Marietta Georgia
- Thread starter George!
- Start date
stetam
Elite Member
Uh, I don't think anyone is going to tell you where the good spots are. I suggest going some door knocking and research.
Steve
Steve
Tom_in_CA
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"Legally" ? Don't make the mistake of thinking that there needs to be an "express allowance". Eg.: A law or rule that says "MD'ing is allowed here" type thing. No more so than you'd need a law saying "frisbee flying allowed". Instead, if there's no specific law or rule that said "no md'ing", then presto : Not disallowed. 
And in this digital day & age, there's no public place (parks, beaches, forests, etc...) that doesn't have their rules on-line somewhere. Eg.: Dogs on leash, closes at sunset, no fireworks, etc......
Obviously have the presence of mind not to go waltzing into obvious historic sensitive monuments. And things like : Don't be in the middle of deep retrievals in nice-manicured turf while busy-bodies are watching.
And in this digital day & age, there's no public place (parks, beaches, forests, etc...) that doesn't have their rules on-line somewhere. Eg.: Dogs on leash, closes at sunset, no fireworks, etc......
Obviously have the presence of mind not to go waltzing into obvious historic sensitive monuments. And things like : Don't be in the middle of deep retrievals in nice-manicured turf while busy-bodies are watching.
hoser
Forum Supporter
Hey where's ya'lls manners. Welcome to the forum George. Good to have ya here. If you have lived where you are for a long time, no doubt you have friends that have older homes that might grant you permission to hunt their yards. Or talk to the older locals that have been around a long time and know of places that may hold some good finds other than the common ones found at playgrounds and parks. Discreetly check local ordnances to see if there is anything on the use of detectors. Basically, what Tom has said. Good luck.
TheFrood
Forum Supporter
Welcome to the forum.
Best bet is to look at your local regulations since it can vary from place to place. I know that National Parks and National Recreation Areas are generally a hard no without specific exemptions. Lots of public historic sites seem to have similar regulations, but I also hear about people detecting old civic war battlefields so...
Check to see if there are any clubs in your area would be my first suggestion. Check out a local coin dealer that has some silver or historical coins... They might even be a member if a local club exists.
Last edited:
hoser
Forum Supporter
What Frood said.
JWalker3
Forum Supporter
Welcome to the forum from Western NY
Princess
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Thank you for joining us!If possible, it's a good idea to start by detecting in your yard. If you're new to detecting, this will give you practice in digging and filling nice, neat plugs. Then, as others have said, there's also the possibility of local parks, or of seeking permission to detect private property such as older homesteads. Please keep us posted, and enjoy the hobby!
maxxkatt
Forum Supporter
I have been relic hunting for many years in North Atlanta. Lots of CW action west and south of Kennesaw Mtn. But of course you must know it is a felony to even have a metal detector in your car on Kennesaw Mt. Federal park. Several years ago they arrested a guy caught metal detecting at the park. All US federal parks are off limits to metal detecting. Except Federal Lake Lanier beaches that are sandy and have those yellow float boundaries the define the swimming area. You can hunt the sandy beaches but you CANNOT hunt any other area of the beach park. They are serious about enforcing that and they patrol those areas frequently. I hunt the beach and knee deep water with not much luck at Lake Lanier. But a fellow detector goes out chest deep and will find 4-5 rings in a morning. Recovering rings with your scoop in chest deep water is difficult at best.
Yes private permissions are the best, but good luck there. You live in Marietta so you know the homes are rather expensive and those home owners don't take to having you dig in their yards that they spend lots of money making them pretty. There are still some old farms, but the old timers or their relatives do not like strangers poking around on their land and maybe find grandpa's old post hole bank filled with silver and gold coins. Getting those permissions would be tough.
There are some parks in Atlanta that are old. Problem is most of them are in neighborhoods south of I-20 and would not be safe to detect. A druggie would kill you to take your detector to pawn for their next fix. There are some parks north of i-20 that are safe in civil war areas, but they have been hit very heavily in the late 1970's and 1980's with some very good White's detectors and so the CW relics are mostly gone and replaced with 40 years of metal trash. I have hunted some of those parks hard and maybe would find a 3 ringer every 4-5 months.
Your best bet come from using historic aerials to locate old home sites from the late 1800 to 1950's located on public property. Just use google earth to find large sections of trees or fields with no modern buildings or structures. It is very likely this is public county or city property that has been acquired for tax reasons or eventual county expansions reasons. City and county properties are fair game. DO NOT GO ASKING ANY CITY OR COUNTY PROPERTY OFFICE FOR PERMISSION. See a lot of tom_in_ca back posts. You don't need any official permission if the property is not marked no trespassing. use the local GIS database for your county you are searching to find who owns the property. It is clearly marked in the description if it is city, county or state owned.
Now when I have hunt those properties I have never been approached by anyone. I wear a yellow construction worker's yellow bandolier vest that makes you invisible to the Karen's.
The best places for you to hunt to find jewelry are totlots and volleyball courts. I have done quite well hunting them in North Atlanta. And they are everywhere. Use google earth to find them. Totlots and volleyball courts are easy to spot from google earth. Targets are super easy to recover, no rocks or roots. Best time is spring and summer for volleyball courts and totlots are good year round. Yeah is kind of boring type of hunting, but it is still very much a treasure hunt. And you don't need a $1,600 detector. Anything from an Ace on up will work fine. Dig everything and take out all the trashy finds. Makes your next hunt next week or two later easier. You only need to be the detectorist who searched a totlot to find a gold men's ring the day or more it was lost and before any other detectorist performed their hunt.
State parks in Georgia are pretty much off limits, but not always. Read the signs stating the rules. If they say no metal detecting, then don't. Otherwise you can metal detect. County parks are usually ok to metal detect. But be nice and cover your small plugs carefully. City parks are also mostly ok, and just follow the rules. No digging rule does not bother me, since I am careful and have gotten to know the maintenance people at the parks I hunt. They will always just ask "Find anything good?". So just be nice to them and show them your finds and trash. The worst thing that has happened to me when detecting one city park was a city official told me not to detect in the grassy area, just the totlot. I told her I would comply and did so.
Silver coins are rare in metro Atlanta. Why? Most of the developed areas in North Atlanta were farms or just woods before the late 1970's rapid development of neighborhoods, strip malls and office parks. During the farming period, they were mostly poor farmers, not like the industrialized north where you had tons of middle class neighborhoods from the early 1900's due to the Industrial revolution that skipped the south. So when when you see videos of your fellow detectorists up north pulling in 5-6 silver or old coins per hunt, that just is not going to happen in metro Atlanta areas.
I hit totlots and volleyball courts on a weekly basis. Ever month or so I hit some of my favorite parks that were civil war sites and yes, still may have some nice relics. I have totally given up on Lake Lanier beaches.
Yes you can find goodies in North Atlanta and it is fun. Just be realistic in your expectations.
Yes private permissions are the best, but good luck there. You live in Marietta so you know the homes are rather expensive and those home owners don't take to having you dig in their yards that they spend lots of money making them pretty. There are still some old farms, but the old timers or their relatives do not like strangers poking around on their land and maybe find grandpa's old post hole bank filled with silver and gold coins. Getting those permissions would be tough.
There are some parks in Atlanta that are old. Problem is most of them are in neighborhoods south of I-20 and would not be safe to detect. A druggie would kill you to take your detector to pawn for their next fix. There are some parks north of i-20 that are safe in civil war areas, but they have been hit very heavily in the late 1970's and 1980's with some very good White's detectors and so the CW relics are mostly gone and replaced with 40 years of metal trash. I have hunted some of those parks hard and maybe would find a 3 ringer every 4-5 months.
Your best bet come from using historic aerials to locate old home sites from the late 1800 to 1950's located on public property. Just use google earth to find large sections of trees or fields with no modern buildings or structures. It is very likely this is public county or city property that has been acquired for tax reasons or eventual county expansions reasons. City and county properties are fair game. DO NOT GO ASKING ANY CITY OR COUNTY PROPERTY OFFICE FOR PERMISSION. See a lot of tom_in_ca back posts. You don't need any official permission if the property is not marked no trespassing. use the local GIS database for your county you are searching to find who owns the property. It is clearly marked in the description if it is city, county or state owned.
Now when I have hunt those properties I have never been approached by anyone. I wear a yellow construction worker's yellow bandolier vest that makes you invisible to the Karen's.
The best places for you to hunt to find jewelry are totlots and volleyball courts. I have done quite well hunting them in North Atlanta. And they are everywhere. Use google earth to find them. Totlots and volleyball courts are easy to spot from google earth. Targets are super easy to recover, no rocks or roots. Best time is spring and summer for volleyball courts and totlots are good year round. Yeah is kind of boring type of hunting, but it is still very much a treasure hunt. And you don't need a $1,600 detector. Anything from an Ace on up will work fine. Dig everything and take out all the trashy finds. Makes your next hunt next week or two later easier. You only need to be the detectorist who searched a totlot to find a gold men's ring the day or more it was lost and before any other detectorist performed their hunt.
State parks in Georgia are pretty much off limits, but not always. Read the signs stating the rules. If they say no metal detecting, then don't. Otherwise you can metal detect. County parks are usually ok to metal detect. But be nice and cover your small plugs carefully. City parks are also mostly ok, and just follow the rules. No digging rule does not bother me, since I am careful and have gotten to know the maintenance people at the parks I hunt. They will always just ask "Find anything good?". So just be nice to them and show them your finds and trash. The worst thing that has happened to me when detecting one city park was a city official told me not to detect in the grassy area, just the totlot. I told her I would comply and did so.
Silver coins are rare in metro Atlanta. Why? Most of the developed areas in North Atlanta were farms or just woods before the late 1970's rapid development of neighborhoods, strip malls and office parks. During the farming period, they were mostly poor farmers, not like the industrialized north where you had tons of middle class neighborhoods from the early 1900's due to the Industrial revolution that skipped the south. So when when you see videos of your fellow detectorists up north pulling in 5-6 silver or old coins per hunt, that just is not going to happen in metro Atlanta areas.
I hit totlots and volleyball courts on a weekly basis. Ever month or so I hit some of my favorite parks that were civil war sites and yes, still may have some nice relics. I have totally given up on Lake Lanier beaches.
Yes you can find goodies in North Atlanta and it is fun. Just be realistic in your expectations.
Tom_in_CA
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You mean NPS. Not : "All federal lands". Right ? Because, for example, BLM and NFS have no specific forbiddance . In fact, they have specific ALLOWANCE . Beats the heck out of silent on the subject.
As far as the seriousness and ominousness of enforcement : Maybe you've got some obvious historic sensitive monument near you, where someone(s) got roughed up. Sure. But I know of one stretch of NPS federal beach here in CA, where , at worst, a few "scrams" warnings were given (to md'rs who simply didn't know any better). But I grant you, this is just a beach, and not a sensitive monument place.
maxxkatt
Forum Supporter
In the areas around North Atlanta and Georgia, BLM doesn't seem to control much land like they do in the Western states.
National Park Service controls Kennesaw Mountain and most other CW battle fields or camp areas where you can hunt is either on private property or city or county parks which basically don't give a hoot about us metal detecting those areas. Of course most of us don't go into these parks with a big shovel and use only smaller 6" wide stainless steel shovels like the predator or lesche.
Yeah, that one instance at Kennesaw National Park which is a huge Civil war historic site, the guy was caught in the parking lot with a metal detector in his car and I forgot to mention a hand full of civil war 3 ringers. So he was plain stupid.
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www.wsbradio.com
National Park Service controls Kennesaw Mountain and most other CW battle fields or camp areas where you can hunt is either on private property or city or county parks which basically don't give a hoot about us metal detecting those areas. Of course most of us don't go into these parks with a big shovel and use only smaller 6" wide stainless steel shovels like the predator or lesche.
Yeah, that one instance at Kennesaw National Park which is a huge Civil war historic site, the guy was caught in the parking lot with a metal detector in his car and I forgot to mention a hand full of civil war 3 ringers. So he was plain stupid.
Man arrested digging up Civil War artifacts at Kennesaw Mountain
Apparently a Cherokee County man thought, if there was ever a good time to look for Civil War artifacts at Kennesaw Mountain, a partial government shutdown would be perfect.
www.wsbradio.com
Tom_in_CA
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Yes ^ ^ And so too is the attribution of most any legal ramifications on-md'rs , that comes up. Persons who, with an ounce of sense, could have known to be a little .... uh ... "more discreet"
There was a case here in CA where a reservoir (owned by state park's dept), water level got SO LOW during a drought, that Gold Rush era foundations were exposed. Because prior to the creation in the 1950s, there had been a little gold rush era hamlet there. And now, during the extreme drought, foundations were exposed.
This brought out some news media. And after seen on the nightly news, this only served to bring out scores of gawkers to look for themselves, in the days that followed. And naturally, this also meant that the state park's people brought in some archie dudes from Sacramento, to assess, pose for some more news interviews, blah blah. So the scene was practically like an archaeologist convention.
And what does some numb-nuts md'r do RIGHT DURING this veritable archie convention ? He comes waltzing through the crowd, swinging the Radio shack detector he just bought.
So they tell him "scram". But could he listen and simply give lip service and leave ? NNNEEEOOoooo . He has to dispute them. And try to say that he found nothing *specific* in park rules , or state of CA website (which, BTW, is true). So the two get in a p*ssing match, and he gets issued a ticket. But could the guy simply pay the $100 and simply "learn his lesson" ? NNNEEEOOOoooo. He decides to fight it. On grounds that there's nothing specific. Thus lo & behold, guess what the state does (thankfully ONLY that SINGULAR location) : They make a rule to address his "pressing issue"
So when I hear of tickets or hassles like that ^ ^ I do NOT construe it to mean "Let's all grovel" or "everyone hates us". I construe it to mean, just like you said : "........ So he was plain stupid....."
MasonDixonMding
Elite Member
Welcome from Maryland
