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.