attention: please fill in your holes!

[detectingpro]

A local park that I have hunted before, just banned metal detecting because (quote from parks official) "We recently have had many people digging without filling in their holes" this has gotten me quite upset as I found many wheats and some silver at this park. Also when digging, use a lesche or garden trowel. It looks like you are digging to china when you bring in a honkin huge shovel and dig a foot wide plug. So bottom line, please be respectful and fill your holes.

 

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[bennitto340]

Sorry for your loss, had the same problem last year at one of my good spots

 

[cooper1841]

At last.............a new thread, that hasn't already been beat to death.

 

[nickeltabs]

Metal Detecting Digging Techniques for Sensitive Areas -this looks like a very good technique



Ya I know what you mean -they just dont know how to dig for a target

 

[Msbeepbeep]

I feel your pain. We're about to lose all our state beaches to detecting July 1, and we are really not sure why
Trying very hard to stop it, we can only hope.

Next time some one leaves a big hole, make it a little bigger, then tell him it looks like a gold ring on the bottom! When he leans in to get it, whoops, and fill the hole real quick!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

detecting pro, be aware that when a city person cites the reason as ".... because of holes", it might just be the "go-to" reason they pass out. In other words, there may not necessarily have ever been a case holes they can point to. But .... rather .... when either a) they see someone out there detecting or b) someone just asked "can I metal detect": Either way, if they go to say "no", they will often subconsciously justify that "scram" or "no" they just gave you, by saying "holes".

But what it might simply be, is that "holes" is simply the knee-jerk connotation that our hobby has, EVEN if you left no holes, or they couldn't tell where you just were, etc..... It doesn't necessarily mean they ever actually saw someone's holes left open. It's often-time just the "go-to" reason, simply because it's the mental image that detecting, admittedly, brings.

 

[detectingpro]

detecting pro, be aware that when a city person cites the reason as ".... because of holes", it might just be the "go-to" reason they pass out. In other words, there may not necessarily have ever been a case holes they can point to. But .... rather .... when either a) they see someone out there detecting or b) someone just asked "can I metal detect": Either way, if they go to say "no", they will often subconsciously justify that "scram" or "no" they just gave you, by saying "holes". But what it might simply be, is that "holes" is simply the knee-jerk connotation that our hobby has, EVEN if you left no holes, or they couldn't tell where you just were, etc..... It doesn't necessarily mean they ever actually saw someone's holes left open. It's often-time just the "go-to" reason, simply because it's the mental image that detecting, admittedly, brings.

No, other people search the park, and I see holes people leave with the trash still in the plug. I try to fill them in, but everytime I go to the park, I find more and more!

Sent from my expensive phone I really don't need

 

[Tom_in_CA]

No, other people search the park, and I see holes people leave with the trash still in the plug. I try to fill them in, but everytime I go to the park, I find more and more!

Sent from my expensive phone I really don't need

Ok, then yes, there are cases where it's an actual ocurrances of holes, and not the scenario I cite.

Question for you: did this city person just tell you it was a "rule", or do you know for a fact it's actually "on the books" as a real city-park rule? The reason I ask this, is this:

About 10 yrs. ago, a buddy and I were detecting one of my city's parks. It's the oldest park in town here, that's been detected since the early 1970s or even earlier. However, one day my buddy and I had a city worker drive up on us with his park-utility golf cart thing, and say "you can't do that". When I objected (nicely) and said "since when?", his answer was not unlike the answer you got: "Because of holes". He told us he was just passing on the word his boss had told him, that to B.O.L. for md'rs, as this wasn't allowed.

When I heard the guy say "because of holes", I pointed around us and said "we just dug 7 or 8 old coins from this area. Can you tell a single spot where we were?" The guy looked around and agreed we weren't doing any harm or leaving marks. So he says to us: "what I don't see when I get off work, doesn't bother me". So we said "great, what time do you get off work". He said "5pm". We looked at the time, and it was 4:45pm right then. So we merely sat on a park bench till 5pm. Sure enough, we saw him in the distance putting all his tools back in the shed, locking things up, get in his pickup, and drive off. Whereupon we merely resumed detecting. And since then (10 yrs. ago) I have not ceased to metal detect there.

So what I'm saying is: you can check to see if it's an actual rule truly now on the books. Because otherwise, if one person simply says "scram", no .... I do not take that as an all-encompassing new "law". Just gotta give lip service, and well .....

 

[fella]

I feel your pain. We're about to lose all our state beaches to detecting July 1, and we are really not sure why

Well they better ban plastic pails and shovels too!

 

[daemon1971]

A local park that I have hunted before, just banned metal detecting because (quote from parks official) "We recently have had many people digging without filling in their holes" this has gotten me quite upset as I found many wheats and some silver at this park. Also when digging, use a lesche or garden trowel. It looks like you are digging to china when you bring in a honkin huge shovel and dig a foot wide plug. So bottom line, please be respectful and fill your holes.

Where in mi are you located? And perhaps park name if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Fletch88]

The problem is or from what I've ran into is the guys doing this aren't online at all to see these posts. Most I've seen are older don't give a damn! It got a civil war site banned that I could have hunted without driving for a day to get to.

 

[SavageHunter]

Sometimes the problem isn't people filling their holes, but rather dry ground. When the ground is really dry, the mowers will suck it right back out of the ground. I've seen this a lot, even to my own plugs.

 

[matrix master DBA]

We are having the same issues here in Louisville Kentucky. It is illegal for them to ban you from detecting in the city parks. It is a public park for recreation. You are the public and you are recreating. There is a local park here that detectorist were ban from because of "digging holes" and the soccer field looked like someone tilled it up with a tiller. They didn't ban them from playing soccer? I was told that it is discrimination and you have a civil lawsuit case.. Call your local police and ask if there are any laws against metal detecting in your city parks. I bet the say no. Its just a new park policy. Police are not policy inforcers they are law inforcers. Dont just accept what they say. Do some research and fight back.

 

[BC1969]

I was curious as well to which city its in, if I was to guess, I'd say royal oak, great parks tons of history.

Mike

 

[scotty544]

We are having the same issues here in Louisville Kentucky. It is illegal for them to ban you from detecting in the city parks. It is a public park for recreation. You are the public and you are recreating. There is a local park here that detectorist were ban from because of "digging holes" and the soccer field looked like someone tilled it up with a tiller. They didn't ban them from playing soccer? I was told that it is discrimination and you have a civil lawsuit case.. Call your local police and ask if there are any laws against metal detecting in your city parks. I bet the say no. Its just a new park policy. Police are not policy inforcers they are law inforcers. Dont just accept what they say. Do some research and fight back.

Hell YA!

 

[scotty544]

I had an interesting expirence in my own back yard last week. I was bored and didn't have much time so I hit my back yard for 30 to 40 minutes and made say 10 or 12 digs and filled them back in neatly of course. Well I was quiet surprised a few days later when I walked through the area and almost all of my holes had been dug up! There were several new ones also, the tell tell sign of the ARMADILLO!!! I guess it could smell the fresh dirt and dug in for some easy diggings!! Little *******!! Maybe I will get a crack at him soon with my AR! This may explain some of the other non-filled holes.

 

[Normsel]

I encounter holes that were not properly filled all the time and i stomp them down but I also detect in the same areas each year at the same time of year because parks replenish themselves. I have found holes that were properly filled in and stomped down but still have a depressed ring around the plug and you can tell something was dug. Guess what a cpl of them were mine and I am very careful to fill my holes so when I walk away I can't even see them.

I will also say that even though I could tell they were plugs to someone not knowing what had happened they wouldn't give it a second thought.

I had a guy pull up at a soccer field I was detecting last week and I thought for sure he was going to tell me to leave. He said I am happy to see the way you dig and fill your holes. I was surprised and found out he was an ex detector and said you dig and fill just like i did. He told me he was the manager of the park and near by golf course and he has told guys to leave in the past but if the detect responsibly he lets anyone detect anywhere except ball diamonds.

As I read in another reply the people that don't fill their holes are not on any detecting forums.