Fill your holes in remote areas?

IMAUDIGGER

Silver Member
Mar 16, 2016
3,400
5,194
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I occasionally detect some open public ground that has been hammered over the years.
You can see evidence of cut brush and rolled rocks but that's about it.

In the last couple years somebody is going up there and leaving 6"-12" deep holes everywhere.

How freaking difficult is it to kick the dirt back in the hole?!
Lazy with no respect is my first impression.

I figure this guy probably also craps on top of the ground, then leaves a little pile of toilet paper next to it...
 

Last edited:
Upvote 0

basssmann

Hero Member
Feb 9, 2013
601
4,419
YOUNGSVILLE, N.Y...... moved to Jacksonville, Flor
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
VIPER TRIDENT , Fisher F75 and just added a CTX 3030 Minelab and Minelab Nox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
IMAUDIGGER, Yeah, It only take 30 seconds to put the dirt back.... that's a bad habit.... but, sometimes a skunk will pull the plug out and dig in the easy to dig dirt, for grubs... they have made a mess for me, after I left. Always make a neat plug and stomp it a few time, it helps..
 

OP
OP
IMAUDIGGER

IMAUDIGGER

Silver Member
Mar 16, 2016
3,400
5,194
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
IMAUDIGGER, Yeah, It only take 30 seconds to put the dirt back.... that's a bad habit.... but, sometimes a skunk will pull the plug out and dig in the easy to dig dirt, for grubs... they have made a mess for me, after I left. Always make a neat plug and stomp it a few time, it helps..

I get that. Too many craters for a skunk. Many are in rocky tailings.
I at least try to get the majority of the dirt back in the hole.
 

oneguy

Sr. Member
Aug 26, 2015
415
1,415
Montana
Detector(s) used
2 Goldmonsters, SDC 2300
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
depends on the location...imo I like to see where others and myself have been? I also check others hole(s) and have found what they obviously were digging for but couldn't find the tiny bit. I don't leave any craters and sold my boat anchor "crater maker" (gpx5000) because I'm lazy and don't like to dig too deep...so I focus on smaller shallow bits with the simple lightweight Gold Monster. So I kinda go both ways on the holes depending on the location and/or depth of the hole? jmo...…..
 

Tpmetal

Silver Member
Jan 4, 2017
4,438
7,562
Western ny
Detector(s) used
equinox 800, Whites mx sport, Garrot carrot, bounty hunter time ranger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
depends on the location...imo I like to see where others and myself have been? I also check others hole(s) and have found what they obviously were digging for but couldn't find the tiny bit. I don't leave any craters and sold my boat anchor "crater maker" (gpx5000) because I'm lazy and don't like to dig too deep...so I focus on smaller shallow bits with the simple lightweight Gold Monster. So I kinda go both ways on the holes depending on the location and/or depth of the hole? jmo...…..

no always fill your holes. no reason to create even more landmines for ankles and animals. believe it or not small deep holes exactly like we dig can break animals legs. Just think of how much effort and money farmers go through to get rid of gophers and prairie dogs on cattle land. Be responsible and fill it in.
 

OP
OP
IMAUDIGGER

IMAUDIGGER

Silver Member
Mar 16, 2016
3,400
5,194
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Well it's not just that, it's usually public land.
Little bit of respect goes a long ways to keeping the regulators off our backs.
 

galenrog

Bronze Member
Feb 19, 2006
2,017
2,208
Always fill holes. Anyone who does not, in my opinion, is a jackass.

Time for more coffee.
 

DeepseekerADS

Gold Member
Mar 3, 2013
14,880
21,725
SW, VA - Bull Mountain
Detector(s) used
CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
Primary Interest:
Other
I don't care where you're at, you fill your holes. Those holes belong to you, I don't care what comes along afterwards and digs them back up. Fill'em and tamp them down. It is a habit we need to practice 100% of the time.

It's the right thing to do.
 

Hawks88

Gold Member
Aug 26, 2012
7,878
11,840
Niagara falls
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I see it all the time on local beaches here. Someone gets here before me and never fills the holes. What I don’t like is sometimes people ask me why I didn’t fill my holes. I tell them I always fill my holes and empty my trash on my way out. I see a lot of people looking straight ahead while they jog on the beach early in the morning. One of these days someone will get hurt and metal detecting will no longer be aloud on local beaches anymore. It’s easy to push sand back in the hole when your done. Common sense.
 

oneguy

Sr. Member
Aug 26, 2015
415
1,415
Montana
Detector(s) used
2 Goldmonsters, SDC 2300
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
You guys are right.... It'd be a travesty to leave a 6" hole in a 20' tall dredge tailing pile or old hydraulic tailings and ruin the natural beauty of a mined site. What was I thinking?
 

goldseeker4000

Full Member
Mar 5, 2011
101
17
Kalispell, Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab GPX 5000, Minelab X-terra 705, Gold Monster 1000
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
HOLES! I like holes. They help me see where I left off and what directing I am going to next time I am there. Plus they help me find my way back to the truck.
 

OP
OP
IMAUDIGGER

IMAUDIGGER

Silver Member
Mar 16, 2016
3,400
5,194
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Personally I'm pretty savvy on remembering where I found gold and where I didn't. Even years later.
I try to cover my tracks so to speak, especially if I'm finding gold.
Torn up areas are a magnet for other prospectors and I want to be able to come back later.

These "hands and pans only" areas didn't just spring up overnight. Lots of people giving lots of reasons.

My dad knew an old guy that hit these places hard when detectors first were being offered to civilians. He cleaned house for decades. Only evidence was some old grey brush that had been cut with loppers 45-50 years ago. No craters to step over.
 

Last edited:

DeepseekerADS

Gold Member
Mar 3, 2013
14,880
21,725
SW, VA - Bull Mountain
Detector(s) used
CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
Primary Interest:
Other
Well, if you see a deep hole, and still get a signal there = just imagine what they missed! YOU can make that come to life!
 

63bkpkr

Silver Member
Aug 9, 2007
4,069
4,618
Southern California
Detector(s) used
XLT, GMT, 6000D Coinmaster
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
One year I dug a long wide trench and when I looked at it I realized it was really ugly. I filled it in with boulders and I was rewarded with the knowledge that I'd just reconstructed the porous structure that I'd removed some nice gold from. It should pay off the next time I get out there! Yes it took some hard work for quite a few hours to fill it in but it was almost natural looking when I left.

Holes, trenches, 50 gallon drums and such need to be properly removed or filled. Leave the wilderness looking like wilderness as it is just beautiful. I'm no tree hugging monkey! I just like the beauty of a place to be there after I've been there..................63bkpkr
 

Last edited:

gold tramp

Bronze Member
Dec 30, 2012
1,379
2,879
Primary Interest:
Other
Holes let me know where the overgrazing minelabbers have been.
Gt....
 

russau

Gold Member
May 29, 2005
7,280
6,736
St. Louis, missouri
As has been said many times , fill your holes and others holes that they left ! A really good reason to do this is , in Colorado , some public land was closed due to lazy jerks left many holes and our gubermint people closed it to us ! Kevin knows exactly where I'm talking about , soooo if you like where your at and want to continue to even go there , fill ALL HOLES !
 

OreCart

Sr. Member
Jan 23, 2019
473
558
Maine
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I am on the fence on this one...

It is a little different for me as I am on my own farm, but at the same time, I am the tenth generation and so I know it is not really mine; I am just a caretaker of this place for forty years or so.

I dig a lot, and for various reasons like constructing roads for logging, digging gravel, and drainage for farming, but in terms of gold hunting, it typically is digging gravel in small streams. I do not fill them back in because I can see where I have already dug. Still, I see evidence from my forefather's from years ago as well, so it is not like this farm is virgin earth or anything. Overall, humans have lived here and changed things, time mitigates that change, but does not totally erase it.

In a stream; I am not sure that it really changes much, gravels shift, and stream migrate anyway.

...
Note: No one has picked up on this so I will explain it, but in Maine it is NOT against the law for me to dig, bulldoze, stump etc even in wetlands if it is for logging. I can build a logging road every twenty feet if I want, as long as it is for logging. The second I say an area in wetlands will be used for future tilled fields, pushing a single stump becomes illegal. It is absolutely stupid, and I do not agree with the law, but that is the way it is even if we do not eat trees (for the most part).
 

goldseeker4000

Full Member
Mar 5, 2011
101
17
Kalispell, Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab GPX 5000, Minelab X-terra 705, Gold Monster 1000
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Wow y'all are wound way too tight! None of you on here except for Oneguy knows when someone is jerking your chain. And to the guy who made the comment about Minelab users for finding gold nuggets, if your serious about finding nuggets consistantly of all sizes you need to be using a Minelab.It is what seperates the serious gold hunter from the weekend dreamer. If you dont believe me than fork out the money for a gpx5000, gpz7000, gpx4500 or a gold monster1000 and see for yourself.
 

OP
OP
IMAUDIGGER

IMAUDIGGER

Silver Member
Mar 16, 2016
3,400
5,194
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Minelab detectors separate the serious prospector from the weekend dreamers.
:laughing3:
 

BLK HOLE

Silver Member
Aug 3, 2017
4,725
6,501
Northern Virginia
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
AT MAX/AT PRO/GPX-4500, Equinox 800, Garrett Pro Pointer,NEL Attack Coil, Lesche diggers, and the custom made in the USA Freeloader Pack Mule Pouch!
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Life is easy if you keep things simple! Fill your holes no matter if in the middle of the woods, somebodies yard, in a park. You don't want to be "That Guy"
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top