Day spent refilling a rookies holes...

[plugpopper]

I am extremely upset about this. I arrived at a location where an old hotel used to stand and was excited to start detecting. As I made my way into the woods I was immediately smacked in the face with holes and trash everywhere. Whoever it was that did it was very lucky he want there because it would have been bad for him. There were at least 30 holes dug with no regard for plugging and the items and trash that were found In the holes were laying beside them. So my first two hours of my hunt I was so excited for turned into a clean up mission. I refilled all the holes and discarded the trash. In all the years I have been detecting, which is only about 5, I have never seen such disrespect. This is also part of a state park I have been given permission to detect anytime and it pisses me off that had I not refilled the holes, blame could have been placed on me. So for all you newbies out there, please dig plugs as nice as possible, refill the holes, and discard the trash. It makes this hobby look like we are a bunch of disrespectful people who don't care about the environment when things like this happen and that couldn't be further from the truth for 99% of us who love this hobby and care about the environment. Was a very sad day for me to see this kind of behavior by a fellow detectorist but at least I got it cleaned up before a ranger or someone else found it.

 

[jim tn]

Un-fortunately, it is not always rookies. HH jim tn

 

[plugpopper]

Un-fortunately, it is not always rookies. HH jim tn

This is true. I just can't believe how much of a mess was left. I say this was a rookie because all of the holes were 8-12" deep and it was all huge pieces of iron and other assorted things experienced detectorists can tell is large deep junk. I also found a couple Wheat cents, a token, and some clad in between his messes so, yea, he/she didn't know what they were doing other than making a mess.

 

[HaroldILL.]

Most of the time it is newbees they see the youtube vids of greedy guys digging everything up with shovels. We lost 68,000 acre's of forest preserves because of these clowns and there little group hunts.

 

[Walknstik]

Personally and thankfully speaking for myself... I could never walk away leaving a hole unfilled I'm sure I can speak for most detectorists at this time in wanting to "Thank You" for cleaning up behind the lazy and greedy

 

[dfmike]

Unfortunately I've seen this too often. Some people think that because they are in the woods or on a beach as opposed to in a park, they can just leave holes all over the place and some with the metal junk left there. That's the reason why some places forbid any kind of detection. It's unfortunate because most of the time what we do is useful. We clean up the place when nobody else would.

 

[copper kidd]

Some people might laugh , but I even fill in my holes in the farm fields , you dug it....you fill it in. That's a bad habit to get into thinking it doesn't matter.

 

[still looking 52]

These people are in every walk of life, and unfortunately we have our small % in metal detecting. Thanks again for taking the time to clean that mess up.

 

[HaroldILL.]

Too Bad that "Small" % ruins it for a "BIG" %!

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I was working a tot lot in Stqtesville Nc city park when I was approached and told by one of the employees of the city that I could detect anywhere I wanted but the city had passed a law prohibiting digging in city parks. The Reason he gave for the ban was guys with SHOVELS digging in the middle of their soccer fields.

 

[plugpopper]

I never use my shovel unless I'm in deep woods. Sure a lesche shovel will dig a beautiful plug in a park better than a hand tool, but when people see you with a shovel as opposed to a small hand digger, they get worried which leads to calls to the recreation department which them leads to bans.

 

[still looking 52]

Plugpopper, that's exactly how I feel on the shovel issue. When me and my brothers hunt in the park and we have to walk a ways to get to the woods we keep our small trench shovels under wrap until we get in the woods. Why ask for trouble?

 

[sidney]

It takes more time to dig a hole , than to fill one in. You can use your feet to fill one in or your digging tool.

Remember it may be you that falls in the hole that you dug and you may get hurt or , break your foot or detector. It is bad enough that you should fall in a hole that a animal has dug or where a tree once stood. It happens to me all of the time in the woods.

So please take the time to fill in yours holes so we can keep the land owner happy and we can save our hobby for us and our children to enjoy in the feature





Thanks,.

 

[ChicagoJohn]

That is sad! I always worry about rookie don't do good job in public park! That is what happened to Cook Co. Forest Preserve and now NO metal detecting! Metal Detecting Club try to work out with them and nothing! Thanks a lot to ***hole to someone messy up! I always make sure all grass look good! I use small shovel for park and woods! In woods is no problem for me and small shovel is fine for me and cover the holes!

 

[DirtFisher60]

You hit that one on the nose. It is NOT about how good you may or may not be with the shovel, but about the PERCEPTION of what the shovel represents. I have been in this hobby over 30 years and during that time I have talked to many parks officials about digging and what to and what not to use. Move often than not, I have been told that screwdrivers and small hand trowels are acceptable, but shovels of any kind are NOT. If you are even seen in a park carrying a shovel, you will be asked to leave. I have seen a number of great sites closed to all detecting. When asked about why, I was usually told that it was either because of complaints about shovel use, or people making messy plugs, or a combination of the two. I know there are a lot of guys out there that swear they can do a better job with a shovel than a hand trowel, or lesche, but using a shovel is a fast way to get the site completely closed. Doesn't matter how good you may actually be with it. A lot of these shovel addicts either can't or don't want to accept that, but it is true. If they took the time to talk to the officials, they would find out for themselves. Shovels do have a place in the woods, or in a farm field, but NOT in a well manicure park or schoolyard.

 

[HaroldILL.]

I been preaching The No Shovels for years and
Been accused of pointing fingers. Let's just be clear here when we say shovels it's not just big ditch digging type it is also the entreching Samson type also. Anything bigger then a hand trowel is NO NO in a park setting. There is a guy on YouTube using one at a park digging up 3" coins! I sent Him a message about it and got the usual smart a** answer.

 

[BillF]

I had the same thing from a YouTube poster. I got the usual "I've been digging plugs for 25 years!" b.s.
I DONT CARE. If the rules say no plugs, no digging, but screwdrivers are acceptable then DONT DIG PLUGS
People on this forum are going to bi+CH about this but thats too bad. If you dig a plug or hole and get yourself or others booted from a park, you have no one to blame but yourself. Stop complaining about where our hobby is headed and do the right thing.
Congrats to the poster that filled in some clodhoppers holes!

I been preaching The No Shovels for years and
Been accused of pointing fingers. Let's just be clear here when we say shovels it's not just big ditch digging type it is also the entreching Samson type also. Anything bigger then a hand trowel is NO NO in a park setting. There is a guy on YouTube using one at a park digging up 3" coins! I sent Him a message about it and got the usual smart a** answer.