PLEASE! Learn proper , ethical target retrieving - STOP hurting the parks!

[Silver Fox]

In the short amount of time that I've been attending these forums you've probably read my harping on proper retrieval methods. I rail against improper retrieval methods because all I see are detectorists that never learned to remove an item without digging a crater for, usually, what turns out to be a corroded clad cent. It hurts me to see this disregard for the priceless permission to be allowed to dig in the first place. I know of what I speak as I've seen many visitors to NYC's Central Park, alone and in groups, leave the areas they detect in looking like a gopher field. Yeah, they may stomp the ground but the craters were big enough so that the stomping still left visible signs of improper retrievals.

Now, out of curiosity, I went to Treasure Quest looking for THing videos and selected the following one from the list: "Metal Detecting an old south Pennsylvania Park." In this video which I could not finish due to being turned off to the rest of it, a detectorist is seen cutting a BIG plug. Then one can see that the dirt under the plug is dry. This guy then uses a wide trowel to trowel out dry dirt and dump it near the hole, no dirt catching cloth of any kind. He does this a couple of times pouring out a lot of the dirt then goes for another tool, also showing another smaller trowel. He whips out a long screwdriver and tries to snap the roots and not satisfied he then whips out a pruning tool and starts to cut the roots that are obviously in the way of his trying to get at whatever the target is going to be. At this point, I stopped watching the video and wished I could have somehow brought myself to his presence to give him a piece of my mind. Of course, if he turned out to be bigger than me, I would have given him half a piece of my mind!

This guy could have learned to cut a smaller, half-moon plug, say the size of a half-dollar to leave the plug attached, and after turning the plug over he should have used a probe or his coin-damaging screwdriver to locate the target and edge it out. But what this guy went through was ridiculous and should not be emulated by newbies or the more experienced.

If the above scenario matches your retrieval methods, it's time for a change. If you are out in the boonies, by all means knock yourself out with making big, unnecessary holes. But if you are in a park, or private property, exercise caution and care. Don't ruin it for the rest of us who care.

If you recognize yourself in the video your opinion will be welcome. But keep in mind that a picture is worth a thousand words and there is no excuse for what you did in the video or if that's your normal practice, it's time to learn not to abuse.

Just my 2 wheaties!

Silver Fox

 

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[BuckleBoy]

If there is a "feedback" link at that site, you should reply! We should all reply to it!!!


I'm willing. Who's with me?

 

[gametalman52]

I wanna !!! Not being able to knee down and just being stupid and ignorant are 2 different things. Plus if I understand you have to buy this video, Which means the person is making money by helping destroy our hobby!!!

 

[radarwill]

I watched the video, the entire video. Maybe that guy could have dug a smaller plug, but after he was finished retrieving the coin,he filled in the hole and the camera shows the spot and you couldn't see where he had dug. Yes he did not use a towel, but he carefully raked back in all the dirt and replaced the plug which he had left nice and intact. He also used his FIST and worked the perimeter of the plug so it blended in to the undug ground.

I don't think he deserves what he is getting here. Lets face it, we are not all probe experts or superior beings like some. The key is to leave the ground as it was before you dug and I think he did that.

 

[rebelLT]

I dig some deeeeeep coins. I challange you to dig a 8 or 10 inch target with a 2 or 4 inch plug. I also dont use a "ground clothe". When I leave you cant tell I dug any holes. Its all in the technique. Then again if I have a shallow target, say under 6 or 7 inches. I dig a smaller plug. Ask the guys who dig deep how big their plugs are. If they are honest they will tell you the truth. I dont see that the diameter of the plug matters anyway, as long as you clean up good.

 

[stanjam]

I am new, and so I have not yet developed great digging skills, but I am working at it! I finally ordered a good digging tool, rather than the simple trowel I now use, and that I sometimes make a mess with. I am practicing in my own yard first, and am hunting areas without much or any gras on public lands (therefore I can practice without killing grass).

My goal is to learn my machine so that I can pinpoint objects accurately (which in turn means I dig less), and my other goals is to learn how to dig neat, small plugs that go back in nicely, leaving little or no evidence that I have been there.

I agree completely, the ability to dig without leaving much or any trace benefits us all. Tearing up fields hurts us. We already have people that want to pass legislation outlawing metal detecting. If people see us out there making a mess, they will be more likely to pass such laws. However if we are ethical in our actions, people just might see such legislation as unnecessary. Please take care out there! If you can't get to a target without making a mess in an area you shouldn't be making a mess in, then leave it until you can get it without leaving a trace of your being there!

If it helps think of yourself as a detective. You want to investigate, but you don't want to leave any evidence that you have been there, or disturb "evidence."

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Actual, unretouched photos of a 3" x 3" plug tipped and then the hole dug to 8" (knuckles into the sod), and the same spot after refilling, scraping in the loose wit hthe flat edge of the tool and "fluffing" the grass so the loose dirt drops below the grass. I should have a catch cloth, but don't. I just cut an 18" square piece of tractor tire innertube after watching one used and will probably begin carrying that.

I have had a town park superintendent stand and watch me retrieve and got his "knod of approval" afterwards. I try to take only metal and leave only footprints.

Learn to pinpoint and take the time to narrow it down and you don't need a foxhole to retrieve the coin.

 

[radarwill]

I dig some deeeeeep coins. I challange you to dig a 8 or 10 inch target with a 2 or 4 inch plug. I also dont use a "ground clothe". When I leave you cant tell I dug any holes. Its all in the technique. Then again if I have a shallow target, say under 6 or 7 inches. I dig a smaller plug. Ask the guys who dig deep how big their plugs are. If they are honest they will tell you the truth. I dont see that the diameter of the plug matters anyway, as long as you clean up good.

I agree 100%. Don't dog someones technique if their end result is the same as yours. Or at least watch their full operation before condemning them.

P.S. Nice work Charlie P.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Something that I find disturbing, is that I return to a park or schoolyard to find a dozen or so of my plugs pulled or dug out by a dog, squirrel, coon, or some other varmint.

 

[Sandman]

No matter how careful people are, though, the plugs don't always survive. Their survival mostly depends on whether or not they get watered after they are replaced and tamped down. Watering them would be the final step, I think, but who's going to carry around a jug of water?

It is extremely important to learn proper retreival methods. This is one area that the mail order or online dealers miss the boat in not teaching the new buyer how to retreive a coin with out making a mess. I can get most of my coins out with just a screw driver, but use a towel for the dirt when I have to cut a 3 sided plug.

Since my group takes care of the park beaches in my county, I run into many hunters that are hunting the grass. Most are very neat an you can't tell where they have been. I have seen squirrels dig up plugs maybe thinking another buried a nut too. One guy at a park was making a mess and I nicely showed him how to retreive it easier an neater. I got blasted with a few choice words for my help. Needless to say I called the park patrol on my radio and the dude got arrested, went to court where he was charged for repair to the park grounds and court costs. I haven't seen him since........

We should try to help newbies learn how to do it neatly. Even in the freshwater beaches underwater it is best to fill in the holes in shallow water anyway. In saltwater you are lucky if you can get all the sand out of the hole before a wave knocks you end over end.

 

[erikk]

I dig some deeeeeep coins. I challange you to dig a 8 or 10 inch target with a 2 or 4 inch plug. I also dont use a "ground clothe". When I leave you cant tell I dug any holes. Its all in the technique. Then again if I have a shallow target, say under 6 or 7 inches. I dig a smaller plug. Ask the guys who dig deep how big their plugs are. If they are honest they will tell you the truth. I dont see that the diameter of the plug matters anyway, as long as you clean up good.

Right on 8-10-12+you need to cut a fairly large U plug. Actually the larger U plug has a better chance of making it than a 2 inch that you ream to death trying to pry out a coin

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Silver Fox,

"harping"

yes I agree.

Seems that way.

have a good un...........
SHERMANVILLE

 

[LI Tom]

Well Silver fox,those people should not be in Central Park detecting.It's not on the permit.Due to it's age and location,it's probally a super site to hunt,but you're not supposed to.I wish it was on the permit,I would pounding it myself.HH

 

[mlhudson]

PREACH ON BROTHER, I'VE SAID FOR YEARS

 

[MD Dog]

I make my living diggin really big holes with backhoes to plant trees. So that's neither here nor there except I can see that out west in a sandier type of dry ground you might find it takes a little longer for a plug to heal. That said when I say longer were still only talking about untill the next rain. Here in the northeast Grass is a freakin weed that repairs the plug within 2 days tops. I've removed trees and returned to a lush lawn only a week later. Hole diggin doesn't destroy anything and they all heal, I dare anyone to show me anyholes they dug last year if they actuall filled it back in and in some cases even if they didn't.

 

[handy]

there is good and bad everywhere ever heard of a bad cop?

 

[john37115]

Bring your probe and I'll bring an extra shovel for when you give up. The sights I hunt are either full of gravel, roots or rocks. I can dig a plug with a relic shovel that will not kill the grass and leave less sign of being dug than most can with a Leshe. I am not knocking your approach nothing disturbs me more than a messy attempt to retrieve a target. What bothers me is one person thinking they are the only one doing it right.

 

[greydigger]

I never saw the word "Harping" in any of the above.
I would like to learn how to dig the grass.
I am just starting out am am afraid of excavating in nice lawns.
Playing it easy for now, not in 1st 4"-6" in sand/chips I give up.
Charlie P has a nice looking digger there.
Will make one like that as soon as I can figure out the depths on my MD.
Joe

 

[deepskyal]

I've been using the same knife since I started detecting back in the early 80's. Bought it at an Army/Navy surplus store. Even still have the leather sheath and sharpening stone. 8)

I keep an edge on it for cutting my horseshoe plug, and like said before, it depends on how deep the coin to how big of a horseshoe.

I like my technique, it's clean and less likely to get pulled out by that power mower as it cuts running over where you dug a few days earlier.

I agree that sometimes a bigger horseshoe is better on the sod in general, depending on how dry the weather is. Simply put, a bigger horseshoe leaves a lot more roots intact in the clump, thereby less stess on it and the less prone to drying out. When I'm done, no one is the wiser that anything was ever dug...that's the ultimate goal anyhow.

Just some experience I picked up in my years landscaping.

Al

 

[radarwill]

I suppose I should weigh in on my method.

Usually in nice grass areas I find it best to cut a plug at lest 3" so it will stay intact.
I don't do a up/down sawing method since this tends to snag and pull the roots. I instead just make nice smooth plunges into the soil on an angle that will give a nice plug about 2" deeper than I think the target is. Depth also determines how big my plug is.
I flip the 3/4 plug over and check the plug for signal. If it's in the plug I grab the bottom of it and twist a big handfull of dirt off of it. It's usually in my hand so it's the old half a handfull check over the hole. The dirt I twisted from the plug was below the level of the grass roots so no harm there. The only dirt I had removed was put back into the hole and never made it to the grass.
I roll over the plug, tamp it down, and retouch the perimeter up a little and I'm done.
If the soilis real gushy, I use my pinpointer and probe for it.
This is obviously a perfect scenario.

It's not rocket science and I'd guess the vast majority do it just as neat.