Mad like Edmonton John's message:ranting::rant::stars:

[M_d_in_guy]

I volunteer 3 days a week here to a just cause. I try to get out for a few hours as much as I can after volunteering. Today I went to a place where it`s been partied, walked, sexed, talked, and almost any other thing you can think of under the sun that people do in a beautiful place where there is an island for enjoyment. If I ever see the person or person`s that md`d here they should be locked up! I spent more time filling their holes after taking away their target that they dug and just left for criticism by passer`s by! A beautiful plug they dug, yet had no idea as to how it can fit back in the hole. Sorry but I have to vent here after all there is a pride we take that is written and at times not written to fulfill. I did put the word out that if these people are caught they will be charged in some way, I believe it is the same one or one`s that did the damage to our fairgrounds after the fair left town!

I took their left prizes that remained buried and they will be caught!

Cheers and let`s daily keep this hobby in good light.

HH

Jon

 

[John-Edmonton]

Someone else in Edmonton again recently was digging 12 x 12 inch holes to retrieve a one inch target. How much stupid is out there?

HOW TO DIG SMALL HOLES - http://www.findmall.com/read.php?79,1956552,1956552#msg-1956552

 

[senda]

+ 1
senda

 

[M_d_in_guy]

Hi John, the plugs for the most part were laying a foot or two away from the dig, if they were put back in most of them were soil up and only set there, not re-planted. Since I was there and people saw me, I did have to be sure all the damage was corrected otherwise it would fall on me possibly. This took away my detecting time wind down time and pure enjoyment.

 

[John-Edmonton]

n/t

 

[William-NM]

+1 Jon & John. Unfortunately, it's hard to teach ethics, manners and common-sense to people that don't have them - but still worth a try... I do think that we could come up with a standard packet that concisely and strongly emphasizes the responsibility that we bear as ambassadors for our hobby to pass out with each detector purchase. I know that Garrett includes the code of ethics in the manual, but I wonder if some people even read it?

 

[Terry in PA]

I detected a local church yard before and placed the plugs back in the holes and made sure everything looked just the way it was before I was there. I take pride in doing a good job at that. But I walked by the same church yard the very next day and to my surprise all the plugs were out and the holes were open. Seems that the neighborhood skunk had paid a visit to the church yard the night after I hunted it and dug out all the plugs. So I put them back in and gave them a good stomp and didn't have that problem again. I stomp all my plugs tight now.

 

[Johnny Cache]

I detected a farmyard a few days ago, and the farm dog tagged along with me. He is a massive, young, playful Rottweiler. Every time I would carefully replace a plug, he would scratch the ground and dig the plug out! I wasn't sure if I should continue, it would look bad! He eventually got bored with me, and chased the resident farm cat around lol. I hope he left the plugs alone after I left.

As for people digging like idiots and not properly filling their holes---that is inexcusable! What a brainless and lazy thing to do, makes us all look bad.

 

[Dancin' Dave]

I detected a local church yard before and placed the plugs back in the holes and made sure everything looked just the way it was before I was there. I take pride in doing a good job at that. But I walked by the same church yard the very next day and to my surprise all the plugs were out and the holes were open. Seems that the neighborhood skunk had paid a visit to the church yard the night after I hunted it and dug out all the plugs. So I put them back in and gave them a good stomp and didn't have that problem again. I stomp all my plugs tight now.

I had the same thing happen to me several years back. I cleaned up the mess and went back a day later to make sure everything was still intact. Giving the plugs a good stomp helps. I also discovered that digging your plugs a little extra deep holds them in place better plus it helps preserve the root structure of the grass so that it doesn't die. In addition, it good to always wear gloves ... not only to protect your hands but to keep your scent out of the dirt. Varmints like coons, squirrels, and skunks have an innate curiosity about anything that smells different in the ground and have a tendency to dig it up.

As far as irresponsible detectorists not filling their holes ... I concur with the comments made. The first line of defense for our hobby is us so we have the obligation to educate, reprimand, and (unfortunately) clean up after those who are less aware or concerned.

DD

 

[wvcoinhunter]

Unfortunately Ron White says it best! You can't fix Stupid! That is the kind of things that make it hard for people to want to let us detect on their private property!! I'm with you, I fix them when I see them, but sure takes a lot of time, and people still see the destruction!! I have witnessed someone leaving and digging bad plugs and I brought it to there attention, and tried to teach them the right way to dig a plug.

 

[M_d_in_guy]

This has been great with all the ideas and personal commitment being offered, it's good to see so much heart in detecting, cheers and ty for all the replies.

Jon

 

[fongu]

I seldom dig a plug anymore. When I do, I pry it up enough to stick my propointer in the hole if I can't see the target and on targets that are shallow, I just pop them out with the screwdriver. The propointer helps me dig the smallest hole possible to recover the find and most of the time you can't tell where I've been. I do refrain from hunting when the soil is extremely dry except in areas that have no grass. Since I've worked on my pinpointing skills and combined with the advice of more experienced people on this forum and others, and my handy propointer, my holes are so much smaller than when I started this hobby in 1997. I've had quite a few people talk with me about detecting and when I mention I would be glad to show them how to recover their targets, they don't have much interest. One person I talked to a few weeks ago mentioned this old fort and I said it was owned my the historic commission. The next time I ran into him he said he could get his friends who lived on either side of this old fort to let me on the property and I informed him it was off limits unless I got in touch with the historical commission of the county and got written permission from them. The old fort is gone and then he asked me about detecting in the water and I said that was off limits too. The young guy who gave me a jump start when the battery connection failed also had done some detecting and told me he found 10 rings in just a little while at a local state owned park before he got kicked out and hadn't even asked if it was okay and it isn't because I asked last year when the water was down. It seems to be okay unless you get caught, but this attitude is sinking our hobby. HH

 

[mudpuppy]

Times have changed....You'd think the MFG's would step up and try to sell pinpointers and probes instead of trowels with each detector purchased, or at the very least include one 6" probe with the unit and a nice write up on how to use it. As well as a blaze orange sticker right on the top of the coil that says "NO DIGGING" and a link to a vid of proper retrieval techniques... You'd also think theyd get together and try to turn around some of those parks that were placed off limits to detecting, just for their own good as a business selling detectors.

Fongu is right, now a days the only thing a guy needs is a screwdriver in most public park/field/school situations...used to be a guy could carry a knife on school grounds, but now if you are seen ANYWHERE with some sort of shiny tool that LOOKS like a knife you are asking for trouble...toss in a toolbelt, kneepads, and some goofy device that looks from a distance like a weapon, and really attract attention!

If a noob calls to order a detector and asks what other gear they might need, first thing they hear is, a trowel! So they naturally think its just peachy to dig a great big hole for a 1" penny.

All we can hope for is the MFG's ( and these treasure hunting shows) do their part in the educating process if its not too late...You all know damn well a guy with a screwdriver can flat out hunt a guy with a trowel all day long in most public park/field/school hunting situations, so howcome noobs are sold trowels in the first place? Just a few seconds on the phone with a potential buyer, assessing the skill level of the purchaser, and strongly stating proper retrieval techniques would be a start...

I have no other answers to this dilemma, ignorant folks dig big holes and generally mess things up, hopefully the groundskeepers are equally ignorant and think a badger was rooting around for voles...hopefully the stupid digger gets discouraged digging a hole the size of a garbage can lid for a 1" penny and quits...

Theres so much more to this sport than just going out looking for metal that is not adequately explained upfront to the customer...
Mud

 

[M_d_in_guy]

A couple more great posts. While reading them it reminded me of a fellow I went out with detecting a few months back, I didn't pay much attention to his digging as I was busy with mine. I went back to the place just a week or so ago and noticed the area he was working still had quite a few targets, when I dug them it was way to easy with a flop out came the plug. I then realized why he was low on trash where I had a fair bit of it. I'm sure he was dropping the find back in the hole if he didn't want it. I'll be going out with him again late fall or early spring so then I'll watch to see if this is what in fact he was doing. Cheers and hh.

Jon