Hunting Beaches at night time Low tide

[RVRoamer73]

While the weather is very HOT this time of year, your best time to hunt is the night low tide. May be at 1:00 am and if not with others as a group, maybe
just yourself or wife, do you find it a SAFE time to hunt. I realize I have a Weapon in my hands (Scoop) but would just like to ask some of you hunters
what is your way to approach this DARK beach hunting, how to be safe with all the Crazies out there. Hey, I don't scare easily, but if they get the drop on you
you are caught in a predicament for sure.

Just trying to learn what some of you may do to protect yourself and or be SAFE hunting beach at night. A gang of 6 surrounding you at 1:00 am with no 'outs'
is a possibility for sure..

I guess the most of you will get with a few others to night hunt, being in numbers would detour most attacks, but what about some of you that travels alone
and cannot catch up with others to do this as a group. Don't go? Guessing this may be the right answer, but hey, giving into the thugs is against my grain..

Thanks for any of your suggestion, comments, or arsenal of choice....

Thanks for thoughts and or common sense answers to this question.

 

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[Oddjob]

Two year ago ,a man was killed at Ft. Myers beach late at night just for his Metal detector. myself at night .380 work fine.

Good piece for a public area, no over penetration and does the job.

Hope you do not have to use it Ron.

 

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[jeepGold]

Being that I work graveyards and I very much PREFER to hunt at night, I can tell you how I go about it....

#1) Protection: That doesn't mean carry a Glock. It means keep your head on a swivel and use common sense. With that, I carry a pocket knife legal enough to brandish on my side or keep it in my pouch for quick access. I also put a personal size pepper spray on my side. That's all I carry.
I use a head lamp and try to keep it OFF as much as possible. I wear dark gray or black clothing. A beanie and a hoodie also.

Hunting at night is wonderful. No one to mess w/you, No one to look at you. You can slow down ALOT. Just remember to be like a bird or a small animal and be aware of your surroundings. Don't be afraid to tell someone to keep there distance if they approach and be sure to let them know you aren't messing around if they try. Keep a stern face and full eye contact.

Also with the tide lines be careful of rogue waves because they do happen as the tides transition. Last thing you need is to get sucked out. Don't hunt in the water at night either. Besides obvious dangers it's plain scary.

I try to get off the beach just as beach goers are coming. Around 6:30 am...

 

[Randyg12]

Its been years since I hit a beach in the early am. I use to hit the wet sand at Zuma Beach during low tides. You can't park until 5:00am along the beach but I use to get there around 3:30am and make a dash in the dark with my headlamp off across the parking onto the sand and down to the water. One time I stumbled over a guy sleeping on the beach. I think I scared him more than he scared me. Another time I was out a good distance on the wet sand around 4:00am and Hit a target. I was digging it out. I use to keep my headlamp off so I wouldn't draw attention to myself. I got the target out and was kneeling down and I mean it was dark. I don't know how this guy walking his dog even saw me but all I remember was hearing this guy right behind me saying "anything thing good". I jumped straight up in the air and scared him just as bad as he scared me. I'm telling you the hairs on my body were standing tall. back then I use to hit the beach in the early AM often and I've never really been bothered. My gut usually tells me when I need to be more careful than normal and when that feeling hits me I move on.

 

[walnuttree]

"Never turn your back on the Ocean" was good advice for me. In Wildwood NJ I was dogged by this one "kid" who came from a group under the boardwalk, he stayed close and kept asking if he could help me find stuff, I was thinking he was waiting for a chance to snatch my detector from me, he eventually left off as I continued detecting away from him. If he took my detector he could out run me but if he stayed put I'd have to buy a new scoop.

 

[SouthFLdigger]

I always hunt at night, i find it peaceful serene and productive. The beach is empty at this time even here in Miami Beach. However i always carry my Sig P238 with two mags as a secondary and pepper spray as primary. I carry a great bright LED headlamp, my long scoop and always with an open eye. I never get in the water at night, bull sharks and other predatory fish feed at this time and will almost beach themselves at time chasing prey. I have a fond appreciation for both my legs so no thanks for water hunting. I only water hunt in the day. Anytime i have a some weirdo approaching me at 2AM in the dark i shine my light in his eyes and tell him to back off. Never had a problem in years in Miami Beach.

 

[Peyton Manning]

Living in Indiana I only get to beach hunt on vacation
The only thing I do after dark is go back to the condo after supper.

I figure that anything good can wait till 10 am ( the early birds can't find everything)

 

[Ccarson]

For night and early morning hunts I carry a big knife next to my pouch as well as a supper bright led flashlight. The flashlight has a strobe feature. I also wear a led headlamp. I had a security guard approach me one night with his flashlight on me. He didn't like the fact that my light was overpowering his and made it impossible for him to see me. When he got his out of my face I turned mine off.

 

[RVRoamer73]

Sounds like the makings of a damn good platoon here....lots of folks that I wouldn't mind having in my foxhole...lock and load, let's take that beach back ( Moderator Edit)....

just a rant, just can't stand the way things are heading for us law abiding folks......call it the NRA platoon from sea to shining sea.....

 

[jeepGold]

Last fall I went to Aruba for a few days. First time there and I had these grand ideas of rings all over the place. Boy was I wrong. I hunted at night because it was 100 in the day. Still 90 at night but at least the sun wasn't blistering on me. New area to me, didn't know customs per se and I did see that inland from the resorts the locals lived very poorishly.
About 30 minutes into my hunt with about 100 lawn chairs (GOTTA BE GOODIES) I saw 3 shadows moving around. Out came my knife and I walked diligently to a lighted area. Regardless as to whether or not they were insidious, I split. A 2300.00 detector, a 500.00 scoop, my wallet and my life aren't worth the risk. I only stayed 2 days out of my 5 planned days due to the sketchiness.
A buddy of mine locally was hunting at night and a guy approached him. He asked if he had some change to spare. REALLY? Don't you see me looking for it myself he said. The guy got closer and a bit more aggressive and reached in his pocket.. No hesitation, my friend gave an upper cut to the jaw w/his scoop (TRex). $%$%^@# him up BAD... Buddy actually called the cops because the guy got so messed up. The vagrant had prior assault charges and a warrant. Don't underestimate your scoop... It's medieval

 

[Vdubguy]

When I lived in St Thomas, I would only hunt at night. The best beach for digging gold was off limits to detecting during day light hours. The life guards would run you off.

After talking with the police, they informed me that after dark, it's me and the ocean and I can do as I please. They warned me about possible sharks and what not. Really the only other people there were either there for an evening jog or have a beer or smoke a little smoke on the beach. I never ran into any issues at night there. I've never hunted a beach in the states at night. I'm back in PA now, so no beaches around here anyways.

 

[Fletch88]

When I lived in St Thomas, I would only hunt at night. The best beach for digging gold was off limits to detecting during day light hours. The life guards would run you off.

After talking with the police, they informed me that after dark, it's me and the ocean and I can do as I please. They warned me about possible sharks and what not. Really the only other people there were either there for an evening jog or have a beer or smoke a little smoke on the beach. I never ran into any issues at night there. I've never hunted a beach in the states at night. I'm back in PA now, so no beaches around here anyways.

All that's got to suck after being in paradise