Detecting in King County, WA Parks

[Jim-Seattle]

Hi all,
I'm a relatively new member - and have found this forum to be a wonderful source of information (and entertainment). I thought I'd seek some opinions on the following;
I recently learned that one can buy a permit to metal detect in King County Parks. I sent off for and received the application for the permit. It spelled out various common sense restrictions, such as clean up after yourself, don't leave open holes, etc.

The restriction that puzzles me is "All digging must be done with a screwdriver or an ice pick."

Is this feasible? Can one dig a hole with an ice pick? I can only envision two ways to dig a hole with an ice pick, hundreds of stabs and then tear along the dotted line, or stab and then brute force RIPPPP the ground asunder.

Am I missing something? Does anyone use ice picks or screwdrivers to dig/extract?

Thanks for any comments.
Jim

 

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[mlw67]

I just use a screwdriver, which after several years now has a wonderfully rounded, flat, wide tip on it. I usually pinpoint the signal with my detector, then rip a slit in the sod over the pinpointed spot and pull back the edges to open a hole above the item to be retrieved. Then I can dig around and get the item, then just push the sides of the opening back together and ~viola~ good as new.

Really deep targets take some more work, but it can still be done. After pulling back the sod, the screwdriver loosens the top dirt and then I either compress the loose dirt to the sides of the hole or wad it up and put it on the sod-pullback. My hands get pretty dirty, but I don't mind.

 

[dave-enc]

Jim, I use one large screwdriver in mulch area that is a 3/8 x10" husky screwdriver, In grass areas i also have a very slender 8" screwdriver that I originally had grounded to a round point many years ago. Yes it takes practice to extract a find but with time and patience you can do it. It will certainly improve your pinpointing skills also
hh
dave+bobbie