Seeking advice on a Detecting location

[cjon455]

Ok so my uncle is doing a side job for a caretaker of a very old cemetary. Hes scraping and painting the entire wrought iron fence surrounding the property. Well I guess my aunt, knowing that i metal detect, took it upon herself to ask the caretaker if I can do some metal detecting on the property. Surprisingly he said sure. What do you guys think of this? I feel like this would shed a bad light on metal detectorists.<---is that a word? i know that cemetaries are considered by some as "forbidden" sites. thats whats making me leary of the idea, and of course if i did do it, i would 100% absolutely in no way,shape, or form go near a grave stone. I am very appreciative of my aunts efforts but for some reason its just not sitting right with me, kinda makes me feel like people would think im some sort of loser, regardless of getting permission or not. Please feel free to chime in as any advice is appreciated. Thanks and HH!!

 

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[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Your gut is right.

We are already looked at (at least by some) as scroungers, scavengers, and worse. I'm sure some hunters have hunted in or near cemetaries, me, I wouldn't, you got to draw a line somewhere. I don't think some crusty copper or the slight possibility of a silver is just not worth public scorn. OK it is easy to say "I don't care what people think" but it is not just that one individual it is the hobby as a whole that will get the label.

In the end it is up to you, but your already feeling uneasy about it, and your not even there. Find another spot, one that won't make you feel weird.

 

[Dogtirednj]

I run a few times a week through a cemetery that dates back to the mid 1800's. got a leg cramp once and while walking it off I noticed an old headstone of a child from 1917. There was the remnants of a little stuffed bear next to the stone. I got in the habit of slowing down when I ran past that grave after that. Not really sure why. But one day about 2 years later, on my way past, I was shocked to see a woman of about 80-90 replacing the bear. There was a younger woman in her 30's standing back a bit. I approached her and explained my familiarity with the grave and she replied "That's my Gram, and that was her sister. She makes the trip back every 20 years or do to visit" My point: doesn't matter how old the cemetery. Someone somewhere won't understand. I wouldn't/couldn't do it.

My two cents.

 

[cjon455]

Ok now im wishing I never asked the question at all. It just feels immoral and creepy to be honest. By the way, thanks for the input guys just like Rick (Nova Scotia) said "im going with my gut" It doesnt feel right, i dont think the finds, no matter how good, are worth it. I just wanted to see what some of the others here thought and if people have actually ever done it. I called my aunt and told her thanks for the effort but its not happening. Again, Thanks for the advice, or should i say "reinforcing what i already thought"

 

[WHADIFIND]

thanks for the input guys just like Rick (Nova Scotia) said "im going with my gut" It doesnt feel right, i dont think the finds, no matter how good, are worth it. I just wanted to see what some of the others here thought. Thanks for the advice

I'm afraid I'm alongside your gut reaction. I was offered permission once and politely told him thanks, but anything inside that graveyard, they can keep. I don't want it.

That being said, there are a few people I know who will gladly lend a hand to search for lost plaques in graveyards for the caretaker. In other words, they have permission but if anyone asks, they are only there to search ground to make sure it's clear for use. Some can justify anything I guess, but, no, not for me.

How about if they let you sift through the topsoil that they dig for a grave? You know, to check it for anything "dangerous".

HH!

 

[cjon455]

How about if they let you sift through the topsoil that they dig for a grave? You know, to check it for anything "dangerous".

HH!

man I feel like im gonna catch hell for even asking opinions based on other threads Ive seen on the topic, I guess I shouldve read those first before asking either way i just couldnt bring myself to do it even if someone said there was a jar full of gold coins. It didnt even dawn on me how pissed id be if someone was detecting in a cemetary where a loved one is. Rest assured everyone, I will not be going there

 

[WHADIFIND]

man I feel like im gonna catch hell for even asking opinions based on other threads Ive seen on the topic, I guess I shouldve read those first before asking either way i just couldnt bring myself to do it even if someone said there was a jar full of gold coins. It didnt even dawn on me how pissed id be if someone was detecting in a cemetary where a loved one is. Rest assured everyone, I will not be going there

Seriously, sifting the soil BEFORE a burial, which is usually dug the day before, might not be a bad idea. No detector except maybe the pinpointer. But, a screening of dirt already dug wouldn't carry any of the normal stigma. Just a thought.

HH!

 

[cjon455]

Seriously, sifting the soil BEFORE a burial, which is usually dug the day before, might not be a bad idea. No detector except maybe the pinpointer. But, a screening of dirt already dug wouldn't carry any of the normal stigma. Just a thought.

HH!

Nah, i appreciate ur opinion but I feel like i should be doing something to promote the hobby, not make it look worse than some ignorant people think it already is. Like I said before, I was pretty much (like 98.9 percent) against it, but wanted to see what others thought. The general feel Ive been reading is stay the )#$()# away. I have plenty of sites that will only get better once i get my ATPro so thanks but no thanks to my aunt for her efforts and I got no problem with that lol

 

[WHADIFIND]

Nah, i appreciate ur opinion but I feel like i should be doing something to promote the hobby, not make it look worse than some ignorant people think it already is. Like I said before, I was pretty much (like 98.9 percent) against it, but wanted to see what others thought. The general feel Ive been reading is stay the )#$()# away. I have plenty of sites that will only get better once i get my ATPro so thanks but no thanks to my aunt for her efforts and I got no problem with that lol

Ok, but I gotta ask. How would a grave yard worker, sifting soil through a screen put this hobby in a bad light? No detector in sight. LOL

 

[cjon455]

Ok, but I gotta ask. How would a grave yard worker, sifting soil through a screen put this hobby in a bad light? No detector in sight. LOL

lol i guess if u look at it that way, but the whole bad juju thing ya know?

 

[Marko0916]

Just find a old cemetery, goggle earth the location and figure out how people reached the area by horse or foot trail and hunt the trails, but not in the cemetery. Lol.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I don't see anything wrong with doing the areas that don't have graves on them... Side lawns, paths, park area's where services are but not graves all seem, OK to me..
Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[g-olden years]

I want to add my thumbs up on your initial hesitation and on your decision to pass this one up! I would never detect a cemetery or the area surrounding it. I am not an adherent of any organized religion but am a spiritual person. In the many varied states where I've lived, I've walked slowly around old cemeteries in my town or rural area, reading headstones and meditating on the lives that preceded the burials. Several of those times, I've felt quiet peaceful spiritual connection to the deceased or their families. For example, I grew up in Virginia though from "Yankee" ancestry and with "Yankee" ancestors who fought and died in the Civil War as well as in the Revolutionary War. It took only one meditative stroll through a small Confederate cemetery near the University of Virginia for me to feel harmony and sorrow with those Confederate men whose lives were cut short at ages ranging from 17 through 40 or so. That's all I needed to know about war; no one wins. My family had some tiny rural family-only old grave plots in New England, and I would no more detect them hunting for a relic or coin dropped by my own ancestors 300 years ago than I would detect a civil war cemetery, a native people's grave site or mound, and so forth. We are all fleeting on this planet, and I feel we should respect the traditions of those who buried their dead and who assumed the surrounding burial ground would remain undisturbed. Andi

 

[pennyfarmer]

I don't really have a problem with it. That is all I am going to say about that.

 

[Fletch88]

I don't see anything wrong with doing the areas that don't have graves on them... Side lawns, paths, park area's where services are but not graves all seem, OK to me..
Keep @ it and HH !!

I'm with Mud on this one! I stay well away from actual graves and would never disturb one or even md in area if I saw a person graveside. The couple I've hunted we're in deep woods.

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet

 

[wlb42]

I agree with the majority on here.....I would NOT feel right detecting a cemetery regardless of its antiquity. However, in a large city in Florida, there was a very large very old cemetery, that had huge tall iron fencing all around.....near a huge University......there were parking meters on both sides of the street, where visitors parked during sporting events, etc......and I have hunted them with great success.....the meters were on wide grass strips with a sidewalk between the road and the cemetery fence 5 to 10 feet.....many times I hunt at dusk, even into darkness.....One time near darkness, while I was detecting, I heard from inside the cemetery, "Hey, what are you doing?" that sounded like a elderly man.....I was startled at first, then it dawned on me many of the local homeless and vagrants were noted to staying in this huge cemetery at night......the old man walked over to the fence, and then I said, "I am detecting for coins"......and he responded that there would be alot of them inside the cemetery....I said, "NO Thanks!!".....I asked why he stayed in the cemetery, and he said "it is very peaceful, and nobody ever bothers me here."
So I guess that is as close as I have been hunting near a cemetery.......

Happy Hunting, Everyone

Bill

 

[doc-d]

Interesting responses.....I agree with not hunting in a cemetary, but I see no problem around it.....

 

[cjon455]

Thanks for all your input. This was a thread that once I hit the submit button I was like "doh" I wish I didn't even ask because I don't want negative impressions so thanks again for not beating me down

 

[Petrie502]

Listen guys me and my cousin hunt together daily, and we also do historic cemetery cleanups on cemeteries in our county for the museum it's strictly volunteer!! 9 out of 10 of these are in the middle of no where and haven't been maintained in decades! We clean them up and restore the areas and I hunt them! Not on graves but pathways and around the outskirts!! Your just a prick if your digging wheats off the top of someone!!! Lol

 

[BigBiloxi]

You hesitate to hunt a cemetery where the dead lay but you would jump at the chance to hunt a battlefield where perhaps thousands had lay dead or dying. That musket ball or mini ball you've found may have ended a young mans life or that relic you're so anxious to show everyone may have been held to a soldiers last breath before dropping to the ground. That button may have held a soldiers life blood as he lay dying. So you won't dig in a cemetery out of respect for the dead but would dig a battlefield from dawn to dusk if you had the chance. It's all in how you look at things isn't it?