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Thread: What Do You HATE To Dig?

  1. #1

    What Do You HATE To Dig?

    It's a complicated question...I REALLY hate digging harmonica parts. They sound really good and are usually deep. You (at least) think you got a nice button. It's complicated though because when I'm at a new site and it's the first thing I dig I'm happy to see them because they date the area as being 1800s....but other than that I HATE THOSE BUGGERS!!!
    What do you hate to see in a hole (other than the normal bottle caps and cans)?
    P.S. rifle cartridges are in the same boat!
    On Instagram- oxshoedrew

  2. #2
    Global Moderator aloldstuff's Avatar
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    Hate to say it but....ox knobs (only cause they sound really, really good). Second on that list would be can slaw or the whole can.
    V3i- Prism IV- Pro Pointer
    2020 GOAL: Any Flowing Hair coin

    TOTAL 100 YEAR OLD COINS - -280
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    Oldest U.S. Copper - 1795 Liberty Cap
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  3. #3
    I've dug alot of tarp eyelets this past year some even look like a ring and I get some excitement till the dirt falls away

  4. #4
    Ox knobs sound like coppers but after the initial disappointment I still like the knobs
    I did forget about the gosh darn tarp eyelets....they sound just like coins!!
    On Instagram- oxshoedrew

  5. #5
    I hate digging clad which is why I don't dig on the beach or in parks. I know that there are very nice and valuable finds to be found in beaches and parks but I just can't dig it. I've mostly hunted woods and fields for my entire detecting career with the occasional old standing home. It's funny but I don't mind digging clad at older homes because I know the good stuff is usually deeper and I need to get it out of the way.
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  6. #6
    Elite Member Digger Don's Avatar
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    MEMORIAL PENNIES
    Oldest Coin: 1699 William III Halfpenny


    20
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    Silver 4
    Indian 3, Buff 1, V Nik 1, Rosie 2, Barber Dime, SLQ 1,

    YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoU...FVGumMQ/videos

  7. #7
    20th century small aluminum livestock ear tags at early colonial sites.
    Oldest find: 5,000 year old copper spearhead
    Oldest coin: 1699 William III halfpenny
    Purdiest coin: 1832 Capped Bust quarter
    Coolest find: USA button with blue threads still on shank

    "He who would search for pearls must dive below."

  8. #8
    Elite Member Bucknut's Avatar
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    I 2nd Cooper with those tarp rings. Especially the ones made of copper as they sound like silver dimes on my Etrac. Always a let down digging them.
    Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
    Favorite finds I have made:
    1,000+ silver coins
    92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
    Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
    125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
    My wife
    (probably should have started with that one)

  9. #9
    Ants
    Oldest Coin: 100-60 BC Gallic bronze coin (Sequani Tribe)
    Oldest Silver Coin: 1156 hammered Pfennig from (now) Bavaria
    Oldest U.S. coin: 1805 Draped Bust Large Cent
    Best Coins EVER: 1625 4 Sols from Kingdom of Chateau Renaud, France
    1662 15 Kreuzers, Leopold I, Austria
    Best Relics: Bronze Age Arrowheads & Spearhead, 2c Roman silver ring, complete medieval knight's spur (x6)
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  10. #10
    Elite Member Digger_O'Dell's Avatar
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    A go along with those tarp eyelets. Also hate what sounds like big silver, chasing it a foot or more deep in hard clay and ring a flattened soda can. Also really hate those beaver tails that ring up exactly like a nickel, and other trash masquerading as good targets.
    And yeah, I'll go along with ants too, plus anything angry that has a stinger
    Equipment:
    Minelab: CTX 3030, GPX 4800, X-Terra 705. Whites TDI SL.

    2023 Silver: 1 Gold: 0

    Best finds: 28 silver dime spill, 1800s Dutch customs seal.
    Oldest/best coins: 1837 Upper Canada large cent, 1877 Seated Dime
    Oldest find: 1800 Sailors Luck token
    You Tube: Rediscovering America

  11. #11
    Yep, there's lots of disappointing stuff to dig...Chris and Dave reminded me of this past fall when I dug into a yellow jacket nest and got the first stings of my metal detecting career. Thankfully I only got four. I left my $75 digger there...luckily the frost came a week later and I retrieved it.
    On Instagram- oxshoedrew

  12. #12
    Administrator del's Avatar
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    Oh ! there are so many things I hate to dig up at 200 year old home sites

    but just to name a few of the really discouraging ones .....


    Lincoln memorials (had one of these this past Sunday in the frozen mud at a 200 year old cabin site )

    A leather harness copper rivet ( these often sound just like coins )

    Metallic hunter tree tacks ( these are tacks with a reflective metal head that hunters push into a tree to mark a trail or use as a yardage marker from their tree stand , but often they fall from the tree and land in the leaves and they sound like a deep great target )

    Wasp or yellow jacket nest ( Oh I've been there done that !)

    Large round rusted iron washers ( these sound just good enough to dig every time that you can't pass up

    Beer can ( These are often shallow and are quite common at old sites as hunters use cellar holes to set up an ambush the deer but occasionally drink to pass the time , just wished they'd pack up their garbage )

    Shotgun shell (also by our hunters)

    And of course the "ye olde ox knob" ( the scourge of cellar sites )
    Last edited by del; 01-23-2018 at 03:38 PM.
    "Honesty is an expensive gift ,
    so don't expect it from cheap people"

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  13. #13
    Green patina shotgun shells (look just like buttons at first), slaw, bullets. These three are my enemies!
    Best finds GW Button and John Adams Cufflink.
    Trust in the Lord...

  14. #14
    Elite Member Digger_O'Dell's Avatar
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    Couple more things the green patina comment reminded me of. One is that old copper flashing, the other are those old copper roofing nails that ring up like dimes. Even found those still embedded in chunks of mortar.
    Don't know if this counts, but I really hate digging for a nickel and eventually finding out it's a high metal stone.
    Equipment:
    Minelab: CTX 3030, GPX 4800, X-Terra 705. Whites TDI SL.

    2023 Silver: 1 Gold: 0

    Best finds: 28 silver dime spill, 1800s Dutch customs seal.
    Oldest/best coins: 1837 Upper Canada large cent, 1877 Seated Dime
    Oldest find: 1800 Sailors Luck token
    You Tube: Rediscovering America

  15. #15
    Veteran Member BTV Digger's Avatar
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    Since I dig similar places that Dan, Drew, Donnie and Jeff do, I'd agree on many of those. But if I had to pick one, my personal nemesis, it would be those slotted brass collar nibs that went to old scythe-like farming tools. I've got like 2 handfuls of those darned things, and they ring up just like an LC (80-84 VDI). Being old they're often deep as well, adding to the foolishness when you work so hard just to see another one.

    John
    Vermont relic hunting, one swing at a time.
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG2...OLib30A/videos

  16. #16
    YES! They all stink! John...I forgot about those things...they really have you believing you have a coin!
    On Instagram- oxshoedrew

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