No Parks to detect?

[Dick Stout]

https://stoutstandards.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/a-spoonful-of-sugar/#more-18280

 

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[Newfiehunter]

A couple of years back I started a thread entitled, "Carrying shovels into parks" which created a controversy....Didn't think it would....However, just a few months ago, the city council banned the use of metal detectors of a place I use to hunt regularly that had very old parks....The reason and it was broadcast on the nightly television news when a city councilor was interviewed stated...."People were taking shovels into the parks and leaving holes"..I responded to the news broadcast and was asked if I would do an interview but declined since I didn't want to be on television plus it would not have made much difference in reversing the decision made by the city....So there you go...We are our own worse enemies...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.......The reason and it was broadcast on the nightly television news when a city councilor was interviewed stated...."People were taking shovels into the parks and leaving holes"......

Newfiehunter, don't be so quick to assume this is the reason for the ban. Quite often it's only the "go-to" reason to justify a rule they've come up with (for other reasons of being on their radar as something that "needs a rule"). Because, think of it: To the average non-md'r, what's the immediate knee-jerk mental connotation that a man with a metal detectors conjurs up ? HOLES OF COURSE. Even if they didn't actually see any, it's just the assumption some will have.

Thus whenever you hear "no because of holes", it doesn't necessarily mean there was ever a case of it. It can merely be the "go to" reason for when they tell you "no", or when they invent a rule, etc...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

...They use the convenient excuse of "well, you make holes!" to justify their non-justifiable feelings on the matter...

thanx Skippy. And whenever md'rs hear that line, guess what they do ? The same thing newfiehunter did: Curse under his breath "durned those guys who must've left holes". But notice it wasn't necessarily ever a case. It can be just their mental connotation when tasked with thinking about "metal detectors", eh ? And THAT can be on their plate for a multitude of other reasons.

Same logic for "no because of cultural heritage concerns". What's the knee-jerk reaction that md'rs have ? : "Durned them archies!" , right ? But do you really think that some archie had happened to be walking through the park one day, saw an md'r, and said "oh me oh my, he might find an old coin" ?

 

[Newfiehunter]

Newfiehunter, don't be so quick to assume this is the reason for the ban. Quite often it's only the "go-to" reason to justify a rule they've come up with (for other reasons of being on their radar as something that "needs a rule"). Because, think of it: To the average non-md'r, what's the immediate knee-jerk mental connotation that a man with a metal detectors conjurs up ? HOLES OF COURSE. Even if they didn't actually see any, it's just the assumption some will have.

Thus whenever you hear "no because of holes", it doesn't necessarily mean there was ever a case of it. It can merely be the "go to" reason for when they tell you "no", or when they invent a rule, etc...

You know, Tom in Ca....You are right....Whenever I went to those parks I had never seen one hole or any trace that anyone had ever detected there because these parks were heavily hunted and not just by me..Many many others....The councilor also stated that "valuable" items that were lost were not being turned over to the city which I found to be an odd statement....Why would the city care of what was being found? He said that a very valuable ring was found at one park and not turned over... I do remember many years ago you needed a permit to hunt these parks and on the permit, part of the agreement stated, that anything of "historical" importance had to be turned over to the city....Not sure if this meant coins...Some of these parks go way back to the 1600-1700s when the land was not really considered parks at the time...The interviewer even asked the City Councilor...."What are these people looking for?" His response...."I don't know"... Goes to show neither the interviewer or councilor know anything about what we do..That was why I emailed the interviewer to explain what our activity was all about...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

thanx newfie-hunter. If your parks got repeated md'ing over the years as you say, then the simple act of being seen (even if no actual holes were observed) by the right busy-body, can start that process going . Or to speed it up even FASTER to put that bee-in-someone's bonnet: All you'd need to do is go into city hall asking "Hi, can I metal detect in the park?" Presto, the "pressing question" gets passed back and forth through multiple desks. Then they come back with "no because of holes".

But sure, it need not be "on their plate" because "someone asked". It could simply be there because a place gets lots of md'r traffic and one day, a busy-body thinks to himself "gee, what are all those people doing ?"

This is why most all my turf hunting is done at night nowadays. So peaceful. So serene.

 

[Newfiehunter]

Well... SOME Of the detectorists are our worst enemies...

You are right....SOME of the detectorists are our own worst enemies....but THOSE are the ones that can ruin it for all of us...

 

[mrwilburino]

Yeah, we've all met the Bubba, Jack and Willy of the MDing world. Thanks Mr. Stout for your blog. Good read. I particularly liked the 7 suggestions, though I really didn't understand #5. might laugh at this one, but if you like to take a break for lunch, think about where you are. Nothing shouts out trouble like popping a beer on the tailgate of your truck. I’ve experienced that here in Texas, and I wanted to crawl
Was it the beer on the tailgate, or the fact it was on the tailgate? I've had plenty of sandwiches in parks while MDing, but never gave thought to whether I was eating at my truck or at a picnic table. Lots of fun conversations in both locations. I don't drink alcohol, though, so maybe that's what you were getting at.

Yes, sitting on the tailgate of your truck and drinking a beer out in public can get you in a lot of trouble. Good advice from Mr....... "Stout"

The rest of his suggestions are good advice also, and if more people followed them, there would be less people getting kicked out of their hunting grounds.

 

[Dick Stout]

My whole point was that we often create the problems that we ***** about later. Unless you are hunting in the hinterlands, keep a low profile and always remember that people are watching. Likewise choose your day and times wisely.

The incident with the beer.... When I first moved to Texas back in the late 80's I tagged along with a few local club members in the Dallas area, and their forte at the time was hunting HUD homes (that too just blew my mind). They drove neighborhoods looking for the sign in the window and when they saw it they stopped, piled out and started detecting. I was not a driver and couldn't just leave. They later decided to have a beer, and sat on the tailgate of their truck, shooting the bull. I just knew that neighbors were watching. Last time I did that for sure.