Detecting In Woods ** NOT State Parks Or County Parks** Just good old Fashion Woods

[rfloyd5]

Hello all,
I live in Maryland. And in State Parks, and County Parks you can not MD.

But lets say I Google Earth. Find a big patch of Woods. The Woods is not a State Park, or a County Park, or National Park, and best to knowledge not private land , and not Posted "No Trespassing".

Just a big old patch of woods that as a children we all probably played in.

Would you MD in such a place? Yes? or No?

I say Yes.

 

[austin]

Sure, we do that down here all the time. I vote yes...

 

[maccounty]

Somebody still owns it. Probably still better to ask.

 

[kcm]

Of course I'd WANT to say yes - and a few years back I probably would have. Am getting uncomfortably stubborn and responsible in my growing age!

 

[Helix]

yeah but if you get hurt its your own fault, not land owners. I'm a witness

 

[l.cutler]

Of course you still have to ask permission, it still belongs to somebody and if you dug anything and removed it you would be stealing.

 

[ARC]

There is no such thing as land that no one owns.
Someone owns it.

Now whether or not they care if you metal detect it is another story.
Go online and search out the owners info via tax records.

Being ON someone else's land without permission is considered trespassing... And if posted with "no trespassing" signage... you can be arrested.
Digging on someone else's land is considered destruction of private property.
Removal of anything from someone else's land without the owners permission is considered theft.

Also I might point out... IF no private owner is associated with said property it is then considered State land...
Which may or may not be permitted via your State Land Laws.
A majority of State property is "open"... and not posted... but may or may not be "open" for public use.

My advice to you is to "do the right thing" FOR yourself AND for the rest of us...

Get Permission.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

rfloyd5, what makes you think that there is a "no md'ing" rule is all 24 counties of Maryland ? Did you go county by county and find such a prohibition ? I find it hard to believe that every last one of the 24 county's parks have a specific "no md'ing" rule.

And bear in mind, that even if you found that in any of the county's park's wording, that it would only apply to county "parks" land. Not other forms of county land. Same for state: Not all state land is state "park" land. There are other forms of land, like undeveloped eminent domain, road-right-of-way, etc....

And as for the state park's, their beaches are not off-limits (yet I know your question was directed to "woods" )

To answer your question, I would not hesitate to hunt out in the boonies of the woods/forests anywhere. I mean, unless there's an archie convention going on there, and you were planning on wearing neon orange and waltzing over their beach-blankets ?

 

[CTwoods]

In my state, if I use regular google maps, any state owned forest (or town owned) is colored in light green. These are not listed as parks, but they will have a name, ending in "Forest".

The only "No" signs I have ever seen, is a few certain spots, a sign will say No Hunting, meaning no game hunting. These can be a refuge so that the wildlife won't be hunted out to extinction.

Some of this land was once fields in pre-WW1/1900 and much earlier eras, but many of these forests that were fields, were not near a homesite. The farther you get from the homesite, the amount of non-iron targets drops dramatically. So, many have never been MD'd, or not hunted very hard.

There is always something to find there, but it can seem pointless on those days that you never get anything.

 

[ARC]

rfloyd5, what makes you think that there is a "no md'ing" rule is all 24 counties of Maryland ? Did you go county by county and find such a prohibition ? I find it hard to believe that every last one of the 24 county's parks have a specific "no md'ing" rule.

And bear in mind, that even if you found that in any of the county's park's wording, that it would only apply to county "parks" land. Not other forms of county land. Same for state: Not all state land is state "park" land. There are other forms of land, like undeveloped eminent domain, road-right-of-way, etc....

And as for the state park's, their beaches are not off-limits (yet I know your question was directed to "woods" )

To answer your question, I would not hesitate to hunt out in the boonies of the woods/forests anywhere. I mean, unless there's an archie convention going on there, and you were planning on wearing neon orange and waltzing over their beach-blankets ?

The beach part does not apply to Florida beaches.
For we have many that are off limits.