Just thought I would ask...

[joeb1999]

Has anyone had their loot confiscated or equipment taken when hunting? The other day I was detecting a pond. The pond is about a mile from a historic site.

So a dog walker, typical, stops by and says...what are you doing? Its a pet peeve of mine to be asked an already known...but I politely answered..."metal detecting". She then says "oh....!....they allow you to detect on a historic site....!?!?!"

I said..."they sure do". "oh really...I didnt think they would allow this on a historic site".

Mind you all three of her hounds are off leashes...and she has no baggies to clean up after them. Anyway. I was never confronted by any authorities. I had verbal permission to be in the pool I was in.

Just curious as to how extreme of confrontation against treasure hunting people have gotten. I did find a ring that day...and if the police came....said ring was going right back where I could find it the next day...on floor of pond. I prepared to re-drop it after that.

Why do some folk dislike our hobby is another question? I think they are just jealous. Not sure though.

[ivan salis]

tell her

"I'm looking for 3 dog leashes and a plastic bag to put dog poo in ." and that the "historic area" is about a MILE AWAY down that road --- plus I got "permission" to be here . --have a nice day. bye bye --I'm busy .

IF YOU ARE HOWEVER HUNTING IN A "HISTORIC AREA" without proper ok --- be warned -- you are breaking the law -- and as such your equiptment can be "taken" as evidence to be used as "proof" of what you were doing .--- much like a burglars "tools" are taken from him by the police when hes found breaking into a home -- and like a set of "burglar tools" --do not expect for it to be returned to you after the trial --what give the "criminal" back his "tools"? -- uh nope.

[Tom_in_CA]

Bummer. Busy-bodies are a dime a dozen. You've got to learn to keep a thick skin on. If we let nosy-parkers like that dictate your mood, you wouldn't have much place left to md. 'Cuz these types can even nose in, in much more innocuous places!

[George (MN)]

Is the pond on the same property as the historic site-part of the same state, county, or city park? This can cause lots of confusion as to what is being protected, to detectorists/public & maybe even some govt people.

In Minneapolis, Minnehaha Park is OK to detect, but 2 buildings in the park are on the National Register of Historic Places. It's only protection for the houses to not be torn down or altered, not a detecting ban for the park.

But in TX (IIRC), 2 guys were detecting a lake with permission (Corps of Engineers property). Some govt person came by and said they were gonna make sure they never saw daylight again.

They were accused of being 300 feet from a historic site, supposedly in the protected area. But they said it was more like 900 feet from the bulldozed fort & relics hadn't been found that far away. HH, George (MN)