I got the boot this weekend!:detecting:

[jim tn]

My wife and I went over to Nashville this weekend to do some dog setting and then transport the hounds back here. Our son is out of town and then is coming here for Thanksgiving, so we will have them here for him.

Got over to Nashville about noon on Fri. and found I had a couple hour window for some detecting. There is a older park in Madison that I frequent from time to time. Usually lots of clad yields and on occasion a jewelry piece and and or a silver coin comes along. I was popping clad and Memorials pretty good from around the basketball court when I noticed a police car drive across the grass towards me as I was in the process of recovering a nickel. He rolled down his window as I dropped my head phones and he said I "couldn't detect there." He went on to state that there had been a number of complaints that holes in some of the parks weren't being refilled and they had just passed an ordinance banning metal detecting. The Policeman was very nice and when he found out I was from the Memphis area, he seemed almost apologetic. I didn't question him on what all spots the ban covered knowing that not to far away was a older middle school. And, on Sat. morning I went to said middle school and detected for about 2 1/2 hours. In the process, I recovered a couple bucks in clad, a buckle, 2 wheat cents and 3 silver Rosies.

Any fellow swingers on here know anything about such a detecting ban there? HH jim tn

 

[mudpuppy]

I believe I know that place...just from satellite mind you...I have some business In Maddy and that place has always beckoned to me from the air...I didnt stop there last week and I dont dig, so it wasnt me that ruined it for you.....Its good to get bounced every now and then within moderation I figure, makes a guy stay on his toes and theres nothing quite as exciting as having the 5-0 roll up! That drop in your guts wondering what will happen next is probably good for you, takes you right back to when you were a kid!....In moderation again...too bad you didnt get a pic of you with the officer! That would have been cool! Especially if you guys mimiced an arrest with you and your gear slung over the hood! Hey, nice job on the silvers though!
Mud...

 

[John-Edmonton]

That's too bad Jim. Mind you, no problems driving a police car on the grass. It only takes one person to ruin it for everyone....and often times takes many letters from many detecting enthusiasts, plus lots of time to set up meetings with city officials to to get that banning reversed. [size=x-large]That's one of the reasons I pinned a "How To Dig Targets With Leaving A Very Small Footprint Behind.....Very Important!"[/size]

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?32,1956553

 

[Ytcoinshooter]

Your bad mud...! Jim shoulda taken an ussie with the ocifer?!?
Truth is more and more places are enacting ordinances like that due to boneheads. When I see someone detecting I don't know I will follow them and sneak a peek at thier plugs. I hold no reservation telling others to be neat so they don't get ME banned. I take personal, I love detecting. Sorry that happened to ya Jim. Too bad yA couldn't have bribed him with a Dunkin combo. It has been a growing trend for towns and counties to address detecting clods. Makes me think my club should do a clinic for new members, be proactive not reactive. Before I got permission to hunt a few places I demonstrated how I retrive shallow and deep targets.
Glad you had a plan "B".
HH - Bruce

 

[jim tn]

Mud, I got the impression that the nice officer was actually referring to other locations. Yeah, you know you are in deep doo doo when out of the corner of your eye you see a white fender, wheel and tire just a few feet away. Rest assured, though, he witnessed a stellar hole refill.

John, the couple of other times I have had police officer encounters, they both drove out on the site, too. In this particular case, the road was only 25 or so feet away that he drove off of. HH jim tn

 

[Ytcoinshooter]

I've been in your shoes and it always sucks. A responsible careful hunter like yourself just chilling for a couple hours and yA have an encounter. Mud sure puts a funny spin on things (he gets me chuckling) we know those times are a pain.
HH - Bruce

 

[Ricki7]

What ever rec. Hobby you do. Someone will be against it and would do things to prove their point. Why do we assume it was a MD making the holes . A MD club from north Buffalo held contest at Wendt beach for years , ya know they covered their holes, the local soccer assoc. complained . I'm not sure they will be back. I love dogs ,All organized youth sports or people who go out and have fun on public ground . I think that the same rules should apply to for everyone , anyone doing damage should be fined . I read online that in 2013 someone proposed banning MD from Erie county NY parks . Why screw everyone and not just the offenders , if your dog craps and you leave it you get a fine they don't ban all dogs . I'd like to see how much the town and county spent cleaning up after tournaments , maintaining ball fields and fixing ruts left by cars after events , compared to MD holes. But it is the fiends with MD that need to be banned. Follow the holes and you may find someone with a shovel , who does not own a MD. I 'm going to prepare to attend meetings with photos of the damage that is acceptable by other people using public property. It is my opinion that yes educate diggers , but prepared to engage the people that are against everything that anyone else wants to do !! No matter how responsible you are they will be against you.
HH

 

[dgruff]

That sucks Jim. I had a lake ranger roll up on me last week...completely out of no where, even startled me a little by his sudden appearance. And I had a peculiar large rock that I found on the trail out. I thought "oh crap, I'm stealing one of the U.S. Army Corps rocks, and just got busted". He was just checking on my safety, he claimed, as it was a bad, cold day. He said he didn't think anyone would be crazy enough to be at the lake, lol. Talked for a minute and left, thank goodness. I'm ALWAYS mindful of my manners when detecting a public place. And it would really hurt my feelings if they started banning them around here. I'm also glad I live in a small town where there aren't as many detectors anyway.
And Ricki, you make a good point about all the other people doing who knows what all. The thing that gets me the most? LITTER! I hate when people do that! Even before I started detecting, I hated it.

 

[jim tn]

The litter is one of the things that gets me as well dgruff, on, well, just about every place people roam. Also, I frequently see maintenance trucks driving out on parks and similar places and do so whether it dry or wet. Yet, in many places we can't dig holes. HH jim tn

 

[hooelo]

Hey Jim I live 25 miles south of Nashville.i also belong to the middle tn metal detecting club.unfortunately there is no metal detecting in any city parks in Davidson county (Nashville).our president has tried for over ten years to change this ordinance .

 

[jim tn]

Thanks for the info. (I think) I have been hunting that park for several years, now, when visiting there and never been challenged before. I just checked a map and it is in Davidson county. In fact, I have seen squad cars go by when detecting on occasion. Oh well! Again, thanks for chiming in. HH jim tn

 

[Leslie(nova scotia)]

A sad case of a few ruining it for others. Glad you got a dig in at least!

 

[tarajudy]

I was hunting in a county park last week 950 ach (was an old farm) when an officer pulled up and asked me to search by the newly erected pole barn shelter for spent ammo. I did and found (1 44 cal hand gun shells some not fired yet.
He said they had reports of someone shooting guns at night. Gave him the shells he said thank you and we will patrol this park late at night and drove away

 

[Sooper Dave]

Hey Jim, I live in middle TN and found out the same way. I never hunt parks just normally door knock, but I hunted an old park in Nashville a couple of weeks ago and found a .380 pistol in the woods. I called metro police and meet with a park officer to show him where it was at. The first thing he said to me is detecting in the park was illegal and also went on to tell me any metro property has the same ordinance on it as well, and said schools are off limits too. He also told me that they have the right to confiscate your equipment and give a fine of $106. He was very cool about me being there, as I was helping them out. But I did mention that it should be posted in those areas and online, because I looked and could not find any laws saying no detecting. So I will continue to stick with my door knocking for permission. I post over on the Etrac forum but I cruise all the others and enjoy your post. You are doing very well this year, keep it up! If you are interested about my post of that pistol here is the link http://www.findmall.com/read.php?63,2121689
Happy Hunting, Dave

 

[jim tn]

Dave, I cruise all the forums, too, and saw your post. I sure didn't know that all Nashville metro property was banned for metal detecting. Our youngest son lives in the Old Hickory area and we get over there several times a year and I have been metal detecting parks and schools a couple of times every trip and have been for years. Although I might qualify, I'm not one for playing dumb in hopes of running into another tolerant police officer. Not everybody, however, either is aware of the ordinance or are taking their chances as I have run into other guys hunting on two other occasions and have seen chip scrapes in a couple of tot lots. Anyway, nice find and post on the pistol and thanks as well for the info. I was going to stay out of the parks, but was going to continue hunting a couple old schools I know of, on weekends. HH jim tn