:usaflag: Beach Hunting Etiquette?? :detecting:

[Cupajo]

This afternoon I decided to do a little beach combing rather than detecting as the brisk westerly wind was a bit too cold for comfort in the water and I was a little late getting out there for the best tide conditions.

As I approached the beach I saw a fellow perhaps in his mid-forties swinging a Whites detector like he knew what he was doing. He was using a hand scoop and doing a lot of bending and as I got closer I saw that he was leaving open holes with bottle caps laying beside most of them!

As the resident "Old Timer" I didn't hesitate to ask the fellow to cover his holes as a favor to me and any future hunter who might be barred from hunting there if someone got hurt by stepping into one of the holes. He agreed to cover them and after a short chat about where he might hunt along that stretch of beach we each went our separate way.

Later I saw that two or three holes were still open and kicked sand in them myself as he was gone. I picked up all the bottle caps that he had discarded and left for home.

After all these years I'm still amazed when I encounter such a person and wonder at how thoughtless they can be,

CJ

 

[Terry Soloman]

Great post CJ! Unfortunate indeed, but becoming more common as the hobby grows. Good on you for approaching the seaweed and pointing out his folly. We are all responsible for protecting our right to be on the beach doing what we love to do in a safe and ethical way. I approach folks that leave holes and gently ask them to consider filling them in as well - Great post! - Terry

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

It would be just common sense to leave things better than before.
Some people just dont get it I guess.
Always expect others to clean up after them.

 

[tvr]

Also have to wonder about why on earth would one go to the effort of digging a bottle cap and then put it back on the beach. If you are digging it once, you will dig it again if you don't carry it away and discard it. Faulty logic in the thought process in my opinion. Goes right along with not thinking ahead about potential implications of not filling holes. Pointing out and teaching helps but does not always yield the hoped for results.

 

[Craig-PI]

Was he using a surfmaster? We have a guy down here in SW CT same MO... wears no finds ouch and just keeps the goodies and leaves the trash..

 

[Drenthe]

Lets hope that this was an education for him and he doesnt repeat it. Some just have to be "enlightened" politely and they will change their ways. Others, you might just as well as save your breath because they just dont give a #%mn.

 

[amberjack]

no brain no pain-absolutely disgusting

i think there's at least 3 reasons to pick up the bottle tops ect...fill holes

1. like to leave the place a bit cleaner than i found it.

2. if anyone asks what i been getting i show them the junk and the life guards if need be.

3. i don't have to dig them again.

oh and 4 there not always bottle tops

some people don't understand that people are watching and we need to take care of our hobby otherwise we wont be allowed to do it any more and that would *&^^^%

i don't think people like that will last long anyway three's more junk than treasure!!

 

[Cupajo]

The man was using a White's Spectra! Not a cheap machine! He had some sort of smallish pouch as I could just see it under the edge of his jacket.

I'm amazed these clowns don't somehow step into their own holes.

CJ

 

[tomcatpl]

i have been detecting for only 4 years now ..my uncle got me in to this great hobby and he always told me to ( if u dig it up pick it up) and he smacked me in the head when i didnt fill my holes all the way (i'm 32) but i c guy on the beach who have been detecting for more than me and they throw junk over they shoulder

 

[Cupajo]

We seem to be over-run with people these days with no respect for their world, other people or themselves and I find that a very sad thing.

One place you can see evidence of such behavior is any local public beach.

Legally all we can do is be an example of someone who cares.

This could easily become a really lengthy diatribe so I'll shut up now!!!!!!!!!

As has been said, "No sense preaching to the choir!"

Thanks for your input,

CJ

 

[Dig]

I have often thought the county should pay someone to write citations to people dumping trash. Here it's a $500 fine for littering. I'm sure after people got wind of the first few tickets the garbage cans and recycle cans at the beach entrance would be full for a change. I used to run a golf course a long time ago and our turf maintenance staff had a problem picking up garbage. They didn't want to stop, get off the mower, and remove the trash. They prefered to go around it or worse to run it over, thus making one piece of trash into several hundred. I and the super were getting pretty upset because no matter what you did, you couldn't get them to pick it up. So one night, I drove around the course and left odd pieces of garbage with notes on the bottom. The note said, "thanks for picking up the garbage... Come to my office for $50". After they got wind of it, we had the cleanest golf course you ever saw.

 

[amberjack]

theres a ring in every bottle top if it gets picked up?

 

[Dig]

theres a ring in every bottle top if it gets picked up?

If only... I'd be a millionaire by know. But I bet if someone was ticketing these dopes who throw them down or just dump out their cooler before leaving, you might not have to pick up their trash to look.

 

[UtahRich]

It doesn't surprise me to read about people like this. Nobody ever taught them, or enforced with them, the concept of cleaning up after themselves. Same type of folks leave their trash around public picnic areas and parks, in the movie theatres, at the sports arena, and so forth. They expect somebody else to clean up after them.

I've been involved as a Boy Scout leader off and on for decades and I often had some newbie scout that would look at me cross eyed when we collected every scrap of trash before leaving our campsite; yes even trash that wasn't ours. Some of these kids parents never taught them to clean up after themselves and have any consideration for others.

As for your friend on the beach, the good news is that it won't last too long. With a handscoop as his recovery tool, he'll soon have a back injury from leaning over all the time and the detector and scoop will find themselves abandoned in the corner of the garage and eventually sold on e-bay.

Have hope,

Rich (Utah)

 

[amberjack]

there's a ring in every bottle top if it gets picked up?

If only... I'd be a millionaire by know. But I bet if someone was ticketing these dopes who throw them down or just dump out their cooler before leaving, you might not have to pick up their trash to look.

wouldn't it be good if it was true with the bottle tops seems those fellas your talking about don't lose no rings either they spent all their money on beer

 

[amberjack]

It doesn't surprise me to read about people like this. Nobody ever taught them, or enforced with them, the concept of cleaning up after themselves. Same type of folks leave their trash around public picnic areas and parks, in the movie theatres, at the sports arena, and so forth. They expect somebody else to clean up after them.

I've been involved as a Boy Scout leader off and on for decades and I often had some newbie scout that would look at me cross eyed when we collected every scrap of trash before leaving our campsite; yes even trash that wasn't ours. Some of these kids parents never taught them to clean up after themselves and have any consideration for others.

As for your friend on the beach, the good news is that it won't last too long. With a handscoop as his recovery tool, he'll soon have a back injury from leaning over all the time and the detector and scoop will find themselves abandoned in the corner of the garage and eventually sold on e-bay.

Have hope,

Rich (Utah)

i am no saint that's for sure but it seems its a sign of the time no values instilled its sad really

 

[thevacantface]

There is a guy that does the same thing down in Newport Beach, and he will take off quick if another detectorist comes down to the beach. I've gone over an area he was hunting a few times and he will leave big holes with the junk sitting right there next to it. Its amazing how disrespectful some people are. There is also someone who has taken a whole bunch of pennies and dispersed them in that one area so it makes it a pain to detect. I think they have a VLF and are just trying to block out all the PI guys and are only going for gold. If it happens again I'm going to get a tube of aluminum and cut a whole bunch of rings from it and ruin that spot for him too for a while.

My last comment is going to be that a lot of people are worthless. I will find very often that there will be soda cans buried two feet down, and a trash can no more than 50 feet away. Somehow they reasoned it was easier to dig a hole and throw the trash in it than it would be to walk over to the trash can. Its a total disregard for the environment and other people, its almost as if some people shouldn't even be considered people.

 

[John(Tx)]

I do the same CJ, I have even filled in holes left by children digging in the sand, mainly because I wouldn't want somebody thinking they were left by beach hunters.....HH

 

[the Swede]

..."Legally all we can do is be an example of someone who cares". [the underlining is me own]

...in a nut-shell, if U ask me.




P.S. Me try to teach my daughter (the age of 4) that even the very smallest piece of trash should be taken to the dustbin (if not even being recycled, these days). Because me think that if U are not responsible for the very smallest of trash..., well, how on earth can U be responsible for the very largest of trash (Japan, any-one!?!?!?)

 

[the Swede]

Perhaps this/these is/a(re) 'question(s)' that should be posted on a more... well, philosophical forum, me do not know...
...me just feels it is just very much appropriate, like, just anywhere, really...!!!

WHY do us humans do certain things: e.g. filling in holes so that others do not think us metal detectorists have caused it...?!
Why do us humans pick up some trash on the street (well, at least sometimes, right?!)...?!
Why do we speak at a comforting level of sound to the cashier at the bank (even though he/she did just gave us $200 instead of the $245 that we requested on the bank-note)...?!
And why should we even care if we see a child being slapped (real hard, mind U) by his/her mother/father because he/she just happened to pee his/her pants during a Wal Mart-visit...?!
Why should (and why DO?!) we even care in any of these and many other situations?!?!?!

The Answer - well, me detectorist friends, me glad me live so close to the distillation process of "The Absolute Vodka" here in