GettingPermission

property. I don't leave holes in your lawn and I don't damage any other property. I also take full
responsibility for my being on your property. In return for permission I will also remove any and all
trash I find or dig up.

After this initial introduction, answer any questions or concerns the property owner may have and,
most important, do not lie! Lies will catch up sooner or later but most likely sooner.
If the property owner asks to share the finds, you of course agree, but also suggest that you
might find any lost jewelry for them. In short, you want to make new friends and that way secure
possible future hunts on their property or their friends' properties referred to you by your new
friends. They might become interested enough to join you for a treasure hunt. That could lead to
another family joining the club. Possibilities are infinite!

If the property owner says yes, you should do try to search immediately, if possible. Property
owners sometimes change their minds.

If the property owners say no, thank them for their
time, hand them your detectorist card, and suggest
that if they need help locating a septic cover, pipes,
property markers, lost tools, lost jewelry, or anything
else, to give you a call. NEVER start arguing as to
why they wouldn't allow you to detect.

At other times, property owners my follow you around to check for themselves what and how
you're doing. That's fine. As a matter of fact, the property owner's curiosity may make a new
detectorist friend! If you have an extra detector, bring it along just for moments like this and let the
property owner check it out. After you gain the landowners' trust, they may give you the names
and addresses of their friends or neighbors for you to do some detecting.

A couple more suggestions: First impressions are very important, so make sure you are clean,
wear clean clothes, and NO SUNGLASSES! Direct eye contact is the best method to gain the
property owner's attention. If your appearance is that of a 'Most Wanted' person or someone
working the yard all day, they may keep the door shut, or tell you to leave immediately, or that
you're trespassing. .

First Impression
Ok, you've hunted all the parks, public schools, medians and abandoned "locations" in your area
and everything is hunted out. Now what do you do? Take a road trip, move to some exotic place
that is always featured in one of the monthly treasure magazines or just go up to a stranger's
door in your town and ASK PERMISSION to hunt it! Most Th'ers would prefer to do the first two
options because the third scares the dickens out of them.

Let me give you some tips that will open up more sites than you can possibly hunt in 10 lifetimes.
All it takes is some common sense mixed with a good dose of courtesy and a smidgen of
salesmanship. Most of us do our hunting on weekends and can't wait to hit the road at first light
and hunt until dark, in order to get as much time swinging the coil in as possible.

While this is an admirable trait, it is best saved for road trips or areas where you don't have to
ask a homeowner for permission. Put yourselves in their position, they too have been at the grind
all week and Saturday or Sunday morning may be their day to sleep in. Guess how receptive
they are going to be to someone pounding on the door or ringing the bell a half dozen times at
7AM or 8AM. Plan your first stop to arrive at the neighborhood about 9:45. Most folks are up and
about by then and haven't gone off for the day.

Before you leave home, take an inventory of your appearance. Don't wear beat up, ripped, torn
or filthy old clothes that you save for digging in the dirt. Avoid the Johnny Cash look, try to wear
bright colors, like clean faded jeans, chambray shirts, polo shirts with a collar, or jumpsuits if that
is your style. Remember you are going to be meeting strangers, they have absolutely no idea
how nice you really are in spite of your appearance. If you're a man, shave. Always comb your
hair and use deodorant. An unkempt appearance won't open many doors.

Avoid T shirts as your outer garment unless spotlessly clean and devoid of any slogans, cute
sayings or political statements. You have very few seconds to make that first impression, your
T-shirt will speak louder and first to a stranger. Especially taboo are shirts that infer violence or
make risque statements. They may be fun to wear at a gathering of like minded people but they
are certain to stereotype you before you even say hello. Gents, avoid the torn tank top or bare
chested look, if you want to show off your pectorals go to the beach. Ladies avoid short shorts,
tube tops , tank tops or the unfettered look. If you want to be ogled join the guys at the beach. If
you are like me and have a large belly and small hips, wear a belt and/or suspenders to hold up
your jeans, the only moon the owner wants to see is in the sky!

Know the neighborhood you are about to search. Take time to do some research, drive through
it without a detector and make a list of the places that really look good to you. That way when you
come back you are not a car full of strangers prowling the neighborhood. Look hard at the
neighborhood and yard size. It isn't a problem if you hunt by yourself, but if you bring partners
along with you, you need to have a good feel for how many hunters a yard will support. The
average yard will comfortably allow two hunters to move around without crosstalk and
overcrowding. If the yard is over an acre, 3 hunters can search the place without making the
owner feel like he is being scoured clean. It is hard for most of us to tell a hunting partner he or
she can't come along with us on occasion but the alternative is to have you and six of your
closest friends arriving at a 75 by 100 city lot!!

If there are two or more of you hunting, send only one to the door, don't have your buddies
lounging around on the lawn with their equipment while you get the OK. The others should stay in
the car until you walk back and tell them it is a go or no go. Decide who is going to do the asking
in advance. Don't argue about who is going to the door for 5 minutes while sitting in front of the
house. Chances are the homeowner saw you drive up easier to get all the dirt back in without a
big brown stain on the grass. If you use a survival knife or some other lethal looking digging tool,
don't start sharpening it up or tossing it into nearby trees or the lawn while killing time. Sure we all
have some potential life threatening tools if used by a lunatic but we don't want to convey that
image to the still nervous owner, keep it out of site in its holder until you need to use it.

Once you start hunting, wear earphones. Loud beeping will become a water torture to the owner
and imply a multitude of valuable targets whether or not they are. While you have your
earphones on, remember you can't hear voices well nor can your partner so remove them if you
want to talk to each other. Don't scream across the yard to each other or curse or holler what
have you found. At best it is rude and at the worst it may get you tossed out.

Have some prearranged hand signals with your partner if you find something neat, a tap on the
top of the head might mean silver or relics. If you want to discuss a find stroll over to your partner
and casually talk about it, save your bragging and joy until you are in the car and leaving the
property. Carrying on over a find is a sure way to lose it to the homeowner or point out to him
and the neighbors that there is "real treasure" here and that they better keep it to themselves. By
the way, itgoes without saying - remove trash you find as well as treasure when you search a
yard.

Don't let a non productive yard reflect on your attitude as you depart. It is not the owner's fault
that there was nothing there or that you failed to find your intended targets. Thank them for their
hospitality as profusely as you would had you found $10 face value in old silver. Let them know
that it is a treasure HUNTING hobby, and not necessarily a treasure FINDING hobby, and that is
what makes it fun. You'll come across as polite and grateful and may even get a tip from the
owner to another yard where they know that there might be something.

When asking permission, I always tell the home owner that I will show them anything I find before
leaving. The key word is SHOW. Notice I didn't imply "sharing". I don't know what I am going to
find and I certainly don't want to give it away before all my efforts are even begun.. You control
what you show. The items are in your apron or pouch so common sense and a bit off
salesmanship is crucial at this point.

A Barber dime may be just another coin to them, but to you it may be of great significance. Same
with large cents, wheaties and memorials. If you tell the home owner you found a hand full of
pennies and offer them to pick a few, odds are they will wave you off. If, on the other hand, you
point out the large cent telling them it is fairly rare and may be of some value, what do you think
they will do?

Lastly, treat the homeowners and their property with respect. Treasure hunting on someone's
property without permission is trespassing. Removing an item without permission is theft. There is
no such thing as abandoned or unowned property. Check with the local tax assessor if in doubt.
There are an awful lot of great finds yet to be made in private yards. How you search them
impacts all of us. Once you find the owner, get permission and enjoy some of the best hunting
you'll ever do, you'll make many friends in the process!
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