permits,posting ect..ect.....can they keep us out?

[redneckplanter]

i ran into the permit/ stay off federal/ state land thing too.....
i don't want to desecrate any historical sites,nor do i want to look for illegal artifacts....
i looked under the texas antiquities act......and i believe the public beach access act from the late 60's?
do other states have antiquity acts? some say 50yrs by state i believe federal is 100 years?
i thought all states had to provide some type of public beach access?
best loophole i could find was that army corps of engineer beaches were huntable in what is called predisturbed areas?
aren't all beaches at least the area for swimming predisturbed?
gets muddy...and seems to be a hot potato....if there is not a no mding sign at a public park how is the detectorist to know?without calling every park commisioner in the state area?to me if there is no sign stating no hunting that [to me]implies we don't care......how does the law work on this?
any clarification by the experts.....?

 

[khouse]

Call your corp of engineers office and ask for a permit. State parks may be off limits.

 

[XT18000]

n/t

 

[XT18000]

It's my understanding that in Texas you can hunt from in the water up to the vegetation line. Past there you may
be tress passing. You can not detect in any state park or national seashore. The county park at Port Aransas
requires a permit ( I have never been there sense they started this so I can't say if it is a parking permit or
to M/D on the beach. You can get this permit a the Bob Hall fishing pier and they can explain. Again let me state
that this is What I have only read or heard check it out for your self be for making plan's.) You are advised to down-load
a copy of the Texas Antiquities Code and READ IT and then decide for your self as to what you are willing to do.
( I think it"s a lot of crap ;but that's beside the point IT IS THE LAW ) Texas is NOT M/D friendly and that's a FACT!!!
There may be other area's I have not included here so be sure you check it out first+++++ Good Luck & H/Hing.

 

[redneckplanter]

thanks
i'll do some more research
i app. your time guys.....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I don't know about Texas beach rules, but let me put it to you this way: Here in CA, I've been hunting beaches since the 1970s. At that time, it never even occured to anyone there might be a rule or whatever. I mean, we'd have just thought "it's a public beach isn't it? Where else does a person detect?" or whatever. In other words, the beaches here have just been detected since the dawn of time, and no one's ever said anything, thus no reason to ever think anything otherwise.

But then one day, when the internet was fairly new (late 1990s), there was a post on a forum, where some said they were coming to CA on a business trip. They wanted to know if they could legally detect on state beaches here. Being from CA, that one caught my eye. As I got ready to answer the guy, I could see that someone else had already posted an answer to him. So I clicked on that one first, and was amazed at the answer. Basically someone else had merely gone to a book called "Treasure Laws of the United States", by an author named "Grimm". They had merely quoted what was on that page, as it concerns State of CA owned parkland (I guess beaches and parks are both "state parks" right?).

Amazingly, state of CA owned beaches were riddled with rules. Things like "alert the ranger upon coming and going" "turn in all jewelry to lost and found" "flag any spot where you find an old coin, and alert a state archaeologist", blah blah blah. If not ourtright restricted, it was at least very dire sounding But what amazed me, was that we detect state of CA beaches all the time, in front of anyone and everyone (yes, even rangers), and no one ever says anything. It occured to me that, Gee, I sure hope someone doesn't go up and ask a ranger: "Can I metal detect here?", lest they look it up in their books, and say "no". And then guess what will happen the next time they see another md'r? They'll start booting others.

So sometimes it's better to ask locals what the real "feel" of a place is. Because if you start asking, you may get "no's", when in fact, no one would really have ever cared or noticed. Like picking your nose: No one cares, as long as you don't ask.

 

[Mirco]

I don't know about Texas beach rules, but let me put it to you this way: Here in CA, I've been hunting beaches since the 1970s. At that time, it never even occured to anyone there might be a rule or whatever. I mean, we'd have just thought "it's a public beach isn't it? Where else does a person detect?" or whatever. In other words, the beaches here have just been detected since the dawn of time, and no one's ever said anything, thus no reason to ever think anything otherwise.

But then one day, when the internet was fairly new (late 1990s), there was a post on a forum, where some said they were coming to CA on a business trip. They wanted to know if they could legally detect on state beaches here. Being from CA, that one caught my eye. As I got ready to answer the guy, I could see that someone else had already posted an answer to him. So I clicked on that one first, and was amazed at the answer. Basically someone else had merely gone to a book called "Treasure Laws of the United States", by an author named "Grimm". They had merely quoted what was on that page, as it concerns State of CA owned parkland (I guess beaches and parks are both "state parks" right?).

Amazingly, state of CA owned beaches were riddled with rules. Things like "alert the ranger upon coming and going" "turn in all jewelry to lost and found" "flag any spot where you find an old coin, and alert a state archaeologist", blah blah blah. If not ourtright restricted, it was at least very dire sounding But what amazed me, was that we detect state of CA beaches all the time, in front of anyone and everyone (yes, even rangers), and no one ever says anything. It occured to me that, Gee, I sure hope someone doesn't go up and ask a ranger: "Can I metal detect here?", lest they look it up in their books, and say "no". And then guess what will happen the next time they see another md'r? They'll start booting others.

So sometimes it's better to ask locals what the real "feel" of a place is. Because if you start asking, you may get "no's", when in fact, no one would really have ever cared or noticed. Like picking your nose: No one cares, as long as you don't ask.

I share your point of view 100% . But not every one does. On one another thread a person with a New York mentality and background very angrily told us to keep going through different offices until finally in one of them there will be said "NO!". After which you will be able to peacefully tell oneself that MDing is not allowed and go to Yankee Stadium to watch something that by mistake is called "sport".

HH!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Mirco, thanx for the support. Yes I think I have run up against this New York fellow(s) before too. On the one hand, I sympathize with this "ask" crowd, because, they've got this mindset of handcuffs and fines, or whatever. They can throw out EXTREME exception cases where someone was detecting a sandbox and got hassled. But on the other hand, I see that this whole mindset of "asking", is exactly what gets rules invented for, in the first place. Ie.: the minute you "ask", it merely implies that something is so inherently wrong with you, or your hobby, that you needed to ask to begin with.. Since when did it need permission? Would you ask to whistle dixie or fly a kite? So the mere fact that you ask, will only cause someone to think they need to take the safe route and tell you "no", I have never asked permission, nor even inquired of rules (barring a sign, or that it's an obvious historical monument), and have rarely had a problem. Just go at low/no traffic times, and be discreet (like picking your nose). If someone has a problem, they're welcome to tell you. No harm done. Now of course, someone will come on-line citing rare instances of someone getting roughed up. To that I would say that, yes, sometimes an overzealous cop or ranger will over-react when your walking around in that innocuous park or school. So too will a driver with a tail-light infraction occasionally be roughed up and thrown in jail. You can't run your life by these exceptions.

 

[EARTHLINGX]

state parks, national forest, national landmarks, monuments, grave yards... off limits to metal detecting.... national forests and state parks depending on where and laws you can sometimes pan and sluice

 

[TRIPLE-SSS]

I just recently e-mailed TPWC inquiring about their rules and regulations regarding metal detecting. The answer was as follows. only 2 ways to detect. 1---If you lost a personal item in the national forest, you could use your detector to find it only with written permission from TPWC stating where, when, what item you lost and a timeline when you want to look for it. 2---a historical society or something like that looking for something very specific. In short. NO.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Triple-SSS, what's "TPWC"?

 

[Mirco]

I just recently e-mailed TPWC inquiring about their rules and regulations regarding metal detecting. The answer was as follows. only 2 ways to detect. 1---If you lost a personal item in the national forest, you could use your detector to find it only with written permission from TPWC stating where, when, what item you lost and a timeline when you want to look for it. 2---a historical society or something like that looking for something very specific. In short. NO.

"NO" - always will be the responce to request or inquiery about MDing. Those people love to say "NO". No matter what you ask them. To feel important, powerfull and necessary. Reason for this ? - Read Freude.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Micro, without knowing what "TPWC" is, I was going to say the same thing you just said. In fact, I have seen people get "no's" at places that others of us old-timers have detected since the dawn of time. I think to myself "that's funny, no one ever said anything to us this past 25 yrs?". Once again, the old motto: "sometimes no one cares UNTIL you ask"

 

[Rob (IL)]

You won't have any trouble hunting the Texas beaches except for the National Seashore and the state parks.

The county park at Port Aransas requires a parking permit as does most of the beach on Mustang Island. There is no metal detecting bans on beaches in the area except the ones I mentioned . Rob

 

[redneckplanter]

thanks guys
i keep reading and learning....what a storehouse of knowlage.....
almost like an online classroom.....
thanks for the tips.......