Southern California hunting
Hi folks,
I own a home in the High Desert (Hesperia) and I live and work in Santa Monica during the week. I have been hunting Southern California for more than a decade. First prospecting and nugget shooting with a detector, and then just straight metal detecting.
One thing I have learned in that 10 plus years is.... most detectorists are really great people. Those that get into it thinking they are going to hit it big right away don't last, nor do they usually share anything. I have learned that the way to get ahead in this hobby is help each other.
There are places to go in the area, but know that many places are well hunted due to the high concentration of people in the area, and reasonable hunting land is somewhat scarce due to development density where people have been over the years. Please note: I am speaking strictly about Southern California with these statements. Much of the older settled areas are now paved over, or they are considered historical sites which is off-limits to detecting. Sad , but true. The area beaches are covered so well that it is becoming difficult to find trash targets on them. The buried used diapers are still there, as well as the potato chip bags, just very little metal. The beach is where EVERYONE thinks the great and easy finds are so they all go. Then the parking lots get rich, and those that go there get depressed and sell their gear. DON'T GET DEPRESSED AND SELL YOUR GEAR - JUST BECOME A BETTER AND SMARTER HUNTER.
I am not saying this to be a bummer, or to be negative, I am just being honest with the newbies so they do not become disappointed when they hit the common sites everyone else hits with little or no results to show for it. There is a massive amount of vacant land in California, but most of it has not seen a significant amount of human traffic in order to leave behind metal targets of any kind. The places that do have large numbers of people are hit often by many detectorists. And there are quite a few in Southern California!
The moral to the story is, be creative. Carefully plan, research and find unique sites, or ask for permission to go on private land. Find a good hunting partner, or two, so when you hit shady areas or the more remote sites you can take care of each other. Most of all - don't expect too much and you won't be let down. Then when you make a good find it will be all the more sweet!
I have been successful, and made some good finds in the area. And I will be happy to go out with anyone that wants to go and share with you anything you would like to know if I happen to know something you may not. Most of what I have learned was shared with me, so I owe it to the people that taught me to pass it on. So let's get out there and make some great new finds.
The Shark