Disappointment

mumszie · Feb 20, 2011

This morning was a really big disappointment. My daughter wanted to go hunting and the only place she wants to go is CWB. Now that is a nice beach - don't get me wrong - but I hate that place. The water was very calm, the tide very low but still I managed only to find 2 quarters and 2 pennies the whole time I was in the water. She did better in the dry sand with a Tonka truck, a couple of sand toys and almost two dollars in clad. **sigh** Soooooo I figured I would take a look at Honeymoon Island. I've heard about this place for years but I've never gone there. I heard it cost $5.00 just to go on the island but I decided to check it out at long last. Well, it wasn't 5 dollars it was 8 dollars! Pretty high price I think. AND the lady saw I was wearing a wet suit and you can see my detector through the window. She said there there is no MD'ing allowed since it is a State Park. **sigh** Well, I already paid my eight bucks so I took a chance and decided to hunt anyway. I figured if anyone said anything I would say I didn't see any signs banning it. I hunted for about 2 hours there and only had two hits. A key with a "K" cut out in it and a pull tab. Well, that certainly wasn't worth the money! My daughter saw a pod of dolphin and tried to take a few pictures but she couldn't zoom in close enough to get a clear show. Darn.... even that didn't go right! As I was getting out there were two park rangers/attendants on the beach and I walked right by both of them. Neither one said anything to me about my hunting. My daughter said she went by them too and they didn't say anything to her either. My total for this morning............. 52 cents and one key.

Ah well........ there's always tomorrow. :wink:

Tony in FL · Feb 20, 2011

As for Honeymoon Island, I am pretty sure you can metal detect there, but you are supposed to stay between the water and the dunes (unless they changed the rules). Last year I was told to get out of the water once by a ranger.

Both Honeymoon Island and CWB have tons of visitors each year. Don't give up!!!

:icon_thumright:

erikk · Feb 20, 2011

Tony in FL said:
As for Honeymoon Island, I am pretty sure you can metal detect there, but you are supposed to stay between the water and the dunes (unless they changed the rules). Last year I was told to get out of the water once by a ranger.

Both Honeymoon Island and CWB have tons of visitors each year. Don't give up!!!

Yup, no hunting in the water at FL State parks..............unless you night hunt

DewGuru · Feb 20, 2011

CWB hasnt really been producing (very much) water wise, since December. The beaches are getting crowded, just not in the water due to water temps. Still a ways off for that.

Blind Squirrel · Feb 21, 2011

Did you see Jackie Gleason or any other honeymooners? :tongue3:

mumszie · Feb 21, 2011

Blind Squirrel said:
Did you see Jackie Gleason or any other honeymooners?

Nah..... Ralph (Jackie) was at work driving his bus (which I used to do for MTA in Miami btw). Ed (Art) was down in the sewers and Alice and Trixie went shopping. LOL ::)

Blind Squirrel · Feb 21, 2011

Nah..... Ralph (Jackie) was at work driving his bus (which I used to do for MTA in Miami btw). Ed (Art) was down in the sewers and Alice and Trixie went shopping. LOL ::)

[/quote]
Too funny :laughing7:

gold nuggets · Feb 21, 2011

It may have been a disappointing day Mumszie, but
just think...you now know where NOT to go and the
$8 you spent can go somewhere else next time. HH
Gold Nuggets :hello:

Smudge · Feb 21, 2011

Well Mumsie,

if its any consolation, went out to the beach this Saturday and found nothign but a few bits of junk. Not one single coin.

And then I saw a sign saying that effective February 28, Brevard County was going to charge $5 per car to park at this beach, and with no re-entry to boot.

Tom_in_CA · Feb 21, 2011

Mumszie, sorry about your meager finds. If you hit the beach after *just* the right storm/erosion conditions, there can be so many targets, you can't even dig them all

But I want to address your other situation, which I believe speaks VERY LOUDLY to a truth in our hobby: That is, there's always someone to "tell you no", but often-time, the truth is, no one cares, till you ask. I too can think of state beaches we detect here, in CA, all the time, in front of rangers, etc... and no one ever cares. But I'll bet you that if I were to go ask, and if they looked long enough and hard enough, they could find some reason to say "no". Guess what the moral of that story is? ::)

One time a fellow here was kicked off a state-of-ca owned beach, by a state archie who just *happened* to be passing by. The md'r spread the word on local CA forums, and several of us got "up in arms" figuring we'd better "set this guy straight" (because we just assumed that state of CA beaches were ok to hunt, since they'd simply been detected, all the time, since the dawn of detectors). However, the more we looked into the minutia, the more we realized we'd better not make waves, and leave good enough alone. The archie probably went back to sacramento anyhow, and it was probably just a fluke that he happened to see the hobbyist out there.

For this reason, I sometimes get suspicious when I hear someone say "such & such place is off-limits". I sometimes wonder if that information isn't born out of some ding-bat, decades ago, going and "asking permission". And then, presto, you get a rule to address your "pressing issue", when the truth is, no one probably cared.