Yeap. I was in the same situation. Jump on one of the google map type programs, find anything that look promising, and ride down there. You would really be surprised how helpful most people are. Find the closest house to that property you are interested inand find out who owns it. This is what I did and got lucky and got access too 50+ acres that is owned here by a local church.

Microsoft Live Search Maps and Yellowpages.com were my best friends.