ran off

[frankj3]

I was ran off from a local elementary school last Friday....after the kids had all left for the weekend. The school cop was friendly, inquisitive about MD'ing and all. He apologized saying he was just doing what he was told.....that he really didn't see anything wrong......especially since I was covering my holes so well he had a hard time seeing them. OH Well!!

However, I called the county's park director asking if it was OK to detect in county parks. He said he did not see any problems and that I should not have any problems. In fact, he told me to point out to any potential complainer that the rules posted at the entrance of each park stipulate what CANNOT be done.....and metal detecting is not on a single sign. So.....whoo-hoo! I'm heading out for new territory this weekend!!

Just curious. Have any of you been run off from a sight before?

HH y'all.

Frank

 

[coondog]

I have been doing a few schools in my area but only during the summer when kids are gone. No problems so far.

Sounds like the school cops are being told to shu anyone away that's not a student. I guess that's understandable with all the school shootings lately. You could probably make a stink about it but then they will just make a new law that says no unauthorized personal allowed on school grounds period.

It's pretty quiet in the summer and you can hunt all day if you want and no-one says boo. If some of the neighbors are around I try to say high and tell them what I'm doing so I don't arouse any suspicion.

There is so many areas And parks to go to around here that if one place is busy there is another place close by so I don't get to heart broken if one area is busy.

Good luck Frank.

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah, once, my first year detecting....hunted an abandoned school that was owned by a Parish...did real well one morning, went back in the afternoon and got run off by a priest...sort of learned that pretty much ALL schools are really only huntable very early on Sunday mornings throughout the school year, during the Summer, its pretty much the same since theres generally some sort of function going on...Which I guess is good in a way, since there so few hours and days that are good hunting on those grounds, the finds can build up to incredible levels...If theres ANYBODY around I dont hunt...same with parks...thats why rainy days make for good hunting...nobody around to mess with you at all...I never take any thing that looks like a "digger", just a screwdriver, no kneepads or toolbelt or anything that looks threatening, I want to appear to be some harmless old man who's not hurting a thing...best chance for getting the ol' heave-ho are anytime after noon...so I hunt early am and get gone by 10 or 11 generally..

I got run off a big public beach one night by the beach patrol too! They cruise up and down the beach looking for mischief, we talked a little, and I told them it would probably be a good idea to let me stay down here to keep an eye on things for them, they said beach is off limits at night, I took that to mean the time from sundown to @3am...So,...once I figured out their patrol schedule, I hunt it AFTER they have made their pass...which puts me there at 4am and I hunt until the people start to show up @9am. Never seen them since, nor them me, just their patrol vehicle tracks in the sand.

Generally if a fellow is friendly, dressed reasonably decent, a guy can talk his way into and out of all sorts of locations! Good Luck!
Mud

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Frank, no matter how you slice it: Our hobby has "connotations". You are never going to get 100% of everyone to love you, and roll out red-carpets for you. If you spend all your time trying to get gardeners, cops, and archies to sanction you, you might as well give it up now.

In fact, insofar as it concerns how you contacted the county and got their permission for their county parks, I'd say that even THAT was a game of Russian Roulette. In other words, someone else could walk into that exact same office tomorrow, ask a different bureaucrat, and be told "no you can't". And for example: were you sure to mention "holes" and "dig" and "take" and "treasure" and so forth? There's been no shortage of persons who "got permission" like you did, only to still be run off. And when the md'r proudly whips out his permission to the busy-body, they merely get on their cell phone, call down to city hall, and say: "... but he's tearing the place up!" Which isn't true of course, but guess what happens to your "permission" ?

So I hate to say it, but metal detecting is a little like nose-picking: Not necessarily "illegal", yet ... uh .... we *all* sort of use a little discretion in our timing. No one goes and asks "can I do it?". So for example that school person you ran into: to me that does not mean there is an actual rule that actually says such a thing (unless you can look up for yourself and see SPECIFIC verbage for those grounds which TRULY said "no md'ing"). To me that simply means: "avoid that one fellow in the future".

Yes I wish it wasn't this way. And yes I wish all gardeners and archies loved us. But so long as that's not the case, then the less people see of me, the better. It's gotten to where I hunt turfed parks at odd-ball times (early Sunday AM as mud-puppy says, for example). Or heck, even at night! So peaceful. So serene.

 

[metalfun]

I was ran off from a park in our small town by a town worker.I then went to the town hall to see if they had a written ordinance stating no metal detecting.They told me to come back in a few hours and they would let me know.(IMPORTANT)I WAS VERY NICE AND POLITE DURING MY INQUIRY. Came back in a few hours and they told me there was no recorded ordinance against md.Go ahead and hunt they said.I am still hunting the park but I think when hunting we need to try and avoid all confrontation when possible and as stated above try and be more selective on our chosen time to hunt certain areas.HH