Farm Hunting 101

[F350Platinum]

I'm down due to a severe shoulder injury, but not out. 😀 I've been thinking a lot about this article for a long time, even teased it a couple of times, I always keep my promises. 

A farm is a complex system, and to my great joy I've found that most detectorists have their "eyes on the prize", the immediate areas around barns, houses, and roadways.

My best finds have come from other parts of a farm, partly because many of the farms I have hunted were previously detected.

I want to share some of my observations over the past 4 years with you. I've also posted two other tutorials, one regarding using the website historicaerials.com and the app OnX Hunt, and another showing how to use the incredible Lidar imaging website from USGS. Here is the link for those:

Probably the most important and first thing I will share is not only to get permission to hunt a farm by interesting the farmer in having you search it, but also to inquire as to the history of the place, and listen. Allowing a farmer to talk at length about the property is one of the top ways to ensure cooperation and the possibility of being able to keep some or all of what you find. If you act hasty, impatient or shady in any way you will be rejected. Scour the Internet prior to and after talking with the farmer so that anything the person says will make sense, but do be careful not to reveal too much of what you know. Promise that you will not be a liability, and that you will not call attention to the farm with any historical authorities.

I'm not an artist so all of my illustrations will be somewhat crude, I apologize for that in advance. 🙄 

Above is an actual aerial photo of a farm from Google Maps, not necessarily one of my permissions. 🤔 

"Turn Zone"

I've noticed that most farmers make one or two passes around the field both when planting or after harvest. This serves as a guide for what I call the "turn zone", this area will be at either end of the direction the field has been sown.

Prior to mechanized farming methods, farmers used large animals to pull the various tools used.

Traditionally a farm will be tilled and sown in the direction that produces the least amount of turns the animals would have to make. At best you will be able to determine this by eye and perhaps using old aerial photos, but sometimes large tracts are farmed in different directions in order to produce different crops at random.

Generally the turn zone will be at the end of the furrows, not along the sides. I have illustrated these zones in red on the aerial photo. Typically most finds will be located in this area about two bush hog or tilling widths (modern equipment) from the edge of the farm. Buttons, tack buckles, and coins can be found in this area in abundance, as not only is it a stress on equipment and clothing turning the animals, it is also a rest area before continuing back in the other direction.

"Rabbit Hunting Zone"

This zone is found usually in the more remote parts of the farm to avoid discharging firearms in the direction of the house and barns. It is illustrated by the orange tick marks along the tree line. Hunters flush out the prey there, and sometimes just fire into the woods, as small prey won't usually be seen in the open.

Coins, buttons and other pocket contents can be found there, as well as a tremendous amount of spent cartridges from various firearms which makes this zone a bit difficult. If you're not up for a lot of signals you can avoid it. There will be a lot of other junk there such as discarded lubricating cans, parts, tools and lots of can slaw.

"Stress Zone"

One might think farms are usually flat, but in my experience they are anything but. Gullies, washouts, and rises from the sublime to the ridiculous abound! An aerial photo doesn't show these anomalies well so I created a crude drawing to illustrate it below. The incline might seem steep but I've seen it often.

Getting farm animals to cooperate going uphill and downhill is no easy task. Therefore, relics get lost in this stressful endeavor at the bottom, middle and top of a rise. Buttons pop, buckles break or fall off with straps, and coins are lost from resting or maintaining tack and tools at the top and bottom of a hill or rise. In addition, relics get washed down to the bottom of the hill by storms.

When searching a hillside, be mindful of shelves or indentations where relics might get trapped.

"Hot Spots"

Old farms were often the center of local activity. Fairs, Markets, Horse racing or riding and local entertainment to name a few. There is often no surface evidence of such activity. There may also be little evidence that a building once stood in the field.

While searching the above zones, it is often good to crisscross the field to see if iron concentrations can be found in open space. The presence of such can well indicate a hot spot where activity occurred, and finding the edges of such a hot spot will allow for a more concentrated search. When concentrated iron is found, simply search in concentric circles or straight lines to find where iron is no longer detected in quantity.

Miscellaneous

Look for washouts, contours where water drains from the field, any evidence of running water during storms. If you search these spots from end to end there will be a high concentration of lighter materials such as aluminum at the lower end, but often heavier objects can be found at the beginning.

The presence of many lead bullets in a particular spot indicates it is the drop point or backstop of projectiles such as one might find at a shooting range. Unless the actual target spot can be located where there is a possibility of finding pocket relics, it is somewhat doubtful that anything but bullets or shot will be found. Flattened bullets in quantity would be an indicator.

Look at topographic maps on historicaerials.com going as far back as you can, they often indicate the presence of roads that have been moved or are no longer in use. Many relics can be found along old roads. Those maps prior to the 1960s will often indicate the location of buildings that no longer exist as well, represented by square dots in the oldest maps, and up to large rectangles in later maps.

Water features on a farm present an extra degree of challenge, particularly waterproof equipment.

Look for really tall trees that appear to have been on the farm for a long time after noon (12PM), these "signal trees" indicate the possibility of a break area from the hot sun. I've found coins and buttons tracing the shade.

I also want to call attention to "dragged" objects that get caught up in the various implements, and items broken by such as well. Dragged items can be found anywhere, and broken items can often be found in straight lines from the piece you have currently discovered. Hunting in an increasing spiral from the object or along the apparent furrow may produce additional pieces.

This is as much as I can think of at the moment, should I think of anything else I'll post it, or if any of you have other suggestions, please post them here. Happy Hunting!

[JCR]

Very well presented information.

[F350Platinum]

14 minutes ago, JCR said:

Very well presented information.

Thanks JCR, a much appreciated reply. 🙂

I'm still a relative newbie to this fascinating hobby, and still love to post finds, but this forum is first and foremost a great reference to metal detecting, and when an idea comes together I like to post it as soon as I can. I've got nothing but time now 🙄

I hope that my simplified tutorials will help those who want to get the most out of detecting, it's way more than spending big bucks on a machine.

[Valens Legacy]

Very well written article and thanks for giving us some of your knowledge for rural farms.

I think that you forgot to inform some people that you first have to get away from the big cities and get out to the country to find a farm. I know several people that think the country is actually a big park.

Great article and looking for more to read from you.

Take care and wish you a speedy recovery.

[F350Platinum]

5 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Very well written article and thanks for giving us some of your knowledge for rural farms.

I think that you forgot to inform some people that you first have to get away from the big cities and get out to the country to find a farm. I know several people that think the country is actually a big park.

Great article and looking for more to read from you.

Take care and wish you a speedy recovery.

Thanks very much and haha, VL. 🤣

Worse, there are those that think that big ol' park is theirs. 🤔

I grew up in cities, but always managed to find the neglected woodsy areas that held mysterious antiquities. As I got older I realized that microcosms are not a center of reality, the reality of them is that they are a very dangerous lens with which to view the world. A font of group-think and rule of minority. I went rural in the 90s and did not look back.

I have been very fortunate to see some of the world, from Europe in the military to Mayan temples with my wife, and choose people with very open minds to associate with. 😏 Were it that I could travel far and wide and learn still more on this fixed income... 🙄

I think it is time in my life for yet another change, leaving risky behavior to the younger set and focusing more on history's great contributions. 😀 Heck, if could find a decent illustrator along the way I might write a book on metal detecting and learning from history to not repeat mistakes of the past. A compilation of discovering our past and thoughts on how the future could look if we would seek and embrace history instead of letting it rot in the ground... 🤔

But right now I need to overcome this setback so I can get started 😅 I dread being told my days are shortened.

[Hershey Jeff]

Thanks for posting this. Some of it I knew from my own experience. Some of it I didn’t. This will help next time I get out into a big field!

[F350Platinum]

Thanks Jeff, glad my article helped ya. 🙂

Most of my hunting is on old colonial farms, I go to beaches in the summer when they're planted. Got a hundred acres or so right out my front door I've practically hunted out, and quite a few hundred overall.

I get to detect often, and since I'm probably a master of generalization, I notice patterns where I find stuff. Thought I'd share the observations.

[rvpopeye]

That's a great batch of clues 350 , thanks for sharing them !

You've mentioned some in finds posts but great to see it all in one place with illustrations on top !  A nice little tutorial . 

You should write a book , many here have . But there still isn't exactly a huge library to pick from for people trying to learn more about these things we do.

It might even make a good YT vid if you find that less daunting ?

 

So you fell , but you COULD get up !! (👍 👍 two of these ) 

When we get old if you fall , it usually breaks something or at least messes you up somehow !   I can add it still can happen when you're much younger , you just have to try hard enough 😜 BTDT to all of the above. 

Old friends are hard to find.  Making it to senior status isn't guaranteed and the warranty is getting kinda sketchy but some of us actually get there. Just need to adjust things in the direction of causing less pain.....

 Take care of that shoulder and then get back out there ya lazy dirt pirate ! 

🏴‍☠️ arrrrrr      We're all rootin' for ya matey ! 

 

[F350Platinum]

52 minutes ago, rvpopeye said:

That's a great batch of clues 350 , thanks for sharing them !

You've mentioned some in finds posts but great to see it all in one place with illustrations on top !  A nice little tutorial . 

You should write a book , many here have . But there still isn't exactly a huge library to pick from for people trying to learn more about these things we do.

It might even make a good YT vid if you find that less daunting ?

Thanks RVP,

I've been toying with the idea of writing a book, first I want to gain enough experience that I'm satisfied with it, and then I want to be able to refer back to some of my posts to see if I'm interested in what I've written. 😀

Being an IT guy since the early 80s, I've had plenty of opportunities and attempts to make and edit videos, and my conclusion is I'd rather be covered with tuna and thrown in a room full of cats 😹 I dislike the sound of my voice and appearance on video, and despise the hours it takes to edit.

I do like to write, and have won awards and praise in the past. 🤔 I also know that illustrations break up the monotony of TL:DR 😀 no matter how cheesy. 🤣

Of all the different detecting I've done, I have to rob Green Acres and say that "farm detecting is the life for me"  - hope that doesn't cause an earworm. 😀

I appreciate the well wishes my friend, and hope that the orthopedic specialist i'm going to see next Monday gives me a fair prognosis. 🤞 🏴‍☠️ I am indeed going to have second thoughts about anything other than detecting pain... 🤣

[rvpopeye]

Wishing you some good news on Monday 

I loved Green Acres . Fred and Arnold , Ralph and Alf ...Mr Fred .LOL 

But mostly for the massive harmonica sound !    

Permanent ear worm ?  Mention one of the songs I had to do 1000 times.