Hi Butch,
Welcome to CP and you've come to the right place.
A good plan to get familiar with prospecting would be to do it with others who are already skilled.
Your profile doesn't state where you are located so that makes it a little more difficult to accommodate. Our club had a fun outing last Saturday on XXXXXXXX Creek. We're planning another outing somewhere in the state for early June. I'm not sure if you've joined our club at an annual level or just joined our forums. If you are a member at the annual level you can go into the Protected Forum to view/discuss/join our next outing. If I'm at the next outing (and I plan to be) I'd be glad to help you!
If you're not a club member here and would like to shorten the learning curve I would suggest joining up and having some fun with us soon. Join using reference code CE213 and I'll be happy as a clam.
If you prefer not to join the club that's fine too. There is a great wealth of information here in the general forums for the public and we appreciate your participation at any level. Everyone here is very helpful whether you're an official member or just a casual forum user.