What to do if someone tries to kick you off public land while prospecting?

[NeoTokyo]

Heya everyone;

There has been some talk going on about people being booted from public land because someone else was working on it and "Claimed" it as their own.
Well I should break this down into two parts, immediate area (like a 5'x5' area) VS an entire creek bend/bar/straight or cove.

My question is, what do you do if you are working a spot on public land and someone comes up to you and tells you to leave because they had been working that spot?

I have (Kind of) ran into this problem in person already in my first month of prospecting, an older man that usually shows up after we do and sits on the other side of the bank cursing and shooting the bird over our way.
He also parks on the other side of the bank and watches what we do from the bushes when he isnt panning, really odd.
The day before I got my "brown" nugget he threw a mellon sized rock about 25' upstream of us and was growling in the shrubs to try to scare us, I suppose.

Myself, I dont mind working side by side with someone and have already several times, its public land thats what it is there for.

On that note, I have never worked anyones already started spot yet, I dont think there are ANY other underwater snipers in my area but when I dug out some cracks (on land) I went further up from where someone else was doing it earlier.

The cove that we cleaned out was virgin hardpack on bedrock, worked twice by other people since we found it and the 2nd guy to work it I told him to work it so he could get some good color as he was doing a TON more work than my and only had dust in his sluice.


While chatting with a BLM guy he said the only rule is first come first serve on public land, no matter what.
My own rule, I just keep off what others have been doing out of respect unless it is clear that they have not worked that spot for about a week or more and even then I have not found a circumstance to want to work where some had before.



PS. To that guy (Eric, his Family & dogs) if you ever come by this thread, you left one of your tools on the bank at Clear Creek. PM me and I can get it back to you.

 

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[Chisos]

Tell the old guy you will either call the BLM guys or if he really upsets you, you will just shoot him, feed him to a bear and send his widow a bill for the bullet.

 

[Fullpan]

In the old time days, a dig site was respected and left alone if mining tools were present. It SHOULD happen now too, even though mining time is limited
to a long weekend or a week in most cases. In Virgin Valley, NV. this is a strict policy in the precious opal digs, and it works.

 

[Rawhide]

Unfortunately people will come right behind you and see what you were doing. They dig holes and not fill them, and leave trash. Or make a new trail with their vehicle cause the road ten feet away wasn't good enough. You would never know I was there when Im done. Unfortunately this bad behavior has put us all on notice. We are going to loose our digging rights. As for crazy old men, I would put some distance between him and you. Just aint worth it.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Casca - I am a passive guy, I just ignore which usually works.
If he crosses that line though, I have means to defend my family without the use of a firearm though what you said works too, lots of bear sign around there.
I will give it to him though, never seen him drop one spec of trash or leave a deep hole behind, he is just crazy is all. :P

Fullpan - The old ways should be common knowledge, leave it like you found it or better than you came. It hinges on the few of us that still practice that code.
Eric wasnt close to this area, he got smoked out from the fires which is why he came down so I am sure he didnt leave his short prybar on purpose.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[trinityau]

NeoTokyo, I would agree with the above mentioned situation that if there are tools or a bucket left, then someone plans on returning. You said he was an old man, well there are many old men that work all over that Clear Creek area. Most of them are further off the creek working pockets on the nearby hillsides. A few of these old men still go by ethics and even though it is public land they are use to how it was all their lives. I would also note that there have been many bodies found along Clear Creek over the last ten or so years. Myself and friends came up on one about six years back. There have been several killings linked to dope as of late. I am saying this to make sure you are aware of that particular area. It is not a good nor safe area at times. Clear Creek has good gold but there are far better in Shasta County. If dredging were still legal then I would say that Clear Creek would be at the top of the list in California. I have seen many multiple pound clean-ups in a days running. You should branch out and learn a bit more about the local geology as we live in an area where very shallow surface pockets occur and you may really get surprised. This pocket gold is far prettier than the creek gold and usually a lot larger in size. And by shallow I mean maybe a foot or so. If you read up on that area there were several large mining companies working all the bottoms while at the same time the hillside pocket hunters numbered over twentyfive thousand, my uncles counted as two of them. PM me if you would like and maybe we can exchange phone numbers and talk a bit. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[NeoTokyo]

Heya TrinityAu; Shasta County in general has a lot of violent crime and other, it was ranked #1 last year.
If you go up to the panning only area by 299 and the trinity mtn rd (The historic Camden house) that seems to be a hitchhiker pit stop, so there are bound to be some problems in that area too.
Some were accidental like the man who fell from the bridge on Clear Creek Rd.

Which part of clear creek are the majority of these muders though? I work the southern part by horsehead and below, pretty much wherever it is public and not on the trailhead property.
Is the French Gulch area a problem? I was wanting to join a local mining club so I can have access to a couple of their claims up there, they just had a get together up there that was fun.

As for the old man, I dont mind him at all as long as he keeps MOSTLY to himself.
Everyone else that I have ever met has been awesome.

I have NO idea how to even recognize a shallow pocket or how to even process one, I will for sure be giving you a PM about that.
As for local geology, I am trying my best to learn. I have an old map that shows me where document gold/quartz veins are.
There are lots of area's off the higher parts of Trinity Mtn Rd that I want to check out after the road goes to dirt again, after the Trinity Apls Scenic lookout.
I have loved that area before ever wanting to prospect it.


I tell ya, this damn gold fever keeps dragging me deeper and deeper. lol

 

[russau]

i agree with all that has been said by others and id also recommend to start documenting when this guy bothers you by informing the police/FS/BLM or anyone thattll listen. and by all means take a picture of him and his license plate/vehical!life is to short to risk it when theres another spot to work!

 

[trinityau]

Hey NeoTokyo, you said horsehead, I am guessing that you meant Horsetown? That is the bad area. From 273 in Redding up Clear Creek road to Horsetown. Just past Honeybee there is a gate on the right, I call it the garbage gate, several bodies have been found right there. Parking place for about five or six rigs. The area all around the Salmon viewing plaza is littered with needles if you watch you will see them. There are a few tweakers that live out of a tent up on the hill from that same area. As of late people have been letting dogs, puppies, whatever loose in the same area and they have been growing and forming packs that are chasing deer and now people. That is why you do not see many deer at that location all along Clear Creek. BLM has done some good out there but it really needs active patrolling.

There is gold around the area of Trinity Mountain but mostly fines. You will of course find a decent piece every now and then, however, to get into bigger gold you need to come back home to Redding. The geology changes completely.The area from Old Shasta north to Iron Mountain and across the river to Walker Mine Road would be your North end. From Old Shasta south to Win River and east to 273 would be the south end. There are few outlying areas also. This is a large area. All over this area you will finds hillsides that are littered with holes that resemble gravesites. You will notice that the material has been removed to be panned, crushed or sluiced. These pockets are surface pockets and if you get in one and carefully clean one out you will more than likely find where the old timers left off. You will probably say, well they got all the good stuff, yes they did as they were after only the good stuff. They left lots of gold in these leads that will range from sub-grain to multiple pennyweight pieces. I prefer to use a detector but you can rework these areas any way you like. What have I found in some of these places? I will post a picture that shows one of my better years in the hills around Clear Creek. The picture shows several pounds of gold. Much of this area is private property however there is a substantial amount of BLM. Keep off of the BLM, I got it, LOL. On the north end you also have a lot of BOR land that has been withdrawn from mineral entry. Most of this land is along the river and was kept by the government after the dam was built. You cannot claim any of it but you can prospect it legally,as recreation. All in all there are many thousands of acres in our area to prospect on and most fall into the pocket boundaries that I gave above. Most of the private parties are pretty nice, I have had no problem with any over the last twenty years or so. Within the geologic boundaries that I give you will also find anomlies within,mini geologic sites, so it takes some time to learn what you are looking at.After doing it for twenty or thirty years it is like reading a book. LOL. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[Oakview2]

Nice goldand good advice. All the best in your endeavors Trinity

 

[Fullpan]

Trinityau, i have spotted several of your "gravesites" with GE notably on hilltops north of SC and east of BH rd - am i getting warmer?(lol) too bad i'm too old and too far away! If NEO is going to try for them, i wish him luck, and hopes he keeps us posted. If that a picture of your "one year around clear creek, boy
am i jealous!!

 

[NeoTokyo]

Heya guys, sorry for not getting back right away, we went out sniping again.

Water is getting colder so I feel the need to hurry up before it is too darn gold to swim.
My wife found thre clinker sized nuggets, I guess about the size of large apple seeds, needless to say she was very happy after having a bit of a dry streak.

Thank you for that awesome info trinity, that is the stuff that I need to learn more.
Yup, you are right too, I meant horsetown and yeah it is pretty bad from 273 till there.
We have mainly stayed above horsetown to keep away from a lot of the bad that is that area.

I have come by a couple of these "Gravesites" in the past as a kid hiking my happy arse around and I thought they were just that, gravesites. x_x
I plan on buying a quality gold detector and sniper coil for this winter because I was going to hit gravel beds and bedrock but I would love to hit a couple of these sites with you some time.

I am selling off other toys so I dont have to sell my gold to buy my MD, thats how I paid for my bazooka sluice.


Thanks for the kind words Oakview.

Fullpan, I will have to try Google Earth too, didnt even think about it.

 

[Armchair prospector]

Did you ever try talking to the guy? or was it to dangerous? Was he crazy?

 

[NeoTokyo]

Take in what I wrote, would you talk to that cursing, growling, out of touch wingnutt?
I had my family with me, no need to make something that was annoying but harmless into something that could have needed me to take action.

I am an overly friendly guy, I like to talk and make friends but I know my limits.

 

[blynch35]

i would stay clear thats the same thing i always worry about when i go out. i always walk the area before i even get anything out of my truck. saterday i ran into my first prospector in the same hole i work i had my six year old boy with me and looked a little out there, i thought about leaving but i went to ask how he was doing he turned out to be a really nice guy and talked my ear off lol but did teach me alot about the area and what to look for he had been working that same area for the last 30 years and here i come in just in my second. i'm not saying that would happen for you i think i got lucky. by the way he had a highbanker there but didnt use it he was to scared to get cought, i had my sluice and he used his pan i moved maybe ten time the dirt he did and he got twice the gold it pays to have knowledge lol.

good luck