How Can Finding 6 Pieces of Silver Be The Worst Day of Dectecting Ever? :ranting:

[ZOFCHAK]

When you go to your favorite park and find out that they have closed the entire property to metal detecting!


I live close to a city owned park and it's my "go to" place when I only have an hour or two to detect. I've been detecting it for the past 3 years and it's where I found my first silver coin, my first gold ring and my first class ring. Today I was super excited to finally get out detecting, only to be completely shattered when the groundskeeper informed me that they are no longer allowing metal detecting.. What?
.
I briefly spoke to the manager of the park and he just made the rule change as of 3 days ago. I'm not sure that it has anything to do with the TV shows, but I would not doubt that it does, and I was not about to bring up the subject. The only good thing about it is that he seems to be open to allowing detecting if he can insure that detectorists won't be damaging the property. That's a tall order considering the rush of newbies that will be hitting the scene in the next few months. I'm going to work on a letter this weekend highlighting the positives of detecting (I've cleared buckets of glass and metal debris from the park over the years.) I'm also going to suggest a permit process to allow the park to keep tabs on those who may be doing damage. .


Now for the silver lining to my horrible day. Since detecting is no longer allowed in my favorite park I hit up another spot a few miles down the road. I hunted the thick brush and in 3 hours scored 2 Silver Washingtons, 2 Mercs, a Silver War Nickel, 7 Wheaties and a Sterling Silver spoon. Not a bad hunt, but I could hardly enjoy it knowing that this may be my last chance to detect this park if the fallout continues. Happy hunting and enjoy it while you can!

 

[Ken in Georgia]

Cool finds, but you need to ask why the change? You pay for those parks too. And if it is just a rule go to the city and see what you can do to change the rule back !!!! Good luck !!!

 

[park pirate]

Vary nice finds...... Im sorry about your fav. park......Best of luck with that letter....

 

[jmaryt]

that's truly awful! i guess it's started already!
hot damn!..great day though! congrats!..just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[banditicey]

DEVASTATING

I tend to agree that a rule change by a manager may not be legal or binding if there is a Law allowing MDing in Public Parks

You Idea is also a Good one but again there are City and State Laws that are probably superior to the "New Rules By The Manager".

GREAT FINDS

Regards and Good Luck

 

[jmaryt]

could be an "ordinance" on the books allowing detecting!
worth checkin' out! just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[khouse]

That TV show will get a lot of us banned! You can't blame them if they watch it those idiots! They need to put a disclaimer on the show that says it's fictional. No responsible hunter escavates targets like that!

 

[iskirkra]

Sorry to hear about the park, what a shame. Maybe it will work out. But on the bright side you can honestly say this cloud had a SILVER lining!!

HH - Randy

 

[silvereagle]

VERY NOBEL!

 

[ds6191]

Great silver! This hunting season could be rough on all of us that hunt on public land. Maybe it's time to start door knocking!. I have a few houses lined up all-ready.

 

[hershey1]

Invite the manager to go along with you for 1 hour and put on a show for him. Bring an extra detector and show him or her how to recover a target and leave the park in fine shape while removing the trash. I did that a few years ago and it worked. She now detects and explains what is expected to new detectorist that want to hunt. They now have a lost& found program that works pretty well so you may want to give it a shot. Good luck. HH

 

[Barry NY]

Typically you will not find an ordinance ALLOWING metal detecting specifically.

But if you read into town/city/etc park rules you will find many rules about not disturbing the flora and fauna.

So you can swing the detector all day but never put anything into the ground to dig. That's how they can enforce no "metal detecting".

The only place I have heard them say you can't bring the detector in is on Federal parklands, beaches and properties.

 

[earthmansurfer]

Great job there! You know, sometimes these "downers" have their polarity just waiting for us to discover them. Similar things have happened to me, like not finding coins in my local park anymore and being "forced" to find another spot. In short order I discovered another spot and then discovered a 500 year old market, judging by the coins I found. Then things go thin there and I "discovered" another spot and now another spot. Sometimes these spots are really close by.

Anyway, I think, if nothing else, ask for a permit based system - better than nothing.

 

[Phillip_in_NM]

Sounds to me like the park manager is way over-stepping his bounds. It's a city park which your taxes partially support. In fact, you are paying part of the park manager's salary. I'd be in the city commissioner's office pounding on his desk. If there weren't some legislation by the city to halt detecting, I'd bring down some heat on the head of the park manager by talking to his superiors. If there had been some legislation, I would ask my commissioner for the reasoning behind it.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

zofchak, you say:

"good thing about it is that he seems to be open to allowing detecting if he can insure that detectorists won't be damaging the property. "

Then let me ask you a dumb question: what then, is to stop you, from simply going back out to the park off-shift, when busy-body gardner's are around, to have their feathers ruffled, to begin with?

For example: I too once had an encounter like the one you describe. And I too, after casual conversation, like yourself, got the subtle clues that what they are *really* after, is just to make sure that some yahoo doesn't leave marks. And, like yourself, when I assured him it wasn't me, and that I leave no trace, he winked and said the following to me: "Well, what I don't see after my shift, doesn't bother me". With that said, my friend and I gleefully asked him: "what time do you get off work". He said "5pm". It was 4:45pm then, so my buddy and I merely sat at a park bench, and waited. Ever since then, I've simply taken a little more discretion to go at off-times, to avoid busy-bodies, and never had a problem again (that was 5 yrs. ago).

Because if you take the approach that you're thinking (to start a petition, letter writing, seeking sanctions and clarifications, etc...) you may end up getting your "pressing issue" addressed even more, AGAINST what you want. And then, rather than having the issue forgotten (or only enforced for nuisances, etc...) you end up getting something official, in writing, clarified against you. I've actually see this psychology happen before! And believe me: the persons who started asking too many questions and objections, wished they hadn't. Because now some supposed policy get passed down and made known to ALL park employees. No longer a single person, from a single incident, etc... that might have just been isolated.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

You bring up an interesting point: See if there's an actual/real ordinance, saying if there really is such a prohibition (specfically saying no metal detectors). Because what the gardener said here, might just be an opinion (as evidenced by the fluidity of what the ended up saying to zofchak, that it was meant for persons making messes). Because let's face it: There's a LOT of places where we may be told "you can't be doing that". But truth be told, there is no actual rule saying such a thing. It is just someone's whim (perhaps they were in a bad mood? perhaps they felt you were going to leave a mess [which you aren't], etc...). And for me, unless I see an actual SPECIFIC prohibition, then I'm not going to stop. OH SURE, I'll use a little .... uh .... "discretion" and not be a bid red X in high traffic right in front of gardeners

So if it were me, I'd check, for myself @ the city website under the park's dept rules. If there really is no actual rule, then ... well ....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

"you will find many rules about not disturbing the flora and fauna."

Oh sure Barry. Of course. And if you start down THAT route, to assume that all such damage, vandalism, alteration, etc... clauses must, by necessity, apply to us, then you might as well give up detecting in public parks, schools, etc... Because I gaurantee you, those clauses exist everywhere, on all public land. So unless you intend to hunt only private property, you simply CAN NOT make those automatic equivalences, that "detecting = vandalism", etc....

And when you think of it: all such clauses all intrinsically imply the END result, do they not? For example: if you leave no trace of your presense, then by logical definition, you have not "damaged", "vandalized", "altered" or "disturbed" anything, now have you? SURE some budy-body can argue semantics with you, and disagree with this interpretation. The way to avoid that, is to pick frickin more discreet times and avoid such kill-joys, to begin with. I mean, heck, why do some people choose to go at high noon during archie conventions, and expect no problems?

 

[mudpuppy]

Just in case a Gardener trys to run you off! "My wife dropped her ring out here, not sure where, I'll just wander around for a few minutes to see if I can find it" No shovel or kneepads or even a finds pouch, just a screwdriver in your back pocket, and off you go!

Ps. getting run off a public park your taxes pay for by a damned gardener sure has to hurt the pride!
Mud

 

[ZOFCHAK]

Tom, I did not not just speak to one of the groundskeepers, but to the Manager of the entire park. He clearly stated that metal detecting was no longer allowed anywhere in the park. It wasn't a 'If I don't see it" type of conversation, but a flat out change in their policy that is going to be enforced (It already was on me and I was the only person in entire park at the time). This is not a small city park, it's a huge place that employees dozens of people during the busy summer season. He's the full-time, year round manager of the place and he definitely has the authority to change the policy. I will respect his decision and abide by the new rules, but that doesn't mean I won't attempt to get him to reconsider the ban. Wish me luck!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

did you see if it was just a "policy" (ie.: a word-of-mouth thing between him and other gardeners?) or an actual real written rule?

Everything you're saying could also be said about several encounters I too have had over the years. Another example: one time a lady cop came and booted a friend and I from a park in another part of my state. All she would say is "it's not allowed", and booted us. And let's assume (so that it fits with your example), that she was a "senior cop" in that town

Anyhow, we were about to leave anyhow, so we paid her lip service, and left. Later that year, I happened to meet a fellow md'r from that particular town. We became friends. At a certain point, I related to him how I'd been booted from that city's main park. He was adament (and concerned now) that there was no such rule (not an actual written rule anyhow, but sure, ANYONE can get their panties in a wad, and announce "you can't do that" or "there's a policy", and so forth). This new friend of mine, as it turns out, detects that park all the time, and had never had a problem. In fact, his wife was connected with the city hall somehow (through in-laws or something, to city council, in this small town). So this new friend of mine was going to go down to city hall and seek clarifications, etc.... All because of my one isolated booting. He never actually went any further than just to check public records and confirm that there is no such rule. We decided to "let it ride" and figure we'll just avoid her in the future. That was over 10 yrs. ago, and I have been back to this park multiple times, whenever passing through that part of the state.

Now sure: I suppose if there was a real actual rule, or no way to avoid "Joe Blow" (because he/she is literally on-staff 24 hrs. per day, etc...) then sure, use common sense.

All I'm trying to say is we are all quick to turn bootings into hard and fast concrete rules that "must be fought against", but it's not always necessary, nor is it always the best reaction.

Another example: state of CA owned beaches can be detected till you're blue in the face, ever since the dawn of detectors, as long as anyone can remember. However, a buddy of mine *just happened* to run into a state archie, who *just happened* to be at a certain state beach one day (they were there to give a cultural heritage lecture at a beach side museum there). The archie read him the riot act, telling him that it was illegal on all state beaches, etc.... Now stop and think zofchack: is it better to treat that as an isolated incident, or for all the people in CA to rush to Sacramento with petitions, setting this archie straight, and "get our beaches re-opened"? Or to give him lip service, knowing he'll return to state capitol, and odds are, no one else really cares? But as I say, if in your situation it's truly enforced, and no way to avoid him, then sure, sometimes we have no choice.