Lake County IL. Forest Preserves

[ewcoinhunter]

I just contacted Libertyville Forest Preserve Office, and they had mentioned that you CANNOT hunt any Forest Preserve in Lake Co.!! Does anyone have any additional information on this. I hear from many people that do, but maybe they are sneaking in!! Can you hunt anywhere in Lake Co.??
It seems to be getting harder and harder to do this hobby!!!! Before you know it we will all be on a island, and nothing to find!!!!

 

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[Lowbatts]

I used to hunt Lake Co. preserves a lot. No permit needed. Would hunt with their personnel around and they had no problem with it. Some real tight wad woman got on the board and decided for a litany of modern logical reasons md'ing doesn't belong. It's tacky, hurts the environment, brings in undesireables, plunders our heritage, blah blah blah.

One thing you will learn if you call anyone sitting at a desk making up the rules as they are faced with them, md'ing is a crime. You can look up rules and regulations for any town or county or state online w/o the need for a call. The real danger is that in the act of the call you bring to the attention of a bureaucrat something they may not even be aware of, our existence.

I've hunted with and around cops/rangers and officials who had no problem with it in the past, still don't but someone at the office kept getting calls on it from interested people. The act of calling for permission itself, to a bureaucrat, is an implicit concession that you want to act in some unregulated, uncalled-for manner. One can hardly do more than that to get a paper-pusher to spring into action.

So please, to all who are new to this, ask around within our md'ing community. We know where we hunt, without getting hassled or booted out. In many states and localities people, even the desk jockies themselves are much more relaxed in their attitudes, but for those in Illinois, land of silly laws, you simply cannot risk alerting some power and permit-happy bureaucrat to dictate your fate. If you need to follow the laws, then you will only ever follow those designated paths lawmakers design for you, at your expense.

Absolutely ask all them questions on board here, not at some city hall or board where they are just waiting for something new to write up!

 

[DPBOB]

One thing you will learn if you call anyone sitting at a desk making up the rules as they are faced with them, md'ing is a crime.  You can look up rules and regulations for any town or county or state online w/o the need for a call.  The real danger is that in the act of the call you bring to the attention of a bureaucrat something they may not even be aware of, our existence.


So please, to all who are new to this, ask around within our md'ing community.  We know where we hunt, without getting hassled or booted out.     you simply cannot risk alerting some power and permit-happy bureaucrat to dictate your fate.  If you need to follow the laws, then you will only ever follow those designated paths lawmakers design for you, at your expense.

Absolutely ask all them questions on board here, not at some city hall or board where they are just waiting for something new to write up!

HEAR HEAR !!!!!!  Don't open cans of worms cause you won't like the answers.......

If anything happens...Play dumb

 

[Lowbatts]

Of course not Pat, you know better. Let's talk about a club environment for instance. Say a new member suggests a hunt at a state park where he has hunted for years, with no problems. He has knowledge of the rangers and their interests, knows the rules are simple, state parks are under the discretion of the local site ranger as far as md'ing goes. Now the other members of the club, who are timid, sheepish and almost afraid that their hobby might offend someone speak out against him, saying state parks are off limits in total, never mind their inability to quote the regulations, which are posted at the site.

Well say this member shows them a permit for a particular state park and tells them this is the procedure at some, others are posted off limits while still others have little regard whether or not you hunt here. So a few of the members start this process where they start calling the state office, Springfield, straight to the top of the chain and begin wanting to know specifics about the hobby of md'ing and it's limitations. In fact they are directed to the state archaeologist for specifics, who is brought in to make such determinations. Well guess which way such determinations are going to go?

After years of having hunt sites w/o any issue, now some of the most remote, unheard of sites have had their site rangers "educated" about md'ing. Do you think their education involved anything of benefit to us? Don't bet on it. All of a sudden sites are off limits or severely restricted. Not because I'd hunted them for years, because some bureaucrat directed the issue to a policy advisor, both of whom were unaware that it was an issue until they started getting calls on it from who? Someone calling several times to ascertain md status, chasing it up the chain to get the bureaucrat they apparently wanted.

Another example is a medium sized town downstate where I hunted a park, in full view of local police, showing them the digs to their amazement and passive curiosity. When I told a non-md'er who lived there it's a great site he thought it a great idea to make sure it's okay to hunt there. Called the city hall and bingo, no md'ing in the parks in town there. The cops did not mind one bit. Until they were told to. What prompted their new direction to that end? A single call.

We have too many hand-wringing md'ers who are from parts and periods of the country where you could trust local authorities to deem something as benign as md'ing as fair play for a hobby. We do not have a country with that mindset anymore. Creeks are plainly marked no wading, might step on a crawdad, walks in the woods are done only on designated trails, might squash a dandelion.

I'm just saying that if you're a timid person who needs specific permission to hunt public property keep in mind you are probably gonna get me cutoff and that will make me much more po'ed than it will you. You will go on asking and maybe get an okay here and there. But the more likley scenario is a desk jockey will see you as an outlier on the human activity bell curve, one that can be dismissed with little regard. Somewhere beneath skateboarders, who now even follow the rules and only board in designated areas.

If this offends you then don't get mad at me, look at the record and the public officials who are continually limiting what you can do and where you can do it. I've never had a face to face with any official that resulted in restriction because I do not ask them what I can do and where, I tell them they need to learn the conceptual difference between public service and "public serves us"

They're on my payroll, not the other way around. We should all start acting like we're aware of that!

 

[Lowbatts]

Yep, I'll always depend on the local cops first. If there's one nearby, I don't ask per se, I make a comment inquiring where all the lost dirty old pennies are, they always warm up to casual, non-confrontational interaction. If there's a probelm, they'll let you know right away and it avoids any trouble. Local "officials" however, love their ability to restrict or prohibit things. ARGHHH!

Worked Freeport when they were tearing up sidealks a few years ago. Worked a few parks in town there, no problem. One of the parks however has a on-site guy who will chase you out every time so I don't go to that one. The other p[arks were fine, not one of theguys working there or managing the sites objected and displayed the usual passive curiosity. There's a prime example of leaving well-enough alone.

I could call the park district, and I'd bet you'd be unable to hunt any of them anymore, especially if they asked their local on-site what they thought. Most would say nothing but the one would scream out loud against allowing it. Which one would the officials listen to?

So again, always ask around here, we have people who have been pretty much everywhere and help inform you on etiquette, ettiket, etiket, however you spell that word.

 

[ewcoinhunter]

I did not mean to offend anyone hear!!! I am from Ohio, and DO NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM!!! But I do not wnat to lose my detector either, nor my car, you might think thats funny, but it has happened. Again, I am not new to this hobby, 8-10 years now, I just wanted to be sure. Now I know.... Play dumb, but if I lose my detector guess who I am coming to see first....HA..HA!!!!

 

[Lowbatts]

I didn't say play dumb. Quite the opposite in fact. I have hunted sites were people were told by phone they could not hunt, with the local authorities not just in view but actually coming around to see how well I was doing and advise me on other possible spots. That was because I walked in and acted like I belonged there.

Yep, Ohio is different I suppose, they have people riding freakin' buggies down the highway, that'd make them little more than bumper sports here. You're always invited to come along and learn the pragmatic and rational modern ethics of detecting on one of our get togethers. My style has always been upfront and personal with authority, friendly and helpful. If most of those community bureaucrats could have seen the rusty razor blade I got from under a swing set or the 5 nails I pulled from the sand in a volleyball court last weekend, I'm sure they'd be agreeable. But they just don't get out much except to see what's in it for themselves.

Don't think I'm alone, more than a few of the guys saw first hand what could be done in the face of "lawful opposition" at the infamous Bomber hunt last fall. Even I was amazed as our gracious host took it to the next level and did not back down. Now there's a modern detecting man!

 

[dirtyJohn]

I agree completely with you Tim. I've hunted forest preserves in Lake County and I don't ask for permission anymore than I would ask permission to engage in any other hobby. If you give them a chance to say no, they will take it. I always act as if a "no metal detecting law" is an alien concept. I make them defend their position rather than me defend mine. Afterall, if you feel like you're doing something wrong, others will feel that way too. It's a matter of attitude. You may not win every battle but seldom does it result in an arrest. Take this advise at your own risk. HH
John

 

[ewcoinhunter]

Good words of wisdom. Thanks to all whom responded. I have a club hunt this weekend, but would deffinately like to hook up sometime. Keep your coils to the dirt!!!

Eric

 

[treasurefiend]

A few weeks ago right after I found my Barber quarter a forest preserve cop pulled up and asked what we were doind & if we were digging in the woods. We went over to his car and explained that we aren't digging trenches out there and that we were just looking for old coins and relics. We then showed him our finds, my quarter and Watercolors 1870's-1900 army button and a few other things (trash included) and I think he was genuinely supprised that such old stuff was found in a place where he has been patrolling for a long time. I'm sure he has seen a fair share of low lives messing around out in the woods and he was just doing his job. The conversation immediately changed from what are we doing to what kind of activities happend long ago (an old picnic grove) and just general history of that location. We did a bit of areal photo research and was able to give some basic knowledge of the area form 1938 pix.

I have had other experiences where they didn't care, we were digging, but in this case I feel that the cop liked the fact that we wanted to be there at that specific site due to our research. He could of easily gave us a hard time but he used his judgment and let us stay.

 

[Lowbatts]

Right on Fiend!

If you engage people in conversation and demonstrate good will, they will have to be real soft slinkies to want to hassle you. If they are real soft slinkies then toss 'em down the stairs. Md'ing is only for hard slinkies!

 

[GusBus]

Anyone ever hunt at Old School Forrest Preserve? Or anywhere else around there?

 

[bomber]

"the infamous Bomber hunt"..............kinda like that."playing dumb" is not the way to act.learn the rules and obey them,simple.at the hunt that Tim is talking about the tree cop was making up rules as he went along 1) no digging here.....nope sorry show me the rules that say that 2)only 2-3 guys allowed at one time.......nope please show me the rule that says that.the tree cop came by a total of 3 times each time all puffy chested,he finally told me someone called the village about the hunt(they didn't open the woods till 9,should be open at 7)he had nothing and knew it,i even invited him and his boss to join us for lunch but they never showed......learn the rules,carry them with you,plenty of places to dig here legally."playing dumb"just makes us all look dumb.............back down?never....if ya know the rules the law is on your side