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

[kansas_jayhawks]

Actually I could see them being very beneficial in today's culture. If the clubs would contact LEO departments and offer their services if applicable. Or become creative in helping out in the community somehow. If a relationship could be formed with local government - especially those in areas where MDing is looked down upon. Just might give folks the opportunity to gain back access to parks and the like.

However ... club members need to pull their head out of their backsides. I traveled - this was back in or around 2006/2007 - 60 miles to go to a club meeting in Hutchinson KS. I was fairly new to the hobby. Was invited to attend so I went to see what I could learn. Before I left I got asked by at least 10 different people what it was like in my area - any good areas to hunt. I caught on after the first guy - pretty evident he was looking for me to take him out to places I knew about. I never went back didn't see the point.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... I never went back didn't see the point.

And you think the on-line virtual world is any different ?

And you think you yourself were/would-be any different ? For example: If you were hearing that good-pickens were being scarfed up by those people at their city @ "some site" you CAN BET you'd have been "all ears" to learn what/where that was. After all, you say yourself :

... I went to see what I could learn....

And so too, likewise, when I post reales or gold coins I've found, do I notice that "friends come out of the woodwork" to chat. They want to know where I'm hunting, how I'm doing it, etc... AND I DON'T FAULT THEM or develop a "lone ranger" attitude for it . Why ? Because it's often time those friends who LIKEWISE will reciprocate with tips in return, later on.

Sure the world is not perfect. Sure everyone's not perfect. Sure some might not reciprocate. But don't think for a moment that the on-line forums world (which performs the same function of yesteryear's clubs) is any different.

 

[MarkCZ]

... I never went back didn't see the point.

And you think the on-line virtual world is any different ?

And you think you yourself were/would-be any different ? For example: If you were hearing that good-pickens were being scarfed up by those people at their city @ "some site" you CAN BET you'd have been "all ears" to learn what/where that was. After all, you say yourself :

... I went to see what I could learn....

And so too, likewise, when I post reales or gold coins I've found, do I notice that "friends come out of the woodwork" to chat. They want to know where I'm hunting, how I'm doing it, etc... AND I DON'T FAULT THEM or develop a "lone ranger" attitude for it . Why ? Because it's often time those friends who LIKEWISE will reciprocate with tips in return, later on.

Sure the world is not perfect. Sure everyone's not perfect. Sure some might not reciprocate. But don't think for a moment that the on-line forums world (which performs the same function of yesteryear's clubs) is any different.

LoL!
When we the three WV Brothers go detecting will start out pretty spread out and if nobody finds anything good as the day rolls on we get even more spread out, but! if one of us finds a piece of silver its like three bees on one lonely honey suckle bloom LoL!
Now if its still early in the day will drift back apart, but if this happens towards the end of the day then will leave that spot radio-active.

I remember a couple of years ago there was a thread on the forum where someone had found this really neat location and they referenced a park and a "Sidewalk To Nowhere" well it wasn't very long until bunches of people where posting finds in the park, with a sidewalk to nowhere, they invaded this guys little honey hole.
I'm going to say that treasure hunters has always had a problem for Claim Jumping! If you find a little honey hole in this hobby you would do good not to make it public if you do in just a few days your spot will be invaded.

Mark

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... I'm going to say that treasure hunters has always had a problem for Claim Jumping! If you find a little honey hole in this hobby you would do good not to make it public if you do in just a few days your spot will be invaded....

Mark, there is certainly a time for sharing site info. After all: It can come back to your benefit, where those friends, likewise, reciprocate with tips back to you. But sure: There's sites that perhaps we DON'T want others to know about. D/t perhaps we're not done there , or it's a mutual research between *just* 2 buddies for the time-being, etc....

For sites that you/me DON'T want "claim-jumped", the solution is simple: If you DO take a friend along for a single hunt, or confide in him , you make sure to spell out whatever code you wish followed. Eg.: No other sub-invitees. Tell no one. Don't go without me.

But to think for a moment that all of us should be lone rangers "lest we subject ourselves to claim jumpers", is the day this becomes a pretty lonely hobby. For example: I'm sure you might have some site (a mentor who taught you, let you tag along, etc...) that someone took you to, or turned you on to. How would you feel if everyone in the world of md'ing had given you "the cold shoulder" , eh? And how would you feel if you never had a friend to hunt with "for fear they'll claim jump", etc... ?

At some point friendships have risks. Sure you can avoid all risks in life and go live alone on an island I suppose. There are safeguards to keep what happened to your park example from happening. While at the same time not feeling like "I'll never talk to anyone in the world ever again" philosophy.

 

[Elton]

Yep... tell one. And 20 club members show up hunting your site. Now that is sharing hahahahahahahahhahahaha

 

[Pastor bob]

Was the president of our newly founded club for over two years. For those two years it was fun getting with folks then it became a chore. No one wanted to step up and take over Pres. or treasurer duties. When I brought in a real nice find all anyone wanted to do was go out with me to that spot again. I have learned my lesson. I will take someone out once but if they do not reciprocate then I am done with them. If I can take the time to get permissions then shouldn't I also get the potential rewards?

 

[MarkCZ]

.... I'm going to say that treasure hunters has always had a problem for Claim Jumping! If you find a little honey hole in this hobby you would do good not to make it public if you do in just a few days your spot will be invaded....

Mark, there is certainly a time for sharing site info. After all: It can come back to your benefit, where those friends, likewise, reciprocate with tips back to you. But sure: There's sites that perhaps we DON'T want others to know about. D/t perhaps we're not done there , or it's a mutual research between *just* 2 buddies for the time-being, etc....

For sites that you/me DON'T want "claim-jumped", the solution is simple: If you DO take a friend along for a single hunt, or confide in him , you make sure to spell out whatever code you wish followed. Eg.: No other sub-invitees. Tell no one. Don't go without me.

But to think for a moment that all of us should be lone rangers "lest we subject ourselves to claim jumpers", is the day this becomes a pretty lonely hobby. For example: I'm sure you might have some site (a mentor who taught you, let you tag along, etc...) that someone took you to, or turned you on to. How would you feel if everyone in the world of md'ing had given you "the cold shoulder" , eh? And how would you feel if you never had a friend to hunt with "for fear they'll claim jump", etc... ?

At some point friendships have risks. Sure you can avoid all risks in life and go live alone on an island I suppose. There are safeguards to keep what happened to your park example from happening. While at the same time not feeling like "I'll never talk to anyone in the world ever again" philosophy.

Tom! That's what I really meant, I've hunted by myself but its MUCH better with a brother, father, or a friend, but like you said with the hunting friends its a SHARED experience and that's the way it should be! Good hunting spots in our area is getting VERY RARE! and when we do find one its most times a smaller area. So, for us three brothers these little spots when we find them is a treat. My point is making a little honey hole for you and a friend PUBLIC knowledge is an OPEN INVITE for claim jumpers.

Mark

 

[budster]

Guess I will be one of the few that enjoyed our club. We met once a month, shared finds, usually had a speaker covering various metal detecting subjects like new technology, current state/county/city md laws, recovery techniques, and personal experiences. Once a month we had a club hunt, never saw a shovel. Most used screwdriver probes with an occasional digger. When we had newbies, we would take them on a hunt and show then the proper way to recover targets. If they were new to the hobby and had a new detector, some one from the club who was familiar with that particular detector would stay by their side during our once a month hunt and familiarize them with the detector. We had one open three day hunt a year at a local fairgrounds. They were eager to have us use their grounds because we helped them clean it up for the fair, (painting, weeding, building repairs ...) and removed all trash we found detecting. We participated in charity events and things like store openings where we would display not only our good finds, but piles of trash that we had also recovered. We sponsored kids hunts and anyone who was interested we would demonstrate detecting and encourage them to become involved. In short, we promoted the hobby. Unfortunately, we moved out of state and I have yet to find a replacement club.

So, while there may be bad clubs, there are also good ones.

 

[WV62]

Guess I will be one of the few that enjoyed our club. We met once a month, shared finds, usually had a speaker covering various metal detecting subjects like new technology, current state/county/city md laws, recovery techniques, and personal experiences. Once a month we had a club hunt, never saw a shovel. Most used screwdriver probes with an occasional digger. When we had newbies, we would take them on a hunt and show then the proper way to recover targets. If they were new to the hobby and had a new detector, some one from the club who was familiar with that particular detector would stay by their side during our once a month hunt and familiarize them with the detector. We had one open three day hunt a year at a local fairgrounds. They were eager to have us use their grounds because we helped them clean it up for the fair, (painting, weeding, building repairs ...) and removed all trash we found detecting. We participated in charity events and things like store openings where we would display not only our good finds, but piles of trash that we had also recovered. We sponsored kids hunts and anyone who was interested we would demonstrate detecting and encourage them to become involved. In short, we promoted the hobby. Unfortunately, we moved out of state and I have yet to find a replacement club.

So, while there may be bad clubs, there are also good ones.

You and your club were doing it right.

I also liked the sound of being part of a club, but I would say it was not setup from the ground like yours. We would have movies and some pretty good talks, all that was pretty good. But the greed thing kind kicked in and messed up the whole thing.

That seeded hunt I posted about was from a club in Ohio and they came over to WV and trashed a section of our park and they go back home and think man I had a good time. When I was in a club for a year or so we had a couple of seeded hunts and there was not a shovel in sight and we did have a good time. Just no good ground rules and then the greed kicked in.

I would have liked to run a add in the paper for lost and we will find.
I also would have like to hook up with the local law enforcement and see if we could help them out with our detectors.

Now it is just us 3 brothers hunting for coins and sharing with you guys out there in forum land. We won't share are hunting spots, but we have people follow us around and go in and hunt behind us.

Ron in WV

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Pro's usually have a good library...might meet a good hunting buddy..
Con's usually clichés ...not many workers,,,lots of drones for events...not much detecting conversations to the whole group and usually to a group of buddies...
Find of the month becomes a problem as honesty does not prevail....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... Con's usually clichés .........

That's sort of a "gotcha" statement. Because the persons who complain of "cliches" will also, in the same breath, complain when other's try to "chum up to them" to find out their good sites. (which is likewise an understandable gripe). BUT THINK OF IT ! : The minute anyone fails to reveal "their good sites", and the minute they appear to "just hunt with a single buddy or two", IS THE MINUTE the "cliches" gripe gets rolled out. See the contradiction ?

It's as if you "want it both ways", eh ?

.... Find of the month becomes a problem as honesty does not prevail....

Sure. Show & tell find-of-month time brings out some odd folk. But do you think for a minute that's strictly the realm of clubs ? How often have you seen the odd stuff on forum show & tell pages ?? Hence if this is someone's gripe, then they need to leave forum participation as well.

At our club I don't recall any spurious questionable "finds" brought to the table show & tell time. But at a club in a city an hour from me..... will post in the next post to follow.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Dan brings up the gripe that comes up in some clubs, of questionable finds @ show & tell bragging-rights time: Perhaps because a prize is offered for the "best voted find" ? Or simply because someone enjoys the limelight and attention ? WHO KNOWS ! ? And I pointed out that this odd-ball behavior is not limited to brick & mortar clubs. The same silly behavior has been known to happen on internet forum show & tell as well. As we all know.

While I never saw this happen (to my knowledge) in our club, I did hear of it happening (well, sort of) in a city's club in our state: A fellow would show up each month with a great seated coin or silver dollar to enter in the show & tell. As club members viewed each other's entries, he was, of course, showered with high-5's, adulation, etc... People clamored to get him to tell them what machine he's using, his control settings, where he hunts, how he does it, etc....

Well after a year or so of this, word finally leaked out. Turns out the fellow was just a school yard and sandbox hunter. Would go out each Saturday or whatever, and ply all sorts of parks, schools, etc... And as such, by the end of the month, it wasn't unusual to accumulate $50 or $70 in clad alone. Eh ? Then he'd take that money, go to the coin store, and buy a choice old silver coin. Then would enter it into the show & tell.

In his mind's eyes he "found it". Because after all, he was finding the coins that allowed him to buy it after all, Right ? Thus he "found" them. Needless to say, fans of his detecting prowess wained after that. Doh !

 

[azsh07]

My two cents...and that is probably double it's true value....they are mostly worthless as are many hobby related groups.

Generally they try and control what the people are doing....and I mean more than what I think would be normal. I find this in detecting or RC hobbies etc.

For detecting clubs I found them to be like army ants when they detected....why would I want to detect with a group of army ants.

I don't see any point in seeded hunts...thats like fishing in stock pond...oh yeah you caught a fish...what did you have to do...toss your line in and wait like a minute for a starving fish to bite.
Think not.

Plus there is just too much mouth jawing...a lot of sneaky crap that went on...like bogus finds claims etc....you think guys lie about the fish they caught well boy you should see the finds BS...mind you this was years ago when someone tried to get me to join one and I was like are you nuts...

I am sure in some small areas they are useful but to me it is mostly mind control..believe this..act like that...blah bl;ah blah.

Just be a neat and courteous digger...I don't need need captain obvious telling what i already know. Most is common sense.

On the other hand if you like seeded hunts....going out with a bunch of army ants on the hunt....and listening to a bunch of BS...then join one.

I am sure some here have a good club and find my experience way off but that is my take. Eveyones will be different.

I fly solo...or with one good friend. Theres not enough places left to share....just the way it is

 

[Tom_in_CA]

My two cents...and that is probably double it's true value....they are mostly worthless as are many hobby related groups.

Generally they try and control what the people are doing....and I mean more than what I think would be normal. I find this in detecting or RC hobbies etc.

For detecting clubs I found them to be like army ants when they detected....why would I want to detect with a group of army ants.

I don't see any point in seeded hunts...thats like fishing in stock pond...oh yeah you caught a fish...what did you have to do...toss your line in and wait like a minute for a starving fish to bite.
Think not.

Plus there is just too much mouth jawing...a lot of sneaky crap that went on...like bogus finds claims etc....you think guys lie about the fish they caught well boy you should see the finds BS...mind you this was years ago when someone tried to get me to join one and I was like are you nuts...

I am sure in some small areas they are useful but to me it is mostly mind control..believe this..act like that...blah bl;ah blah.

Just be a neat and courteous digger...I don't need need captain obvious telling what i already know. Most is common sense.

On the other hand if you like seeded hunts....going out with a bunch of army ants on the hunt....and listening to a bunch of BS...then join one.

I am sure some here have a good club and find my experience way off but that is my take. Eveyones will be different.

I fly solo...or with one good friend. Theres not enough places left to share....just the way it is

Ok, so let me guess: None of this exists in the world on on-line md'ing forums, right ? (which are now nothing more than the "clubs" of yesteryear after all) .

 

[WV62]

I think I will stay with the forums, I tried a club and it wasn't for me.

I just don't see the comparison. With a forum I am sure there have been people say they found something real good and it was a lie, no money out of my pocket. Also never lost a hunting spot to any forum member.

I do give out detector information when I get something I want to share. Also I have gotten information from other forum members that want to share.

Ron in WV

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... I tried a club and it wasn't for me.....

Then you tried this venue of "club", and it was for you. Hence far from not being a club, you simply chose a different "club".

You're getting your show & tell, tech. pro's & con's, Q&A, etc.... in the same way as the clubs of yesteryear functioned.

And even though forums are generally national (not geographic specific) yet people still tend to see who's "in their area". And buddy up to hit sites, trade reconn. observations, etc.... All the same as yesteryear clubs did.

 

[amberjack]

watch the TV show "metal detectorists" crack up

humans are humans doesn't matter where ya stick um.....

amazing we have made it this far...

AJ

 

[MarkCZ]

.... I tried a club and it wasn't for me.....

Then you tried this venue of "club", and it was for you. Hence far from not being a club, you simply chose a different "club".

You're getting your show & tell, tech. pro's & con's, Q&A, etc.... in the same way as the clubs of yesteryear functioned.

And even though forums are generally national (not geographic specific) yet people still tend to see who's "in their area". And buddy up to hit sites, trade reconn. observations, etc.... All the same as yesteryear clubs did.

Tom, I've been on this forum for around 7 years, I've posted near 3 thousand post, and I've yet to meet the first forum member (outside my own family) Before this forum I spent several years on a motorcycle forum and I met three other members ONCE each and one I actually set up a day ride with, and every stop he lost his motorcycle key! the last stop was at McDonald's we eat, we chat, were still 200 miles from home, we get up to leave and walk out to the bikes, here he is again searching every pocket he has for his key!!!! then he says I know what I did with it, I left it on the food tray and dumped it in the trash. So, we go back inside! tell the counter workes what had happened and what we needed to do, then he says "I dumped my tray in this can", I said "I'm pretty sure It was the other one", so we take every piece of sloppy trash out of that can and put it in the other can all the way to the bottom, guess what? it was in the other can!!!!! so now we've got to handle everything we put in that can back into the other can and empty the other one all the way to the bottom to get to his key! (true story) he kept telling me to just go on, I told him we're on a ride together until we both get back home! He lost his key THREE times that day. He was a great guy but we never spoke again.
Meeting forum people OUT of area for me so far has not been a good experience at all. Right now we don't have even a decent enough hunting spot to give out an invite.

Plus so far I've only seen one or two other people on this forum that's in WV and then they were hundreds of miles away. Metal detecting in this are has pretty much died off, I'm not sure if they are even any detector dealers in the area any longer.

I'm with WV62 the forums work really well for me, now if an actual local person would show up on the forum I wouldn't have a problem meeting up with them and working up a hunt.

Mark

 

[marcomo]

Good thread you started, John.

All of us who are truly into metal detecting are always looking at the world through metal detecting eyes. All of us are always looking for potential "territory" If you are in a club or thinking about joining a club it's just common sense to understand that truth and protect your territory by restricting the information you share. The real surprise at a club would be if nobody tried to pick your brain for territory.

AND...hopefully most people know this by now but [size=x-large]NEVER[/size] post a picture of a find that you took with your phone location turned on. Post a picture from the field with your location on and anyone can easily find out exactly where that great location is. Post a picture from your house and it could have the potential to be much worse.

 

[amberjack]

its like a fishing club where did you catch those ? , I would just point to the ocean and say "out there" and smile it was known colloquially as "five finger reef" as it had five digits pointing at ( the human hand) it so for those in the know no pointing was necessary, just the quote of the words "five finger reef" followed by a mutley type giggle and the discussion was ended

everyone was now safe in their place....

AJ