Please be responsible!

[T.A.L.LasVegas]

New sign up at a local park that reads NO DIGGING, METAL DETECTOR SURFACE FINDS ONLY, offense may result in criminal prosecution.
Some old lady following me said that the new sign is because people like me have been leaving big holes though out the park just to find pennies, (people like me do not leave any damage) this old bat really pissed me off she followed me the whole time ranting about how terrible people like me are. I finally turned to her and politely told her to leave me alone she refused and stayed my shadow pointing out every time I stopped if you dig I'm calling the police, I finally had enough of her lost my temper and told her to get the ??ck away from me.
Come on people let's be responsible out there do not leave the parks any different than when we arrive, if we dig a plug replace the plug and when you come across trash even on the ground pick it up and take it with you and if you see damage/holes another digger left take a minute and fill it in. If we do not take care of the parks they will all be off limits accept for surface finds in the future.
If you are new to metal detecting do not start digging big ugly holes, learn your metal detector and then learn how to properly dig a plug and retrieve your find and always replace your plug along with all of the dirt you removed, pat it down, rake over it with your fingers and leave no trace that you where there and take all trash you find with you, leave the park a cleaner safer place than you found it and we will all be able to enjoy metal detecting local parks forever.
Right now I am coin shooting without my shovel because I just use my probe and pop the coins out if three inches or less and I leave the deeper ones. I am doing it that way for a few reasons;
Until I have learned my new metal detector, that way when I start digging my plugs will be clean and small
To avoid upsetting any of the grounds keepers
So no one will ever know I was there, it is impossible to see anywhere I have popped a coin out of the ground and no damage is done to the grass not even shock
To avoid those old people who think they are the police and scrutinize your every move (like this morning this old lady followed me the whole time telling me I'm watching you)

 

[Des D]

Sad but true T A L,

I had the same thing happen - a little old woman folowed me thru a small (tiny) grassed area in Sharpsburg Pa.
It took an awful lot of patience to not engage in dialogue: I finally left. She did me a favor as the next place produced some deep silver!

That was 25 years ago.
Recently, I took a small group out to show 'em the ropes of metal detecting. We dug around 12 targets.
Two days later, I again took another group to the same area.
One of the 2nd group who had detected the location previously said, we should not have been searching where we were!
So we went looking for the "holes" and "damage" done to the ground two days earlier....COULD NOT BE FOUND!!!

So, it proves there is a RIGHT way to recover targets without leaving any traces!

Good Hunting

Des D

 

[chuckciao]

Luckily, the parks in my area have not posted signs prohibiting MD'ing but recently, I was MD'ing in a park that I had been working for over a year and for the first time, a park employee, who had been mowing, stopped to see what I was doing showing some concern over my digging. Very respectfully, I showed him how I dig the smallest plug possible and then replace it resulting in minimal damage. He was quite impressed and went on his way without any further questions by park staff.

 

[Terra1959]

I mainly only use a screwdriver and pliers for shallow finds in suburban parks.
many people have stopped to watch including Local Govt employees and they walk away happy and leave me to it.
Only once was I asked to move along ...because the Parks manager was coming and he hates metal detectorists due to catching some moron hacking into a park with a garden spade.
It will be a sign of the future unless we all educate others in rights and wrongs

T59

 

[nuggethunter13]

I was questioned at my local park by the maintenance crew. After demonstrating the Jimmy Sierra Plug Popper and explaining that it is exactly how they cut the holes into the putting greens across the street at the city golf course, I had no more trouble. That tool works dandy and seems to pull a plug about the same depth as my detector goes. Not once have I found a target deeper that the plug popper pops a plug in the park soil. (say that ten times fast). A coincidence I am sure but never the less best 40 bucks I have spent. When I replace the plug you can't tell where I have been. My new motto is "tread lightly and carry a plug popper and pro pointer"

 

[ryanchappell]

The signs are ridiculous. It is already against the law to mess up the park.

They should enforce existing rules rather than make new ones!! Typical Knee Jerk!!! and they are passing the laws to make it so they don't have to do their job and enforce the existing rules or laws.

The offender could very easily have been a squirrel or raccoon, that is what it usually is when I see a mess.

Watching me metal detect is so boring that I doubt she would have been able to hang around for more than 15 minutes, lol. They usually stop watching after a minute, when I am hunting. I am on a totally different time frame due to my patience. It might take me an hour to find anything, or 30 minutes to get out of my car, but once I get in a zone, I find good stuff. I do have a problem of not being able to quit a bad site, even though I know that the soil has been filled and nothing old can be detected, or if it is too junky.

You can still use a lesche to pop a coin, but they would probably go nuts.