A sad day digging…..

Mike from MI

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Oct 13, 2007
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Vicksburg Michigan
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I was hunting a big park a couple weeks ago with two friends. About a half hour in, I started coming across these giant plugs that looked very bad. I took this pic of two holes by my detector. As you can see there is a bunch of dirt all over the surface, and the plugs no longer fit right. From this spot I counted 10 of these holes in a 30' circle. There were many more in the general area. I knew right away it was a guy with a big shovel. We had seen him there before a couple times, but it was always as we were leaving. This time he showed up again and my two buddies talked with him. I was about 100 yards away, by the time I got there he had moved on. He gave my friend his card, so I know his name. I found out by another guy I know that he has been encouraging the guy to use a hand digger and do a better job. He does not want to. This could possibly be a factor why the parks there get closed to detecting. As often happens, they close them all at once, not just one. Shovels should not be used on public property. Not only is it harder to put a huge hole back together, but a guy toting a shovel looks worse than a guy with a hand digger. Most coins etc…. in parks are no deeper than 6" with most being very shallow. That being said, if a guy digs a huge deep plug, you now have to dig way back down through the dirt in the plug scattering tons of dirt around to get back down to that shallow coin. I know that many newbies watched some popular tv shows or videos, and the guys in them have showed you only need a detector and a shovel. I see so many people posting their new shovel, and logos with guys with shovels. Don't get me wrong, a good relic shovel has it's place. (fields, woods, private land) I also know that some guys say they can make a better plug with a shovel, and it is easier for them. I'm sure that is true for a few guys. I did share with one guy, would you rather a surgeon work on you with a small scalpel or a large butcher knife? There are different tool for different applications. It also goes back to the mention of how you look in the park or school toting a shovel. I bet if a guy went into his surgery room and seen a scalpel it would not bother him. Seeing a butcher knife is a different story. There are already enough places closed to detecting. Moral of this story, don't be the guy who helped shut down public areas for the rest of us, and the future generations of detectorists. This post was not meant to stir up a hornets nest, or to encourage nasty remarks back and forth. It was meant to educate fellow diggers.
 

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ARC

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Aug 19, 2014
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Tarpon Springs
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Using a shovel to dig on public property is asinine... and shows the person has no brain and no regard.

Idiots like this will definitely BE THE end to our hobby on public lands.
 

civil_war22

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Dec 5, 2008
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NW Arkansas
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I personally use a shovel I hand made, and also have a Lesche hand shovel. Due to my back, and leg injuries sometimes the bigger shovel is easier, and I purposely made it to cut a clean plug, to replace it with the same plug. I’m also the kind of guy that carries either a towel, or removes the dirt over the hole if it’s still in the plug so I don’t leave dirt laying around on top of the ground.
 

HighVDI

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Feb 16, 2017
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Using a shovel to dig on public property is asinine... and shows the person has no brain and no regard.

Idiots like this will definitely BE THE end to our hobby on public lands.

Simply not true. everyone repeats this but that doesn't make it so.
 

ARC

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Aug 19, 2014
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Simply not true. everyone repeats this but that doesn't make it so.

I was and am referring to a FULL sized shovel.

I hope to goodness you are not referring to a full sized shovel.
 

HighVDI

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Feb 16, 2017
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I was and am referring to a FULL sized shovel.

I hope to goodness you are not referring to a full sized shovel.

Lol! No way. I do agree there. Just the sight of that is enough to get some glares from others at the site.
 

gold panner

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May 22, 2016
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Not so much a shovel....but not knowing how to use one! My Sampson T handle will cut better plugs than any hand digger will and half the time. Just putting the loose soil back into the hole would make a great improvement here.

agree do not pull dirt out of the hole. we have pin pointers you really do not need to pull anything out of the hole.
 

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