ASKING PERMISSION

[watercolor]

The rules of where you can MD in public areas will vary. In the town that I live, you cannot MD in the town parks because it would be classified as "Destruction of Public Property" (digging, removing, disturbing manicured grass areas, etc, etc) but, you are allowed MD the grass strip areas between the paved street and the sidewalk. These areas are VERY productive especially when they're in front of older homes. . . just make sure it's OK with the home owner since they are the ones that maintain these areas.

Many of the smaller towns in our area have more flexible rules so it's OK to MD. . . just make sure you neatly replace the turf over all the holes you dig and remove any trash you run across. . . this will help everyone, including yourself, incase some local "busybody" calls the police.

When hunting school property, ALWAYS get permission from a school staff member in the office and plan your hunts during "off-hour" times. . . also, many schools require that you check in with them each time you visit.

State Parks will generally have their own set of rules that govern MD'ing. . . The State Park in WI that I hunt requires a MD permit (good for the season) and will list the types of areas that are open to MD. It also mentions that IF you find something of archaeologic importance, you must notify a ranger of your discovery. It also mentions if you find expensive objects (jewelry, etc) you must turn those in to the park office.

Take care & HH!

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Watercolor, a few questions for you:

Is your advice to ask permission for public schools applicable if the school yard is open for any other users after hours? Like, if, on any given day, a person could drive past there at 5pm and see people jogging the track, kids on the monkey bars, shooting hoops, etc..., do you still ask? Let's assume you were only planning on hunting the sandbox or 1" deep or less in the turf (so the "digging" thing is not an issue), do you ask, in light of other people freely using the facilities? If so, and if the digging thing is not an issue because you were only going to sand or shallow stuff, then I am curious why you consider yourself different than the other after-school users? Like I say, this question is only for cities/locales with open school yards to other uses.

Re.: turning in expensive jewelry to park's dept's: Have you done this? How do you determine the "expensive" value criteria? Do you get things appraised, and if they come in at $XX or more, it's "expensive"? Just curious.

 

[watercolor]

Watercolor, a few questions for you:

Is your advice to ask permission for public schools applicable if the school yard is open for any other users after hours? Like, if, on any given day, a person could drive past there at 5pm and see people jogging the track, kids on the monkey bars, shooting hoops, etc..., do you still ask? Let's assume you were only planning on hunting the sandbox or 1" deep or less in the turf (so the "digging" thing is not an issue), do you ask, in light of other people freely using the facilities? If so, and if the digging thing is not an issue because you were only going to sand or shallow stuff, then I am curious why you consider yourself different than the other after-school users? Like I say, this question is only for cities/locales with open school yards to other uses.

Personally, even if the school-yard is open and it's 5:00PM, I would still want to be "on record" with the school (prior to my hunt) for having been granted permission just in case I was questioned by a concerned parent, teacher or the school grounds-keeper. Even though your point that "digging" is a non-issue, the fact still remains that you may be the only adult among a group kids and it's situations like this that are best to avoid.

Re.: turning in expensive jewelry to park's dept's: Have you done this? How do you determine the "expensive" value criteria? Do you get things appraised, and if they come in at $XX or more, it's "expensive"? Just curious.

Unfortunately, I've never found a piece of jewelry to turn in to a State Park's "Lost & Found" department. As I recall, the permit stated that if you find something important that may have been lost. . . like jewelry, you turn it in and if no one claims it after a certain amount of time, it's yours.

Take care,
watercolor

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Even here in the mountains of ole WV the schools have signs up that say ( school grounds are
to be used for school related activities only )