Places To Hunt Without Having to ask?

[Produce Guy]

Hey Stormrider1951,I live in Austin and have hunted a couple of different places,over by the Pioneer Farm and over by Walnutcreek park,found some junk and a few coins.You might want to put add on Craigslist asking to swing a coil on someone property or hang around a feedstore and ask some farmers about letting you hunt on their land.So of the places I've hunted on in the past,now have homes on them.Good Luck,hope you got some rain tonight.

 

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[TreasurDiggrNY]

I subscribe (via my company) to a service that allows me to ask questions of a lawyer. It's a phone-call-in subscription call in service.

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Is it this guy? Better call Saul

 

[Rawhide]

For all my new friends on here who want a place to detect, I am still pretty new myself. But here is what I do. I research what I want to hunt, and then look for places to hunt. What I can get away with here will not help you where you are. So you first need to see if there is any private property's who you know the owner. Everybody who owns a tv has seen the shows, so it will be a pretty quick yes or no answer. The next place to look would be public parks, swimming holes, tot lots, even fair grounds and dirt parking lots. There is always someone who doesn't want you detecting, so timing is part of the planning. Go early if you can. As you hunt you will fid areas you can detect, you will meet other people who detect, and the park employees will even help you. It doesn't hurt to show and share a few finds to a park employee. It took a while but I now know where I can hunt. I try not to dig well manicured lawns and its up to you what your comfortable with. I don't bother digging deep in the city parks, I just dig targets 2-3' inches at most. If you can find old maps of your town and city you will get a lot of ideas there also. Good luck and be sure to post your finds. While looking for posted signs is important, if it is wrong, someone will let you know. First time offenses you usually are just asked to leave. I have never been asked to leave in two years by the way. Just get out there and dig. Have fun.

 

[Stormrider51]

Are there places off-limits to detecting? Yes. Are there plenty of places to detect? Yes. It's your responsibility to learn the difference and find the good places. Research is a part of detecting. Does asking permission from officials invite being told "no"? Yes. Can you get trouble for violating the law even if you weren't aware of the law? Yes. So what's the answer? Well, for starters here's a handy list of do's and don'ts. It's the Metal Detecting Code of Ethics.

I WILL respect private property and do no metal detecting without the owner's permission.
I WILL fill all holes and excavations.
I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife and private property.
I WILL use thoughtfulness, consideration and courtesy at all times.
I WILL leave gates as found.
I WILL remove and properly dispose of any trash that I find.
I WILL NOT litter.
I WILL NOT destroy property, buildings or what is left of ghost towns and deserted structures.
I WILL NOT tamper with signs, structural facilities or equipment.

To these I'll add a few other suggestions. Get so darned good with your extraction/recovery techniques that someone would be hard pressed to see where you have been. This alone will do more to keep you and your detector welcome than anything else.

If a public area is not specifically marked as off limits to detecting, go ahead but use common sense and don't crowd other people.

If you are approached by law enforcement or other officials be polite and friendly. Explain what you are doing. Show them the trash you have picked up. But if asked to leave, smile, nod, and leave. You aren't going to win an argument with an officer. I spent 26 years in EMS and 6 in law enforcement and I guarantee you don't want to fail "The Attitude Test".

Schools are some of my favorite detecting spots but keep in mind that the recent school shootings have folks on edge. I got an education in that recently when my detector and Lesche tool were mistaken for weapons. All of a sudden I had an officer using his PA system to tell me to drop my weapons and show my hands. This was during Spring Break and the school was closed. It turned out well with both of us getting a good laugh but it was interesting for a minute there.

And finally, what's so hard about getting permission to hunt private property? Nowadays I mostly hunt older churches and private residences. One thing about having permission from the minister or landowner is that I don't have to worry about anybody telling me I can't be there. One local churchyard alone has produced a 1978 high school class ring (that I was able to return to the owner), a wedding band, a couple of kids rings, and a sizable pile of coins. I haven't covered half the property yet. Just something to think about.

Storm

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Tom, where do I find the laws, codes, rules, ect.?

matrix1272, good question. Start by:

a) going to the entities website (if they have one). Nowadays, it's getting to where most cities of any size, and most counties, have their own websites. The laws, charter, muni-codes, and so forth, might be on there as a clickable link. There might be even a key-word search function. If so, that makes it easy. Key words of various combinations like "metal detectors" or "detecting", etc...

But admittedly some places either don't have websites. Or have websites that don't go into detail on anything that deep. So in that case:

b) See if it's not at city hall, like on the front counter, in binder form. Or perhaps at the city library. It's got to be SOMEWERE for public viewing, lest .... how else would anyone be able to know the laws? You can even ask around at city hall where this info. is. And hey, in that way, you'd be satisfying your urge to go "talk to someone" at the same time You'd ask: "Hi, where can I find the listing of city laws, codes, the charter, etc...?" And perhaps they'll direct you to where it's located in book form, or provide a weblink for you, etc... It's simply got to be SOMEWHERE, as .... nothing like that is "secret". Laws and rules are not "hidden" or impossible to find.

But quite frankly, to be honest with you, give a little thought to what squiggy1 is saying. Because to be honest with you, something saying "no metal detecting" is rarely on books at city or county levels. But .... sure .... in the interest of being a "family forum", you can go an even higher road, and look things up if you're skittish. But honestly, I go to any town I come to, and hit any park that looks good, ... in the absence of a sign. Could I go "a step further" and go look down at city hall, in addition to looking for signs? Sure! But just saying that 99.9% of the time, you'll also find nothing at most city and county levels (it's nearly always silent on the issue). At least in CA (if that could be used as an example), I can think of perhaps a single city out of HUNDREDS that ever had such verbage. And two counties out of 58 counties that has any sort of "permit" (and oddly, no one ever cards you in those counties, nor does desk clerks even know what you're talking about if you come in asking to get one).

A word of caution: Just because there may not be a rule saying "no metal detecting", does NOT mean that therefore, you can go nilly willy waltzing over people's beach blankets at arhaeologists conventions at historic monuments. I mean .... c'mon, a little ... uh ... "discretion" is called for here. ANYONE can gripe at ANY time. Let's face it, we're in an odd hobby that draws curious on-lookers, and has connotations. The same can be said even if you followed people's advice to "go to city hall and ask 'can I?'" questions. People have done that, gotten a "yes", and STILL run into busy-bodies who think they'll leave a mess, or whatever. When the gleeful md'r whips out his permission, guess what happens when the gardener or cop gets on his cellphone, calls to city hall, and says .... "but he's tearing the place up!" ? (which isn't true, but that won't matter). Your permission is promptly revoked. So matter HOW you slice it "permission" or "just go", we STILL all need to use a little common sense. Avoid obvious historic monuments, don't be in the middle of retrievals when busy-bodies are watching, go at off-times, like before 8am, or after 5pm, etc....

 

[Jeremy S]

Stay away from active railroads. They do prosecute trespassers and are pretty thorough with security. I know this first hand as I work for them as a contractor. There is a thread on here about a fellow who was arrested for hunting on railroad property.

I like to detect early in the morning. Few people at the parks and easy not to draw attention. Most counties and parks have a webpage that list rules and regulations, if they don't specifically say "no metal detecting" or "no digging", then go for it. Stay away from federal land, historical landmarks, and some state parks (We can't detect state parks or DNR properties around here in Southern Indiana, I found this out after a run in with a conservation officer). As with private property, I have never been turned down as of yet when asking for permission, but I have always either known the land owners or we have a mutual friend/relative. I know of a few relatives that live on real good old farms or houses, but they are screwy in the head and difficult to deal with, so I don't even bother asking them, its not worth the hassle of having some greedy nut try to take all of your finds at the end of the day.

Most importantly, learn to dig nice small plugs in the grass, and get good at using a brass probe and the "pop out" method to retrieve coins. One of the best parks that I detect around here forbids any kind of digging, so I only use a brass probe and a screwdriver to pull out objects. So far no one has complained.

Finding good places to detect is probably the biggest challenge that I have found with this hobby. With detecting being banned in all parks or the two largest nearby cities, I am real limited to the old country parks full of pull tabs and bottle caps. I have a few good public places to hit, but lately I have been seeing evidence of other idiots digging big holes and not cleaning up. They will eventually get us all banned from those places.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Diggin-N-Dumps, you say:

"..... a couple of the parks here actually have signs talking about" Do Not Disturb the Grounds", punishable by law, and not to take ANYTHING from the park. I'm guessing because its a Dinosaur park and there are fossils there, and the other park is home to a lot of Native American artifacts, and is strictly prohibited on removing ANTTHING from the park. But I have hunted State Parks in Florida before and never caught any flack. I really think it varies from State to State "

Rules about "taking", "harvesting", "collecting", etc... have been on the books since time-immortal. They predate metal detectors. They are there so that .... of course .... no one thinks he can back up his truck to the rose garden and harvest all the flowers to sell at the flea market. Or someone helping themselves to all the tan-bark, to use in his own garden. Etc... But sure, there's nothing to *technically* stop such verbage from applying to singular coins, rings, etc... that we find. HECK, I bet that such verbage could *technically* stop your 5 yr old daughter from taking a sea-shell home from the beach!! But SERIOUSLY now, does anyone really care if your 5 yr. old daughter took a sea-shell home from the beach? Did anyone REALLY care if you took homes those coins from the sandbox? I mean, c'mon guys, if you let those type clauses stop you, then what the heck are you in this hobby for? Might someone morph such a thing to apply to your question? SURE! Avoid such lookie-lous and pick low traffic times. For pete's sake!

Well, I can tell you are very passionate on your beliefs…Butbefore you go spitting out what you think is the truth, you should research yourfacts….

First off…Who is talking about taking Shells?....Or takingcoins from a Sand Box?.. Can you please show me where this was brought up?

Taking Shells from a Beach, and Detecting in a State Park,are no comparison
Your Rant sort of drifted off the topic of this post.

What I said was, it is illegal to hunt state parks in TEXAS…andI even said it may Vary from State to State.

You throw around the “Verbage” a lot when I talk about whatthe signs say when you enter these parks.
Unfortuanly they don’t have 100 foot sign to right down allthe rules and regs.

So before you go and start getting new detectorist false information,you should do your homework. Epsically when it comes to other areas of thecountry.

For you people in TEXAS, that don’t already know. It IS illegal to hunt State Parks . Im not saying I abide by every law and rule, but this one isn’t worth me getting in trouble by.

This is DIRECTLY from the State of TEXAS Website:

(i)Metal detector.It is an offense for any person to operate or use a metal detector, except asauthorized by permit.


Also here is a link for all the other rules and regs

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/parkinfo/rules_and_regulations/

Again …Im no Angel when it comes to detecting…But I would hate for someone New to get in trouble over something they were not aware of.

 

[Muddyhandz]

Well, I really do not want to spend the energy on this subject as it's a lopsided contest but I do have one thing I never mentioned before.
Let's take the "Just go and detect until someone asks you to leave" mentality (you know, better to ask for forgiveness than permission) and try and imagine (if you can) the person managing the property who kicks you out and then kicks the next guy out and the next.....
Would they not get so sick and tired of kicking people out that now something has to be done and either a sign is posted or a new ordinance is created?
It's not a theory. It has happened here and I don't blame them for doing this.
I have exclusive rights to detect such a place because I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO ASKED FOR PERMISSION!
Tom, I await your long, drawn out response. Hopefully you don't shift too much from one stance to another. Lol.
Cheers,
Dave.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

Diggin-N-Dumps, the last part you link to (cut & paste) does distinctly and specifically say "no metal detectors". Fine. In that case, it's specific. But what I was addressing before that, was the citations of things you cited about "don't disturb" or "don't collect", etc.... (I guess those were city or county parks around/near you?). It was THOSE type clauses I was referring to. And in the context of this thread, and this forum (this is a "metal detecting" forum afterall, is it not?), I took you to mean that THOSE type clauses can be made to effectively prohibit detecting. I mean, afterall, we "disturb" the ground when we retrieve, right? And we "collect" and "harvest" when we "take" things from the park, right? And I was pointing out, that those clauses, although they have indeed been used to tell md'rs "no", yet ..... realistically speaking, they predate detectors, and were written for altogether different purposes, long ago. Ie.: so no one vandalizes the park, helps themselves to the swing-sets, backs up their truck to the beach and starts taking truck loads of sand, etc... But *technically* speaking, there's nothing to stop the verbage to apply to a single sea-shell, a single coin, a simple divot which you will replace without a trace left-behind, etc... Realistically? no. Technically? yes.

If we all thought about it long enough and hard enough, we can probably find 10 different things that someone could say we *might* run afoul of. But realistically, so long as you're not a nuisance, and don't stick out like a sore-thumb begging for attention, then .... most people think of this/us as innocuous and benign.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Diggin-N-Dumps, the last part you link to (cut & paste) does distinctly and specifically say "no metal detectors". Fine. In that case, it's specific. But what I was addressing before that, was the citations of things you cited about "don't disturb" or "don't collect", etc.... (I guess those were city or county parks around/near you?). It was THOSE type clauses I was referring to. And in the context of this thread, and this forum (this is a "metal detecting" forum afterall, is it not?), I took you to mean that THOSE type clauses can be made to effectively prohibit detecting. I mean, afterall, we "disturb" the ground when we retrieve, right? And we "collect" and "harvest" when we "take" things from the park, right? And I was pointing out, that those clauses, although they have indeed been used to tell md'rs "no", yet ..... realistically speaking, they predate detectors, and were written for altogether different purposes, long ago. Ie.: so no one vandalizes the park, helps themselves to the swing-sets, backs up their truck to the beach and starts taking truck loads of sand, etc... But *technically* speaking, there's nothing to stop the verbage to apply to a single sea-shell, a single coin, a simple divot which you will replace without a trace left-behind, etc... Realistically? no. Technically? yes.

If we all thought about it long enough and hard enough, we can probably find 10 different things that someone could say we *might* run afoul of. But realistically, so long as you're not a nuisance, and don't stick out like a sore-thumb begging for attention, then .... most people think of this/us as innocuous and benign.

This is what I love about Forums..lol...Really Tom, I guess we were just reading each other Wrong, Because I see where you are coming from, and agree 100 percent. I mean I detect places that Im sure Im not really suppose to be there, but like you said..as long as im not acting a fool, or causeing attention..I never get bothered...The only reason I brought up State Parks herein Texas, was because the first month of detecting, when I was still embarrassed to do it in front of people...I was kindly told by a Ranger that it is prohibited at the State Park I was at, I played stupid and he was cool with it....Its funny how far you can get by "Playing stupid" sometimes.