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other problems within our hobby

G

GRAY GHOST

New member
hello all, i think there are some problems within our hobby lately that have caused some negative publicity. we are now under scrutiny [thanks dobbie] it seems. any incident concerning mding picked up by the press is sure to be blown way out of proportion! all of a sudden, we have people blowing themselves up disarming ordinance in a residential neighborhood. trespassers getting caught almost daily, and feigning ignorance of the laws. the night hunters who hit off limits spots and leave their trash behind and dozens of uncovered holes. nowadays, i see many more of the dreaded red signs going up. good places to hunt are getting hard to come by. i can say with great certainty that it didn't used to be this way. most of the mdr's i know i would not invite into my own home, because i know the way they go about doing things. i've got a couple of good partners that i go out with once in a while, but that's it! you know, i really don't want to be the bad guy, i've left a couple of holes uncovered, and made the honest mistake of trespassing one time. the owner agreed that the property lines were static at best and let me off the hook.
the three guys caught mding the manassas?! battlefield each recieved fines of 18,000, 28,000, and 28,000 bucks respectively, and 2 years federal time. they had found a nice cs buckle and had sold it to a collector for 3,000 bucks. well, the feds confiscated the buckle AND the money used, and it looks like the collector is out some cash. the guy who got the 18,000 dollar fine just sat in the car!
they say it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. and it is. it's too late to try to teach the spade munkeys how to cover their own holes, especially if they've been doing this for a while. what we CAN all try to do is show the young people coming into the hobby a good example like i was shown many years ago. the new people are the future of our hobby. i think a regular posting of the rules of metal detecting would be a good idea. i need to be reminded sometimes too, and i'm occasionally corrected by my peers. i got no problem with that! but, be young, have fun, and make some great finds! thanks for reading, not trying to preach, and hh,
 
OK, I have a question? I take my dog to Manassas battle field alot, am I volating any laws about having my detector in my car in the parking lot? Robert
 
I never leave my dog or metal detector in the car for a extended amount of time.The heat buildup in the car will destroy the electronics in your unit.The laws for these national battlefields has been very strict for a lot of years regarding metal detectors.My guess you could receive a fine and your detector could be confiscated.
 
I agree. As stupid as it sounds, it could and probably will happen. It doesn't matter if it's legal or not. Sometimes these guys just get a bug up them and treat you like your guilty. America is a far different place now then when I was born ('61). You could detect anywhere and almost nobody would say boo. Now it's better to not test the officials at that site and leave the machine home. Also it is real bad to cook (or freeze) your machine's electronics. Hope you don't run into any of these problems. HH
 
All the big national battle sites for years have not allowed metal detectors in the parks example Gettysburg.Most new people in this hobby don't understand a metal detector doesn't give you the right to search at will.I like the question from the new guy on the forums can They ask the guy don't the street in the old mansion to search their grounds and they get rejected.Would you let some stranger come and dig up your yard and invade your privacy????if so your not very smart and asking for trouble.So to the new hunter leave people a lone.Its almost as if they got religion and on a Crusade.
 
Coinnut,I think our big National battle sites should be protected.As a taxpayer good for the park ranger who does his job.Our historical sites need protected at this point too many people are rewriting facts about history.
 
No argument there. I agree on the important sites. I was just trying to convey that it's not about right or wrong. When you get arrested, you will lose that case. Leaving the detector in the car and taking it into the park are two different things. The intent is completely innocent, but the results could be the same. You could be arrested. That's expensive and degrading. I just hope the park ranger who he meets, will do his job and not over step it, seeing that this guy is NOT detecting. Having a detector in the car is not breaking the law, but I hate to see an over zealous ranger go the other route. HH and be safe.
 
an old hunter friend of mine visited the drewry's bluff battlefield park with his son, opened the trunk in the parking lot to get a drink from his cooler before going in, somehow or other a park ranger spied his metal detector and made him completely disassemble it right then, in several pieces, and took his two batteries. he was allowed to keep his detector, but got the third degree about how easily he could go to jail, how detectors are expressly forbidden on battlefield sites, and so on. uncle sam ain't playing, people! and neither is the old shotgun toting farmer down the road! you really should obtain permission for just about anywhere you plan to hunt, cover up your holes, and be responsible about things. i don't think our great hobby is going to take much more of all this crap going on before uncle sam decides to step in and start regulating us. that would be bad! thanks, and hh,
 
ok now this is what I was talking about, I wasn't metal detecting on battlefield i just happenened to have it with me when i was there.
 
I know some parks you can certainly be arrested for having it in your car, even if you don't use it.
 
How would the rangers even know it's in your car? Do they make it a habit to search everyone's car, including the trunk, just in case someone happens to have a metal detector?
 
I don't feel sorry for those guys who get caught!
We have some night pouchers here in Indiana as well.
I don't like people in my yard either but I'm afraid respect for others
just isn't something that is as common as it used to be in the olden days.
RR
 
A retired park ranger told me while he was with the park service he would MD the C and O Canal and an old place on the Potomac on the night shift. He said the rangers would watch after each other. He said he got a lot of good stuff. I didn't like what he told me, but what could I do? It would just be he said I said thing.
 
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