Beach policy on leaving holes

[mortarman]

I have a question. This past weekend I was out hunting in Avalon(that's in NJ) and since I only hunted during the early mornng hours I went to the beach with family in the afternoon. There were a couple MDer's out there digging holes everywhere back by the dunes and were not filling their holes. It looked like a moonscape. I went over and politly told them I was a fellow detectorist and suggested that they fill up their holes and they told me it's not the rule on the beach. I just walked away shaking my head. Now I always fill in my holes, whether in the park or on the beach.
Now let me tell you another thing. The next morning I'm out there with other hunters that were about 100 yards away from me and a police suv drove past me and went up toward the other guys. When he came back to me I was digging a signal. He sat there while I dug, watching me. After I found my find
(a clad dime), I filled my hole and he drove away. I think he was waiting to see if I filled it.
So the question is, do you all fill your holes on the beach or not?

 

[scubadetector]

Kids make holes ALL the time in the sand, I doubt anyone cares. BUT when I detect on the beach I always kick sand in the holes. How much time does it take, a few seconds. Likewise underwater in beach areas. I never leave a hole where a person can step in it. Deeper in muck and over people's heads I don't care. Fish digging nests make bigger craters than I make.

I am sure there are laws at a lot of beaches and parks because of detectorists that are inconsiderate. I hope the person that was leaving a mess was at least taking his trash.

 

[mortarman]

I agree scubadetector.It only takes a few seconds. I should have gone back to their holes and checked to see if they left their trash.

 

[Tom Slick]

I always fill my holes on the beach. It only takes a couple of seconds and helps to keep the beaches open to us.

 

[firty13]

its not hard i manage to fill all the sand from my holes in 2 sweeps from the side with my foot takes seconds....

 

[kaptainkosmic]

After approaching and offering friendly advice a short video or pictures on your phone which could be offered to the observing officer. This would accomplish a couple things let the officer associate the faces of the culprits he was most likely looking for and at the same time let the officer know that most of us are responsible and want the "bad" guys identified and either educated or punished! Option b would be simply call the police yourself right while the abuse is acuring. Kind of like neighborhood watch.
Steve

 

[John(Tx)]

I have been to the beach where others have left holes unfilled, I will fill them as I hunt past them, don't know why these hunters do this, just plain lazy.....HH

 

[Smudge]

I know its the beach and yes, kids make huge holes.

But I fill mine in every time.

To me, its a simple matter of respect for others.

 

[scubadetector]

After approaching and offering friendly advice a short video or pictures on your phone which could be offered to the observing officer. This would accomplish a couple things let the officer associate the faces of the culprits he was most likely looking for and at the same time let the officer know that most of us are responsible and want the "bad" guys identified and either educated or punished! Option b would be simply call the police yourself right while the abuse is acuring. Kind of like neighborhood watch.
Steve

Here is the problem, IF its not illegal, your wasting the officers time. Having the police called on me NUMEROUS times for diving in lakes (7 times in one lake, 2 in another for example) where I haven't broken a single law is FRUSTRATING for me and the officers involved.

I will stand up to a cop ANY DAY and I have plenty of times when I know I am right. The lazy people leaving holes is for sure a blight mark on our hobby, but before the police are involved, you need to know if they are breaking the law in your state.

Right or wrong, I found a way into a private lake here in Michigan. I found a lot of gold and silver in that lake. TOO ,many rich people with nothing better to do called the police on me. After the first few times I even got WRITTEN permission to go on a persons property to go in the lake. That still didn't stop the rich from calling them. After the 7th time, the police threatened the people with arrest for harassment.

I was a cop for 9 years. I will NEVER let them or anyone push me around. BUT, before you call, make sure the person is actually breaking the law. MOST DETECTORISTS are not guilty of leaving holes even if it is an unwritten law in their state. BUT leave it to the few to leave holes, trespass on private or government protected land or do other illegal activities for financial gain and we get new laws in place.

I believe most of us who have been doing this for a long time are courteous and professional. Like in EVERY profession or hobby, you will find the opposite.

 

[kaptainkosmic]

Even if leaving holes is not illegal its unethical! We have to stand against it! I don't think these folks would care to challenge someone in authority whether its illegal or not. If it were suggested that they bury theirs holes I'm betting they would comply!
You do not need to know if they are breaking the law to call the police, that is for the police to determine. Calling the police 1 time puts everything on the record and atleast discourages the bad guys they don't want the special attention. I'm not advocating this as the first action taken but as a last ditch effort! I will also make this statement having been involved in emergency services for many yrs, we always prefered that you call and don't need us then not call and need us!

Next I will defend your right to dive in any lake where you have legal access. And I believe you were frustrated by the police being involved so many times. But I must also advise you that in the state of mich on all inland lakes both private and public the land owners own the bottom all the way to the middle of the lake kind of like a pc. of pie its called rapirian rights. You may boat, fish, scuba dive, etc, basically anything on or in the water but the bottom is different. The landowner controls that. Now whos pc of the pie are you on when you're 1/2 mile from shore 30' deep in a large lake probably pretty impossible to tell, but according to law you are on someones property! Were all of the silver and gold that you found on that private lake 100 % on the property you had access to? Again pretty tough to call. You may not agree with this law but it is the law. Its kind of like tresspassing, if no one see's you is it ok? On top of that if you dig a little deeper you will also find that the state of mich lays claim to all treasure on the bottoms of all the great lakes and connecting waters.

I agree most detectorist are not leaving holes or junk this post was not concerning those folks this post was about some that were leaving holes. I have personally seen this and bet most here have also, that means more than just a few are doing this!

l seen similiar post quite often on this and other forums. My reply was a suggestion for a solution to maybe help curb this problem. If you think having the authorities involved is to radical, that is your choice. As a last ditch effort I don't! No other group is going to protect our hobbie! Either we do it or suffer the consequences!

I'm not questioning your integrity nor your opinion. I've followed your many post and have enjoyed them and your many finds. And hope to continue to do so in the future.

Steve

 

[hershey1]

People like that are not lazy they are just plain SORRY. Yes I do fill my holes and carry off the trash everytime. Good thread on a bad topic. HH

 

[firty13]

After approaching and offering friendly advice a short video or pictures on your phone which could be offered to the observing officer. This would accomplish a couple things let the officer associate the faces of the culprits he was most likely looking for and at the same time let the officer know that most of us are responsible and want the "bad" guys identified and either educated or punished! Option b would be simply call the police yourself right while the abuse is acuring. Kind of like neighborhood watch.
Steve

You go ahead and call the police for holes on the beach..... i hope they laugh at you


unethical........................ yea when they form an "Ethics Police" you can call them taking up emergency phonelines with "theres ppl diggings holes and i dont like it!!" no matter how you think your justifying your reasoning its clearly skewed.

 

[scubadetector]

Kaptain sir, you are mostly correct. The landowner does own a piece of the pie to the middle IF his deed says he does. And they do own the bottom on private lakes. However most my finds are in front of public beaches. And yes technically I am on somebody's property in their back yard with a metal detector underwater. LOL, not going to agree with the law but NOBODY has ever had a problem with that at all. I put a lot of chairs and dock augers back on docks and I have left lots of people boat anchors and have talked to VERY many wonderful people.

SOO many association parks here in Michigan. I do have permission to hunt quite a few. And Michigan can try to claim all they want. I only find pull tabs and bottle tops and old rusty nails anyway!!

The only problems I have had with rich people is how I ACCESS the water. Wish I had a float plane and a pilots license!! I knock on a lot of doors to gain access to a lake. Most the time I am successful. The rich parents didn't want me diving under their kids, I might be a child molester looking at them. I stay away from kids like the plague anyway.

But back to the holes. One of the Metal Detector code of ethics is to bury them. As I said, I believe most do. Its the few that only care about themselves and how much they are going to make that put a blight on our hobby. I would also venture to guess that people that do leave holes don't belong to any clubs or websites. They are loners.

Thank you Kaptain for your comments. I hope to continue my adventures. Sad the weather is changing and soon my boat will be out of the water and will be on land again.

 

[PowerDetecting]

you have to remember also that when the tide comes in and the water hits the hole it will fill itself in. It is wrong to leave your holes uncovered especially if there is alot of traffic but one way or another the hole eventually gets filled.

 

[mortarman]

you have to remember also that when the tide comes in and the water hits the hole it will fill itself in. It is wrong to leave your holes uncovered especially if there is alot of traffic but one way or another the hole eventually gets filled.

Not where these guys were digging. I mentioned the they were near the dunes. No where near the high tide mark.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

if you arent going to fill it ,dont dig it.... if someone breaks a leg due to falling into a hole a little kid dug they arent going to ban little kids from the beach ..but if someone breaks a leg in a hole a metal detectorist is known to have dug and there is a trail of 35 foot deep craters leading to some lazy idiot who cares about no one but himself then we all run the risk of losing our detecting privleges..... i know the tide will take care of it right.... have you ever hunted the low tide line prior to sunrise? i have ..... yes ive filled in many holes that i have not dug ..... i only get to the ocean beaches one or two weeks a year..... all i can say is dont take it for granted.....and if people cant fill thier holes to allow a reasonable amount of public saftey they should find a new hobby as not to drag the rest of us down with them...

 

[kaptainkosmic]

Firty I respect your opinion and am glad you posted it. I'm not the ethics police. I was simply offering a possible solution to an ungoing problem. I hold scuba and the rest of the forum members in very high regard.
Personally I'm a believer in immediate justice, but that probably would do more harm to the hobbie than just letting the idiot dig and leave his holes. Just imagine if the poster had pictures of the hoodlums and their license plate the next day when the police officer was watching would of taken 60 seconds to see if there was an interest and make a positive contact with the authority's.

I would like to know if you have a possible solution? Maybe we should just keep complaining here on the forums until we have something else to complain about!

Steve

 

[kaptainkosmic]

Best of wishes! Just trying to find a solution!

HH Steve

 

[tvr]

North Myrtle Beach Hole Filling Law

Laws are in place in some locations; the link is to an article on one. You can bet more laws like this are coming.

I have always filled holes and packed them, even in the wet sand and into the water when I can stay over the hole enough to kick sand back in it.

Why? Safety for little kids and people on bicycles.

In the water I've dug holes deep enough to be knee deep in the hole chasing an elusive target. That puts me a lot more than knee deep in the water. A little kid who may come right behind me could suddenly find themselves in over their head. What if they can't swim or just panic? I've seen several times where someone riding a bicycle came across beach holes filled but not packed in and have their tire sink into the sand and get pitched from the bike.

I fill the holes and pack them even if the next tide would fill them because it is how I'd want to find things if I were in those other beach goer's position.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[dewcon4414]

Im sorry ive been detecting for 20 years .... i just dont get bent out of shape seeing anyone not filling their holes on the beach. I realize its a hazard...... but i see holes you could put a truck in that people dig and leave it to the life guards to fill ..... anything smaller if the tractors dont cover it .... no one does. Do i fill my holes.... anyone who has hunted with me knows i do. But i am not going to wander over and chastis someone for a 6 to 10 in hole they dug.

Dew