A cross, heat cramps, and new rules.

[Rawhide]

Found a lot in the park today so my local competition has been slacking. It was time to re do my permit to hunt in the parks and I found some changes. The new permit last for a year now. Also there is no digging allowed in the parks now, just probing. There was some other restraints but it was clear, things are a changing. This does not effect my hunt at all as I just surface hunt for new drops anyway. The heat gave me a lil pause as I got back to the pickup. But all turned out well. Found a necklace but it had a china tag on it.....darn. It is being tumbled now with some of my other finds the few weeks.

 

[Argentium]

Seriously ? There is no digging in Las Cruces ,NM. parks now ?? when did that go into effect ? Whenever I hunted in L.C. I
rarely if ever saw anyone metal detecting . I wonder what happened ? that is really disappointing . I love Las Cruces , had
gone to NMSU 30+ years ago , and I always lay up there on longer road trips - typically for a day or two - do a bit of
detecting - I'm really sad to hear this - it seems to be a growing trend nationwide !

 

[thrillathahunt]

Found a lot in the park today so my local competition has been slacking. It was time to re do my permit to hunt in the parks and I found some changes. The new permit last for a year now. Also there is no digging allowed in the parks now, just probing. There was some other restraints but it was clear, things are a changing. This does not effect my hunt at all as I just surface hunt for new drops anyway. The heat gave me a lil pause as I got back to the pickup. But all turned out well. Found a necklace but it had a china tag on it.....darn. It is being tumbled now with some of my other finds the few weeks.

View attachment 1026863

Yep, I am afraid the writing is on the wall, and when the "nanny stater's" get through with us we will all be asking permission to twittle our thumbs.

 

[Old Dude]

Ya know, I tear the ground up when probing, but cutting a plug leaves little evidence....I just don't get it. Here in Pa, it isn't legal to detect on state game lands but you can screw steps into the trees, shoot the land full of lead and apparently leave all the empty beer cans you want on the ground ( cause it's full of litter! ), but I ( we ) cannot dig and fill a 5 inch deep hole. This is MY thought....they don't make money from us! Some greedy law maker may some day open it up to us if we pay a $50 yearly permit fee.

 

[doninbrewster]

That's not good news that you can't dig now in the parks. As Old Dude said, you can make more of a mess when probing. It may be different in the dryer conditions in NM. Also, your mention of heat cramps is worth noting. When detecting this time of year we all have to remember to drink plenty of water, iced tea or whatever. I've had cramps twice this year because I didn't drink enough water while detecting even though I was drinking water while detecting, just not enough. It's not fun.

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[Rawhide]

I'll try to post a copy of the sheet of rules that was added with the rules on the back of the permit. I suspect a soccer coach had a lot to do with this. It has always been ball fields were a no no. Im pretty sure I will run into the guy responsible and once I get a name I will post it along with who to contact with the city. Im sure some folks here will eventually end up here at this post. Now it is a disappointment that owning a metal detector here in New Mexico is now illegal when we have all the other problems going on. Its also a shame I dont buy my annual park pass or fishing license as I cant use my detector at those places either. If New Mexico wants to know where all my vactation time is spent, it is spent in Texas and Arizona now. When it was legal to hunt parks you had no ground to stand on about going out in the nearby mountains to complain about. I really did not post this as a rant or complaint. It appears we had no input to the rules. I will see if these are elected officials or appointed officials making such rule. I will find out what elected official appointed them and file a protest. I will post those elected officials in the political thread for others to do the same. If they just get one letter or phone call they will soon forget us. I am considering going out to those protected areas and showing just how much damage the University and the state is doing to those protected lands. Our parks department works hard to keep the parks clean and safe. In the past employees have helped with places to dig even. Now its been ruined by a small group of folks and I intend to find out who you are, and I hope they read these threads.

 

[Rawhide]

I was surprised to find a social media link to the local city parks and hopefully someone monitors the site. Here is a copy of my first request:

Hello, in the recent years I have enjoyed the use of the city parks and found the staff very helpful and professional. I recently noticed during a permitting process that some rule changes were made to use of the parks and I was concerned the group targeted by the new rules change was not allowed in the new decisions.

See I am disabled and the city parks offer a alternative as I cant walk or climb for very long distances so if I want exercise in the park it has always been there. Now it appears the old man fun has been made illegal to do so.

I want to know who is in charge of Las Cruces City Parks, as I wish to ask why the new rule changes? I also want to know if the official is elected or appointed. If Appointed I want to know the elected official who appointed them.

I am very sad that a large part of the population has not been part of the new rules process. I feel you have done me a injustice, and I want to make sure you do not do another term.

Thank You, **** *** ***-***-****

 

[Old Dude]

Good for you, Casca. Hit them where it hurts....in the voting booth.

 

[Argentium]

Thank you for your energy and dedication Casca , if there's any way I can assist I'm happy to write a letter or even go to city hall
or parks and rec. next time I'm in Las Cruces (Sept. 3rd thereabouts ) This is a disturbing trend nation wide and it needs to stop!

 

[Garrett424]

Ya know, I tear the ground up when probing, but cutting a plug leaves little evidence....I just don't get it. Here in Pa, it isn't legal to detect on state game lands but you can screw steps into the trees, shoot the land full of lead and apparently leave all the empty beer cans you want on the ground ( cause it's full of litter! ), but I ( we ) cannot dig and fill a 5 inch deep hole. This is MY thought....they don't make money from us! Some greedy law maker may some day open it up to us if we pay a $50 yearly permit fee.

Yeah. One of my life long favorite fishing holes is on state park property where I would LOVE to metal detect but can't because I'm not an authorized archeologist. We're having a third world invasion in MD (the nations 1st "sanctuary" state) and these people have completely TRASHED a once beautiful place. They just don't seem to mind if they wallow in trash and garbage. It's astounding.

But that's okay. They can leave all of the trash and junk they can carry but I can't dig a 5 inch plug in the middle of 16,000 acres without risking arrest and confiscation of my equipment. I guess the powers that be believe that extreme littering, polluting and public drunkenness is better than "stealing" what may lie beneath the ground.

The people who are in charge of everything must be complete idiots.

 

[Pointman]

I had a few times this year, where I almost got too hot. It will come on quickly. I noticed that my heat endurance gets less the older I get.

I'm glad that I haven't heard about those kind of restraints around my parts, but also I think we get less folks detecting then some areas.