Treasure Hunting

I’ve never really been into the arrowhead craze so I know little about collecting them.  However, I was told by someone the other day that it was illegal to do so.  That made me want to do some research on the matter.

Through an internet search, I found this information on the subject.  To summarize the information, it’s not illegal to collect arrowheads as long as you (a) just pick them up off the ground (no digging for them) and (b) don’t take them from Federal lands or Indian lands.  Well, that’s pretty much saying that it’s illegal to me.  Where else are you going to find arrowheads?  Out in the open in your background, maybe?  Maybe I’m not understanding the definition of “public lands” properly.  But I always thought that anything that wasn’t “private land” would be considered as public land.  And you certainly can’t go looking for arrowheads on someone else’s property because of that little thing called trespassing.  So, unless I’ve got my definitions wrong here, you’re stuck looking on your own property and, even then, you’re not allowed to dig with the intent of looking for arrowheads.  I’ll have to do some more research on this, because this just doesn’t sound right.  There are a lot of arrowhead collectors out there.  This provision makes it sound like they all must be breaking the law unless they’re Native American.

The Black Rock Desert in northwest Nevada is a great place to go for any type of treasure hunting trip.  Just make sure that you take enough supplies with you and carry a lot of extra water.  There aren’t a whole lot of populated areas, and if you get too far off the paved roads, it’s pretty easy to get lost.  In fact, until you’ve spent some time there and have managed to draw your own maps of the area, it’s best not to go very far from the highway at all.  The desert can fool even the best trackers.

You also want to be careful not to intrude on anyone’s private property.  Even though the area is desolate, there are some sprawling ranches there.  If it looks like the property might belong to anyone, don’t take any chances.  You wouldn’t want someone traipsing around on your land, would you?

There are a lot of people who take metal detectors out in this area.  I’ve never done much with metal detectors (I’m more of a rockhound), but I’d like to learn more.  So, if anyone has any information on what a good ’starter’ metal detector would be, let me know.  By ’starter’ metal detector, I mean one that is easy to use and lightweight while still being decent.  I need to do some more research on it myself, but I’d sure like to hear some testimonials by people who use these things on a regular basis.