I've detected Cook Forest in a few spots, I have a camp in Marienville. I never really found much of interest other than one large cent, and no one has ever said anything to me while detecting. The Rangers have passed me along the road many times with no issue. Many of the older sites in that area are either still lived in or are someone's camp.
I did get permission to hunt 2 sites within a few miles of the park, one was a very old church that is no longer used, I didn't find anything. Another was an old cellar hole that the owner said to be careful of copperheads. I found a shielded nickel, mercs, and a few indians. Funny story... as I stand there with a shielded nickel and a few Indians in my pocket, a local stopped to chat. He said that the had hunted that place and never found anything. He said the last owner committed suicide in the yard and lay dead right there... as he pointed to the exact spot where I found the shielded nickel!
You have to be careful detecting up that way, you are a "flatlander" to them. Many locals are suspicious of us when they hear the Pittsburgh-ese. They're all great people up there, been around those parts since the 60's. Respect and friendliness is key IMO. I detected a site off of Rt 66 once, it looked like an old homesite in the middle of nowhere. A lady pulled up and asked if I had permission to hunt there, I respectfully replied, no, I really didn't think it would matter, nor did I know who to contact, (I should have known better, this was years ago) She then told me that she was the owner, I guess she was testing me. She said that she would "prefer that I wasn't there" to which I gladly complied. She then asked me if I had found anything
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The only State Park minor issue that I have had was Ohio Pyle, the Ranger told me screwdriver only. I have hunted many sites around there over the years, many wheat pennies and one indian is about the best I ever did around there
