Vacationing in Mo.

[jonmich]

Greetings from Michigan!!!! The wife and I are coming down to Missouri to visit the wifes sister and husband and thought I would try some metal detecting down there. I am mainly a coinshooter but while I am down in Mo. I thought I might try some relic hunting if I don't have to drive too far for it.
Can anyone give me some ideas for where to hunt while I am down there? I will be around Elsberry which is between St. Louis and Hannibal.
I would appreciate any info. that would keep me out of trouble of the local law enforcement. LOL.
I have read on another thread that state parks are off bounds except for SOME beaches so I guess that really narrows the public hunting area down to not a whole lot of hunting.

On another subject---- Has anyone ever paid a trespassing fee for MDing? I know for deer hunting in Michigan there are a couple of guys I know that have paid the fee to deer hunt but I haven't ever heard of it for metal detecting. I haven't ever seen that issue brought up on treasure net but I don't get on here that much and when I do theres so much on here that I cant keep up with it all. It is an fantastic site.

thanks in advance, Jon

[Boilermaker27]

I don't know what you mean by a trespassing fee. Do you mean a trespassing fine?

I know there are two kinds of trespassing in Missouri. If the land is posted the fine is much higher, like maybe $200, where if it is not posted is is like $25. But, don't hold me to those figures. In Missouri there is a law that if a landowner paints a certain color of purple on his trees; fences; gates; poles; etc. that the land is declared legally posted. If you go on land that has painted purple on it you will be in big trouble. Most landowners who paint the purple color on their property are doing it because they don't want you on their property, and if they catch you they will not be nice. On your trip down here to Missouri you may see some trees or fences painted purple, if you get out in the country you will see purple. This is no joke and I think the law sucks.

Now for places around Elsberry. You can go North up to Louisiana which is an old town, or Clarksville which is a bit closer. Both places are old and have old historic areas. I can assure you that most places near St. Louis are hunted to death, but not hunted out. St. Louis is about a 45 minute drive and you can hunt some of the parks in St. Louis. There are bad areas in St. Louis. Forest Park should be no problem. We used to hunt O'Fallon Park which is in a completely black area and never had a problem. Don't expect to find much because as I said, this is a major metropolitan area and there are many detectorists in the area who have been everywhere.

[russau]

well youve come to the right site for this info! its just cramp packed full of great info and people!

[jonmich]

jhettel,
Thanks for the info. I think I might try around Louisiana or Clarksville as my chances of finding something are considerably better by the sounds of it. I like to stay away from the big cities anyways.
That is something I will remember about the purple trees, etc. I am glad you passed that on to me. That's a little different. Up here theres just NO TRESPASSING signs every 25 to 50 feet.
The trespassing fee is a price set by the landowner to let you hunt his property. A friend I know has paid $200.00 to hunt this landowners property. Him and his brother split it so its 100.00 a piece.
They originally asked the landowner to hunt his property and was told to get out until my friend offered him the $200.00 for hunting privileges on his property. The landowner liked that deal so that's where my friend and brother have been hunting. They always take the owner some beer too.
I know it wouldn't be worth it for MDing unless you knew the property well enough to believe something of high value would be buried or if the property is virgin and hasn't been hunted and is in a great area.
Gotta run. Thanks Jon

[warsawdaddy]

Just outside of Louisiana,before you get to Bowling Green,there is a church on the north side of hwy 54 that was built back in the mid 1800's.It has been added onto since,but it has quite an open area that you can try.

[rjw4law]

the place is gonna be mighty fine if I pay to hunt it...never done it.