Yeah, I admit he was up on me for a little while. He gets credit for the first bullet, too - well actually, he found the first few before I "adjusted my hunting pattern" (you know, about 20 yards closer to him). Understand though that he was 300 yards away from me when I started finding camp lead. I think he noticed me in my patented "hot-spot circling-like-a-vulture" pattern and made a bee-line to my end of the property to see what I was onto.
Now, I have to give him credit - he didn't bottom-feed me... he boldly stated that he was going to move on down into the woods "because he didn't want to horn in on my spot" (not that I cared if he'd stayed - I actually thought he was crazy moving into the woods at that point). Naturally, that was where the bulk of the campsite was - he wasn't in there 15 seconds when he hollered that he'd found a bullet... and being the good guy that he is, he called me in there with him and we phoned Randy - who was out of sight digging camp lead of his own.
I soon found some rifle-pits at one end of the camp that were loaded with pockets of bullets - I got several holes that had more than one bullet in them. I found one spot where I got 6 or 7 bullets that were nearly on top of the ground - as a matter of fact, I used my pinpointer to find them and my index finger to dig most of them! I think I've had dreams like that.
I've never been in a site quite like this one. It was like being in one of Randy's Silver Hunts (without the air horn, though). Every 5th swing was a signal - but you would not have dug it if you hadn't spent a lot of time in the "hot Northern VA soil" with an F-75. 10, 11, 12 = bullet! I dug several solid 8's and 9's that were deep bullets!!! Almost no nails though (I dug 3 nails for the whole day). Some of the shallow ones came through fine, though. Very little brass - very odd. Lots of rocks and roots to fight - and really hard clay. Someday, I'm going to find a camp in nice neutral sandy soil that's never been plowed or fertilized, in a grassy field kept mowed by goats. Depth was all over the place - from nearly on top to 8 or 9 inches deep. I think the nature of the soil had a lotto do with that. The ground had not been plowed since the war (that was one good thing). As a matter of fact, you could still see wagon tracks leading around one side of the camp - and boy were they loaded! I imagine that the soldiers probably used the wagons for shelter.
I am still sore, but it was a blast! I'm looking forward to Breed's hunt next weekend - but between it and the Spring Virginia Adventure, it's going to be a while before we can get back into this spot.
I too, have a lot of camp lead for you... perhaps enough for an entire regiment!
Dig-it!