Did everyone feel this way?

[Stormcat]

Did everyone feel this way when you started.......Hello everyone I'm new to the forum and the hobby. After about a week of research on equipment [Bounty Hunter LR Pro not yet purchased} and laws as to where its legal to MD I have become frustrated to the fact here in central Indiana there is a very limited land you can legally MD. I really was looking forward to enjoying this awesome hobby and meet some new friends now that I'm retired., but the struggle is real. Every website I went to in my research was a dead end. Maybe I'm missing the obvious on where to MD if so please let me know....Anyway good to meet all of you on this forum.

 

[sawmill man]

Dont get discouraged ,get some farmers to give you permission. you might have to wait on crop gathering. but theres alot of stuff in these old farm fields. as for parks and such just keep asking someones bound to let you.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Hello Stormcat, and Welcome to T-Net!

First, stop stressing! There are PLENTY of legal places to detect near you. Second, Please look at Tesoro, Garrett, and Fisher machines before you buy that Bounty Hunter! A $160.00 8" Tesoro Compadre is a better machine.

If you are looking in local playgrounds or parks, you are looking in the same place as everybody else since 1980. You need to start trying to research places people gathered in the PAST (1870 - 1950). You need to start thinking outside the box, and be prepared to do a little work with your head, not just your machine. Good Luck!

A Few Sites to Get You Started:

1) Old Schools
2) City/Town Parks
3) Circus/Fair Sites
4) Old Churches
5) Old Homestead Sites
6) Swimming Holes and Areas
7) Picnic Groves
8) Athletic Fields
9) Scout Camps
10) Rodeo Arenas
11) Campgrounds
12) Ghost Towns
13) Beaches
14) Old Taverns
15) Roadside Rest Stops
16) Sidewalk Grassy Strips
17) Amusement Parks
18) Rural Mailboxes
19) Reunion Areas
20) Revival sites
21) Fort Sites
22) Winter Sledding Areas
23) Lookout/Overlook Sites
24) Church Supper Groves
25) Fishing Spots
26) Fishing Camps
27) Resorts
28) Old Barns and Outbuildings
29) Battle Sites
30) Band Shells
31) Racetracks
32) Rural Boundary Walls
33) Roadside Fruit and Vegetable Stands
34) Under Seaside Boardwalks
35) Flea Market Areas
36) Ski Slopes
37) Drive Ins
38) Canal Paths
39) Vacant Lots
40) Motels
41) College Campuses
42) Farmer Market Areas
43) Town Squares
44) Urban Yards and Backyards
45) Disaster Sites
46) Areas Around Skating Ponds
47) Hunting Lodges and Camps
48) Mining Camps
49) Railroad Grades, Stations and Junctions
50) Hiking Trails
51) Waterfalls
52) Rural Dance Sites
53) Lover's Lanes
54) Areas Adjacent to Historical Markers
55) Old Gas Stations and General Stores
56) Fence Posts
57) Chicken Houses
58) Bridges and Fords
59) Flower Beds
60) Playgrounds
61) Old Garbage Dumps
62) Cloth Lines
63) Military Camp and Cantonment Sites
64) Wells and Outhouses
65) Abandoned Houses and Structures
66) Areas where Old Trails Cross County or State Boundaries
67) Piles of Scraped Soil at Construction Sites
68) Old Stone Quarries
69) Areas Around Old Abandoned Cemeteries in the Forest
70) Junctions of Abandoned Roads (crossroads)

 

[relic nut]

All good advice. Anything worth doing takes time and it can seem overwhelming. If it was easy, everyone would do it. You have taken the best step for a newbie by joining this site. Hang in there and learn all you can from the great experience that is here. You'll be posting great finds soon and we look forward to seeing.

HH RN

 

[justdon]

Also start in your own backyard and see what you can find you might be surprised.

 

[Stormcat]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far with the words of encouragement and advice.Those are great place I hadn't thought of. It's great to have you seasoned veterans around. Thanks again ... I'm sure i will have more question.Thanks again

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... I have become frustrated to the fact here in central Indiana there is a very limited land you can legally MD. ....

Curious: Can you tell us what it is you read (do you have links ?) that causes you to believe you have "very limited land" that you can hunt on @ public land ? I bet that Indiana md'rs find public land all the time to hunt on. So what, in particular, causes you to believe that you are "very limited" ? Show us what written sources you have, that caused you to think this.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Welcome Stormcat!

Perhaps today's most controversial, active, and famous member of TreasureNet is Jeff Gordon, and he's from around the Indy area.

It has taken us till this year for him to openly confess to swinging a detector in Indiana.

This weekend he's heading for Myrtle Beach, and we're hoping he'll hit GOLD there.

Stormcat, a lot of us are shy about going out swinging in public. It took friends I made here to get me out of my "security zone"

Keep the faith!

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I'll add another suggestion after reading through Terry's lengthy list of suggestions!

Poker game sites. I know a place along the river near 3 old cotton mills. They will have never been searched before, and we await Winter. We've interviewed witnesses of age - these were active up till the late 60's, from many years before.

Use your noggin and think outside the box

 

[lastleg]

Here's a tip you won't get anywhere else. Disguise your new tector to look like a tennis racket.
Go to the nearest public park with tennis courts. Take along a dozen tennis balls. Hang around
the court tecting till someone looks at you fishy. Then take a ball and lob it over the net. If
they don't move on keep lobbing until they leave. Go back to tecting as sport sites are one
of the best places to recover valuables.

 

[kcm]

Here's a tip you won't get anywhere else. Disguise your new tector to look like a tennis racket.
Go to the nearest public park with tennis courts. Take along a dozen tennis balls. Hang around
the court tecting till someone looks at you fishy. Then take a ball and lob it over the net. If
they don't move on keep lobbing until they leave. Go back to tecting as sport sites are one
of the best places to recover valuables.

You "are" joking.....right?!?!? Try to disguise a MD as a tennis racket?? I think I'd rather work a coil into a shoe and have the electronics in a backpack, while walking around like a zombie wearing headphones!

 

[lastleg]

I'm pretty sure that shoe coil wouldn't work atall. Unless you got really big shoes. Another old trick
is to pretend to be a butterfly collector and walk around with a fishing net swatting the air like you're
catching butterflies but really one end of the net is your tector with a sniper coil. Rings and bracelets
aren't going to be very deep. You make out like you're sorting out your butterflies while you are
tecting around the edges of the court. Pretty clever Huh?

 

[niffler]

I have done very well on #22 on Terry Solomons' list, sledding hills. Not only are there coins literally everywhere, mostly quarters, but there is also a good amount of gold and silver rings, earrings, chains, etc. Just my 2 cents.

 

[RustyGold]

Welcome to TNet Stormcat! Terry gave you an awesome list. I would agree start in your own backyard and I'll bet you will be amazed what you'll find.
Best of luck out there!

 

[releventchair]

Carry cards with you for notes and start writing down possible sites you have been traveling past regularly.. Then work on finding out who owns them. Then permissions if private.
The amount of time that can be spent on a site reduces the concern of few sites.
Let people you know know you detect too.
Keep adding to your note cards of leads and adding to them.
Sites await.

 

[against the wind]

It is so much easier today than it was back in the 70's, & 80's, when a lot of us first started. If you PM me your city, town, and county, I'll try to sniff out a few locations. Welcome to Tnet.

 

[Squirrel322]

.........
41) College Campuses......

I have been wondering about this one. We have a local University here and they always have construction projects going on (currently putting an addition on the oldest building on the campus). I would love to hit that dirt but they contain the construction site(s) with chain-link fencing when the work stops for the day. Lots of other ground on the campus but it seems like colleges these days have lots of security and are also pretty up-tight about the appearance of the grounds.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Welcome to T Net!
Its not as hard as it seems. Once you start finding places you can detect, you'll have the opposite problem of so many places, not enough time.

 

[Kuntzy]

since your in Indy. try the swimming holes at lake Monroe. Me and some friends do really well there. Simply hit the swimming holes just before dark when everyone packs up to leave. Hit every known public swimming area you can, most are sand and very easy to detect.

 

[Enginefitter]

Welcome from NE Ohio.

Engine