How much of California has been metal detected?

Tom_in_CA · Jul 8, 2019

Or .... as GS probably does : Simply bury yourself in local history. There's no shortage of gold rush tent-city camps in your part of the state . That came & went after only a year or so.

But as a newbie, the first sources you come to (the obvious coffee-table "ghost town" books) will tell all about the obvious tourist trap type spots. I often-time avoid those. And seek out the ones that are less likely to have been researched out by the yesteryear guys.

And this all depends on how much "balls" you have too. Ie.: all the land up your way is owned by "someone". Assuming it's some sort of public land (NFS, BLM, etc...) you don't ask silly questions. Assuming it's some sort of private land, you're going to have to "bump into them" (because cold calls and door knocks and emails go absolutely nowhere). Sometimes this "bumping into them" can take tons of research, planning, "credentials to tout", etc....

Frosty · Jul 8, 2019

Tom_in_CA said:
As can be expected, no one's going to say "I'm a wimp" and "I'm timid" . But .... if you're serious, here's a starter :

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=263294

And another that I can't recall if I made a post about :

Become a local history museum volunteer. Eg.: a docent . After a year or so, of attending monthly and/or quarterly meetings, you'll begin to rub shoulders with local historians and archies. Be a "fly on the wall" (ie.: you don't talk about metal detecting). This might require 6 hrs. per month to be a docent or volunteer. Where you man a desk, lead tours, archive mindless junk in files, etc... But after awhile, you'll get your credentials up. You'll have access to "white glove" stuff. You casually research old stage stops, old resort/camp sites, etc... (in the name of your "historical research/interest").

You'll find that your credentials will lead to "in's", after a few years. Ie.: when you're knocking on doors, you "flash your credentials" telling them about the "research you're doing" about the "stage stop that was said to be on their back-40", blah blah.

As you can see, this requires years of stealth to be the "fox guarding the hen-house". Not even my most brazen buddies (with no scruples whatsoever) have done this. But ... you asked. Same for the builders-exchange tip: I know of no one else who's taken on this expense, and studied mindless daily email alerts, to scout for potential old-town demolitions. And ... of course ... very few have the balls to ... uh ... do them . But ... again ... you asked.

So infiltrate, copy the documents, locate the site and dig(only with the land owners permission). That's some james Bond stuff right there.

How much of California has been metal detected?

Tom_in_CA

Elite Member

Frosty

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