There is absolutely a way to make a living at this, and I am headed in that direction myself. I used to ba a kitchen/bath remodel contractor, until the economy tanked. Now, I'm about to rent my house out, and move up to the treasure coast and rent a little efficiency so that I can treasure hunt full time. The key is to be as financially lean as possible. I have no wife/kids and no debt whatsoever. Another key factor is flexability. You have to be ready, willing and able to travel great distances on short notice. You have to diversify. Think-modern jewelry on beaches, shipwrecks, civil war relics, ghost-towns, gold prospecting, buried cashe's, meteorites, etc, etc.
I was up on the treasure coast a couple of weeks ago, hanging out with the crew of the Gold Hound. They are salvagers with lease rights to the 1715 fleet. They were working a spot about 50 feet off the beach. While we were standing on the beach talking, these two guys walked up and joined us. I think one was an investor, and knew the crew. The other guy, who's name was Bob( I think they call him Beach Bob), turned out to be the most prolific non-professional treasure hunter I have ever met. He had two photo albums of his finds. Hundreds of photos, with some pics having dozens of objects in them. There was a spanish conquistador helmet from the
1500's, a half dozen spanish swords, hundreds of silver and gold coins. He actually discovered an old ship that was upside-down on the beach. It was right there in plain sight, but it was covered in sand and had wheat grass growing on it, so it looked like a sand dune. He recovered many silver and gold coiins from that wreck. The guy who was with Beach Bob, said that Bob's house was more impressive than the Mel Fisher museum in Sebastian. The guy has easily found more than 1mil in treasure, over 30 years. The crew of the Gold Hound, who are seasoned treasure-hunters and are not easily impressed, were in total awe of this guy and his stories.
When I told my family and friends what I want to do, I get nothing but negative feedback. They think I'm a wackjob. That's ok. I am going to show them. One day they will be begging me to put them in my will. Can you make a living metal detecting? Definitely. The question you have to ask yourself is, are you willing and able to do what's necessary to make it happen?