Magazine articles - good or bad?

[Mike Hillis]

I enjoy reading treasure magazines. They normally have pretty good articles. Although at times you can tell the mag is desperate from some of the stuff published, like last year when Lost Treasure published an article where a guy was hunting cemeteries and then had to post a detraction about it on a following issue

But....has anyone ever experienced someone submitting an article about a place near you where you would sometimes hunt? I have.

I had a place near me, a site with lots of old homesteads that was a fun place to go, not only for the detecting but also just because it was neat place to spend a day. Then some guy decided to write an article about hunting it for Lost Treasure. Care to guess what happened? Suddenly there were fences and No Trespassing signs all over the place. Totally ruined even as a picnic spot. All I can figure is that folks swarmed it as soon as they read about it. Swarmed it bad enough it was placed off limits. I had sometimes thought about writing an article or two about some neat sites I've found, but after this happened I've decided that I'd rather keep the site available than have my name in a magazine.

I still read the magazines, only now I feel sorry for other detectorists when I see their sites opened to the stampede that will inevitably follow because somebody needed to see their name in print.

Am I alone in thinking this way?

HH
Mike

 

[wayne_etc]

Hey Mike

How did folks figure out the location of the site? Pictures? Descripton? Did the author go as far as to name the city? I think this could be prevented if the authors used vague language about the location, and no photos that would give it away.


w

 

[BuckeyeBrad]

n/t

 

[jabbo]

n/t

 

[goodmore]

Not to mention the reviews of detectors. I don't think I ever read a negative review. If it is in the magazine it is a winner. I wonder who the biggest sponsors are?

 

[jim tn]

I agree with you, Mike. Naming the spots name and location will do far more harm then the little bit of credence the author thinks is lended to the story by doing so. Many, many years ago, I wrote a small article for a state outdoors magazine on late season trout fishing using grasshoppers and crickets. I, of course, mentioned the stream and the stretch I had fished, in the article. For the next three weekends, that stretch of beautiful stream was inundated with fishermen and my name quickly became "mud" with the local property owners. Naming names and locations can be very harmful. HH jim tn

 

[Sven]

Back in the 70's.
A local club member spent years researching a spot, a picnic ground, In a small town since the 1800's.
He had gotten permission to detect and found a bunch of old coins. He happened to mention it to a friend who mentioned it to
another who was a writer for WE mag. And you know how stories go....the story gave exact location etc. Seemed like a handful of coins,
ment buckets, readers came from all over to hunt this 1 acre site. Shortly after, no detecting was allowed in this small park.

There was a Revolutionary War campsite that suffered the same fate. It covered 3 acres in a farmers field. Once word got out that several
guys with permission to hunt found stuff. There would be 20 cars parked on the side of the road with countless guys pounding the site.
Leaving large holes for the livestock to fall into. The land owner drove by one morning and saw what was happening, told everyone to leave.
Some guys argued with him, asking him for proof it's his property........State Troopers were called in, everyone was kicked out, for good.

 

[silversmith]

Amazing how someone will screw lots of people out of something if they can make a buck or get a little attention. And, you really can't point a finger, the left wing, the right wing, rich or poor, they'll all do it. What usually happens to me is like someone will tell me "did you hear, they caught some guy shooting up at the Quarry in the wrong direction, and fenced it, now nobody can go shooing there."
My response it "Uh......I didn't know you could go shooting at the quarry "

 

[Mike Hillis]

n/t

 

[Mike Hillis]

I agree that you have to read between the lines sometimes but I like them for the fact that the more you can read about a machine the more you can learn about it without having to actually buy it. In fact the more the better, in my opinion.
HH
Mike

 

[marcomo]

Add me to the list who completely agrees with you, Mike.

You know I like to discuss detecting. But you gotta draw the line at discussing those good spots. With anybody. Even people who don't detect. If you've got a close friend you detect with, you better be sure it's a really close friend and someone who can keep their mouth shut.

Loose lips sink ships...and screw up good detecting spots.

You absolutely made the right decision to not write articles about those neat sites. Even if you were vague and didn't give directions, someone who knows where you live could possibly figure the spot out from the article.

We all have spots like that, places that produce good finds and are just a really enjoyable place to be.

I know I'd be upset if a detecting article brought in the mobs to one of my good public spots.

 

[slingshot]

It happened several times at the Treasure club I USED to belong to. Several fantastic sites were disclosed at the meetings and the places looked like hell. It's ONE of the reasons our hobby is in so much bad light all the time.

 

[tab-nabit]

I like reading the mag articles - especially when I'm supposed to be working.

I have 2 spots I still hunt a couple times a year, and been hitting these since mid 80s. I go alone with the exception of taking the dogs and the wife once in awhile. I do this because back in the 80s, these 2 spots were my silver hot spots. After all the silver coins and stuff I have pulled, I still get some nice finds once in awhile. Because on how well I had done, that's probably why I kept detecting afterward. I would be very upset if someone else went in there then published an article. There are several in the area that detect but my spots seem to not attract any attention to others. I have never seen another detector in there. Other than this - I have not said anything nor will I ever post pics. Even when I go there, I drive by, and if the coast looks clear I park in a kind of hidden area. Then I sit and watch. I don't even want anyone see me walk in there with a detector which might give ideas. Don't worry, just a couple secret spots for me and all legal there. I even watch when driving there if I'm being followed - lol. A MD dealer and couple of friends sure would like to know where I found some of the stuff they seen. Nope - not gonna happen. I don't care how upset they get when they try and work me over because it's "Nada & Nada-II".
Years ago my favorite sturgeon fishing spot was published with a map. I had that spot for years and always to myself and a friend. We figure someone must have seen us catching sturgeon probably on more than one occasion. It was a hot spot. After they published it, we couldn't get in there at all as it would be packed every time we would check for the next couple years. It ruined it for me.
I don't mind some open public areas, but some spots are sometimes best not disclosed.
Yes I take friend to other spots, but never to my good old digging grounds. I didn't take the wife for some but finally gave in after a couple of winters of cleaning up in there and she understood with no problems - that's because she got some of my finds and I like to keep peace so I can continue going.

But I'll continue to read the articles although I never have though about trying any that were published with the exception of some gold nugget hunting I have done on a couple public known areas.

What I do wish at times when I read detecting articles - would be nice to state which detector make/model, settings etc., more often.
And I wish there were more mags and more often since I still work full time

 

[hershey1]

Great Topic. I have some great spots that have civil war relics,old coins,indian artifacts and most importantly permission to hunt them. I treasure the permission more than the treasure. HH