New to the hobby... Rock Hill, SC

[alastingtouch]

My son (age 12) and I just received our first metal detector. We choose the AT PRO. We swung around the yard a little yesterday after work and figured out the basics.

We are in Rock Hill, SC.

Understanding that we need permission to hunt on private property including churches, etc. and knowing public parks are off limits in Rock Hill. What public places are legal to hunt without special permission? I have heard school grounds are open to hunting. Is that true?

Any advice offered about Rock Hill and other areas in South Carolina would be a huge help.

We have joined our local club and have been to one meeting.

Thanks!

 

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[vpnavy]

Welcome aboard from the great state of Pennsylvania (USA).

You might consider browsing Sub-Forums: South Carolina for information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state.

 

[rainyday101]

Welcome!!! As you are new please take some time to look up proper recovery technique such as how to cut a u-shaped plug to retrieve the target. When you are done retrieving your target nobody should be able to tell where you dug. Learn to pin point so that you don't dig craters. Don't take a shovel to public park, instead use a small garden digger. Bring a drop cloth to place removed dirt on. Most important- HAVE FUN and good luck!

 

[cudamark]

Welcome aboard! I suggest you look up your local ordinances yourself and see if there is anything on the books regarding metal detecting. If not, you have your answer. What I wouldn't do is ask ANY official ANYWHERE. They will usually take the easy way out and say "NO", even if it's allowed. Plus it puts your activities front and center where they wouldn't have had any interest before you asked. As mentioned, learn proper recovery techniques and leave no trace of you being there. Schools are starting to get a little tougher to hunt. During school hours you can forget it but even on weekends, sometimes you need expressed permission to be on campus. Many of the schools in my area are now completely fenced and locked 7/24 for security reasons (so they say) Then you can also run into the landskeeper baron who thinks he personally owns the school. They can be the worst of all because they will call security or the police at the drop of a hat. Your public parks are truly off limits? You've looked up the ordinance yourself or is this just hearsay? If it's in writing, you may want to join a local club and see if you can get it overturned. The club can help you in finding hunting sites too. Good Luck!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

welcome to the forum, and to the hobby.

The rules are quite simple: you send me 20% of all your finds, and then you can continue to hunt till your heart's content!

 

[Ima Swinger]

Welcome to Tnet! !
Love your choice of detector. Thinking of moving up to that myself. I have the 250.
I like to hunt the schools and parks. I hunt schools mostly on Sunday. Nobody on duty. I NEVER climb fences. Get caught doing that and you guaranty being banned from the schools. (that was just fyi, not saying you would do that)
I waited 7 years to get in to the main play yard of the elementary school in my neighborhood because of a fence. Well, this summer they added on to the school and took down part of that fence. Worth the wait. Over 200 coins and a silver ring later, they have completed the project and the fence is up and locked again. Don't know if I'll ever get to hunt it again.
The parks are easy to ask about. Just call or email your county Parks and Recreation and ask if it's ok to hunt the parks. I would suggest emailing for sure.
If they give you a "yes", carry a copy of that email EVERY time you go to a park to show anyone that questions you. That's what I do anyway.

HH
Lance

 

[alastingtouch]

Thanks for the welcome and good advice. I emailed the local parks and rec office and they quickly told me that digging city park grounds is prohibited for many reasons and off I wanted to discuss the reasons to call his office number. I replied with a simple thank you. I am going to hunt school grounds for now and when I get up the nerve I will knock on doors. As I said, my son and I joined our local club and have been to one meeting. We went to that meeting before even purchasing our md.

I welcome any more advice you'd like to share.

B T W we are all about leaving a site like we were never there. That is an important lesson to teach a 12 year old. The tip about cutting a U shape hole is really good too. Thanks!

 

[cudamark]

See what happens when you ask? Look up the law yourself to see if it's actually illegal. What do your fellow club members say about that? I bet some of them will have quizzical looks on their faces as they've probably detected those parks for years without a problem.

 

[RobRieman]

Yeah if you ask to dig in a city park your gonna get a no. In fact if you ask to dig anywhere your gonna probably get the same answer. Solution: don't ever ask if you can dig.

 

[Ima Swinger]

I asked.......got the ok for all county parks. They even sent me a county map with the locations of EVERY county park.
Got the ok for schools too.
ALWAYS ASK. If I didn't, I would feel like I was trespassing and stealing.......because I would be.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I asked.......got the ok for all county parks. They even sent me a county map with the locations of EVERY county park.
Got the ok for schools too.
ALWAYS ASK. If I didn't, I would feel like I was trespassing and stealing.......because I would be.

Ima-swinger, that's nice that you got a "yes" in your particular area. Congrats. But do you realize that the fact of someone getting a "yes" or a "no", does not mean "therefore it was good that I asked", or that "therefore this is proof that asking was a necessary step". I mean, did you really expect that desk-bound bureaucrat to say "that's a silly question. Why are you asking me? You don't need permission to do something that isn't prohibited". No. They never answer like that. They will bestow on you their princely yes, or their princely no (afterall, you asked, and that merely infers their say-so was needed, to begin with). Thus, no, don't ask (no-more-so than you'd think you need to "ask" to fly a frisbee). Instead, you LOOK IT UP FOR YOURSELF. If there's nothing there saying "no metal detecting", then presto, it's not prohibited, now is it ??

a-lastingtouch, as for their answer "you can't dig in the grounds", it's entirely possible that you never even mentioned "digging" in your question, right? "
"Dig" or "holes" is sometimes just the mental perception some people have, when they think of md'ing. And yes, in EVERY park in the ENTIRE USA (and all beaches, schools yards, etc...) there will ALWAYS be the obligatory verbage that disallows "alterations", "defacement", "vandalism" etc... But think of it lasting-touch: if you leave no trace of your presence, then *technically*, you have not alterED, defacED, or vandalizED anything, now have you? Even a more specific word like (gasp) "dig" (which I admit, seems to include the necessary temporary evil), STILL has the implicit reason as being "holes". And to be quite honest with you, even if your city parks verbage did include the *d* word (as something prohibited), those type things are rarely ever invoked to hassle md'rs, unless you were being a major nuisance, leaving holes, and being an eye-sore. Detecting goes on all over the USA where ......... if you looked hard enough, you would find various terms like that.

So, I would a) look up the rules for myself, to see if md'ing is mentioned as a specific prohibition, and b) go at low traffic times so as not to be an eye sore, and c) cover my spots, leave no trace, and know that that fulfills the intent of any rules about "dig", "damage", "alter", "vandalize", etc...

 

[Ima Swinger]

I prefer asking whether it's written or not. That's just me. If a person wants to go strictly by the written rules, that's cool with me, your choice. I agree that most of the time you will be told no. That's ok with me too. There are lots of places to hunt....so just move on to the next one.
I don't know man....seems simple to me.
To each his own. I just want our new members to get good advise since we have so much knowledge on this forum.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I prefer asking whether it's written or not. That's just me. If a person wants to go strictly by the written rules, that's cool with me, your choice. I agree that most of the time you will be told no. That's ok with me too. There are lots of places to hunt....so just move on to the next one.
I don't know man....seems simple to me.
To each his own. I just want our new members to get good advise since we have so much knowledge on this forum.

Ima, well, yes, it might seem like "so what?". I mean, just like you're saying, to-each-his-own (comfort level, etc...), and if they say no, so be it, and no harm done, right? On the surface, yes, that may appear to be the case.

But be aware, it's not so cut-&-dried as that. Because .... let's say you DID get a "no" (where no real rule has any specifics saying that, and they merely morph something else to apply to your "pressing question"). Here's what tends to happen: Guess what's going to happen the next time that city person sees another md'r in the park? They'll subconsciously remember the earlier inquiry, and think to themselves "aha! there's one of THEM", and start booting others I've seen this happen before, in parks where no one ever had a problem. Someone is tasked with answering such an inquiry (of which, perhaps, they never gave-the-matter thought before). So they look too and fro through their rules, find something to back up the "safe" answer, etc... And lo & behold, others who never had a problem before, are all of the sudden now being booted.

So you see, the risk is not "to each his own" as you say. It does indeed have the ripple effect of getting rules written, and/or, shall we call them "policies" or whatever, from there on out.

 

[Ima Swinger]

I can see where you're coming from Tom.
The way I was raised, if the property doesn't belong to you, you ask to hunt it. Whether you're hunting coins or deer.
Ignorance of the owner's wishes is not permission to hunt that property. I mean really, I wouldn't hunt the police or fire station property without asking. Would you? I'm guessing not.
I'm not trying to be a smartie pants. I do respect your opinion. I just go about things a different way I guess.

Happy Hunting.........

 

[alastingtouch]

I own a business in town and our city government is very strict. Too strict for me in most cases. I asked if metal detecting is allowed and he said "digging" is prohibited in public parks. If the official in charge says no then I respect that. There are other places to hunt. If nothing else I want to teach my twelve year old son how to go about things in a respectful manor. South Carolina has the strictest laws in regards to trespassing. Trespass in SC and you stand to loose your equipment as well as the vehicle that you brought to the site. My rule stands, ask permission, if denied move on, no exception. I may be passing up some bountiful booty but I can hunt with a clear conscience elsewhere. I know hunting in a public park is not trespassing but the man in charge says no and that's good enough for me. I appreciate all input and I respect any advice given but in the end I will make my own decision as I am the one that lives with it. Besides, I'm the type of person that gets busted if I even think about breaking a rule! LOL

 

[Ima Swinger]

Haaaa........
Me too man, me too.
Looks like you and I think alike.
I have a 13 yr old daughter that hunts with me sometimes, and this has been a very important topic between her and I. I want to be sure that she knows (what I beleave is) the correct way.

Have fun out there, and best of luck! !
Lance

 

[cudamark]

I own a business in town and our city government is very strict. Too strict for me in most cases. I asked if metal detecting is allowed and he said "digging" is prohibited in public parks. If the official in charge says no then I respect that. There are other places to hunt. If nothing else I want to teach my twelve year old son how to go about things in a respectful manor. South Carolina has the strictest laws in regards to trespassing. Trespass in SC and you stand to loose your equipment as well as the vehicle that you brought to the site. My rule stands, ask permission, if denied move on, no exception. I may be passing up some bountiful booty but I can hunt with a clear conscience elsewhere. I know hunting in a public park is not trespassing but the man in charge says no and that's good enough for me. I appreciate all input and I respect any advice given but in the end I will make my own decision as I am the one that lives with it. Besides, I'm the type of person that gets busted if I even think about breaking a rule! LOL

That's the whole point.....you don't NEED to ask and bring your activity front and center. You can look it up yourself and find out the answer. When you ask, it brings feelings and perceptions into the picture and not the law.

 

[SCDigginWithAK]

Hello, I'm in spartanburg sc and I am 13 so very close to your sons age. I have been metal detecting for four years now. I wish y'all the best of luck!

 

[housemom6]

My thought is if it's private property then I can see it. But if it's public land where other activities can be pursued then as long as there isn't any specific law on the books then dig. I would print out a copy of the rules and have them on me, just in case. But as always fill your holes and pick up the garbage you find. That will show the good things your doing for the property. Of course this is just my opinion

 

[smittyman]

Welcome alastingtouch! Fellow RH Club member here! I agree with your take on the matter especially since your son is involved. To me it's kinda like speeding. You may not always get a ticket but you're always gonna jump if you see a patrol car! As far as the trespassing thing - if you haven't read that SC law for yourself I suggest you do so. Be especially wary of posted areas.
I live in Charlotte but don't hunt Rock Hill often - it like Charlotte has been hit hard. I suggest getting out to some of the smaller surrounding areas.
Good Luck!