Scenario - Question

[tab-nabit]

One of my buddies gone detecting today by an adult education center. We talked about hitting this place, well he did and I didn't (hand injury).
Anyway while detecting, he noticed some of the staff was kind of watching him after about 10 minutes or so, almost like he was an intruder. I told him maybe just curious. So he moved further away off the cut lawn into the weeds along the border of the grounds. After about another 10-15 minutes of them watching, he kind of smiled and waved. Nobody waved back. One of the woman raised her hands then slapped down against her legs, like in discuss, then quickly walked into one of the rooms. He could see her get on the phone and from in the room she was looking out the window staring and yapping on the phone. So he left feeling uncomfortable, after all, he didn't check in the main office to see if it was alright to detect.
So he calls and tells me this and he asked a scenario question.
He was using his Minelab SE with SunRay probe, carrying a trowel and a small shovel, maybe two foot handle and his pouch.

His question - If I was to go there under the same conditions except go with the little Compadre and maybe a small trowel, would the Compadre look less intrusive and maybe some of the watching folks may think differently compared to his situation where it looks like a serious machine and him ready to trench up the place - which may of prevented the woman in discuss making a complaining phone call????

He's thinking now the Compadre because it looks like a toy, may allow one to hunt with less problems by watchers. Well if one leaves big gaping holes, that's another story.

 

[nwdetectorist]

One of my cardinal rules is to never detect around any school that is open.
Never detect around any business that is open.
And I am always as neat as possible with my recovery process.
If I am confronted I want to be able to point out that the person will not be able to identify where I just recovered a target only a few feet away.
Sometimes this is the clencher to gaining trust and sometimes a return invite.

I always go detecting at sunrise (this means 5:00 a.m. in the summer); and I always leave before 8:00/9:00 a.m. or whatever the opening time might be.
This just saves me so much hassle.
Not to mention no background noise from traffic, no lookey-lou's asking what I am doing, and so on.

This is not to say that I have never been confronted.
All of the issues were during business hours; so I rest my case.

Get up early, get out there and Git-R-Done; go home and enjoy your finds without being hassled

Doyle

 

[marcomo]

It seems like good common sense to me to hunt at schools when no classes are in session. And an adult education center is a school.

If you detect when classes are in session someone who could care less about you actually detecting the property is likely going to care because you are going to be considered a distraction (or threat) to the students.

If the adult education center is privately (as opposed to publicly) funded then personally I would get permission first because it's private property.

Would a Compadre make a difference? I doubt it since regardless of what unit your friend swings it's still going to be very obvious he's swinging a metal detector.

 

[marcomo]

If I am confronted I want to be able to point out that the person will not be able to identify where I just recovered a target only a few feet away.

Excellent - I'll put that one in my memory bank!

 

[Dirtdiver]

Why does anybody need to use a 2 foot long shovel in a situation like that?
Seems like that would automatically raise a red flag.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Equipment wouldn't make a difference.Your friend felt like he was intruding and he was.The best action your friend could have taken was plan B hunt another site.The wave was a sign of defiance and he knew that all so.Would I attempt to hunt that site?No, because of your friend actions even when there is no classes the police are watching the place and you'll get a ticket and fined for trespassing.

 

[nad]

In Ohio,this town, the police would have been called..If your friend had no "official" business. he would have been written up for trespassing. The local college has clowns wander around searching.without permission..Someone just got hit for Criminal trespassing.Don't know the details..Makes you think..Other people have been coming into town and just pick an empty house and search...They managed to frighten an old lady living in the house, who hid until they left, then called the police...Guess who is waiting for them to come back.Or some new person thinking a detector gives them the right to go where ever they feel like..... If it don't feel right, you don't do it. Your friend knew he was screwing up, and was lucky that time. Why the hell do you think I ask? If the place of real interest, and I get turned down, I'll ask the local hysterical society to help me. ,...Or, I'll outlive the owner. Been there and done that.. Cordially Nad

 

[Mike Hillis]

I'm just hoping your buddy lives a long way away from my town. :veryangry:

A shovel of any kind in a lawn?
During business hours?
On private property without permission? You didn't say school, you said 'adult education center'.

Your friend is going to hose it for you. If he doesn't have any sense, maybe he needs to learn it. Have him go back tomorrow at the same time and rehunt the place.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[sandman256]

Is your friend brain dead??? You never carry a shovel of any kind on a lawn and without permission yet. It is guys like this that give us the bad lip and kicked out of local and state parks. Shovel indeed................

 

[dahut]

All of the above. Shovels? During school hours?

Keep in mind that while people know what detectors are for, they dont know why YOU are there using one. You, as a detectorist, are an anomaly in their eyes. This is even more keenly felt nowadays, with everyone so "security conscious." Academics and public serving beaurocrats are especially bad about it, as they tend to see themselves as elite and structured according to their own code. The best thing we detectorists can do is keep a low profile and stay under the radar.

You are not living in a 'free' country, where you can just do whatever you want, wherever and whenever - skip just one payment on something and you'll see that's true. I knoe people who has this same misconception. They think nothing of crossing obvious lines to detect on private property.
The fact remains that unless you hold the deed to a piece of property, then you are not on open land - someone else has rights of ownership and/or administrative jurisidiction. This goes for schools, parks, and all city property, even if there is no outright ban on detecting. That we get to detec in such places is mostly because no one really cares enough to push it. Where they do, we are most often the losers and are, indeed, banned.

Take Doyles advice and go there during closed hours, early or on weekends. Or here's another tip right out of Salesmanship 101: Get confident enough to go straight to the dean of the school, apologize for disturbing their carefully ordered world and request their consent. Here's how you do that.

Take a picture of all the trash you find there and make sure it's a lot of wicked, sharp looking stuff. Then email the pic of it to the head person, whoever it is. Tell them about your good works at clean up and your service to their faculty and students in this way. Remind them that you leave no trace of your having pursued your good works. Finally, use that as a calling card for a personal visit, so you can formally ask permission.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

n/t

 

[sqwaby]

About the only time I use a shovel type digger is at the beach, or in the woods or pastures relic hunting. In yards or parks a trowel type at most. You don't want to tear up someones lawn and not be invited back. In the parks I don't want the grounds people or anyone for that matter to think I'm going to do some sort of excavation, or dig up some water lines etc. by accident. Don't hunt during business or school hrs either.

 

[vw242]

n/t

 

[Adrian SS]

Nobody uses a shovel of any kind as a a metal detecting digging tool on lawns unless maybe the person is as thick as a plank.
I remember several years ago I recovered 2000 dollars in Australian one and two dollar coins from a lawned city park over a period of 70 hours of on and off detecting. and when I had finished nobody could see where I had been, then within the span of a week afterwards some clown detected that park and used a large digging tool and left holes all over the place and also left the rubbish he/she found lying on the ground. detecting is now banned in all of the city's parks.
It only takes one dickhead to stuff it for everyone else.
When I am detecting lawns I use a 5inch bladed pocket knife and a 6inch screw driver with a rounded tip, I also turn the detector sensitivity down so that the detector only responds to shallow coin size targets to 6 inches depth. If I cannot feel the target with the screw driver I leave it in the ground.
When detecting lawns you must master the art of pinpointing to be able to get within half an inch of the target otherwise you will be making a wider hole than what you really need to

Cheers
Adrian

 

[Ron from Michigan]

vw242,As a owner of a small horse farm that's a business.Don't present any kind of documents to a property owner for them to sign via a wavier or any other forms.That's a great way to be unwelcome.Would you sign a document presented by a stranger,whose purpose is to wonder around the place and dig in your yard to search for valuables.There is absolutely nothing to gain by the property owner.

 

[dahut]

In fact, your general attitude of "what's in it for them" is a good one.
For the most, part private owners and others whom we may wish to approach don't want to be bothered with us.

Certainly not if we come tearing up in the yard, stirring up the dogs, creating a general uproar - and then shoving a legal document in their face.

The sooner we realize we are the intruders and no one owes us anything in our quest for a few trinkets, the better we will fare.

 

[slingshot]

Hello, folks. Please! Someone should mention a 10" screwdriver with small shaft. I'm from the old school and on ANY place like this that's all you need. I was usually off on the weekends when I used to detect frequently-but one Friday I was off and just mistakenly forgot-and went through my routine at a local school. The kids ran out and were just excited watching me-we were having a ball-until the principal came outside. He was very kind-asked me not to detect when kids or staff were there-and when you think of all the shootings and weirdos invading these places-I couldn't blame him. I went in after the kids left and apologized and we shook hands and he said there was not a problem on the weekends when the schools were closed. Now I know many have these fancy knives, diggers,shovels-but we gotta keep these places open to our hobby. There are NO pirates chests on these locations! When you get a signal, you probe with the tip until you touch the object, then move over to it's side and go slightly past it, and lever it out of the ground. If you should ever have a deep target, you merely run the screwdriver in the ground and run it lengthwise cutting a "V" with the "flap" part where the target is and raise it and recover the target. God, I hate knives and shovels.

 

[Adrian SS]

I recall when I wanted to detect a college football field and when I asked for permission I was told that I would have to show proof that I had 1000,000 dollars Public Liability Insurance before I could be allowed onto the field to detect.
Adrian SS

 

[Ron from Michigan]

n/t