What would you do?

[michigan michael]

I found this old church today. I checked the entire property and there was not any no trespassing signs. This is a small village type town without a town hall or police department. I asked a neighbor if they knew who owned the property and they said they did not have a clue. I am leaning towards asking for forgiveness rather than permission to hunt this old church. WWODD? What would other detectors do? All opinios and suggestions open, please.

Thanks,
MM

[fistfulladirt]

Personally, I ALWAYS get permission first. Just can't stand constantly looking over my shoulder! I've had to walk away from a few attractive sites, due to lack of permission.
Do some research to find the owner. Local library should have a plat book, or may be town hall could give that info. Good luck.

[Jim C.]

Let your conscience be your guide. I would try and get permission first. All you have to do is contact the township that the church is located in and try and have an address or at least be able to tell the people where its located on a map. They will look up the current owners of the property. Most times they will even give you a phone number if they have it on file. If you can't get anywhere with that then as I said, let your conscience be your guide.

[oldschool]

You need permission.I jumped out of my truck to hit a old foundation once on a dirt road that I dindt have permission to hunt, and the next 10 mins you would have thought I was next to a highway with all the traffic!I found one wheetie and had to leave as I was looking for cars to much.
Randy

[lonesomebob]

I am sure that those who did the vandalism asked for permission,but they probably worked at night. Bob

[oneeye]

Ethics: it's how you behave when no one is watching.

I would do some research and get permission.
Dan

[BigZee]

Not to be blunt but it looks like whomever took the pictures already trespassed on the property.
Get permission no matter what. It doesn't matter if there are signs or not. It still belongs to someone.

[DigginThePast]

I'd seek permission. On a different note, that is a really cool old church. Too bad its been allowed to deteriorate.

[mlayers]

check county records they will have it on file who owns it...Matt

[muleskinner]

Absolutely try for formal permission. If you can't find that, contact me for further advice.

[seger98]

Yes, I agree, there must be a county plat book you can buy or look at somewhere. Those come in VERY handy!


Chris

[michigan michael]

Thanks everyone. Yeah I guess I did trespass taking photos. I'm Guilty. I don't feel bad about that though. I was not disturbing anything and if in fact the owner would be that upset over someone taking pictures ......there would definitely be no trespassing signs up. I kind of had the mindset of this property just being abandoned because the landscape is completely grown over and the building itself has zero maintenance. I agree with what you all have said though. Thanks for the words of wisdom. I am pretty new and in no way, do I want to give our hobby a bad name. I will keep poking around and see what I can find. County Plat book huh? That's my next step. Thanks again everyone.

[Urban Grund]

Cool looking place to search! I hope you get permission to search & find some nice things. Good luck!!!