What’s easier doorknocking, houses or fields?

gseuser

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Basehor/Emporia KS
A friend of mine who runs a pretty popular YouTube channel and I always have this debate, do you feel more comfortable knocking on someones door to detect their yard, or to get permission for some field outside of town? I always side with the latter and he the former. His bread and butter comes from residential doorknocking and believe me I do my fair share of it but I have to be “in the mood”. Luckily I love detecting so much it doesn’t take much.

But I’ve always felt 100x more comfortable knocking on a door out in the country and talking history with a farmer about “that ol schoolhouse” or “that ol church” that used to sit there. I absolutely love listening to old timers tell stories especially if they further the history of whatever I was researching on their property. Plus I feel like they are more easygoing and are just enjoying the new company and are usually more apt to let you on their land. There are always a few bad eggs though, but less than just knocking residentially.

My friend has told me some horror stories about doorknocking old homes in towns. Stories that I wouldn’t even be prepared for if they happened. People ready to fight, people absolutely hammered off who knows what, people answering the door naked or with guns etc. I’m not prepared to deal with any of that lol. I’ve been lucky to just get that simple NO or a go ahead. But I also hate just being in a random strangers yard detecting like that with them and neighbors and everyone who drives by seeing me out there. There can be benefits to it. For instance, one time a person drove up to us and told us we could hit their historic house and it ended up being loaded! Who knew?! Another example happened to me a few weeks ago. I knocked on a door of an older turn of the century house and a lady walks out with a big smile on her face but knows about maybe a sentence of English. Here’s where luckily my 6 years of Spanish kicked in but if I didn’t know any it would have been very awkward for both of us. There are obviously benefits and negatives for both. But I prefer asking on a field or somewhere that seems more of an adventure than risking some wack job answering the door in town.

Let’s hear all of your opinions!!


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Fields/rural homes for me, but Im still 0 and 3, although all were vey polite after fairly long visits/talks. Following to see what others say.
 
I’ve done 50 or so yards from 2009-2014, then lost the nerve!
Oh no! I would have thought after 50, you'd be comfortable. It doesn't get easier then?

I have yet to door knock, but I do want to. So far I've let fear keep me from attempting to. Pretty funny really.

So far it's all been public land and a few family members yards.
 
Oh no! I would have thought after 50, you'd be comfortable. It doesn't get easier then?

I have yet to door knock, but I do want to. So far I've let fear keep me from attempting to. Pretty funny really.

So far it's all been public land and a few family members yards.
Actually, a lot of it has to do with the fact that country yards are most often a bust. Maybe one in five hold a few goodies, got tired of hearing “sure, give it a try, five others before you already have!” :(
 
Actually, a lot of it has to do with the fact that country yards are most often a bust. Maybe one in five hold a few goodies, got tired of hearing “sure, give it a try, five others before you already have!” :(
Ha. Rough. Ok. Got it. Thanks for the response :)

All the best in your future searches!
 
Oh no! I would have thought after 50, you'd be comfortable. It doesn't get easier then?

I have yet to door knock, but I do want to. So far I've let fear keep me from attempting to. Pretty funny really.

So far it's all been public land and a few family members yards.



I was terrified for a long time but just the sheer fact that it’s easy pickings for old stuff once you get onto a yard or anywhere you get permission that’s private property


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I was terrified for a long time but just the sheer fact that it’s easy pickings for old stuff once you get onto a yard or anywhere you get permission that’s private property

The trash to finds ratio as well as ground covered to good finds ratio is much better also (if you are hunting parks). In one of the few family yards I hunted, the good find to trash ratio seemed like 30:1, where in the parks and public land it seems more like 500:1. These are guesses by intuition and memory, not true tallied numbers, but definitely better odds in the older, unhunted yard.

I definitely want to gather the courage and start door knocking!
 
I have knocked on hundreds of doors or walked up to people working outside. I have NEVER had anybody yell, curse, act violent, threaten or been anything but polite to me.

First of all, I knock and then take 2-3 steps back so I don’t appear to be a threat. I take my hat off and the first words out of my mouth are my name followed by apologizing for disrupting them. As I say that I’m offering a business card and a handshake. And I’m smiling and keeping eye contact the whole time.

And I always wear a clean shirt ( I keep several in my trunk). My face may be dirty but my shirt isn’t.

This works very well for me
 
I spent a lot of time door knocking homes when I first started detecting but I got a lot of polite no's. Now I talk to Farmers and they don't mind. You have to work a lot harder at the farms to make good finds but I like it.
 
There is an abandoned farm house, barn and building behind the trailer park I live in. Nobody goes back there but a few select deer hunters and one farmer that leases the still open fields. The place makes my brain itch when I think of going back there with a detecter. About 10 years ago, I got permission to go back and photograph the place. You think that still covers me? :laughing:
 
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