Staying cordial with detecting brotherhood without giving spots away

49er12

Bronze Member
Aug 22, 2013
1,238
1,630
Rolling Rock, Pennsylvania
Detector(s) used
Minelab xterra, Whites DFX, Notka Makro Simplex. Folks the price don’t mean everything, the question is are you willing to put in the time to learn the machine, experience will pay off I guarantee it.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You no how many time I talk to a fellow detectorist and feel like telling all. You no I’m not selfish, I’m not going to live forever,but I must be hesitant to be completely open. It’s not about trusting people, but we love sharing finds, but locations we worked so very hard to find, sorry off limits except to us3 we trust. To all my friends here, is that a common felling or just honesty. I’ve love nothing more than to share especially with younger generations when possible,heck even give a coin or relic to. But am I so different or do you agree, thankyou
 

I've shared some hot, unique beach areas with a couple close friends, told them in advance to keep their mouths shut about it.
Shared a site that was giving up civil war relics including hat badges, buttons, bullets and a coin from 1835 - But it was a time sensitive street tearout, after I combed it up and down for a week I shared that, before it was lost for generations to come under cement.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/634170-oldest-coin-date-1835-a.html

Other than that, mums the word, generally do not want to give away any productive areas.
 

I don't worry much about giving anything away . heck I even posted a treasure map of the area where I found a civil war sword a little over a year ago.
I've also given advice on here to people hunting my home town of Fredericksburg Va where I hunted for 30+ years ,I'll never be hunting there again so why not?
given the chance some people will dig your spot so if it disturbs you keep it to your self..
I think it's funny when people join this site and ask where do I hunt .
 

I take a different approach because I think everybody should have the opportunity to search for lost history.

So if you want to do some detecting at my site, just drive North a few miles until you see a piece of sagebrush on the left side of the road. Turn there and go several miles. Then, keep going for awhile until you see a rock on the left. Turn there. Keep going for an hour or so and look for the jackrabbit on the left. Turn there and go 2 miles.

Have fun!

Oh.........and take lots of water just in case you get lost. LOL
 

There may be guys here who remember this but there was a site called greatlakesmetaldetecting.com, its obvious focus and most of the forum members were from the Detroit area.
Small site but thats not a bad thing, guys got to know eachother better and there were't floods of posts every day. Well this one guy who I won't name because he at least used to post here, maybe still does, but he posted about a water site in the Detroit area where he was hauling out loads of old silver and rings ,,, Within the next few days there were literally dozens of guys out there swinging, and there was a huge blowup between that guy and the mod and a couple other guys who knew about the spot and didn't want it advertised.

Site ended up folding a few years back, but that to me was a good illustration of why you should not broadcast hotspots and honeyholes ,,, I think this guy, who is a pretty cool guy that I personally detected with a few times after the blowup [if you are still out there SD, hope all is well], just couldn't resist bragging and showing everyone who wanted to see what he has found. I think it was part vanity, and part his general nature not to be secretive, he even gave the layout for a super honeyhole that he was hot on the tracks of, not sure if he ever found it.
 

I take some folks to my best spot. If they don't reciprocate, they don't get invited back and its private property and posted...they can't just sneak in.

BTW I don't take people to hunted out places. It wastes my and their time.
 

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If it was or is a permission I detect, I wouldn't let someone else detect it because they may go in without me and not have the same respect I would have and therefore I could lose my permission because of someone I let detect it with me. But if it is a public place I would tell them about it.(Permissions/NO, public areas/YES)
 

It really up to the individual to share or not,for me I always wish to someday be invited to hunt in a area of historical value because it’s like water for drinking there used to be plenty but slowly it’s starting to disappear
 

I have a nice place where I pulled 4 pieces of jewlery so far. Dont really plan on telling everyone on the internet where it is.

I have a friend that's semi interested in detecting. If he invest in a machine I may show him. But for now it's just me and my 7yo.
 

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Joined a detecting club back 13yrs or so ago just because of a few folks that I got to know were members. I'd go to the monthly meetings after a day of hunting in and around the area. I would put the days finds on the finds table and won a few prizes for best. I was always asked "Where did you find that?" I'd be open about it as I wasn't from the area and it didn't matter really as most were out of parks anyways. (private permissions were never revealed)
So my buddy would email me the next day and tell me how many cars and guys were hunting at the said site(s) :laughing7:

Lazy arses all of them basically-can't gather up enough energy to do their own research/door knocking-just riding on the coat tails of others.

Nope I keep the cards close, even had to tell others to edit their post ups of a hunt on one of my permissions. If I want the world to know, it's my business to let them know.
 

Though I have yet to hit a "Honey hole" detecting, I once had a salmon fishing spot, a small area where the fish would hang. I took a "friend" there once for his birthday. Well, he told a friend, who told a friend -------

I'll confirm if a park is ok to detect, but if I ever find a great spot - it's mine until I clean it out.
 

I never reveal a producing site until I have done my best to clean it out over some amount of years, or its changed condition and no longer can be hunted (parking lot, construction, etc). I've had too many sites poached and raided over the years.
 

I've had dozens of people comment on my YouTube channel asking to hunt with me or asking me where I hunt. Unfortunately, I've never had anyone offer to take me to their honey holes. I will gladly tell them the towns I detect in, but that's about as specific as I get.

Too bad no one asks me where NOT to metal detect! I've got a list of at least 50 spots that were stinkers and never gave up jack squat. I could save them a lot of time by giving them that list, but no one thinks outside of the box in that regard. They just want a list of all the good spots! Sorry, not gonna happen!
 

I've never hesitated to take a buddy to a new or old site. Yes, I have been disappointed by a few that went back on their own with other people, but, for the most part karma has been good. I like to detect with folks I know or I am introducing to the hobby. These days I get just as excited when a partner makes a great find. :occasion14:
 

You have a good heart, Terry, but finding virgin colonial sites isn't easy, to say the least. Sharing them with anyone would be like shooting myself in the foot. Way too hard to find another one after it gets picked clean by a buddy and the friends he takes to the spot when I'm not around.
 

Nothing wrong with having a few secret spots. Especially if its a permission or took a lot of research. Heck, I'll never give away my best secret spot, not even to my own blood.
 

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