Newbie From Central Georgia

[LoneOutpost]

Hey everbody,

I'm new to the hobby and just getting my feet wet with my Nokta Legend. I'm learning how restrictive Georgia laws are with respect to metal detecting. Fortunately I've got a big yard. 🙂Looking for good places where I can do some digging. I'm excited to learn more about my machine and start finding some real finds.

[Rattlehead]

Welcome from NW GA. 🙂

[jim tn]

Welcome from W Tn. HH jim tn

[Valens Legacy]

Welcome to the forum as we are always looking forward to hearing from new people about their finds.

I am sure that someone here can help you with the laws of your state or your local laws.

I usually get permission from some farm owners to hunt on their properties, look at old maps just to find old parks or schools, and then I start detecting those areas when I have time to get out.

Good luck and good hunting.

[F350Platinum]

Welcome to the forum!

The Legend seems like a really good detector. 🙂 It takes a while to get used to all the control, so don't get frustrated with it if you don't have a lot of experience.

I'll expand on what Valens Legacy wrote, if you have any farms near you (you mention a big yard so you're possibly in a rural setting), a great thing to do is try to catch the farmer out working, compliment the place and listen to them talk about it. Be patient and very interested, and when you get a chance ask the farmer if you could metal detect their farm after the crops are taken up. Farms have been handed down for hundreds of years and have many surprises from their use over time. Fairs, horse racing, other gatherings occurred on some of the more wealthy Southern plantations.

Farmers are really nice people who are mostly attached to the land for growing crops, and will typically let you keep most or all of what you find. They are suspicious of any hasty or impatient behavior, but will tell you about the history and go out of their way to find other places and get other permissions for you if they like you. Be sure that the property they direct you to is not rented by them, if so find out who the actual owner is.

Relic hunting is my favorite, I have only been turned down once because the landowner wanted to hunt it himself. I have thousands of acres of old farms under my belt, and have made some incredible finds in a mere 3 years of detecting.

No one can stop you from detecting private property if you have permission from the landowner to be there. Be respectful and fill in your holes, a farmer will notice poor digging as they drive equipment that does not have shock absorbers, one of the main reasons they don't like groundhogs and rabbit warrens. 😀

Good luck, we're here to help you, and look forward to your success. Get out there! 

[JCR]

Welcome from East Texas.

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Lone Outpost !

Government restrictions can be a pain but there are still plenty of good spots not covered by them. Private permissions as have been mentioned are one really good hint to still go detecting  in those states.  Sometimes the authorities will issue a permit too (free clue # 2).

And practicing recovery to leave no or minimal evidence of your holes on your own place is a great way to master the skills before you start digging on permissions.. 👍

An incredible wealth of experience to draw on here ,,,,you chose forums wisely..🧐