The knowledge, skills, and abilities you seek are "earned" through many years of work, study, and research. It is not something you can "pickup" in a weekend or by reading a few posts on a website. I do not write this as a smart alect remark, but as a piece of cold truth. The first step for you is to learn everything you can about the history of your area while researching the techniques used by past and present treasure hunters. Pick an area of interest in your history and dig deeper into that specific subject. Now, a very good piece of advice is to NOT use the term "treasure hunting" in any of your search / research. Too many people have negative opinions of THers. Instead, become a hobby geneologist for all of your researching and interviews. You will find that the techniques are the same in both topic areas, BUT people willingly help a geneologist find any and all information they seek, where they'll "blowoff" a THer and may even mislead on purpose. Plus, some idiots might even get the idea that you've already found something valuable and try to take it from you........ one way or another.
Read everything you can get that was written by Karl von Mueller and Deek Gladson. These are pinnames for the SAME author of treasure hunting information and was one of the most trustworthy of men. Another hunter who wrote a few things went by the name "Apache" Jim Wilson and another man named Frank Fish was a successful hunter, but wrote very few things.
Get the book, SEARCH! by Warnke. It is the best book you'll find on WHERE things have been found on a "homeplace". While you're considering this, read everything you can find on this website concerning THing. This site has a boatload of good information on all types of treasure hunting. Don't fall into the "dream" of Spanish Treasures anymore than sunken treasures on the "bounding main".
Get to know your own area and you'll find leads to more possible valuables, hidden throughout the history of this country, than you could "work" in 2 lifetimes. The very best leads will not have the word "treasure" anywhere in it. You must learn to recognize the "language" of hidden / lost assets. Some of Karl von Mueller's books illustrate this fact WITHOUT taking you by the hand and "feeding" you the info.
