Does anyone have any tips for finding shells?

[Mover76]

I'm a newish relic hunter (two years), and have come to find I really like shells, and have purchased one or two from shows and have some books. I was talking to some older relic hunters and it seems they have some methods for finding shells, but I have not gotten the chance to speak to them directly as of yet. Is anyone willing to share any useful information? Thank you

 

[RaggedAssSecond]

@Mover76 are you a member of the North Georgia Relic Hunters Association?

While you are located in Georgia, you might consider developing contacts with members of the Northern Virginia Relic Hunters Association.

 

[ThatDixieGuy]

One of the oldest is The North Georgia Relic Hunters Association out of Marietta

 

[Joe Whitworth]

Locate an artillery impact area or firing position and start digging iron signals is the best advice I can give. I've only dug fragments

 

[121st PA Vols]

I'm a newish relic hunter (two years), and have come to find I really like shells, and have purchased one or two from shows and have some books. I was talking to some older relic hunters and it seems they have some methods for finding shells, but I have not gotten the chance to speak to them directly as of yet. Is anyone willing to share any useful information? Thank you

Find out where a major artillery action occurred, eg....the rear of the Northern battle line along Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg Day 3 for overshoots. Then get permission from the landowner being careful not to stray onto Federal lands. Big fine. So, know your battle(s)!
For other relics, know where the armies struck camp on the routes to or from a battle. Many of these sites are well overlooked.

 

[UCVRelics]

I was talking to some older relic hunters and it seems they have some methods for finding shells

I have found many in my 50 plus years of digging and I also talked to older relic hunters back in the day and the one tip from Dickey that helped me find shells is over shots.

 

[Mover76]

I have found many in my 50 plus years of digging and I also talked to older relic hunters back in the day and the one tip from Dickey that helped me find shells is over shots.

that seems to be what I have heard the most, trying to figure overshoots out is the tough part. I know a rifle and smoothbore are going to have separate overshoots.

 

[alan polk]

I'm a newish relic hunter (two years), and have come to find I really like shells, and have purchased one or two from shows and have some books. I was talking to some older relic hunters and it seems they have some methods for finding shells, but I have not gotten the chance to speak to them directly as of yet. Is anyone willing to share any useful information? Thank you

This might be surprising, but the number one factor in finding shells —at least in this day and age —is endurance. Since many Civil War sites have already been hunted, today's shell hunter has to be willing to recover shells at depth and in areas already littered with iron "trash." They must be willing to dig signals that most other relic hunters either don't want to dig or who can't detect deeper signals with their own machines.

Since shell hunters have to hunt in "all metal mode," one is fortunate if the area they are hunting is "clean." Usually, most shell hunters have to contend with deep iron signals that end up being "trash," but nevertheless must be dug just to rule out. This can become demoralizing. My deepest shell was recovered at nearly 4 feet. But I can assure you, I dug several other holes just as deep only to come away with big chunks of old farm equipment.

My advice to you is to find an older relic hunter who has found a shell somewhere but who is not a huge shell hunter. Many relic hunters just hunt for buckles and bullets, etc, not artillery shells. But some of these guys often luck their way into finding a shell or two. If they feel like they have cleaned the area of buckles, buttons, etc, they might share with you where a shell was found. Better if they can take you there and point. If you can find someone who will tell you that, I would go to that exact spot and dig every single iron signal that lies within a 30 yard radius. That's where the endurance comes in. Good luck!!

 

[Mint Julep]

I'm a newish relic hunter (two years), and have come to find I really like shells, and have purchased one or two from shows and have some books. I was talking to some older relic hunters and it seems they have some methods for finding shells, but I have not gotten the chance to speak to them directly as of yet. Is anyone willing to share any useful information? Thank you

Research?

 

[7th Texas Mounted Rifles]

One reason I will always keep the old AT Pro around, despite having moved on to multi-freq machines (Minelab)… Iron Audio.

 

[gjpratt]

I was reading Dave Powell's first volume on Atlanta this weekend and made a mental note about Union activity in the spring of 1864. Between Chattanooga and Dalton and probably east of Chattanooga's. The soldiers recorded constant artillery practice. My mental note was that these areas could probably be found or at least approximated with a research deep dive.

 

[Tom Hughes]

This might be surprising, but the number one factor in finding shells —at least in this day and age —is endurance. Since many Civil War sites have already been hunted, today's shell hunter has to be willing to recover shells at depth and in areas already littered with iron "trash." They must be willing to dig signals that most other relic hunters either don't want to dig or who can't detect deeper signals with their own machines.

Since shell hunters have to hunt in "all metal mode," one is fortunate if the area they are hunting is "clean." Usually, most shell hunters have to contend with deep iron signals that end up being "trash," but nevertheless must be dug just to rule out. This can become demoralizing. My deepest shell was recovered at nearly 4 feet. But I can assure you, I dug several other holes just as deep only to come away with big chunks of old farm equipment.

My advice to you is to find an older relic hunter who has found a shell somewhere but who is not a huge shell hunter. Many relic hunters just hunt for buckles and bullets, etc, not artillery shells. But some of these guys often luck their way into finding a shell or two. If they feel like they have cleaned the area of buckles, buttons, etc, they might share with you where a shell was found. Better if they can take you there and point. If you can find someone who will tell you that, I would go to that exact spot and dig every single iron signal that lies within a 30 yard radius. That's where the endurance comes in. Good luck!!

This is VERY good advice. Alan knows how to find shells and he has proved his endurance in finding them.