Would appreciate some ideas

Hey guys, I am new to this hobby and I've been hitting all of the local parks with my Ace 250 and doing really well on the clad coins. I am getting tired of digging the new, common stuff, and would like some ideas about where to try to fund some interesting targets. I live in Florida and it seems like everywhere hat is old is either concrete all the way around it or it has been demolished and has 5 feet of fill on top of it now. I have found some parks in some older parts of town using Google Earth that I haven't tried yet. Most of the schools around are fenced in and I'm not sure if I can hunt on church grounds without getting in trouble. I've seen some old abandoned houses, but they all have big no trespassing signs all around them. The town nearest to me has posted no metal detecting signs in every single park. I do have the beach close by, but with the cold weather, no one has been using the beach and I haven't found anything in the couple times I've tried it. I will hit the beaches a little harder in the Summer. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on places to hunt? I've thought about using the property appraisers website to look up the owners of the abandoned houses and try to track down a contact number to call them to ask for permission. I could also use some advise on how to approach people about metal detecting on their property.
I'd appreciate any ideas or advice.
Thanks in advance
Chris

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calla, I am a Floridian and understand your problem. Florida is a young place. Most of the towns grew up after 1850 when the railroads came in many of the towns wern't on the map in 1900. The second thing about Florida is it is mostly sand. Heavy artifacts sink fast in sand. I was hunting an "old" town site 1880s. with some old guys with expensive machines. they were digging a foot or more to find the old stuff. My ACE 150 was pulling up poptops and clad coins from the top 4 inches.....On the positive side a tremendous amount of construction is going on. During the site preparation step they strip off the top foot of soil. Unfortunately permission to hunt is difficult to get. Remember it is a felony to trespass on a construction site in Florida. Your best bet is private land and county and city parks. Go to the county property appraisers website and search the maps. find the gis function that allows you to see the owner of each platt. search out county property first. find the parcels near you that might be promising. Search the County Parks website for use regulations. You probably won't find any for metal detecting. I contacted my County Commisioner and asked him what the regulations were. He put me in touch with a Manager who said it was permitted in some parks and not others but refused to give me anything specific. I gathered from him the local park managers would make the decision. After talking to some local park employees I found out that if the park wasn't posted "no metal detecting or no digging" which some were they allowed it that is until someone digs up a baseball diamond. or Soccer field or doesn't cover his holes. This is the delema we are against. I found many county properties were road right of ways or land aquired in anticipation of road building or utilities construction. You will have to talk to the county department in charge of these. All in all it is easier to get permission from private land owners than form county or city employees. The key is identifying ownership through the property appraisers web sites and then face to face contact with the owners. good luck gambol

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Thanks guys. Some good tips here. Rest assured that I always hunt with the utmost respect. I use a drop cloth, remove and dispose of all trash that I come across, and fill all holes very carefully. I think it's kinda fun to see how well I can cover my tracks. I do have a friend in real estate. I'll see if he can help. I guess I'll keep hitting the parks until I find something better.

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