RE: Scouting land
Use the county GIS site. Each county should have it. Once you have located an area that you like go to the GIS site, look up the area. It will show you the property lines along with telling you exactly how much land each place has, it will also provide aerial photos so you can see what it looks like beyond what you can see. Then the tricky part comes, you got to ask for permission, there are many tactics to use, best case scenario is look around the house/property when you walk to the front door, try to get an idea of what kind of people they are and talk to there likings. Make yourself a friend right of the bat. oh and i hope you like rejection, cause you will get rejected a lot, but it only takes one yes to make it all worth while.