Big Brother is Watching..!

[fastdraw]

I managed to squeeze in a little bit of treasure hunting today. Within 30 minutes of detecting a HUGE city park, I saw two city park trucks show up. Then a police car rolled up..!! I'm legal to detect in 22 of 28 City Parks in Carson City NV. The park I was detecting was legal to detect. I don't like confrontation, so I made Perfect plugs, as I always do, and pulled up typical stuff for a city park. I did pull up a 1955 Wheat. I felt like a low life criminal. So I packed up and left. I'm not a criminal... But I sure felt like one..! I guess I'm just venting to other treasure hunters.

 

[Donut]

Did they say anything to you or were they just in the park doing park maintain.

 

[Mark kus]

I know the feeling well! we have a huge state park that was once an estate owned by a wealthy family its 230 acres of lawn! I was never bother in there until say my second year going there boy did I pull some nice stuff out of there even though it has been detected for years!
Mark

 

[fwcrawford]

Sounds like a coincidence they all showed up while you were there since they did not approach you.
Someone called the police on my buddy and I while we were detecting a city park a while back.
The cop said someone said two guys were digging holes in the park.
I told him that’s us, but told him he is going to have a hard time finding where we dug!!
He said, no worries, we see you in here all the time.
Matter of fact he told us he would rather see us there than some of the people that hang around there.
He did say he has to respond to all calls though.
He told us good luck and have a nice day!!

 

[JimmyCT]

What makes the other 6 parks off limits ?
Did the parks dept or police say anything to you?

I managed to squeeze in a little bit of treasure hunting today. Within 30 minutes of detecting a HUGE city park, I saw two city park trucks show up. Then a police car rolled up..!! I'm legal to detect in 22 of 28 City Parks in Carson City NV. The park I was detecting was legal to detect. I don't like confrontation, so I made Perfect plugs, as I always do, and pulled up typical stuff for a city park. I did pull up a 1955 Wheat. I felt like a low life criminal. So I packed up and left. I'm not a criminal... But I sure felt like one..! I guess I'm just venting to other treasure hunters.

 

[fastdraw]

What makes the other 6 parks off limits ?
Did the parks dept or police say anything to you?

The other 6 City parks are off-limits because there has been found some Indian artifacts. They they never said anything to me, but I was assuming as soon as I made a hole and left it uncovered they were going to arrest me. Or at least that's what I was thinking

 

[fastdraw]

Did they say anything to you or were they just in the park doing park maintain.

They were not doing any park maintenance they were just watching me.

 

[jmaclen]

Here in the Denver area, the club I belong to have handshake agreements with the park staffs (not the administration but the actual on the ground workers) to restrict digging to screwdrivers only so we don't wear out the parks with larger plug digging and we don't encourage once in awhile detector users to do something stupid with a shovel. I wave, say hello and often chat with these men and women. They like it that we are on a good footing with each other. They know we are looking after the park, picking up trash and care, just like they do. We also help them find tools, deeper pipes, lost sprinkler heads and even help the police with the occasional evidence gathering when a crime happens in a park. I stay out of their way when they are doing maintenance and if I encountered the experience like you had, I would have gone over and talked to them to see if I was the problem.

 

[Joe Black]

I managed to squeeze in a little bit of treasure hunting today. Within 30 minutes of detecting a HUGE city park, I saw two city park trucks show up. Then a police car rolled up..!! I'm legal to detect in 22 of 28 City Parks in Carson City NV. The park I was detecting was legal to detect. I don't like confrontation, so I made Perfect plugs, as I always do, and pulled up typical stuff for a city park. I did pull up a 1955 Wheat. I felt like a low life criminal. So I packed up and left. I'm not a criminal... But I sure felt like one..! I guess I'm just venting to other treasure hunters.

No!...you are right!.....I’ve been through that whole intimidation process several times myself over nothing. I found a way to get around that though.....and so far it’s working. I’m not going to elaborate on how that is. All I can say is look for the loop holes

 

[fastdraw]

No!...you are right!.....I’ve been through that whole intimidation process several times myself over nothing. I found a way to get around that though.....and so far it’s working. I’m not going to elaborate on how that is. All I can say is look for the loop holes

Humm... I guess I'll have to put some thought into your suggestion

 

[midalake]

I felt like a low life criminal. So I packed up and left. I'm not a criminal... But I sure felt like one..! I guess I'm just venting to other treasure hunters.

UGH, so many other important issues these days. Esp. the police!

 

[fastdraw]

Here in the Denver area, the club I belong to have handshake agreements with the park staffs (not the administration but the actual on the ground workers) to restrict digging to screwdrivers only so we don't wear out the parks with larger plug digging and we don't encourage once in awhile detector users to do something stupid with a shovel. I wave, say hello and often chat with these men and women. They like it that we are on a good footing with each other. They know we are looking after the park, picking up trash and care, just like they do. We also help them find tools, deeper pipes, lost sprinkler heads and even help the police with the occasional evidence gathering when a crime happens in a park. I stay out of their way when they are doing maintenance and if I encountered the experience like you had, I would have gone over and talked to them to see if I was the problem.

How do you retrieve a dime with a screwdriver that's 8 or 9 in deep

 

[bootyhoundpa]

I usually just wait them out, keep swinging and don’t dig anything,after 20 minutes they give up or only retrieve shallow targets with screwdriver,when they see you retrieve a target in like 5 seconds they realize they would be fools to complain...I’ve been working a local athletic field myself for the last 2 months..using the stab and grab method with a screwdriver.. This pastSunday evening somebody showed up watched me like a hawk..I act like I don’t see them then try to get a tree or obstruction between myself and them at which time it becomes obvious they are watching you..it’s fun watching them reposition themselves so they watch you..I like mess in with them that way and then not dig anything..sooner or later they give up..I try not digging any holes therefore if they do complain they don’t have any justification...

 

[fastdraw]

I usually just wait them out, keep swinging and don’t dig anything,after 20 minutes they give up or only retrieve shallow targets with screwdriver,when they see you retrieve a target in like 5 seconds they realize they would be fools to complain...I’ve been working a local athletic field myself for the last 2 months..using the stab and grab method with a screwdriver.. This pastSunday evening somebody showed up watched me like a hawk..I act like I don’t see them then try to get a tree or obstruction between myself and them at which time it becomes obvious they are watching you..it’s fun watching them reposition themselves so they watch you..I like mess in with them that way and then not dig anything..sooner or later they give up..I try not digging any holes therefore if they do complain they don’t have any justification...

That's funny

 

[jmaclen]

Coin popping is actually easy with a long shafted flat head screwdriver or knife. I already have a really good guess about what the target is with the Equinox. So using your 8" dime example I really zero in on the target location with the pinpoint function on my detector (Equinox usually), then I cut a straight line slit in the ground about 6" long and 4" deep directly over the target (depending on how deep the target probably is by what my detector tells me.) I use my hands to gently spread the turf apart about three to four inches wide and recheck with a handheld pinpointer. If I can get a response from the pinpointer with its tip at 5" deep then I know I am on the 8" or so target. I just keep removing dirt, until I can slide me screwdriver under the target and pop it up. I push the dirt back in if any actually came out of the slit, press the two sides back together, fluff up the grass or ground cover and move on. Shallower targets are really easy. Probe hunting is very similar. There are plenty of YouTube videos about coin popping and probe hunting. I hardly ever dig a plug and routinely remove 8 to 10" coins and jewelry in a minute or less if the ground isn't too hard or muddy. I can "dig" 50 to 100 targets in a two hour session and you won't even know I've been there except for the imprints left by my knees and feet.

 

[fastdraw]

Coin popping is actually easy with a long shafted flat head screwdriver or knife. I already have a really good guess about what the target is with the Equinox. So using your 8" dime example I really zero in on the target location with the pinpoint function on my detector (Equinox usually), then I cut a straight line slit in the ground about 6" long and 4" deep directly over the target (depending on how deep the target probably is by what my detector tells me.) I use my hands to gently spread the turf apart about three to four inches wide and recheck with a handheld pinpointer. If I can get a response from the pinpointer with its tip at 5" deep then I know I am on the 8" or so target. I just keep removing dirt, until I can slide me screwdriver under the target and pop it up. I push the dirt back in if any actually came out of the slit, press the two sides back together, fluff up the grass or ground cover and move on. Shallower targets are really easy. Probe hunting is very similar. There are plenty of YouTube videos about coin popping and probe hunting. I hardly ever dig a plug and routinely remove 8 to 10" coins and jewelry in a minute or less if the ground isn't too hard or muddy. I can "dig" 50 to 100 targets in a two hour session and you won't even know I've been there except for the imprints left by my knees and feet.

Humm... Your experience is way more than mine

 

[Mark kus]

Nowadays cops have bigger things to worry about like BLM rioting! And worrying about their job.

 

[Just coils]

I managed to squeeze in a little bit of treasure hunting today. Within 30 minutes of detecting a HUGE city park, I saw two city park trucks show up. Then a police car rolled up..!! I'm legal to detect in 22 of 28 City Parks in Carson City NV. The park I was detecting was legal to detect. I don't like confrontation, so I made Perfect plugs, as I always do, and pulled up typical stuff for a city park. I did pull up a 1955 Wheat. I felt like a low life criminal. So I packed up and left. I'm not a criminal... But I sure felt like one..! I guess I'm just venting to other treasure hunters.

Unless the rangers come and talk to you, you should be OK. I live in Carson too and have had conversations with many park officials. If they bother me I say watch me for awhile. Then they usually leave. Soon I fear they will post the no metal detecting signs in more parks. Hope it doesn't come to that.
Good luck.

 

[RedRock]

Coin popping is actually easy with a long shafted flat head screwdriver or knife. I already have a really good guess about what the target is with the Equinox. So using your 8" dime example I really zero in on the target location with the pinpoint function on my detector (Equinox usually), then I cut a straight line slit in the ground about 6" long and 4" deep directly over the target (depending on how deep the target probably is by what my detector tells me.) I use my hands to gently spread the turf apart about three to four inches wide and recheck with a handheld pinpointer. If I can get a response from the pinpointer with its tip at 5" deep then I know I am on the 8" or so target. I just keep removing dirt, until I can slide me screwdriver under the target and pop it up. I push the dirt back in if any actually came out of the slit, press the two sides back together, fluff up the grass or ground cover and move on. Shallower targets are really easy. Probe hunting is very similar. There are plenty of YouTube videos about coin popping and probe hunting. I hardly ever dig a plug and routinely remove 8 to 10" coins and jewelry in a minute or less if the ground isn't too hard or muddy. I can "dig" 50 to 100 targets in a two hour session and you won't even know I've been there except for the imprints left by my knees and feet.

The method I use in parks is this. Most parks have soft ground so this method works most times. I use a quality screw driver with a long shank the tip is well worn. I pin point the target really well then push the screwdriver slowly to find the target and get the depth. If it is about up to 4 inches down I use the shaft to push the soil over the target aside until I have a hole with the target at the bottom. Of course I hold the tip just about the target. Then I use the screwdriver to flip the coin on it side and pinch it between a finger and the screwdriver and pull it out. I demonstrated the method to a park maintenance manager once. He seemed impressed as it left no damage. I have gotten older and sold my detecting stuff but recently bought a 800 so I could use it at the ocean beech. No worries about holes. I have never lived by the ocean. My son asked me to help watch his young son so he could work which grandpa is doing. Once he is back in school I am going to start hitting the beaches here in Coos Bay Oregon.

 

[jkline]

It is interesting how some people are so hostile to this hobby. Granted there are people that don't hobby responsibly. For instance, a detecting club from Spokane/CDA caused enough damage that detecting is verboten on all public property in Kellogg, ID. The cop that ran me off was polite enough, and explained why. I should have called the city for permission, but who is around to answer phones on a Sunday?