.... there is some nuance, interpreted by someone that makes metal detecting illegal everywhere except on private land with a permission....
Well, by your choice of words "nuance", I take it that it's not a "specific" No-md'ing wording that you're alluding to. Right ? And is instead some catch-all wording. Like alter, deface, take, remove, or cultural heritage ? And the "someone" you refer to interprets this to mean "no md'ing". And not only that, but that it subrogates down to all lower levels of public land, on every level ?
For starters: I do not construe catch-all grey verbiage like that to necessarily mean "no md'ing". If someone else thinks that , I will just avoid that one individual. If those type catch-all terms automatically mean "no md'ing", then every single park in the USA is off-limits. Because, likewise, I guarantee you that there's *something * in every single city or county park's rules, that ...... given enough thought, standing on one foot, and squinting real hard, *could* be construed to mean "no md'ing".
If a single "someone" that you allude to has booted or scrammed someone, I do not construe that to constitute gospel law going forward. Perhaps it was a fluke ? Perhaps they were having a bad hair day ? Unless it specifically says "no md'ing", I'm going (barring obvious historic sensitive monuments, of course).
... We just do our best and ask an authority if we see one.
And what do you do if you get a whimsical arbitrary safe answer of "no" ? When in fact no such specific law says such a thing ? Why not look it up for yourself to see ? Why risk the "no one cared till you asked" psychology ?
Oh, and even if you got someone to say "yes", don't think that someone in the field can't still come up and gripe. So you whip out your "permission". They say "I outrank that person, so scram". Or They get on their cell phone, call that person and say "but he's tearing the place up" (which isn't true, of course). Then guess what happens to your permission ?
Just hunt at low traffic times. Heck, it's gotten to where I do most of my nice manicured turf hunting at night these days. So peaceful. So serene
