freshwater1
New member
dose anybody know about hunting the beach in a state park? going to califorinain the spring.
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California state parks
- Thread starter freshwater1
- Start date
Do not go to bureaucrats in any state's park's dept, and ask "can I metal detect?" All too often, you can guess the easy answer, when in fact ....... there might be no prohibitions (barring something silly you're begging to get morphed to apply to you).
As for CA, the state-of-CA owned beaches here have been detected since the dawn of time, and no one has ever seemed to care. Thus it's always been considered "ok". I guest this is just because since it evolved that way (from back in the days when it never dawned on, or occured to anyone, that you needed to "ask"). So to this day, you will be un-bothered.
However, here's why I say not to ask. And this true example probably typifies a lot of other states too:
About 8 or 9 years ago, a friend of mine was detecting a certain state beach near me. Well it just *happened* that a state archaeologist was at that particular beach, on that particular day, because he was slated to give a little lecture at a beach-side museum there. It was just a fluke that he happened to glance out on the beach, and see my friend. Well he came down and gave my friend the riot act (go figure, archies don't like md'rs anyhow mostly). He was citing cultural heritage wording in CA laws, to try to boot my friend. Here's what happened next:
The incident was posted on a local forum. Several readers, of course, thought this was bogus, and we should stand in solidarity to "straighten this guy out", since ....... we just assumed state-of-ca beaches were ok, and obviously this guy was mistaken. HOWEVER, the more we looked into it (the minutia of the CA state park's rules), the more we started to feel like the incident should be treated as an isolated incident, and not ask for clarification. Because you see, if you try long enough and hard enough, you might indeed walk away with some morphings to apply to you. So ....... we ended up treating this an isolated incident and NOT asking questions, seeking clarifications, etc.... The Sacramento archie probably went back to Sac. anyhow, and rarely ever goes to the beach anyhow.
So what I'd be afraid of, is if anyone (visitors coming to CA, etc...) start asking bureaucrats, and getting a no (from rangers or desk-bound bureaucrats who perhaps would never have given the matter thought before, nor probably cared less), that these same persons would start booting others, passing down memo's to the rank-&-file, etc.....
State of CA beaches can be detected, and no one cares. Leave it at that. I wonder how many other dire sounding states, evolved to specifically crack down on md'rs, simply to "address the pressing questions" that come across their desks? I mean c'mon folks! Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.
PS: I might add that state of CA "land" parks are indeed considered to be "no metal detecting". But for some reason, the beaches have never been held to that scrutiny. I don't know why that is, since the same park's dept. that is over in-land parks, is also the entity that is over their state beaches too, right? But for whatever reason, that's just the way it is.
As for CA, the state-of-CA owned beaches here have been detected since the dawn of time, and no one has ever seemed to care. Thus it's always been considered "ok". I guest this is just because since it evolved that way (from back in the days when it never dawned on, or occured to anyone, that you needed to "ask"). So to this day, you will be un-bothered.
However, here's why I say not to ask. And this true example probably typifies a lot of other states too:
About 8 or 9 years ago, a friend of mine was detecting a certain state beach near me. Well it just *happened* that a state archaeologist was at that particular beach, on that particular day, because he was slated to give a little lecture at a beach-side museum there. It was just a fluke that he happened to glance out on the beach, and see my friend. Well he came down and gave my friend the riot act (go figure, archies don't like md'rs anyhow mostly). He was citing cultural heritage wording in CA laws, to try to boot my friend. Here's what happened next:
The incident was posted on a local forum. Several readers, of course, thought this was bogus, and we should stand in solidarity to "straighten this guy out", since ....... we just assumed state-of-ca beaches were ok, and obviously this guy was mistaken. HOWEVER, the more we looked into it (the minutia of the CA state park's rules), the more we started to feel like the incident should be treated as an isolated incident, and not ask for clarification. Because you see, if you try long enough and hard enough, you might indeed walk away with some morphings to apply to you. So ....... we ended up treating this an isolated incident and NOT asking questions, seeking clarifications, etc.... The Sacramento archie probably went back to Sac. anyhow, and rarely ever goes to the beach anyhow.
So what I'd be afraid of, is if anyone (visitors coming to CA, etc...) start asking bureaucrats, and getting a no (from rangers or desk-bound bureaucrats who perhaps would never have given the matter thought before, nor probably cared less), that these same persons would start booting others, passing down memo's to the rank-&-file, etc.....
State of CA beaches can be detected, and no one cares. Leave it at that. I wonder how many other dire sounding states, evolved to specifically crack down on md'rs, simply to "address the pressing questions" that come across their desks? I mean c'mon folks! Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.
PS: I might add that state of CA "land" parks are indeed considered to be "no metal detecting". But for some reason, the beaches have never been held to that scrutiny. I don't know why that is, since the same park's dept. that is over in-land parks, is also the entity that is over their state beaches too, right? But for whatever reason, that's just the way it is.
Rob in (Ca)
Active member
I have detected at Huntington State Beach, I have not been arrested yet? .......it's got pretty bad Black sand condition's....... so bring your PI.
Tom_in_CA said:
+1 very well put
It reminds me a couple of years ago in the UK me and a friend we detecting on a public footpath that went through some farmland. Some uppercrusty landowner type walked by and ignored us until my friend asked if it was ok to metal detect in the field, the answer was no ,but he should have just kept his mouth shut as we were on the footpath and they weren't interested in what we were doing anyway.
mrcolin2U, that's the way it works, isn't it? "The squeeky wheel gets the grease". I can give you multiple more examples of the same psychology, where ..... when people assume you know what you're doing, no one pays you mind.
I think md'rs feeling they "need to ask" (as if ..... they're somehow inherently evil, and in need of approval) is unfortunately borne out of the knee-jerk reaction to legal hassles in isolated incidents (bootings, tickets, etc..) they read of in far away places. It works like this:
a) In this marvelous information age, where a single booting can "make the rounds" to all sorts of skittish people, guess what their first reaction will be?? To run to city hall, or state capitols in their area, and start "asking permission" or "inquiring about permits", etc... (afterall, you "can't be too safe", eh?). I can remember, when the FMDAC first came out, and their very first periodicals first started making the rounds, that a few such stories appeared in them. Afterall, that was the whole point of the group, right? To "sound the alarm", right? But a curious thing started to happen: You could look around the room, at wide-eyed people hearing the horror stories read, and it was like "oh no, we need to fight this, make a big stink, and ...... of course, go to city halls in any city we come to. But this just perpetuated the nonsense. All of the sudden, you'd hear people say "such & such park" or "such & such city" is off limits. And to those of us who'd been at it since the 1970s, it would be like ".... since when? who told you that?" And they'd say "we asked"! Doh!
b) I think this whole "ask" thing is a mis-interpretation of the one line in the code of ethics which says "I will know and obey all laws". Some people interpret that ..... that they must go to city hall, school janitors, rangers, the state, etc... and "ask permission". But I feel that this is backwards. On the contrary, if there is nothing specifically prohibiting metal detecting, then why would you need to ask? Wouldn't that be like asking if you can fly a kite? Or drink from the fountain? And no, I don't consider damage and destruction clauses to apply to us. If YOU know you'll leave no trace, then that's good enough.
I think md'rs feeling they "need to ask" (as if ..... they're somehow inherently evil, and in need of approval) is unfortunately borne out of the knee-jerk reaction to legal hassles in isolated incidents (bootings, tickets, etc..) they read of in far away places. It works like this:
a) In this marvelous information age, where a single booting can "make the rounds" to all sorts of skittish people, guess what their first reaction will be?? To run to city hall, or state capitols in their area, and start "asking permission" or "inquiring about permits", etc... (afterall, you "can't be too safe", eh?). I can remember, when the FMDAC first came out, and their very first periodicals first started making the rounds, that a few such stories appeared in them. Afterall, that was the whole point of the group, right? To "sound the alarm", right? But a curious thing started to happen: You could look around the room, at wide-eyed people hearing the horror stories read, and it was like "oh no, we need to fight this, make a big stink, and ...... of course, go to city halls in any city we come to. But this just perpetuated the nonsense. All of the sudden, you'd hear people say "such & such park" or "such & such city" is off limits. And to those of us who'd been at it since the 1970s, it would be like ".... since when? who told you that?" And they'd say "we asked"! Doh!
b) I think this whole "ask" thing is a mis-interpretation of the one line in the code of ethics which says "I will know and obey all laws". Some people interpret that ..... that they must go to city hall, school janitors, rangers, the state, etc... and "ask permission". But I feel that this is backwards. On the contrary, if there is nothing specifically prohibiting metal detecting, then why would you need to ask? Wouldn't that be like asking if you can fly a kite? Or drink from the fountain? And no, I don't consider damage and destruction clauses to apply to us. If YOU know you'll leave no trace, then that's good enough.
I tried detecting at Stinsen Beach once, and was told to move about 300 yards down beach. I guess where the lifegaurd told me to go was not considered state beach? Who knows. Although, I have hunted my local lake, Folsom Lake, and its a state park with a beach
, and was never told to leave. h h
Nick
, and was never told to leave. h hNick
I second your position. I have followed your posts on this subject on many different forums and you send a consistent message. Obviously there are many who just don't get it because the question comes up over and over even from some long time hunters who should know better. But I believe you have educated many. Thank you. 
Don
DonUncle Nick, for starters, the portion of Stinson beach you were probably told to move-on from, is probably the Federal portion, not a state portion. They were probably telling you to move down to where their boundry ends, and the state (or whatever) starts. It's occurances like this, that have reinforced the notion that state beaches here are ok, and only federal isn't. However, like I say, if a person looked into it long enough and hard enough, they might conclude that state beaches here are also not ok. And to add mysery to it, there is an over-arching entity ABOVE both the fed, and the state beaches, all along our coastline. It's called the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary. You can read about it here, in a related post:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,249049.0.html
But even amidst all this nonsense, notice no one cares, and in fact ...... some authorities even tell you "go over there, it's ok on that side of the road"! For reasons like this, I have gotten very jaded & calloused over the years to all this nonsense of rules that *could* be morphed to us, or in fact ....... have been.
As for Folsom Lake beaches, NOW you're talking an in-land park, not an ocean side beach. Yes it's a "beach" (on a lake), but it's inland at one of the state-of-CA run parks. Technically you were in violation there (I have heard of some bootings there). Because there is historical stuff under those waters (a few tent-city boom towns from the gold rush or whatever), that get exposed during drought cycles. Perhaps at other State-of-CA run parks it's not enforced, but I've heard of a few antsy rangers at this particular one. I too have hunted the Shoreline's there, back in some of the far-back fingers, during the low water cycles, when some old foundations from one of the gold rush locations was exposed. I got a nice bust quarter. I heard of some seateds, Chinese cache coins, IH's, etc... that other hunters got then. No one bothered any of us. But then again ... probably because we didn't ask enough questions.
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,249049.0.html
But even amidst all this nonsense, notice no one cares, and in fact ...... some authorities even tell you "go over there, it's ok on that side of the road"! For reasons like this, I have gotten very jaded & calloused over the years to all this nonsense of rules that *could* be morphed to us, or in fact ....... have been.
As for Folsom Lake beaches, NOW you're talking an in-land park, not an ocean side beach. Yes it's a "beach" (on a lake), but it's inland at one of the state-of-CA run parks. Technically you were in violation there (I have heard of some bootings there). Because there is historical stuff under those waters (a few tent-city boom towns from the gold rush or whatever), that get exposed during drought cycles. Perhaps at other State-of-CA run parks it's not enforced, but I've heard of a few antsy rangers at this particular one. I too have hunted the Shoreline's there, back in some of the far-back fingers, during the low water cycles, when some old foundations from one of the gold rush locations was exposed. I got a nice bust quarter. I heard of some seateds, Chinese cache coins, IH's, etc... that other hunters got then. No one bothered any of us. But then again ... probably because we didn't ask enough questions.
goldnugget
Active member
Locate this web Cam at surf-forecast.com ans insert Ocean Beach Webcam, United States - ,I live in North Carolina and said someday I would like to detect this wide Beach in California. You will need to save this link and check it during Clear Daylight. if you can find a clear day in San Francisco. I e-mailed some one and he said this beach was off limit because of the Point, which looks like about a mile from the parking area. It's had alot of eroison and alot of cuts since all the rain in California for a month.
Gold-nugget, regarding Ocean Beach, San Francisco, CA, ...... now you're talking a different subject. This is one of the few stretches of beaches in CA, that is federal. Very few beaches are like that. Most are state, county, and city here.
But oddly, the fed beaches in this zone (on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge), have been detected before........ and no one seemed to care! (yes a few booting stories have circulated, but also the opposite occurs). It works like this: Someone new to detecting, or who perhaps just didn't know any better, went to the beaches there, to detect. They hunt un-bothered, in front of anyone and everyone (yup, even right by passing rangers, life-guard towers, etc...), in broad daylight. Imagine their surprise, later on, when others, ......... who they showed their finds too, and related where they'd been hunting, tells them "that beach is off-limits". Doh! To the person who'd just been there all week, they couldn't believe it. Certainly someone would have said something, right? And only then does it dawn on them why the dry sand was so plumb full of easy-pickens, doh! You see the moral of the story?
Now mind you, those same rangers or life-guards who pay you no mind, and don't care ........ if you were to ask them "can I metal detect?" (as you did, in your email inquiry btw), they would be compelled to look it up in their books, make some calls to some superiors in Sacramento, find something to morph to your "pressing question" and tell you "no". Guess what will happen the NEXT time, when that same ranger or bureaucrat, who fielded your question, sees an md'r whom he previously wouldn't have cared about or noticed??
You see the moral of the story?
But oddly, the fed beaches in this zone (on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge), have been detected before........ and no one seemed to care! (yes a few booting stories have circulated, but also the opposite occurs). It works like this: Someone new to detecting, or who perhaps just didn't know any better, went to the beaches there, to detect. They hunt un-bothered, in front of anyone and everyone (yup, even right by passing rangers, life-guard towers, etc...), in broad daylight. Imagine their surprise, later on, when others, ......... who they showed their finds too, and related where they'd been hunting, tells them "that beach is off-limits". Doh! To the person who'd just been there all week, they couldn't believe it. Certainly someone would have said something, right? And only then does it dawn on them why the dry sand was so plumb full of easy-pickens, doh! You see the moral of the story?
Now mind you, those same rangers or life-guards who pay you no mind, and don't care ........ if you were to ask them "can I metal detect?" (as you did, in your email inquiry btw), they would be compelled to look it up in their books, make some calls to some superiors in Sacramento, find something to morph to your "pressing question" and tell you "no". Guess what will happen the NEXT time, when that same ranger or bureaucrat, who fielded your question, sees an md'r whom he previously wouldn't have cared about or noticed??
You see the moral of the story?