friendship, and the opportunity to dig.   It's 4 hours round trip driving so I only get a few hours of daylight to make it happen, but there is something about digging therapy that makes the long drives tolerable.

I was excited about our planned meetup on Monday because it was a new permission at a site with some known history that we had been eyeing for months.  However, it almost did not happen on my end.  I lost an important item over the weekend (discovered it Monday morning as I was getting ready to head out to Bob's) and had to wait until the offices opened up on Monday morning to retrieve it.  I thought I would have to scrub the trip because I lost a couple hours dealing with the lost and found thing.  Anyway, I decided to make the trip anyway, even if it meant minimal digging, and managed to get there just after lunch.  Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong about the minimal digging part.  Little did I know, it was going to be "one of those days" where just about everything went well such that I didn't even mind digging the junk.

Bob was already there trying to scope out possible hot spots and graciously taking his time making his way to the "prize" - the farmhouse cellar hole and still standing barn and other farm out buildings.  The landowner reiterated that the site had been hit hard previously but that was several years ago, I we know we had the Deus 2 advantage with its speed and reactivity and ability to unmask in iron infested environments.  Swinging away as I made the quarter mile trek to where Bob was swinging in the middle of the harvested soybeans, a lucky omen.  The first target I dug on the new site was a silver '35 Merc.  This was a great sign.   It was either all going to be gravy or that was going to be my best find of the day.  Either way, I felt at that moment I made the right decision to make the trip down.

Caught up with Bob, we surveyed the field which had plenty of shotgun head stamps that sounded great.  He arranged for us to be able to detect the grounds around the buildings and not just the farm fields, which was an amazing coup.  We get to the cellar hole area, he digs a BIG dandy button and a few minutes later I score an 1838 Largie.  We high five after those finds and wondered aloud how previous diggers could have left these big targets.  To be fair, they were in machine gun iron or old flower beds.  But still...   Turns out, it was not all rainbows and unicorns.  The site was had lots of modern trash consistent with a working farm and LOTS of iron.  Still managed to eek out a couple more keepers around the building and surrounding fields. On the way back, I scored a 17th or 18th century brass pipe tobacco tamper which was comprised of a hand grasping a scroll - apparently, common Colonial and early American era symbolism.

Summing up, I scored the merc and the Largie in amazing shape for being in the ground for likely some 180 years or so.  Four flat buttons including a large dandy with a circular design, a tombac, and couple other non-descript flats, an antique brass signet type ring with a missing stone and stamped 18K (was probably gold plated), a musket ball, some miscellaneous pieces of brass and lead, a wheatie, and finally, the pipe tamper which I thought was going to be another shotgun head stamp but dug anyway out of general principle - even though I was exhausted at that point.   Dug a LOT of junk too.  Mostly called it as either falsing big iron or aluminum strips but dug anyway to make sure because we came across a lot of multiple target situations.  I pulled two nails out of the hole where I pulled the ring which was hiding under a big root.  Saved some non-corroded old cut square nails from the cellar hole which apparently had been annealed in the kitchen hearth (which makes them corrosion resistant but also too soft to be re-used).

I started out with the Deus 2 stock relic program with IAR at 5 and simply adjusted reactivity and sensitivity as necessary for the conditions (sensitivity 90+ and reactivity at 1 in the open field, lowered sensitivity into the 80's and increased reactivity to 2.5 in the machine gun iron).  Worked great and decided to stick with it for the entire hunt.  Also switched between the 11" coil for the field and the 9" for the grounds where target density was insane.

 

 

Read more about this hunt from Bob here.

[JCR]

As a pipe smoker, I really appreciate the tamper. I’m still hoping for a Large Cent. Very nice.

[NCtoad]

Hell yeah Chase!   Those are some awesome finds for an abbreviated hunt.   Actually those are some awesome finds for an all day hunt too! Lol.  If I’d have found that pipe tamper I’d still be scratching my head trying to figure out what it is.  Thanks for posting!

[Chase Goldman]

14 minutes ago, NCtoad said:

If I’d have found that pipe tamper I’d still be scratching my head trying to figure out what it is.

Thanks.  Had to do some post hunt research.  Bob and I were scratching our heads on it when it came out of the ground.

[F350Platinum]

Congratulations on absolutely killing it, and for the kind words about me. 🙂 I have a lot to learn still, and am grateful to have a person/friend close enough with as much knowledge as you. Guess I'm lucky that way too! 😀

I'm out of likes, but will get back to some of the comments.

As we've seen, the Deus is an incredible machine, and with skill, fiddling and patience you can really make it even more incredible. The only luck involved is getting both a place to use it, and getting your coil over the good stuff. It is not only the lightest detector to use making it a great machine for the retired 😉 but it is also the most configurable by far IMO. You can literally make it like any other SMF detector out there if you want, and if you're used to other XP models you can have that too. Updates will only make it phenomenal.

It's both a blessing and a curse for some, but the more I use it, only a blessing for me. 'nuff said 😎

You really searched that place well, I could see the Culpeper and PA (and others) experience in how you handled it. 👍I got what I hit, and going over where you were showed me you did the same 😀 we were on equal ground and you showed your experience. I'm humbly aware I saw you at your best!

It's gonna be even more of a challenge the next time, but there is a lot more there for sure. We'll have to wait for next year for the other half, but it will be worth it. That and actually going straight to the objective instead of circling it 🤣

I'm all about experience, emulation and assimilation. Lots more to come. 👍 Thanks for coming down!

[CPT_GhostLight]

Incredible finds, Chase! You guys are killing it those fields and proving that those who went before didn't get it all. Well done indeed!

[jim tn]

Pretty stellar hunt for almost not happening. Good on you for hanging in there. HH jim tn

[Valens Legacy]

When you both hit a farm to hunt you both always kill it.

Great finds as always from that hunt and I hope you more luck on your next.

As always stay safe out there.

[strick]

That large cent is in great shape. Throw the ring in the tumbler for a couple hours and you may get a surprise. Nice hunt fellas. 

Strick

[rvpopeye]

Well done on all aspects of that hunt !👍

🖖