Cellar hole lotta nothing - 5/22-5/23

[Trooper Bri]

Been a long time since I've wandered in the woods. Couldn't have asked for two better days for it even if I took a beating. Breezy, mid-60's, and no humidity!

Friday I met up with a few friends to check out a hole on their hunting club property in Suffield, and Lee joined us. They thought it was a barn hole with a well nearby, but it was way too small for a barn. Cellar hole. It had been used as a dump unfortunately, so Lee and I wandered about while those guys poked around for bottles, etc.
There were a bunch of old trees in the area, including these two monsters near the cellar hole (that's Lee just walking past them). There were no walls around the site, but at one point there had been one between those two trees. Any ideas why that would have been done?





Then yesterday I met up with 4 people from Facebook to check out some cellar holes one of the guys had found over the winter. Turns out it was the old Crow Hill Rd from Stafford into Mass. Plenty of holes to check out, all of them beat to death. Finds between all of us were meager. A few buttons I think. It was still a great day in the woods wandering and having some laughs.



On Friday Lee managed a few small iron tack buckles, and pieces of a larger brass buckle (tack). I got a plated spoon near the hole, and my other find looked like a plain watch winder at first, but isn't. No idea what it is. Any ideas?
And my only notable find yesterday is a piece of broken tombac button I believe. It was giving me a whopping 6-8 VDI @ 6 inches or so. Oh well, beats a sharp stick in the eye. Hoping next week treats me better.

[Tony Two-Cent]

Awesome pictures, Brian! Those trees are huge! (And old!)

The watch winder looks like it may have been gold plated?

[Trooper Bri]

Is it a watch winder Tony? I can't tell if there had been a shape to key into the watch with. The long post just looks round.

[Tony Two-Cent]

Is it a watch winder Tony? I can't tell if there had been a shape to key into the watch with. The long post just looks round.

I am almost certain that it is a watch winder. Sometimes the winder stem is hollow and and the "shape" is on the inside of the stem. Or maybe it's just worn so much that it looks round?

[Trooper Bri]

You're right Tony, it's a watch winder. Got my eye loop out, the short post is hollow. Just hard packed with dirt and fooled me. I cleared it with a small pick. Cool!

[OxShoeDrew]

Nice winder Brian...I love those large trees in the woods. Something was going on there.

[del]

I remember hitting them sites about 12 to 15 years ago then again about 7 or 8 years ago and they were pretty spent way back then . Be sides the 4 or 5 that you found there are a couple more that are a bit harder to locate ( further from the roads or just cabin sites) . there are still things there to find but they are probably either masked by the iron or further away from the holes .

[MangoAve]

I remember hitting them sites about 12 to 15 years ago then again about 7 or 8 years ago and they were pretty spent way back then . Be sides the 4 or 5 that you found there are a couple more that are a bit harder to locate ( further from the roads or just cabin sites) . there are still things there to find but they are probably either masked by the iron or further away from the holes .

See how hard it is to find untouched sites. You had Dan to clear it out before you get to it. lol. Nice winder tho. I'm always finding those monster trees in the woods. The growth is getting bad now. Time to purchase a machete as one of the last sites I was at I couldn't even get near the edge of the cellar. As far as the walls, prob the same as cellars with the stones removed. Somewhat of a commodity back then. With the bunch of holes I hit Sat, I was trying to find a spot I guessed no one would have went to before. My GPS on the phone should be accurate enough, but it didn't make sense were I was in comparison. The hole was on the wrong corner of the fork for what was on the GPS vs the old map. When I was just walking tho, I had a stretch of maybe 200 ft of stone wall then it just ends. No corner, no reason. Prob at the far reaches of a property line where it's somewhat mountainous and not a field they didn't put the effort into lining the entire edge.

[Bell-Two]

Nice that you got out, as long as you get the chance to detect that is a victory.

[aloldstuff]

Brian, it is so tough to find that cellar hole, you know....the virgin one. Very nice watch winder though.

[BTV Digger]

Nice watch winder Brian. When hunting those cellar holes, keep your expectations modest so when you do find something (and typically we all find a few keepers) it's a nice surprise. At least that's what I do since I have to imagine 90+% of all sites have had a MD on them at some point in the past 40 years.

John

[GA1dad]

Watched the video,,,, alway appreciate those who spend the time and effort to film hunts. Looked like a fine time with friends.