Being new to detecting, I was wondering if any of you get sweated or kicked out of schools, or parks digging up the grass? Iv been wanting to get a lashe digger to help, but want to do the highschool football feild. What is the worst than can happen if you got caught digging holes at a school. Im very clean at digging i think. Was just wanting some secerets, or pointers to help not get in trouble. My point is if i was to dig a small hole and be carfull will the grass grow back? I guess its why i liket the rivers and creeks in my area because i don't have to worry about nothing.. Well have a good day..
Find's Treasure Forums
Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!
You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.
Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.
Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.
Click here to register!
Need Support Help?
Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you
Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.
Just a question
- Thread starter Jessgo33
- Start date
Go to the principal of the school you want to dig at and ask his or her permission. Assure them you will dispose of all trash dug and found in the area and if any items are found that have been listed in their lost and found will be returned to the rightful owner after identifying such items. I myself am very selective which targets I dig in sports fields. You are not only representing yourself as a responsible person you are also representing a great hobby that for the most part takes pride in their ability to retrieve a target with little or hopefully no evidence anyone was there. Good luck. HH
We have no local laws here banning detecting on school property, so I see no need to ask permission and nor do I want to "open up a can of worms," so to speak by asking and in good probability, receive a no. I do select times of no school activity, carry small retrieval tools, don't dig in hot, dry weather and always neatly refill my holes and carry off all trash. HH jim tn
Detectorguru
New member
If its a nice field you may get the boot.
Caretakers get the galloping shudders when they see anybody on their "turf" with a "shovel"! They are nervous about their sprinking system getting dug up, and their are usually signs that say: no wheeled vehicles or golfing allowed...most of your viable targets are going to be at the surface, or at most 4" deep, so I just take a screwdriver and pop 'em out leaving absolutely no sign at all! Leave the digger in your vehicle...if you do hit a target on an older field that is too deep to pop, (that would be in the 7" range and beyond) I carry a folding knife...its a cheap chinese locking folder with a 4" blade that is partially serrated...I first stab the target with the probe, whip out the knife, quickly carve a circle the size of my fist around the probe, remove plug and probe at the same time, reprobe, and pop! replace plug, and move on...I HAVE got booted off of even PUBLIC sports complexes...not booted entirely, just told to stay off the fields...reason? somebody in the past dug holes the size of garbage can lids, and left an awful mess...if you get the time to talk to the caretakers, and show them how you leave no sign, and the amount of trash you have gotten, they are usually cool....If you get the chance, print up some professional looking "business cards" that state you are a "recovery specialist" or some such with your phone number etc, and give it to whoever approaches you in this regard in case somebody has lost a ring, or they need a sprinker junction box found, or whatever...you may wind up with a nice field all to yourself!
Flintstone
Well-known member
First off, i always go to the office and ask, even i know it is ok to go to schools.It is much better to get the ok and be neat, That way you don,t need to be looking over your sholder all the time.
joe dirt_1
Active member
Circumstances vary from location to location. If the field looked like a pro stadium and well kept I would ask permission first and only use a screwdriver to pop shallow coins. Digging a plug would more than likely get you booted out by the groundskeepers who put a lot of effort into keeping it looking nice. Most targets will be shallow in a newer location as this one, so no need to really dig here.
My local football field is an average small town field, nothing fancy at all but the location was an old fairgrounds at one time where Abe Lincoln supposedly made a speech. I grew up in this small town so I know the people that take care of the mowing etc. of the football field so they just wave when they see me there hunting. I wasn't the first to hunt this field but I was the most thorough in my search and it paid off. I found several silver half dollars, a 2 cent piece, 3 shield nickels, lots of mercury dimes and old wheaties there along with a 10k class ring and some sterling silver jewelry.
I only dug a plug in the spring or fall when the ground was moist or in the summer after a good rain and never saw a dead spot in the grass. Several targets were dug in the 8 plus inch range and by cutting a deep hinged plug you couldn't tell I had ever been there. If it makes you feel better ask permission. If you dig a plug dig it deep and leave one side attached so there is no doubt as how the plug goes back in the ground. If you make it impossible to tell you have been there then you will be fine. Good Luck !
Roger
My local football field is an average small town field, nothing fancy at all but the location was an old fairgrounds at one time where Abe Lincoln supposedly made a speech. I grew up in this small town so I know the people that take care of the mowing etc. of the football field so they just wave when they see me there hunting. I wasn't the first to hunt this field but I was the most thorough in my search and it paid off. I found several silver half dollars, a 2 cent piece, 3 shield nickels, lots of mercury dimes and old wheaties there along with a 10k class ring and some sterling silver jewelry.
I only dug a plug in the spring or fall when the ground was moist or in the summer after a good rain and never saw a dead spot in the grass. Several targets were dug in the 8 plus inch range and by cutting a deep hinged plug you couldn't tell I had ever been there. If it makes you feel better ask permission. If you dig a plug dig it deep and leave one side attached so there is no doubt as how the plug goes back in the ground. If you make it impossible to tell you have been there then you will be fine. Good Luck !
Roger
MarkCZ
Well-known member
Its takes being good at pin-pointing.
I use a 6" small shaft Phillips screwdriver with the tip cut off and then the end grounded off round on a grinder (this is called a probe)
Next start pushing the probe in the ground center of the target (gently) feeling for a metallic contact.
If you don't hit anything, pull the probe out and move a little off from your first probe hole, keep doing this until you contact the target.
When you hit it then you pull the the probe back up away from the target a little, then while the probe is still in the hole push the handle over sideways at an angle enough that you can push the probe back in past the target but off to the side of it.
At this point you are going to lift (lever) the probe up ripping a little hole above the target, pull the probe back up and out a bit and at the same angle but a little different direction push the probe back in again, then lifting the handle (like a lever) and ripping the soil again.
Now! this is like chop-sticks.
Pull your probe back up straight and set the tip back on top of the target, with the other hand's index finger follow the probes shaft down to the target. Now here is the trick! lift the probe up a bit off the target, then tip it just enough until you can get off from the edge of the target and flip it up, when you do this you will be able to feel the coin between your finger tip and the probe. Now, lift the one hand and the probe out of the hole at the same time like chop-sticks and bring the target out of the hole.
When your done just take your fingers and push the lifted soil back over and down and your done! I can hunt a High Dollar Keem-Lawn yard and not hurt it!
In fact To this day I have trouble taking a plug even from places that it doesn't matter!. Now! it takes time to get the feel for it. And once you get The Feel and get use to your probe NEVER change probes! you'll be lost if you do.
My Dad and my older brother started off with wooden handled ice picks.
Whatever you use you want the tip to be blunt and rounded off. Brass is a good idea its less likely to scratch your target, but if the whole shaft is brass it bends to easy when you try to do the rip and flip.
I have "Ripped & Flipped" countless coins and people never knew I was there. Yes, I have scratched a few coins but I have never found a coin that was priceless or even rare. The better you get, the less you'll scratch, you will learn to do "Surgical Extractions" like laparoscopic surgery.
In the right place I will trade a small scratch (possible) over not getting the target at all, or gaining a bad re-pore.
The probe Rip & Flip is an art.
Mark
I use a 6" small shaft Phillips screwdriver with the tip cut off and then the end grounded off round on a grinder (this is called a probe)
Next start pushing the probe in the ground center of the target (gently) feeling for a metallic contact.
If you don't hit anything, pull the probe out and move a little off from your first probe hole, keep doing this until you contact the target.
When you hit it then you pull the the probe back up away from the target a little, then while the probe is still in the hole push the handle over sideways at an angle enough that you can push the probe back in past the target but off to the side of it.
At this point you are going to lift (lever) the probe up ripping a little hole above the target, pull the probe back up and out a bit and at the same angle but a little different direction push the probe back in again, then lifting the handle (like a lever) and ripping the soil again.
Now! this is like chop-sticks.
Pull your probe back up straight and set the tip back on top of the target, with the other hand's index finger follow the probes shaft down to the target. Now here is the trick! lift the probe up a bit off the target, then tip it just enough until you can get off from the edge of the target and flip it up, when you do this you will be able to feel the coin between your finger tip and the probe. Now, lift the one hand and the probe out of the hole at the same time like chop-sticks and bring the target out of the hole.
When your done just take your fingers and push the lifted soil back over and down and your done! I can hunt a High Dollar Keem-Lawn yard and not hurt it!
In fact To this day I have trouble taking a plug even from places that it doesn't matter!. Now! it takes time to get the feel for it. And once you get The Feel and get use to your probe NEVER change probes! you'll be lost if you do.
My Dad and my older brother started off with wooden handled ice picks.
Whatever you use you want the tip to be blunt and rounded off. Brass is a good idea its less likely to scratch your target, but if the whole shaft is brass it bends to easy when you try to do the rip and flip.
I have "Ripped & Flipped" countless coins and people never knew I was there. Yes, I have scratched a few coins but I have never found a coin that was priceless or even rare. The better you get, the less you'll scratch, you will learn to do "Surgical Extractions" like laparoscopic surgery.
In the right place I will trade a small scratch (possible) over not getting the target at all, or gaining a bad re-pore.
The probe Rip & Flip is an art.
Mark
Doing so provides support for the public parks and schools and, since they are maintained for the pleasure of me and my family, I'll enjoy that opportunity.
On a rare occasion I see a site with a NO Metal Detecting sign at a park. Very rare! Most often that has come about due to poor technique by those who have been there before which simply tells me that they shouldn't have been detecting there even if they had asked for permission! Most of the time they simply say NO Go Carts, NO models cars or planes, NO golfing. As long as you/we don't give anyone an opportunity to fault our recovery techniques, then we can just keep plugging away (pun) to get what we can from these sites.
In time we can all polish our detecting skills and that includes our pinpointing techniques and recovery efforts. You can recover the bulk of all coins, tokens and jewelry from most grassy parks and schools (located from surface to about 4") by using a blunted screwdriver or similar small tool. Naturally, you will have to master the art of pinpointing a target, but that's necessary anyway. I use a rounded-off screwdriver for 90% or more of the coins I find in typical park and school sites.
There will be times when I need to go deeper a little or deal with some challenging conditions and grab my Lesche digger. I try to take as much care as possible to make a neat plug, and quick recovery, replace the dirt and plug in the position it was in to start with, and tamp it down to be solid and smooth with very little blemish.
As others have commented, most people you ask are not the ones to make a Dig/No-Dig decision, and even if you do all you might be doing is opening the door that causes them to think of what they can do to make more decisions .... even when not needed. Just enjoy the sport. Enjoy the search. use the best coil for the task (I favor a smaller coil) and master the art of pinpointing and target recovery.
If anyone can put in several hours a day for 1 week searching ONLY their own yard or that of a friend or family member, and at the end of the week feel embarrassed at the disruption and mess they have made, then maybe they shouldn't be doing recoveries out there on public property? At least not until they can do it all right. Those are just my thoughts but I've expressed them often for over four decades.
Monte
On a rare occasion I see a site with a NO Metal Detecting sign at a park. Very rare! Most often that has come about due to poor technique by those who have been there before which simply tells me that they shouldn't have been detecting there even if they had asked for permission! Most of the time they simply say NO Go Carts, NO models cars or planes, NO golfing. As long as you/we don't give anyone an opportunity to fault our recovery techniques, then we can just keep plugging away (pun) to get what we can from these sites.
In time we can all polish our detecting skills and that includes our pinpointing techniques and recovery efforts. You can recover the bulk of all coins, tokens and jewelry from most grassy parks and schools (located from surface to about 4") by using a blunted screwdriver or similar small tool. Naturally, you will have to master the art of pinpointing a target, but that's necessary anyway. I use a rounded-off screwdriver for 90% or more of the coins I find in typical park and school sites.
There will be times when I need to go deeper a little or deal with some challenging conditions and grab my Lesche digger. I try to take as much care as possible to make a neat plug, and quick recovery, replace the dirt and plug in the position it was in to start with, and tamp it down to be solid and smooth with very little blemish.
As others have commented, most people you ask are not the ones to make a Dig/No-Dig decision, and even if you do all you might be doing is opening the door that causes them to think of what they can do to make more decisions .... even when not needed. Just enjoy the sport. Enjoy the search. use the best coil for the task (I favor a smaller coil) and master the art of pinpointing and target recovery.
If anyone can put in several hours a day for 1 week searching ONLY their own yard or that of a friend or family member, and at the end of the week feel embarrassed at the disruption and mess they have made, then maybe they shouldn't be doing recoveries out there on public property? At least not until they can do it all right. Those are just my thoughts but I've expressed them often for over four decades.
Monte
wvrick
Active member
I detect school yard tot lots, and I never have a problem with grass not growing back or dead parches. A good pin point first and probe to locate the target then cut a plug. I think the 3 sided plug works best leaving one side connected and fold it over, the plug alignment is right and most of the grass roots are connected at the fold letting the grass creep back if its hot and dry. Most of my plugs are with a dirt knife, and 6" deep, X about 5" wide. We don't need permission where I hunt but I don't hunt if and kids are there.
HH, Rick
HH, Rick