new and needing help

[berlong]

Hello to anyone that reads this. I am new to this but also been intrigued by metal detecting. I live in Pekin,IL and have just purchased my first detector,(just a start one, nothing outrages) and I got my son one for Christmas. I am wondering if someone could give me some advice on where to go,rules, or any other advice you may be willing to share. My boy is only 12 and i thought this might be a good way to have us spend some time alone. thank you bernard.long75@yahoo.com

 

[dave5710]

Hi Bernard, where to go? Private property is good, but only with permission of the land owner. If you are new to the hobby, my best advice would be to check with city officals about the parks in your area. Playgrounds are a good source of new targets and will also give you practice digging targets. We want the area to be as nice as we found it. Rules? We have a code of ethics that many of us follow. Obtaining permission and leaving the area in good condition are two of those. If you do a search here on Findmall, you can finds lots of information and advice. Search - code of ethics, your machine by maker and model, other equipment you may want to invest in down the road.
PATH is an organization which promotes the hobby in our area. We meet on the last Tuesday of the month (last Tuesday) and March 29th. We have around 30 members, many from Peoria and surrounding communities. We are open to individuals and families. And we do have a couple young gentlemen, right around your sons age as well. I am sure that some of the other guys and gals will add to this, in the next couple days. I wish I could be more specific on locations, but I am one of the Northenders in the group, up here in Wyoming, Illinois. I don't get to your area very often, but Detwiller Park, Robison Park, amd Bradley Park are 3 places in Peoria, that I have hunted. Oh, and the meetings are normally at the Lake street library, in Peoria.

 

[berlong]

Dave thanks for responding. Any info is useful. I think I will attend the march meeting. I thank you for your time

 

[Larry (IL)]

Welcome to the forum Bernard. Pekin is a metal detecting friendly town and you have some nice parks and school yards to hunt. We have a couple of members from Pekin that you might see hunting from time to time. Like most towns, the public hunting spots are hunted often and although never hunted out, good targets are getting scarce. Asking permission to hunt on private property often produces some real nice finds. We are looking forward to meeting you are the next meeting this month.

 

[Nancy-IL]

Welcome aboard! It's always great to see a new face around here. Congrats on your metal detector purchases. I started off with a lower end detector also and it's the way to go. It would be wonderful to see you at the PATH meetings. We have a lot of wonderful people there and we're all willing to lend a hand in showing the ins and outs of detecting. Let's hope for warmer weather........SOON! It's been a long winter and we're all ready to get out and play in the soil. Again, nice to have you here and HH, Nancy

 

[Steve1825]

Most areas are open to rescuing coins and relics. We do recommend you leave your shovel at home. Use a garden trowel and a screwdriver for target recovery. This will keep the parks open to hunting as we follow the (Treasure Hunters Code of Ethics). Many places nationwide have had metal detecting banned by just one person leaving a mess in grass areas of a park. Just ruins it for the rest of us and gives the hobby/sport a bad rep. I hope to see you at the March meeting.