Hey there Skidmld I see you live in East Tennesse, I also live in East Tenn. Send me a PM and let me know where you are and maybe we can do some hunting together.
I live in East Tennessee just outside of Gatlinburg. Speaking of TVA: If you goto the TVA website you can get a metal detecting permit, you can hunt alot of areas. Except for: historic archaeological site or at any human burial location (Those are state and federal protected). http://tva.com/river/recreation/metaldetect.htm