I know that most of you guys are in the West and Southwest but a farm is a farm. I am brand new at detecting this will be my first outing. This farm has never been detected and is located in Northern Wisconsin. I also will have a chance to detect at an old summer resort in the Brainerd Minnesota area. Same thing not detected before. Question is: what areas should I concentrate on first? I will be using a Whites MXT.

Thanks

Steve Victor

Hi Steve,

Sounds like a couple of spots with great potential!

I've never hunted a farmsite with a detector, but I have prowled around some for bottle digging sites many years ago.

I would try front and back porch areas if there is still a home or homesite. If your talking early 1900s you might try and figure out where a clothesline might have been. Some folks here have had great luck hunting under old clotheslines at sites dating to the 20s and 30s.

At the resort any picnic area, swimming hole, campfire area. PLaces where people would be sitting, dancing, etc. in large groups. If there was a swimming hole beach, anywhere in and out of the water could be good.

Was there a dance pavillion or dining hall? Shooting range, horseshoe pits, stables, laundry or other outbuilding might be worth checking around. What era was this resort operating?

If your in an area old enough where pulltabs and other modern aluminium junk is not common, keep in mind Indian Head pennies and older silver coins can sound like modern zinc pennies and pulltabs. Gold coins can also ring in at pulltab level. Tokens can sound like zinc pennies. So, if you can take the time, dig every signal. If you get lots of pulltabs then maybe you can skip those, but keep in mind you might miss a small piece of gold jewelry or a gold coin that woul dalso sound like a pulltab. Its unfair but a cross we have to bare, pulltabs and small gold objects sounding similiar. :rolleyes:

Good luck, let us know what you turn up!

Gary

If it has never been detected I suggest you work in the All-Metal mode and dig everything, if you're not up for so much work then at least just discriminate the Iron, you'll want to dig up the non-ferrous targets, trust me.

Don't forget inside the chicken coup and the barn! Lots of stuff buried on purpose in those areas. B)

If the home had an outhouse or a well the paths from the house to these seen alot of traffic and always a good place to look also if old enough,any place a person might have regularly got on or off a horse or buggy.Around shade trees in the yard,and under the porch.