I wish I had visited here before I bought my MD

[Mr Snuffelupagus]

After reading about the restrictions and penalties for MD'ers in Virginia, it sounds like I wasted my money. I never realized there was so much crud involved. I can understand not disturbing any historical sites, and not tresspassing on someone Else's land to hunt... but a lot of Virginia is historical, and the rest is either federal, state, or locally owned... that leaves me my back yard, basically... and how many times can I hunt my own back yard?

Feeling discouraged before I get started, folks... can anyone offer some words of encouragement? And if not, would anyone like to buy a Garret ACE 250 MD, still in the box?

Thanks.

Mr Snuffelupagus

 

[SeaninNH]

Hit public parks, beaches and schools.

 

[Sandman]

you not only have your yard but all your neighbors or places of businesses. Farmers will grant permission if you go about it right.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Mr. Snuffelupagus, sounds like you have incorrectly read some citation of rules, that you are mis-interpretting to mean that you can not hunt on public property in Virginia. What citation are you reading that leads you to that conclusion?

As Sean says, you can hunt schools, parks, etc.... Any state-level rules you might have read about for Virginia, would only apply to state-level land. Not county, city, federal, private, etc..... And as for the latter (city level/owned land, for instance), if there are no specific prohibitions, then what's stopping you? Of course use due discretion, go at low traffic times, etc... as we're in an odd hobby that draws lookie-lous and busy-bodies.

 

[stefen]

The key to success for any endeavor is research...

Now it's up to you to seek out local hunting sites based on several of the above suggestions...

Next find a local MDer and tag along...

AS for the quality of a machine, the Ace is an excellent choice...

And yes, hunt your yard until it's devoid of all pull-tabs, beer caps and other junk...

 

[Mr Snuffelupagus]

Thanks for the replies... It IS possible that I'm maybe misinterpreting what I've been reading... Aside from English, I speak enough German, French, Spanish, and Italian to start a good bar fight... but I never learned how to speak "legalese"...

I guess the best thing to do would be to try and hook up with a local hunter and learn enough to know what questions to ask...

Thanks again...

 

[relichunters]

I will never buy or use another ACE 250 ever again

 

[Mr Snuffelupagus]

Now, that's encouraging... what problems did you have?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Mr. Snuff, the Ace 250 is .......... well ....... sort of a beginners unit. It will get its *ss kicked, on depth, for deep coins, and doesn't fare as well in mineralized wet salt beaches compared to others. But for it's price range, it's ok. I mean, go figure, if you got a power-house explorer, you'd be out $1k or more (depending on accessories). So for starting out, your 250 will suffice.

Not sure of relic-hunters specific reason, but the reason I see most people ditch theirs, is when they try over flagged signals (like deepies on the beach that I show them) and their machine can't even hear the signal

 

[RvaDiggn]

I know how you feel, I live in VA also and the laws here really suck. You can only hunt land here where you have permission, no "public parks" or schools. They are all run by the counties and forbid detecting on them. I have a playground and ball field right behind my house, well I noticed the park signs saying it was run buy the county. Well I called the counties parks and recreation people before I just went there just to see if it was ok, the woman on the phone laughed and said it was a crime to detect on any park property.Now it maybe different in some other cities or counties, and people may not say anything, but it is a law there. I only have a few places to hunt because of this and it's even hard to get people around here to give you permission to hunt their land because of past relic hunter sneaking on properties.

Code Book: Code of Virginia Citation: §10.1-2302 Section Title: Virginia Antiquities Act: permit required to conduct field investigations; ownership of objects of antiquity; penalty

Summary:

Requires a permit from the Director of the Department of Historic Resources for any person to conduct field investigations, explorations, or recovery operations involving the removal, destruction or disturbance of any object of antiquity on state-controlled land or on a state archeological site or zone. Retains exclusive title to all objects of antiquity recovered from state-controlled land within the commonwealth, unless such objects are released by the director. Retains title with the land owner to some or all objects of antiquity recovered from state archeological sites not located on state-controlled land. Directs that all field investigations, explorations, or recovery operations undertaken pursuant to a permit issued under this section shall be carried out under the general supervision of the director. Requires the written approval of any state agency if such field investigation as described in an application for a permit is likely to interfere with an activity of the agency. Declares that any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

Code Book: Code of Virginia Citation: §10.1-2306 Section Title: Virginia Antiquities Act: violations; penalties

Summary:

Declares it to be unlawful and punishable as a class 1 misdemeanor for any person intentionally to deface, damage, destroy, displace, disturb, or remove any object of antiquity on any designated state archeological site or state-controlled land.

More on VA laws here: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=121747.0

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Rva, the citation you quote is a state-level quote. Therefore it would only apply to state-level land (ie.: state parks, etc....). Not cities and counties, which generally have nothing at all specific to metal detecting. And if it is silent on the issue, then SO BE IT.

I'll bet if you were to look for yourself in the county rules where you live, to see if there's some sort of prohibition on metal detecting (like the lady you talked to says), you would find that there is no such thing. Does the county have a website? Go to it and see if there is a codes, laws, or regulations section. Do a key-word search on variations of "metal detectors" or "detecting", etc... I'll bet it's silent on the issue. If there's no website, the laws, codes, and ordinances should be available on the front desk of the county offices (since it's public domain info). Search through the park rules section of the books, and I bet there's no such rule.

Your situation of "calling the park office" and getting a "no" is nothing unusual. Oh sure, they might even add: "it's a crime". Because you see, the mere phrasing of the question in the form of permission (ie.: "can I do such & such?") indicates to the person that there is something inherently wrong or evil about you or your hobby, that you had to ask permission to begin with! With that implication in mind (not lost on the person you are asking), a "no" is the easy answer. Afterall, if there were nothing wrong with your hobby (like flying a frisbee) you wouldn't have asked, to begin with, right? Therefore, in their mind, they're going to imagine geeks with shovels, or think they must apply state-level laws, to apply to your "pressing question". Odds are, no one would ever have cared or noticed if you'd simply went, unless you were a nuisance in some other way, sticking out like a sore thumb begging for scrutiny, etc....

I have seen this pyschology played out again and again, in places where people routinely detected ........ and no one ever cared. Until someone asked.