What should I do? :confused:

[diggindowndeep]

Hello again,

I am in need of some advice on what is considered to be a touchy subject for many both inside & outside of the metal detecting community. I have been observing a guy that is detecting a local town park and he's digging manhole cover sized holes. His huge roughed up plugs are either left raised & cockeyed sticking out of the hole or he's leaving huge depressions with grass chunks looking like a tossed salad inside of it. He even presses some of his dug up rocks on top of his spots. His work is totally hideous looking. Should I report him to the local officials or call him on the phone with my concerns? Because his work van has his business name and phone # on it. I feel that approaching him with this in person is a no go. If he is left to continue on with his recovering hack jobs, I'm afraid that he'll wreck this for everyone in this town's parks. I learned early on that this hobby is a privilege and not a right. I made sure that I had practiced pinpointing and the art of recovering a target repeatedly in my own yard before venturing out in public. I really don't want to go back there with the fear of someone thinking that I am responsible for his mess, the aftermath is that obvious. Which totally sucks, because we are very limited for detecting in my area to begin with. Once again, thanks for your time!

HH!

-John

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Ring him up from a pay phone and try and have a genuinely friendly chat with him. It's possible that he may lack the knowledge on how to pinpoint and recover a target. IF!!!!!, he is receptive, then you can arrange to get together and train him on how to make better recoveries. If he just wants to be a moron, then give him the ultimatum to make proper recoveries, or you will pass on his details and that he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and slam the phone down in his ear. That will certainly get his attention. Just make sure that he can't join the dots up on who you are. Hopefully that might just be enough to shock him into doing the right thing. If not then he deserves all he get. You may want to advise the local authorities when you report him, that you are a concerned fellow detectorist and that his actions are not the normal actions of detectorists. (I hope that it won't come to that, but I can assure you, that the parks keepers are trying to figure out what is going on in their parks. You want to approach the folks that have to repair this mess as they will be fired up and would likely take a blanket action against all detectorists.
The was a guy doing the same thing in town here a few years ago. One of the club members, who was working across the road, saw him using a shovel in the park to make his recoveries. He went over and watched him for a little bit (standing beside him). He played dumb for a couple of minutes while asking him a number of questions. After that, he revealed that he also was a fellow detectorists and chewed him right out! Told him exactly what was on his mind, and that he was destroying it for the rest of as, as well as destroying the park. He hasn't seen him back. unfortunately. One of the other club members got hunted out of that park by one of the local council rangers after that. I'm not sure it's because of the holes this guy dug, or that the ranger was power tripping.
Mick Evans.

 

[Chief390]

Personally I would contact whoever is in charge of the parks department. I would give them this person's phone number and license plate. I would ask that THEY contact this person. I would also explain that this is not the prefered method of recovery and restoration by most metal detector users. In this way you are telling them that YOU are not the one making the mess and that this person is giving the rest of us a black eye.

 

[Monte]

Having encountered this on more than one occasions, I first approach the hobbyist and let them know that I have concerns about their recovery techniques. They might be new to the hobby and are open to a little advice and hands-on teaching. Then, too, they might not and that causes me to take a more determined step toward "attitude adjustment." I might contact a park employee and alert them to the bad behavior, and at that time make sure they know that I/we (dedicated detectorists) do not condone such techniques. I let them know that I tried to deal with the individual. On occasions (rare, and based on the person's attitude), I might talk with the local park patrol or other city police.

The 2nd step only comes if they have left a very, very ugly condition and/or they need a rude awakening about their behavior. I try not to get park or police involved if it is just a simple case of someone who is new to the hobby and ignorant about pinpointing and recovery techniques.

One thing for sure, if you don't approach them and make an effort to change their ways, they will just keep hitting other places and making a bigger mess of things and hurt our image.

Monte

PS: It's also a good idea to keep on friendly terms with the local park people and any police who patrol the area.

 

[diggindowndeep]

Thanks for the input. I really don't want to turn into the metal detecting patrol, but if I just ignore him unfortunately it's not going to get any better. Yesterday morning I re-did at least five of his holes and I even recovered some clad out of his holes. It's quite apparent that he doesn't know what he's doing and that's his responsibility, not mine. I know that we don't want to bring attention to ourselves with the local authority's for fear of blanket reprisals. I guess what is, is. I'll have to give it some more thought. I am leaning towards reporting him and being done with it, because I personally don't know him.

Thanks again,
John

 

[deepnails]

Hi John, I've enjoyed detecting for many years. When I see damage of any kind to the turf that I can fix I fix it. I've seen numerous occasions when damage from other sources was blamed on the detectorists. If I see someone improperly filling plugs I go right behind them and fix their holes while they watch and usally they are embarrassed enough to start fixing them properly or perhaps they learn they need to be neat. At any rate If you see Damage fix it immiedeitly the sooner the better. People who run these parks would rather not be bothered by complaints, complaining brings attention to the fact that damage is being done by detectorists, The wiser course is to just suck it up and fix the damage, when the employee's see you fixing things this is a plus for our hobby, Good luck Hunting, Darryl.

 

[ronaldj2]

The same thing happened to me in my home town. I approached the people (a father, his son, and his son's friend), it was apparent that they were new to the hobby. I expressed my concerns and then gave them some pointers. I showed them how to do a better job pinpointing, and how to cut a clean plug. Also helped them in recovery of the targets, and showed them how to put the soil back in the hole and replace the plug. I also told them of the negative effects of leaving a mess (especially if they were being watched as they detected). I know of a city in Western, MA. that has banned metal detectors, and golf clubs from all of their ballfields and parks. We all know why. It is because in times past people have left divits and holes all over the place and never cleaned up after themselves. I will be glad to give the name of the city if someone wants to send me an e-mail. You can always use tact when approaching someone, especially if they have the same interest as you (metal detecting). Take a non chalant approach maybe ask how long they have been doing it. Let them know what makes this such a fun and exciting hobby, and also what can turn people off to the hobby. If the man has a company vehicle chances are he will listen to what you have to say. Most newbies are more than glad to get advice, especially if they are excited about the hobby. By your description I would have to say he is new, or just doesn't give a darn. You can always say " Oh you work for so and so" and make small talk, and then get to the point. Hope this helps. Ron

 

[diggindowndeep]

Before I went to work this morning I spent a couple of hours going over & repairing all of the botched recovery holes that I could find in this park. One spot that was approx. 2x3 ft. with the broken up sod flipped over next to the hole was beyond repair. After leaving the park I drove by this guy's house and his company van was parked in his driveway, he was in the garage so I pulled into his driveway and approached him. I stated who I was and what had brought me there, I was very tactful and respectful while expressing my concerns to him. He was very receptive & positive. He appreciated the fact that I came to him first and didn't report him. He told me that he just picked up the hobby again after being away from it for many years and that he thought his plugs were clean, but that he could be wrong. He also said that there was another guy detecting in the park and that it was possible he made some of these bad recoveries. He seemed to be a likable gent and appeared to be very conscientious. Like I said before this is a small town and after some further thought, I felt that this was the best way to handle this touchy situation. In closing I gave him my phone # and I offered to help him with pinpointing and making better recoveries. He accepted my offer and we are going to hunt this park together on the weekend. He's using a Whites Coinmaster so I will learn something new as well. I did advise him to invest in a pocket pinpointer, especially handy for hunting in groomed parks. We are totally on the same page and agreed that we need to police ourselves within the metal detecting community and only report someone as a last resort if all else fails. I am glad that I took the time on this and didn't do anything too hasty. Thanks again for the input, this MD community and forum is amazing. I am very proud to be a part of it. HH!

Regards,
John

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I'm glad it turned out well John. It's not an easy one to deal with, but a good outcome.
Mick Evans.