I have not seen the show but my detecting buddy has reiterated what the majority of our detecting community has been saying....I do not agree with the archies in terms of NOT allowing us to pursue our beloved hobby, and do not think for a minute that they are not guilty of keeping some items for themselves...Preserving history is very important, but how many minie balls, buttons, coins, rings, etc...must one protect, and what can we learn from these artifacts that we have not already learned. Secondly, how many of each are required to be protected before we "the public" actually have the right to hunt--our pursuit of happiness.
We all know that the mindset is to protect sites for future generations....However, many of the sites have already been destroyed by subdivisions, shopping malls, golf-courses, etc..., that we will never know the extent of what has been lost. OR, perhaps we already do if it is 1 of the 500+ civil war camps that, for the most part, will not provide a level of enlightenment beyond what has already been uncovered....True, there are campsites that have yet to be discovered, and it will more than likely be one of us who will carry the cost of researching, traveling, and hunting the site that would perhaps never be found--we have our place both good and bad in historical discovery.
Having said that, my biggest fear is having a bunch of money hungry novice detectorists (if you want to call them that) trespassing on private land causing landowners to post their land, making it off-limits to those of us who hunt honorably and with integrity...I have seen this happen before in Natchitoches, LA....Try to go there and gain access where looters have torn down fences or churned up the land with their 4-wheel drive vehicles leaving open holes and trash everywhere--I have experienced the devastation first hand!
I have no problem with metal detecting being aired on television if it is done with the purpose of educating the public, showing the rewards as well as the patience and research needed, along with the fruitless hunts...Showing individuals how to respect the rights of the property owners, respecting the artifact that may hold historical significance, leave an area as if it has never been disturbed, and document the findings--this is all apart of the fun, and it would also be viewed much more favorably with the archies--I know, I have good friends who praise and respect my efforts toward recovery and documenting finds that would have never seen the light of day had it been left for future generations or due to a lack of funding...I worked with archies in identifying indian mounds, and provided federal site forms on these mounds for the Gilmer County Historic Landmark Commission in Gilmer, WV--Personally, I would never sell a piece of history for financial gain. My love for history offers itself well to the hobby, and it helps that I have a MA in History, but that's just me...to each his/her own as long as it doesn't ruin it for the rest of us--funny how greed tends to do that very thing.
