hunting ettiquet

[Abbey]

Hi all-
I have an interesting delemma, and I'm trying to get a concensus on what is 'fair' and what is not, when hunting artifacts/points.

I have a hunting partner, and we go out every week in our kayaks to search out surface points. Problem is, well... let me give an example. God, it seems so silly, but here goes. We'll land. I'll go to the right, and she'll go to the left-- no 'rules', it's just the way we tend to hunt. At some point, the stretch of shore runs out. Say I find something- regardless of quality, so I go over to show her. I look down and find another point a foot or so ahead of where we stand. I pick it up. I consider it mine. BUT, I get accused of 'jumping ahead'- and 'not being fair' in my hunting 'techniques' (if you'd call that a 'technique...). This has happened several times. I've got to admit, it gets depressing- and tiring to hear that you're not being fair- and that you're SO unfair that it would be pointless to try to explain 'fair' to me.

I'm sorry, but in my humble opinion, when you're out on a hunt, all's fair. It's not like i've turned point-hunting into a contact sport- where I hip-check my 'opponant' into the briars and take off w/ the goods! The way I see it, you never know what's out there. You never know where they'll be- if they're out there at all that day. And it's not like a Sunday school Easter Egg hunt where all children must come out with SOMEthing. It's not like we establish our own 'zones' to search-- ahead of time. And, by the way, I have no problem w/ someone finding and claiming a point if they picked it up at the toe of my boot. I didn't see it first. End of story.

One problem, as I see it, is that she's highly competetive, cursing and muttering w/ every 'false' point. Me? I just enjoy being outside in nature. I enjoy-- I get JOY out of being there at all. She just seems to get more and more pissed off as time goes by- if she hasn't found anything. I'm happy if all I find is a bobber or a lure. (I like lures!). But this whole thing has given me a bitter taste in my mouth.

Has anyone had this sort of problem? How do 'organised' metal detecting hunts go? It seems to only apply to point-hunting and not dump digging/bottle hunting. So I thought maybe this should be here rather than the 'personal rants' page (but feel free to move it if you want ). So... any advice? I'd like to convince her, hopefully by majority rule, that I am not 'wrong' to pick up a point (or something) that is w/i a five foot radius of where we stand- (when we're in that close proximity, which isn't that often). Thoughts?? And thanks in advance. Maybe I AM wrong, in which case, I'm sure I'll hear about it!

Abbey

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Abbey,

could be time for a new partner.


have a good un....
SHERMANVILLE

[Gypsy Heart]

Abbey,

could be time for a new partner.


have a good un....
SHERMANVILLE

I agree....frankly thats a bunch of childish behavior....Maybe you shouldnt walk over to show her anything...just hunt your side and then when done say " Now you hunt my side and and I will hunt yours to see if either of us missed anything.
As you can see by many of these posts, lots of people who detect together have found relics coins etc in areas that their partners have already hunted or close to where their partners are....no one seems to get upset.Your friend might be highly competitive when it comes to sports....but she she is a failure at sportmanship.

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Abbey,

could be time for a new partner.


have a good un....
SHERMANVILLE

I agree....frankly thats a bunch of childish behavior....Maybe you shouldnt walk over to show her anything...just hunt your side and then when done say " Now you hunt my side and and I will hunt yours to see if either of us missed anything.
As you can see by many of these posts, lots of people who detect together have found relics coins etc in areas that their partners have already hunted or close to where their partners are....no one seems to get upset.Your friend might be highly competitive when it comes to sports....but she she is a failure at sportmanship.

Exactly what I said. :P

[Sandman]

Abbey, This is not a sport or contest, it's a hobby for fun. Changing sides is a good idea and compairing finds at the end is OK. If your partner isn't up to being a good sportsman, she is not fun to be around. Gypsy is right.

HH,
Sandman

[Noodle]

Abbey, you asked "How do 'organised' metal detecting hunts go?" Better than that, for sure. I don't think your partner would last long on an organized hunt with that attitude. Seems to me you have two choices: (1) Ignore her petty attitude and put up with her, or (2) Follow Sherm's advice. Laying out rules won't help because she'll still snivel and snort, and it sounds like that's the main problem. -Noodle

[Abbey]

Thanks you guys for your points of view (much like mine) and commontary. I'll see if anyone else has anything to say before sending this her way for private viewing... I don't like the idea of ganging up on her-- more to show a general view of how people hunt together and get along (singing kum-by-ya all the way ). Gypsy- you have a good idea about switching sides. And Sandman, you absolutely correct. It's not a competition. Sherm, I hope it's not time to switch partners (doe-see-doe, turn to the left...). I'd like to offer the benefit of the doubt, and see if attitudes don't change first. We'll see, won't we??

[undertaker]

I find these competitive situations with my brother. Not so much in open areas like cornfields where you can space apart but at lake shores where the looking area is much smaller. I know many times we've almost wacked heads going for the same point. All said and done we still get along and really have no rules or designated spaces. Ive seen him spit and sputter mostly when hes on a dry spell and I pull a nice point. And Im sure hes seen me sulk when he pulled that 4 inch archaic point out in front of me that I could see but couldnt out reach him. I guess we both know that we have good days and bad, He will get a nice point today and Ill get one tomorrow. It pretty much all evens out and I cant think of anyone else other than my son that I could have as much fun arrowheading with. I take that back I think arrowheading with a nice looking woman thats wearing a bikini might be a little more fun.

[MEinWV]

I think gypsy is right about not going over to show a point, but not so sure that switching sides would be good.

How would she react if you suggested switching and then you found a nice point?

Not a good situation for you and I hope you can find a peaceful road with this.

Chill out girlfriend!!!!!...................

Good luck!..............HH......(Happy Hunting) Thats what we say here!

Otherwise it would look like this;................H........ (Hunting, without the happy---not fun)

[bean man]

What a baby! She needs to go out with my rowdy crew. We small creek hunt and spent a lot of time pushing each other out of the way and knocking nothings out of each others hands. There's not a lot of good stuff in my area, so if you see something good you better dive for it and hold on to it with both hands. Once I heard my bro make a strange squeal, and turned to see him picking up a grooved axe. Well, I freak and tackle him, right in the rocks. I was proud of the way he held on to that axhead like it was a baby.

[irbaddadjoe]

Next time you go hunting take an old point with you and when she starts getting restless discreetly drop your backup point for her to find therefor giving her the sensation of" my fish was bigger than your fish" that all we guys get. Saving the day. You know the saying, 'When mommas happy, everybodies happy'.

[Abbey]

Good points all-- thanks so much! Undertaker, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. MeinWV, good point about the side-switch. Must eliminate all pounting! Bean-- you're a hoot, pal! Like football- gets your hands on it, hold opn tight. Never let go!!! And baddadjoe- good idea. However, if she reads this...hmm. I'll have to edit before passing this on to her And you're right on target- "when momma's happy, everyone's happy"-- couldn't be more true!!

Thanks one and all (and future) for your input.

By the way, I don't have a dig. camera, but I just got a pile of pics back from developing, and I CAN'T wait to scan and post. This is SUCH a good site for information, inspiration and good cheer!
HAPPY Hunting to everyone on this beautiful summer day

[Silver Phoenix]

I'd go without her and hunt BOTH sides---then show her what you find; that will solve a lot of those problems right there.

[Johnny X]

All's fair in love and arrowheading.



xstevenx

[Atlantis0077]

LOL....

Well I normally dont take people with me so avoid such problems, but when I do go with a partner what I find is mine....what they find is theirs.....regardless of whether I am in a site I found or one they found. That way its strictly "luck of the draw." And YES if they have a good day and I dont my lip is stuck out, but thats the end of it. Normally I dont get skunked, but it does happen.

Sounds like your hunting partner has some other unresolved issues....maturity for one. What gets me fuming is this.....You take someone to a good spot...a private spot, and they go back behind your back, or worse take their friends there. When this happens and it has to me several times, I no longer give any site info to the offending person. On that issue...1 strike...your out. By the same token, if someone shows me a site...I only go back with that person or with their expressed permission...and dont take observers with me.

HH

Atlantis

[badandy]

This one's pretty much covered! You won't win no matter what you do if you find something and she doesn't, so do what ever you think is right.
badandy

[glasskeeper]

Abbey, Undertaker said it, we have our good days and we have our dry spells. We do sometimes dive for arrowheads. Is it competition, I don't know. I think we just like ending up with that new point in our collection. We have never set any rules. We could hunt alone and sometimes we do, but it's not as much fun. It's just nice having a hunting partner to go with. So if you want to hunt with a partner you have to just work things out or find another. The big plus for us is we're brothers, so we can still see the arrowheads each other has missed. Good luck hunting! Jim

[ohioriver hunter]

[quote=Abbey ]
Hi all-
I have an interesting delemma, and I'm trying to get a concensus on what is 'fair' and what is not, when hunting artifacts/points.

I have a hunting partner, and we go out every week in our kayaks to search out surface points. Problem is, well... let me give an example. God, it seems so silly, but here goes. We'll land. I'll go to the right, and she'll go to the left-- no 'rules', it's just the way we tend to hunt. At some point, the stretch of shore runs out. Say I find something- regardless of quality, so I go over to show her. I look down and find another point a foot or so ahead of where we stand. I pick it up. I consider it mine. BUT, I get accused of 'jumping ahead'- and 'not being fair' in my hunting 'techniques' (if you'd call that a 'technique...). This has happened several times. I've got to admit, it gets depressing- and tiring to hear that you're not being fair- and that you're SO unfair that it would be pointless to try to explain 'fair' to me.

I'm sorry, but in my humble opinion, when you're out on a hunt, all's fair. It's not like i've turned point-hunting into a contact sport- where I hip-check my 'opponant' into the briars and take off w/ the goods! The way I see it, you never know what's out there. You never know where they'll be- if they're out there at all that day. And it's not like a Sunday school Easter Egg hunt where all children must come out with SOMEthing. It's not like we establish our own 'zones' to search-- ahead of time. And, by the way, I have no problem w/ someone finding and claiming a point if they picked it up at the toe of my boot. I didn't see it first. End of story.

One problem, as I see it, is that she's highly competetive, cursing and muttering w/ every 'false' point. Me? I just enjoy being outside in nature. I enjoy-- I get JOY out of being there at all. She just seems to get more and more pissed off as time goes by- if she hasn't found anything. I'm happy if all I find is a bobber or a lure. (I like lures!). But this whole thing has given me a bitter taste in my mouth.

Has anyone had this sort of problem? How do 'organised' metal detecting hunts go? It seems to only apply to point-hunting and not dump digging/bottle hunting. So I thought maybe this should be here rather than the 'personal rants' page (but feel free to move it if you want ). So... any advice? I'd like to convince her, hopefully by majority rule, that I am not 'wrong' to pick up a point (or something) that is w/i a five foot radius of where we stand- (when we're in that close proximity, which isn't that often). Thoughts?? And thanks in advance. Maybe I AM wrong, in which case, I'm sure I'll hear about it!

Abbey
[/quote Hi Abbey I,ve been there . I went hunting a few years back with 4 other guys. The guy next tro me walked right past ,in fact he stepped right on a spearhead. As soon as he had passed I jumped right over behind him and scooped it up.He was mad ,he called me a thief and cursed me out.We found 11 points that day with the spear being the only one I found. Another time I took a friend to a spot I had. found 4 points and a celt on.The next time I went there the owner which I had permission to hunt there before ran me off claiming his nephew was the only one allowed to hunt there now. The nephew was my friend. So as a rule I usually go alone now and besides being a single dad of two I need the quiet time anyhow lol HH Jeff

[jbl04410]

Abbey,If my partner ever treated me in such a matter she would get neither her belly scratched or a treat.Besides my partner never brags about how many things she has found and she's always ready to leave when I am.On the downside she never helps pay for gas and she stinks pretty bad when she gets wet.I guess you got to take the good with the bad.....................Jay

[Abbey]

Thanks again, everyone. We haven't been on a hunt since that day, and I think I'm ready to send this post along and see what kind of reaction I get. Seems like everyone has a bad day now and then w/ whomever they hunt w/, so it's not uncommon. Just needs resolving so we can go out and have some FUN!
So THANKS, one and all. I appreciate every point offered and made.
(in the mean time, I think I'll grab that can of OFF, and head out on a private little hunt on my own
Have a good one, everyone-- and happy hunting!
Abbey