Ethics Question

[Happy Hunter]

Maybe it's just me,, but i need a little help with this question! For about 6 years i've been researching hard and finding sights to hunt, i share these sights with "friends" who have repeatedly hunted these sites after i've done all the leg work. I know that since i've taken them once,, shown them the spot they feel that it's now fair game. I like to hunt with friends,,makes the finds and day more enjoyable,,but this is starting to drive me nuts. Last fall i found a n old colonial tavern site, gained permission and did really well. Shared the site with a few club members, now they seem to feel it's fair game, and hunt it as much as they can. Never even meeting or asking for permission from the owner. I've since stopped going there, now i 'm thinking of hunting alone , and not sharing any more sites,, am i selfish? am i wrong for thinking that these friends who have never shared a site with me can kiss my !@#,, tell me like it is folks cause this is really bugging me!
HH

 

[Daniel A.]

Have heard this question before somewhere, myself I assume once I share a site its fair game for others nothing wrong with being selfish from time to time. Part of the game is who can do a better job researching opportunities not just about beep,beep,beep. Remember these are the people you compete with for the best finds in a year, pride in ones ability, thinking like a hunter. Dan

 

[Happy Hunter]

That is one heck of a great answer ,,thanks.

 

[zeekeys]

Happy Hunter :
That is why I hunt alone....Z

 

[echostar61]

Hi HH, I hunt with a partner and we both contribute to the research,and share
sites. I have never went back alone and hunted a site that he had found. And I
am pretty sure he has'nt either. Cause had he I'm sure I'd have known I would
have been with it,lol. Not that this would matter to me,we are always happy
when the other makes a good find
Hunting with friends always makes for more fun. Have you told them how you feel ?
If you havent, maybe you should and ask them to contribute info. too.

Terri

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Good sites are hard to find and if you bring a friend along he will bring another hunter and after the news is out on a good site the gold rush is on.It's alright to be social and hunt a park with friends but not your good finds sites.More research on your part to find another site.My favorite sites I tell no one.These hunters are not your friends and why do you care,I wouldn't give them a prime site to be a part of the group..Now if they want to invite me to their good sites thats another story.

 

[khouse]

I got my cousin into fishing about 20 years ago. I was so green he didn't know a hook from a sinker. I taught him a ton about fishing. Even taking him to one of my secret lakes where he snagged a 7.2 pound Bass. I told him to mount it and he did just that. I also took him to a couple of other lakes too. Even though the lake owners always told me I could fish anytime I still stopped and asked permission. I even gave them filleted fish. My cousin say me ask permission and I told him that I needed to be with him on at these fishing holes. Needless to say he screwed my best lake up for me. I say the homeowner at our local gas station and he told me there's no more fishing at his lakes. He went on to tell me that my cousin was driving in and out fishing all the time and left his gate open and some cows got loose. I apoligised and told him I had no idea and had told him directly not to fish without me. Later I called my cousin and asked him about it. He said that he called me one day and I didn't answer so he went there on his own. I told him what the lake owner told me and he didn't seem to care. That was the last time I shared any fishing spots with anyone. The only guy I can trust as a detecting partner is my brother. We only hunt maybe 3 time a year together. The rest of the time I'm alone.
I would tell your buddies to get lost. It sounds like they don't have an ounce of respect to do this to you. Were not talking about a public park here. It was a privet prime piece of property. I would have never tread on your land you worked hard to secure. They must have been young guys?

 

[tabdog]

I've heard this story before.

It's dissapointing the way people walk all over you. No good deed goes unpunished.

No, your not wrong to feal the way you do. I know how that feals.

You have to keep it to your self to protect your interest as well as the interest of the property that's being abused, as in this case.

You live and you learn. If you don't then shame on you.

I have been taken to a person's hunting spots. I never went back, and I'll never go back without him. If he invites me, I'll gladly go back with him.

I don't like it when people don't repair their holes either. That peeves me off.

HH,

 

[tabdog]

There are exceptions.

I wish I could get my brother to move up here and start detecting with me.

HH,

 

[tab-nabit]

That's a big Roger-Duck - I 100% agree

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[tabdog]

n/t

 

[UK Brian]

I agree with Elton but I think I can top your post.

I've a test bed that covers ground over an acre. Low mineralisation at the top down to high at the bottom. When this had been establised more than six or seven years someone took advantage of the fact I allowed anyone to test a machine on the site to come down whilst I was abroad and dig all the good targets which included hammered silver, gold rings etc.
Nothing was worth that much but the fact that it put me back several years in establishing an extensive test bed still riles me.
Re planted on a smaller scale and no trouble since until the flooding of last summer when the moles hit and did their own damage.
The next replant will have everything glued to plastic curtain rail to defeat the moles. Can't do much about the human rats !

 

[GRAY GHOST]

n/t

 

[khouse]

If I get permission to hunt a site I wouldn't even think that I could bring partners in with me. If you loose that trust with the land owner your hunting sites will dry up. Word gets around.

 

[GRAY GHOST]

only in large expanses will i ask another hunter to come with me. theres only one that i trust. its always good to share a hot spot if you can,god will smile upon you for it. it seems some people forgot the very lessons we all learned in kindergarten: respect others and their property,stand in line and wait your turn,wash your hands,dont talk back,etc. good places to hunt are getting thinner and harder to obtain all the time so the last thing we need as true hobbyists and good people is to create any dissention among ourselves. it carries over,and often in a negative way. i "know" im supposed to have a partner, at least for safety reasons. as in many other areas of your life, happy hunter, its all about what yourre willing to put up with. i would cut those disrespectful people off with the quickness,and sidestep any future problems with them in one fell swoop. my research + my hunting land + my time = my gains. hh,

 

[mattockman]

I also feel the same way you do.....NO, they should not go without including you or at least ask you if its ok if they go without you.....and YES, they should include you in there reseached spots....plain and simple if you ask me, but some people are much too greedy to care.
I hunt alone cause there is nobody to go with anyways....anyone I know thinks I am nuts and have no interest in the hobby....so I have no worries to speak of.....Find a person with good morals to go with....if none can be trusted then go alone.

 

[coinnut]

I have lost hunting friends for no reason at all. I had a friend tell me repeatedly to door knock the farmers and ask permission to hunt their fields, so after hearing it for a year straight, I decided to knock on the door. Had 9 NO's and one YES! There I found a gorgeous 1834 Half Cent which I will post later. When my "friend" found out, he was furious that I went after his farm fields!!! For a while I hunted alone. Now I have taken the time to find different groups of friends to hunt with. My rules::: If we find it together, we hunt it together PERIOD!! If I find it I can share it right off the bat or any time later. If they find it alone, its their option to share it if they choose. Usually If found alone, I will hunt it and later share it. This let's me find some items, but leaves some for my friends too. I NEVER tolerate freeloaders!! Everybody should pitch in or go without. Try voicing your disappointment with them and then don't go detecting with them for a while. You will enjoy detecting when you take a break from them. Good luck, we have all been there.

 

[GeoDiggerMike]

Alot of the problem is communication.. From the get-go, YOU should state your rules/guidelines and expectations, to others hunting with you, as to hunting on your researched site.. We assume other diggers think like us, and just assume they understand you don't come back to someone else's site without them, or at least asking them to go w/o you.. Many are somewhat green and do not understand how hard it is to get a good site to hunt and be able to maintain a good repoire with the landowner to let you come back whenever you want. So I think it is up to you, the person doing the inviting to layout your expectations of everyone hunting with you and then no one can plead ignorance, should they try and comeback and hunt your site w/o you or w/o your permission. Also, limit the number of folks you hunt with.. I'm like you, I don't like hunting alone, but make sure the folks you hunt with can be trusted not to re-visit your sites, and also who will reciprecate from time to time. That's only fair!! Good luck!! GeoDiggerMike

 

[I a thr]

I hunt with my brother about 90% of the time. We share in the research and both enjoy what seems to be a competition when we hunt. Sometimes he finds the better and sometimes I do. No matter what it is always a lot of fun. Oh,, when I make a good find I let him crumb the dirt off of it and when he makes a good find he lets me clean it up. So we share in about every find we make, even though I keep mine and he keeps his.
Bill