Newbie from central MA

Howdy,

Sam here. I am new to detecting although I have already spent about 30 hours with my machine learning the ins and outs. You Tube is great!

A bit of history, I have always been intrigued by detecting, not for the expectation of riches but the thrill of discovery. While I would not shun a treasure trove;), I am completely transfixed by finding relics and everyday things long lost. I was admittedly one of those guys in my younger days who poked fun at the guys doing detecting while we were at the beach goofing around, but secretly wanting to try it even then. I am finally at a point in my life where I could give a damn about what other people think while doing something harmless that one enjoys.

What got me here is that one day last year I was hunting pheasant with my dog Cooper on the 150+ acres site of our gun club and Coop came upon a stone wall that looked a bit better than the usual stacked stones you trip over throughout New England. It was almost completely overgrown and we followed it for about a 100 yards and it lead to 3 completely sunken and overgrown foundations with the remnants of a primitive chimney sticking out of one of them. When I asked older members of the club about them, they thought the were old homesteads from the late 17/early 1800's as the club grounds was at one time part of a large farm. The town was incorporated in 1738 so that makes sense. I was given permission to explore and so here we go.
Went out and bought an AT Pro and when I feel comfortable enough with it and the bugs are mostly gone, I will work the site with Cooper. Do any of you guys have any tips as to how to approach working a site like that? Do I pay attention to the walls surrounding the property or to the foundations mostly? The site is rocky so I suspect that ground balancing will have to be a regular part of the routine but is there a way to work a site that makes more sense than just a "cover it all" approach?

Anyway, I look forward to getting to know some of you and perhaps meeting any of you that are out toward central MA. Thanks for the opportunity and thanks in advance for any help or advice bestowed on this convert.

Sam

Welcome from Illinois! :waving:

We're glad you joined the forum, Sam! The AT Pro is a capable machine, and hopefully one of our veteran cellar hole hunters can help you with your questions. It sounds like you have a dream site to hunt there!

Best of luck and be sure to keep us updated on your progress. :yes:

Welcome from Westfield MA. The AT Pro is a great machine and I have seen some great finds posted here by members using that machine. You've come to the right place for information about cellar hole hunting as we have what I would call "experts". Just check out the Relic section. Looking forward to your future posts and good luck.

Oh and by the way, my 1st official find was my girl's earring she lost on the trap range Sunday! The thank you I got at home was worth the price of the ATP already! :groovy:

Hello and welcome to the forum Sam . the best times to hit old cellar holes are in the late fall and early spring as all the leaves , ferns and bugs have died down to make it very enjoyable to be out in them woods. there are some very accomplished cellar hole detectorists ( relic hunters) here who can give you great advice (just ask). The best scenario I recommend to somebody new getting into this type of detecting is ask or invite a veteran to meet you for a hunt and show you some of the things to look for. he gets to detect a new site and you get a personal instructor or tutor for the day . Because answering some of your questions over the forum is great but some things can't be shown or told better then really detecting out in the field with someone who's proficient at it to show you. Most of these guys on here i know or have personally detected with and some have a great ethics or "code" about their or other's sites , so if you invited them to your site they are a guest and as a guest they would not sneak back to your site and detect it unless they were invited back. hope that made some sense Sam and glad you joined up here.

Dan

Welcome aboard Sam from western MA. I remember you making fun of me at the beach :eyebrow:........ :lol: Those cellar holes will do you well.

Welcome Sam. Sounds like you have a heckuva good start with some holes of your own to train on. May they be of the virgin variety.

No shortage of good folk on the site in the area that will be glad to join you. I'm new as well (less than 3 months) and had the chance to meet and detect with a few of these guys already due to generous invites. Even dug a few cool things.

Everyday things lost are going to be where people are every day, seems logical. Look at the site and the layout. Where would people walk? One foundation may look different than another. House or barn? Hit those first and the foot traffic areas, but you can and will find stuff everywhere. So eventually you'll cover it all. And of course work the walls, and whatever road led to those holes.

Good luck and post pics!

Thanks Guys, I look forward the fall! Good time for mushrooming too! I welcome the chance to try it out under experienced supervision so if anyone of you is doing some detecting near Worcester or not too far off and could stand some newbie company please let me know.

Sam

Welcome to the forum from Northern Illinois. Glad to have you aboard.

Welcome Sam, del summed it up very well. If you hadn't noticed the hunting buddies section, check it out. You can post on there if your looking for someone or many people to hunt with. You may be surprised how far many are willing to travel. Good luck and happy hunting. :thumbsup01:

Hello and welcome from Washington state. I've got the AT Pro and like it a lot.

Welcome and best of luck. Safe & HH

Seems like you have much of the battle completed, we share the real estate adage "location,location,location." We're all willing to help you in any way. Welcome!

Attachment 41660Finally figured out how to post this photo of my 1st piece of silver!

Another welcome from Western MA:beerbuddy: