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Are Metal Detecting Clubs Good For The Hobby Or A Liability:shrug:

John-Edmonton

Moderator
Staff member
Some people love the comradery and social aspect of group hunting, while others find the solace of detecting alone or with a buddy a needed remedy from the stress or boredom of work. What do people (non-detectorists) think....those just enjoying a day in a park?
 
In many cases a Liability ............. Poor judgment by the members really cause problems in some areas they detect.

I am talking local clubs. Not Sponsor organized private property hunt events.
Let's face it John we have some real idiots out there hunting under the guise of being a " Club"..............
 
Elton said:
In many cases a Liability ............. Poor judgment by the members really cause problems in some areas they detect.

I am talking local clubs. Not Sponsor organized private property hunt events.
Let's face it John we have some real idiots out there hunting under the guise of being a " Club"..............

Case in point. I was part of a small group for a while, club members from one of the local clubs, and we would detect upcoming demolisions ASAP when they popped up. Formal permission, no. In reality that was trespassing, but barely. Then, individuals began seeing rundown properties not on the demo list and deemed them allowed as well. It became a fever to "outlaw" because those were very productive spots. News got back to the club on this success and it's become a much larger group roaming the streets for silver-holes. I ducked out after seeing houses next door to a upcoming demo being hunted. It'd just gone too far from the COE for me personally.

SIlver can become a drug to tectors, and they forget the ethics when all their buddies are pulling silvers, it infected the club membership. There were times where we'd get run off but the allure of another silver corrupted members inside the organized ranks of the club.

Poor judgements by some in clubs, leads to many others within the club to do the same. Nobody wants to miss out. Imagine what the public thinks when they see a swarm of detectors racing to someone's property(it's always SOMEBODY'S property) without formal permisson?
 
Our local club was nothing more than a place to meet once a month and tell lies about all the stuff they found and were they said they found it. You would not believe how deep those old TR machines would go, anything less than a foot or 2 was just picking up surface coins. I never did get hold of one of those hot TR machines, best mine would do 3 to 4 inches.

We never hunted as a group, just go on our own and meet back once a month with more stories, show and tell.

What a joke,

Ron in WV
 
WV62 said:
Our local club was nothing more than a place to meet once a month and tell lies about all the stuff they found and were they said they found it.

Never happens in here, though...LOL

[attachment 345941 Hope.jpg]
 
I have noticed that people will join a club to add the their "places to hunt" list. Also.....hunting in public parks in large groups complete with shovels is such a bad idea for so many reasons, yet, happens regularely. Last year a friend of my wife's was at a park just hanging out. Suddenly a group showed up with detectors and did their thing. Out of curiosity, as she was aware of my hobby, she went over to ask a friendly question of what are you guys looking for? He responded "non of your business" and walked away. She was so angry over his terrible response, that she was going to complain to the city. Luckily, my wife talked her out of complaining and to just chalk it up as he being an idiot and not ruin it for others.

To this day, I can never figure out the logistics of a bunch of people getting together in a park on a weekend and digging holes in front of so many people. What do they think the perception is? Now, granted, a well organized seeded hunt could be a lot of fun, especially with some of the great prizes available.
 
I joined one Years ago when first started Detecting. But after a year tired of it as everybody wanted your sites but wouldn't give You any in return. I finally caught on to this little trick and left.
A lot of greed and finger pointing in the Monthly find contest as everyone thought the other was cheating.
But nowadays the way the Hobby is Your better Detecting alone or one other at the most as draws to much attention. JMHO.
 
For instance......if someone went out and bought detector "X" and went out detecting in a park with a long handled spade, totally ignorant of the problems he was causing, it could have been a different scenario, had he joined a club and learned a "Code of Ethics" about metal detecting, and proper target retrieval. I do believe there are clubs out there that are aware of the consequences of poor digging technique and it's long term effect. They probably put a lot of peer pressure on members who don't follow the code of ethics. The members would also have the ability to monitor people digging in parks improperly, and even go over and have a word or two about how to metal detect properly.
 
As a past club president, I find it odd that (as usual) everyone bashes "clubs". Yet what they/you don't realize is that today's Internet forums have essentially REPLACED the "clubs" of yesteryear. Everyone today gets their show & tell, machine-tech. learning pro & con's, socializing , meeting other locals, etc... ALL from the comfort of their living room. They think they're a "lone ranger" and bash clubs. Without realizing that, essentially, times have just shifted to the internet for all the same exact functions.

And back in the club days, the gripers and whiners were no different. Everyone not lifting a finger, demanding answers, griping about better ways to do things, without ever lifting a finger. How nice, eh ? Oh sure, and you gripe that others are "just trying to learn your sites". And you think that human mentality (your own included) hasn't changed with the net ? If you meet someone in your area scarfing up on seateds and barbers, you don't think you'd be a "tad" bit curious to introduce yourself, learn what machine and site they hunt, etc... ? Yet you gripe if the tables are reversed ??

Everyone's perfectly willing to attend a group function and dig native targets when someone else organizes it and bashes their brains out to assemble a great site, great hunt, great club, etc... But the minute human nature enters in (of course you're mother Teresa not capable of error) then the griping and whining are sure to follow. I'd always see gripers and whiners at clubs, perhaps declining to attend. But boy-howdy when they needed info (beach erosion spot info, demolition site permission, etc...) they be SURE to pick up the phone and call you. Hmmmmm. Today's internet is no different . You have those that contribute and are positive. And you have those that whine and gripe.

Clubs only exist in the largest cities nowadays. The internet makes us lazy and people don't get off their duff's 1x p/month to attend meetings. And they can justify it with griping and whining about how things were run. Without ever being a part to contribute and lift a finger.
 
Tom:

You may be partially correct in your assessment. I can't argue with some of your very good points.

I saw a not so positive club hunt in Georgia on a public beach though. 21 members ( I counted ) descended on that beach with club emblem and their names on their shirts.
Those guys actually detected in the beach goers crowd lifting their towels, blankets etc trying to find things. Thank goodness the police came and removed those clowns.
They were belligerent, yelling back and forth to each other,loud and rude........... and telling people if they didn't like what they were doing ..LEAVE !! Yes Sir that was a real good detecting club experience wasn't it. Your right though..Things have changed due to the internet.... Oh yea count me in as one of the grippers that day..

Shoot if I lived in Georgia I just might hurry on over and join the club with those guys...

PS: A true story !! There was actually more things they were doing I didn't include..
 
One thing I will say on the Positive side on Clubs is at least they got a permit to hold functions like there Picnics and or seeded Hunts if needed. Where as a internet group like on another Forum I won't mention would just get all there Buddy's 10-15 or so and Meet at a Park or Preserve and Dig it up with shovels. And even make YouTube Videos about it if You can believe it? This cost us a lot of Land last couple Years. At least the Club was established and known in that particular County.
 
If my wife's health allowed me to be active in a club I'd be in several. I think they'd be fun. I've almost got a club going at work where a few of us meet together sometimes. Sometimes at church picnics I'll bring a bunch of detectors and we all have great fun, 3 or 4 people to a detector out digging up what ever there is to dig up just having a grand old time. I think they are a plus to the hobby. If I was a metal detector dealer I'd even sponser a club.

I do think that a person should be wise, and not confuse hobby detecting with treasure hunting. In my mind, hobby detecting and clubs go together very well. I would never bring treasure hunting into a club environment. Well, not outside of GPAA, anyway.

HH
Mike
 
Both.........

We have good apples and bad, always have and always will. Our club had a split a couple of years ago losing about half of the membership. Our club has a lot of rules that the Board considers to be safe and considerate conduct at both the meetings and while detecting and there was a group that did not like rules and left starting there own clan. There are those who follow the rules and sociable and some who have no use for either........... :shrug:
 
Tom_in_CA said:
As a past club president, I find it odd that (as usual) everyone bashes "clubs". Yet what they/you don't realize is that today's Internet forums have essentially REPLACED the "clubs" of yesteryear. Everyone today gets their show & tell, machine-tech. learning pro & con's, socializing , meeting other locals, etc... ALL from the comfort of their living room. They think they're a "lone ranger" and bash clubs. Without realizing that, essentially, times have just shifted to the internet for all the same exact functions.

And back in the club days, the gripers and whiners were no different. Everyone not lifting a finger, demanding answers, griping about better ways to do things, without ever lifting a finger. How nice, eh ? Oh sure, and you gripe that others are "just trying to learn your sites". And you think that human mentality (your own included) hasn't changed with the net ? If you meet someone in your area scarfing up on seateds and barbers, you don't think you'd be a "tad" bit curious to introduce yourself, learn what machine and site they hunt, etc... ? Yet you gripe if the tables are reversed ??

Everyone's perfectly willing to attend a group function and dig native targets when someone else organizes it and bashes their brains out to assemble a great site, great hunt, great club, etc... But the minute human nature enters in (of course you're mother Teresa not capable of error) then the griping and whining are sure to follow. I'd always see gripers and whiners at clubs, perhaps declining to attend. But boy-howdy when they needed info (beach erosion spot info, demolition site permission, etc...) they be SURE to pick up the phone and call you. Hmmmmm. Today's internet is no different . You have those that contribute and are positive. And you have those that whine and gripe.

Clubs only exist in the largest cities nowadays. The internet makes us lazy and people don't get off their duff's 1x p/month to attend meetings. And they can justify it with griping and whining about how things were run. Without ever being a part to contribute and lift a finger.

I'm a member of two clubs. Much like life , 20% of the people carry 100% of the club. People moan about paying a few dollars for a seeded silver hunt then complain they didn't find much. Detecting clubs are a lot of work if you're the president and vp. The more things change , the more they stay the same.
 
Larry (IL) said:
Both.........

We have good apples and bad, always have and always will. Our club had a split a couple of years ago losing about half of the membership. Our club has a lot of rules that the Board considers to be safe and considerate conduct at both the meetings and while detecting and there was a group that did not like rules and left starting there own clan. There are those who follow the rules and sociable and some who have no use for either........... :shrug:

The one thing I truly dislike is the reading of the minutes and stating how much is in the bank and all that yadda yadda yadda stuff. It's so boring. I'm hardcore and I wanna talk detecting , see what others found. And plan some hunts. That's the great part about the clubs.
 
WoodsWalker said:
.... Solo!! ...:

Except for your participation in forums, which makes you *not* "solo" . Eh ?
 
Tom_in_CA said:
WoodsWalker said:
.... Solo!! ...:

Except for your participation in forums, which makes you *not* "solo" . Eh ?

Don't know about WoodsWalker, i solo hunt too and the participation here is helping others and also enjoy some of the BS here too.

I've hunted with others and it always turns out to be a careless competition hunt to beat the others.
If joining a club was just meeting once in a while, have a few beers and BSing, i might consider it.
I like my calm peace and quiet when detecting!

In this day and age with all the regulation crazy bureaucrats just looking for reasons to keep their phony baloney jobs, banning detecting would win them a gold star.
The optics to a busy body of a dozen or more people detecting their precious park could result in a bureaucratic complaint to City Hall.
Unfortunately this in not the 1970's anymore.
 
Well all these years I never saw a seed hunt going on in the park where we hunt. But today when we parked and were getting our detectors out of the truck there was a guy his wife and kids and I noticed they had detectors. Well the guy spotted us and came over an invited us to join in on the seeded hunt, we thanked him but declined. So they were nice enough, and we went on our way looking for silver.

Just the family and one other guy done the seeding and the hunters showed up about 1:00 for the start of the hunt. We were close enough to see what was going on and the first thing we noticed was when the hunt started they all had shovels.

After the hunt which lasted 2 hours and they left we went to the truck for a cold drink and then look over the area they seeded. It was not pretty, they did fill the holes a little but they just pushed the dirt in a went on to the next target. There was no attempt to take a plug they just pushed the shovel in and pried the dirt out, there was no plug just busted up dirt. My brother and I went around and tried to fix them up a little, like pushing the dirt down and trying to find any grass still in the dirt and putting it on top.

So that just about iced the cake for what I think of clubs.

Ron in WV
 
Another thing I remember about the detecting clubs from the past is they would have monthly meetings and each person would bring in their most interesting or best finds for the month
and a number of them wasn't about to be outdone so they would hit a coin shop for a trophy for the month and pretend they found it detecting.

Also, at their club hunts in the days of detectors with lots of knobs, you would somewhat start with some preset controls and then just turn on and go (the hunts were timed)
So y start the hunt, you turn on an go! your searching and searching and somethings not right??? so after a few minutes you realize that EVERY KNOB on your detector had been
twisted to some unusable position!! yes, by a club hunt cheater!

So, as far as I know all the detecting clubs pretty much died off around here.

Mark
 
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