Too Much Going On!

Sorry I've been slack with blogging lately. With everything going on with my Grandmother I've been a bit preoccupied. Jennifer and the baby travelled to Charleston Thursday night for a continuing education class she had and they are staying with her Meme Love. I'm planning on swinging the detector in McPhersonville today along with scouting for antler sheds. I'll report out this evening.

Also, I'm reading a new book by H. David Stone, Jr., a physician out of Florence, SC. The book is called Vital Rails, written about the Charleston & Savannah Railroad and the Civil War in Coastal South Carolina. This is a fascinating book about the areas that I have been relic hunting. It's a good read for local history.

Thanks for all the prayers for my grandmother-she seems to be doing a bit better and will hopefully be discharged soon.

Take care-

brad

First Confederate Relic!!!

I got a call earlier in the week from Jack McGill, a fellow relic hunter and good friend of my father-in-law, Phil Amsler. He and I have relic hunted a few times in the past, and we ususally get together at some point in January or February for a few hours of detecting every year. Jack asked me to join him this weekend for some good old fashioned relic hunting, and of course, I obliged! We had prepared to search several sites, but due to the cold weather (30 degrees), we decided to stay close to Jack's home on Lady's Island in Beaufort and search a Yankee camp site that Jack had recieved the landowner's permission to hunt. We have hunted there several times throughout the years and I have always found a few campsite relics, but never anything too substantial.

Anyway, we got started late due to the weather, and began swinging our detectors around 11am or so. I searched for a good hour without much activity, when BAM! A good signal, and once I dug it out, there I had it: my first button of any kind, a fully intact Eagle Coat button! A few minutes later, I had dug a couple of roundball bullets. Before lunch I had dug several other camp related artifacts and one nice .69 caliber Minnie Ball bullet, but no other buttons. Jack had located an Eagle button as well. Unfortunately for me, I forgot my shovel at home, so I had to borrow one of Jack's old ones. And wouldn't you know it, it broke! It's hard to dig without a shovel!

We took off for lunch(and to purchase another shovel for yours truly!), and after all that I only had time for about 45 more minutes of digging before I had to get back home. Well I started digging and got a great little signal. I dug out the hole and couldn't find anything. For about five minutes, I searched that little pactch of dirt, kept getting a signal but couldn't find the target. I kept sifting the dirt, and was just about to move on, when I noticed the target: a small button that had fallen through the dirt pile into the grass. I grabbed it, cleaned it off, and then realized what I had just found: in the middle of a Yankee Campsite, I had just found a Confederate South Carolina uniform cuff button! It is in almost perfect dug condition, has a good amount of Gilt left, and is fully intact! Jack was beside himself, and so was I. This was an incredible find, and in a Yankee camp of all places! It just goes to show you you never know where you will find a true treasure! This was by far my best relic hunting effort to date!

Good Looking Relics: Roundball bullets, .69 Cal Minnie Ball Bullet, two buttons

Union Eagle Coat Button

South Carolina Confederate Cuff Button

Relic Hunting

Well now that Deer season in SC and College Football is over, I've been spending more time around the house playing with Anderson and completing a few "honey-dos." However, I was able to sneak out of the house for a few hours last weekend to do a little relic hunting.


For those that don't know, I am kind of a closet history buff and really enjoy Civil War and early American History, especially when it pertains to the South. When I was a kid, I really loved learning and reading about archeology...so this may be a way of fulfilling a childhood fantasy, I don't know. I do know, however, that there is something really exciting about finding a piece of history in the ground that hasn't been touched in hundreds of years. Fortunately, I live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where there are numerous places to hunt. There is so much history here, and it's a really great way to enjoy the outdoors this time of the year.



As for my new finds, I recently searched a "hunted out" Yankee Civil War Camp on Lady's Island in Beaufort, SC. Even though this place has been hunted many times in the past, I always seem to find a few relics. In about two hours I found a dropped .58 Cal "Minnie Ball" Bullet, a piece of burned "camp lead," and a brass rivet that was used as a sword belt placeholder. Nothing to retire on, but a few nice finds notheless. I tried to think about those Yankees that were here based out of that camp in the early 1860's, that I'm sure had never been to this part of the deep south before. Remember that they were here for 5 years without air conditioning, bug spray, or bridges, among other necessities of lowcountry living today! I bet they loved the mosquitos and sand gnats! Wonder where the guy was from that dropped that bullet, or the guy that lost the placeholder out of his belt?


Another place I hunted recently was around McPhersonville, SC, a former thriving Summertime Southern Village for coastal plantation owners in the 18th and 19th century. There was a battle here during the revolutionary war, and McPhersonville was the headquarters of the Confederate third military district of SC during the Civil War. I went to hunt an area that I have under lease for deer and turkey hunting, but due to the historical activity in this area, I knew that it was possible to find some old relics. Problem is, I have no clue where anything of significance was on the property...as now it's all grown up in fairly thick swamps and pines. I did search around a few old Magnolia trees that were an indication of an old house site. I really didn't find much of substance (old nails, aluminum caps and pop tops, iron, etc.). I did make one nice find, though. I found a brass piece with two holes in it. It is very ornate and perhaps was used as a nameplate or decoration for some type of furniture or other piece. I really have no idea of it's use or what it was, but it is definitely from the late 1700's through the 1870's or so. I'd appreciate any thoughts on what it could be!

Recent Finds: Brass Sword Belt Plcaeholder, dropped .58 cal Minnie Ball Bullet, camp lead, Brass Ornate Piece

I also want to make sure that folks interested in relic hunting or lowcountry history check out Richard Walker's new book, Relics and Reminiscing. This is a great work detailing Richard's 30 plus years of relic hunting, primarily in the Lowcountry. He has made some great finds and is a really neat South Carolinian. Thanks for a very entertaining book, Richard!

Deer Hunting Season Wrap-Up!

Well, it's over! All the work over the summer with planting food plots, endless scouting in the woods braving snakes, ticks, sand gnats, and mosquitos, providing supplemental feeding, and installing stands has hopefully paid off in the form of a nice mount of that beautiful wall hanger, or at a minimum, hopefully a freezer full of delicious and healthy vension to enjoy over the coming year!

For me, it was a crazy year. Our first child, Anderson, our son named after my grandfather, was born Opening Day of the South Carolina Deer Season, 8/15/2008. We were overjoyed and overwhelmed at the same time! The birth of your child is truly one of the most incredible events you can ever imagine! Regarding hunting season, this wonderful and incredible event impacted my ability to hunt compared to previous seasons, but due to the fact that I have a wonderful and understanding wife, I was able to hunt more than perhaps any new dad I know! However, I just keep telling her that it won't be long until he will be tagging along with me to the woods, leaving her to enjoy some peace and quiet around the house!

Anderson and his Daddy

As for my season, it was fairly successful overall. I was able to successfully harvest 3 out of 4 deer I killed this year, two antlerless deer and a nice 7 pt. The nice 7 pt was taken at Richfield Plantation, which is where I personally hunted this year under a lease arrangement. I killed a doe at Richfield as well, but unfortunately was not able to recover the deer. It's a part of hunting, and I guess has happened to most at some point, but anytime you kill an animal, I believe you owe it the respect of harvesting. Unfortunately the coyotes found the deer and left little but the bones by the time I found it! I also missed two very nice bucks out of the same stand I killed the 7 pt during the first two weeks of the season! I think that was God's way of telling me to get back home to my wife and little one!

Nice 7 pt Hampton County, SC Buck taken December 14, 2008

The most enjoyable part about this year was everything that I learned. I believe I became a better hunter this year and had a fun experience, which should be the goal each and every year. This is the main fundamental that I will teach Anderson once he is old enough to join me in the woods, along with safety, of course!

I became much better at scouting, identifying rubs, scrapes, trails, bedding areas, etc. I was able to use my trail cams to my advantage, which is what led me to taking the nice 7 pt. I scouted that particular stand location using arial maps, and then evaluating oak trees, acorns, trails, old rubs, and finding a few sheds led me to set up in that area. I also learned more about deer movement and interaction, seeing almost 70 deer in the field over the course of the season. It's always enjoyable to see the does and small bucks interacting. Although Jennifer probably wouldn't agree, I believe I gained more patience this year as well!

I learned that no matter how confident you are, never, ever, shoot the "lone" doe in the field, especially late, and even more so when you are on an invited hunt! That only can result in the taking of a Button Buck, which is, again, part of hunting, but something no hunter wants to have on his or her record. After years of hunting, I finally made the mistake of shooting a Button Buck for a doe. I was distraught over this for a good while, but finally realized that it happens to everyone. The important thing is, I learned a valuable lesson.

Over the past few months I was also able to enjoy several new hunting locations and met numerous folks I now consider friends and hunting companions. I was able to hunt at Richfield Plantation with Melvin and Gregory Lane, Billy Herndon, and Jerrald Martin. I was also invited on a few hunts at Roebuck Plantation in Robertville, SC, owned by Wise Batten. It was here that I met Mike Casstevens and Brian Carmines, both skilled woodsmen and fine folks. And Wise is as pleasant and kind a gentleman as you will meet.

I was able to take several folks hunting with me at Richfield, including Brian Weatherby, Evan Jeffords, Jack McGill, Brian Miller, Jon Bush, and was able to take Charlie Sprietsma, my future brother-in-law, on his first two deer hunts ever. Next year, I will make sure Charlie gets a chance at a nice one!

While it was nice to meet new friends and hunt new places, I also was sad to leave a place I had essentially cut my teeth deer hunting, and also the location of my best kill to date, a 198 lb 10 pt, Givings Neck Hunt Club off Black River in Georgetown County, SC. I missed my friends and "adopted" hunting family from Andrews, SC, the Blakelys and the Taylors from Mt. Pleasant, SC. Hunting season wasn't the same without those Wednesday night and Weekend after-hunting Pirleaus or Mustard Fried Venison dinners. However, Kevin Blakely was kind enough to share with me his monster buck taken at Blakely Farms in Andrews, SC this year. What a deer-congrats Kevin!

Kevin Blakely, Blakely Farms, Williamsburg Co, SC

All in all, I saw 68 deer, 19 bucks and 49 does. I averaged seeing deer a little over 50% of the time I was afield, which is very good. Our deer population in the lowcountry is thriving, folks!

I hope that everyone had a great season and enjoyed time out in God's great outdoors. For me, it's now time for spending time with the baby, maybe a little relic hunting, and scouting for the upcoming Turkey Season, which opens up March 15 for us down here in the Lowcountry. Happy New Year to All!