Getting Permission

Whether you let your fingers do the searching online or on foot, knocking on doors, getting and securing clear permission is not only the legal and ethical thing to do… it can make your detecting adventure more “fulfilling”.

If you searched the Internet for , “Why do people treasure hunt?” it might provide some surprising insight as to why you love the “total experience” of swinging your detector. The list of reasons is long and one is that it can “build character”. And detecting where you haven’t secured permission erodes character. So do yourself and the reputation of detecting a favor and always get permission.

In most places here in the U.S., all you need to do to find out who owns property is perform a county online parcel search. The map to the left is one example of a county parcel search that opened the ArcGIS parcel map viewer for a county. Then by zooming in and clicking on a parcel, it opens that tax record-ownership information. With that information most people can employ their online detective skills and get the contact information to respectfully request permission.

But before you do, we recommend you watch a video or two on the subject and explore a couple of websites on the subject. Simply search… How to ask for metal detecting permission?