This subject has been beat to death but again its about open holes

Normsel

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Sep 10, 2012
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D'Iberville MS
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E-Trac
Equinox 800
Equinox 600
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Metal Detecting
This subject has been beat to death but again it's about open holes



I was out detecting at my honey hole on Monday and as I started out i went about 40' into an area i hadn't yet covered very well and i seen some sod just lying there and my 1st thought was darn did I somehow leave a hole open. Then i went about another 30' and there was another hole open and I then knew it couldn't have been me. I know it is possible to fail to fill one hole do to a distraction or something but not two in 30'. I scanned both of them holes and plucked 35 cents in clad and moved on. I covered another 7 holes before i quit and in about 1-1/2 hours I collected $5.02 in clad.

I have pulled over $50 in clad from the area and dug no less than 400 coins. I cannot tell where any hole I dug is no matter how hard i try. I am proud of the way i leave an area really get upset when i see that some people won't even take the time to kick the dirt in the hole.

I know the majority of the people that are out detecting take the hobby very seriously and my hats off to them but I am sure you all feel the same way i do.

I just hope that those of us that do detect responsibly keep the good work up.
 

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Seems someone else has a new honey hole now. Catch them in the act and give them a bit of education. I am assuming your honey hole is on public property?
 

Every once in awhile, i will leave a hole open "temporarily",to mark where i found something good.But other then that,I have been diiggin long enough to where kickin dirt back in a hole is second nature.But leaving exsposed hole out of laziness, is just pure ignorance.
 

I was hunting a ladies backyard one evening and was finding good stuff and quit due to darkness and came back the next morning and nearly all the holes I had dug were open. Turned out her dog had dug them out after I had filled then in.
 

Cutting 3 sided plugs or a slit will just about eliminate that from happening. Catching people in the act of leaving open holes doesn't seem to do any good unless you want to get into a physical argument. They just look at you like you have a third eye (the hopelessly ignorant ones) or tell you to mind your own business (the ones we hope quit the hobby). If you turn them in, we all get banned. It's best to just try to fix their mess and hope they don't kill detecting for the rest of us.
 

This also happens to me quite often. Turns out the critters like to dig the holes after i leave. Haven't dug much on others property. So no worries yet.
 

I had an experience last year very similar to the OP's. It has some history and is a Public spot that has been hit hard over the years. I've found many pieces of silver here, you just have to work slow and methodical. Last summer a woman and young boy were already there when I arrived and I could literally look across the area and see where she'd already been. She was currently working on a hole she widened to the 8" diameter of the coil on a very inexpensive detector. Obviously she had no pinpointer. The plug if you want to call it that was even larger and by the looks I knew would never have a chance of surviving. I approached them and started the typical small talk. How's it going ? Finding anything good? Then I explained that even though this is somewhat public ground (School District) we really need to be aware of how we leave it or it will become unavailable to all of us. Didn't seem to register. I showed her my pinpointer and explained whole they are kind of expensive they are worth every penny. Also explained the Harbor Freight alternative for under twenty bucks. (My Pro Pointer probably cost more than her detector) It didn't seem to do any good cause since then I've not only seen her but apparently her and her husband through out town digging with along nose shovel and even though the hole are filled it's "not good" ifyou know what I mean. Some people just don't get it!
 

Yup, some people just don't care. I guess they figure (wrongly) that once they're finished hunting the place, that there aren't any more target left to find so who cares if they can't come back. The problem with that philosophy, other than the obvious "it's hunted out now", is that the ban can extend to way more areas that just that one park.
 

I was hunting a ladies backyard one evening and was finding good stuff and quit due to darkness and came back the next morning and nearly all the holes I had dug were open. Turned out her dog had dug them out after I had filled then in.

my dogs do that too...and don't get me started on the ferile cats in the neighborhood...
 

We may want to slide up to these hole hackers and confide to them that just last week we saw a guy arrested and cuffed at the scene for destruction of public property, then shake our heads and say if he had only filled his holes,and walk away shaking our heads.

It may work on some of them, for the rest a good batting about the ears with a hard cotton ball is needed, wouldn't want to ruin a good detector.
 

One other thing I've personally seen happen. Some areas I detect are mowed with very large pull behind decks. When it is very dry and plugs are not cut right or replace with care and actually stomped down with some serious pressure the mower actually pulls them up. Sometimes shredding the plug to pieces. This has happened with plugs I have replaced when working in very dry conditions. I've actually marked plugs on private property and used the owners water hose to water the plug down before I leave. Naturally this only works under certain conditions. guess the only real solution is to not dig when our holes cannot be replaced with confidence. One approach would be to prioritize your available properties working the lawns and public parks when moisture is there, saving the fields. pastures and woods for the real dry times since regrowth of vegetation is not a huge concern. Just some thoughts.
 

I only dig a plug as a last resort. A lot of times you can cut a slit in the sod, pull it open, and poke around with a probe to find the object. Tamp the dirt back down and press the slit area closed. No plug, no mess, and it won't kill the grass. I dig the slit a little off to the side of the object so that I won't hit the object when cutting it. Anything less than 4 or 5 inches I use a brass probe and screwdriver to find. When I leave an area you can not tell that I was ever there.

I too, have come across a mess left by others. One time I saw what must have been a 12 inch plug with a pull tab laying on the ground next to it. I swung my detector over the plug, and maybe a foot from it got a screaming high tone. Abut an inch down was a new presidential dollar coin, my first one in fact. How the other guy missed that is beyond me! He was probably hitting his own trash signals over and over again when he tossed the trash back into the grass.

The same guys that leave nasty holes wide open are the same ones that leave a pile of beer cans at the fishing hole or line of food wrappers along the hiking trails. They are just inconsiderate @$$holes and there is nothing that we can do short of shooting them all to change that. All we can do it fix their messes and hope that they get disgruntled and find another hobby to ruin for everyone else. I become embarrassed when I see a mess left by someone else and will stop detecting to fix that before I proceed with my hunt. I don't want someone else to see open plugs and blame it on me!
 

How about the Thunters that dump all of the trash they dug in the parking lot?
I've probably picked up 30 pounds of junk from one area.
And.. if they walked another 50 feet they could throw it in a garbage can.
Clueless!
Keep Digging!
 

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Ya I just don't get that, the trash can is right there!
I end up filling holes on the beach MD'ers didn't make, just so no one thinks I did it, and also so I don't fall in it, klutz that I am!
 

It's funny when you walk into a tree or something low hanging cuz you're looking down.
 

I was hunting a ladies backyard one evening and was finding good stuff and quit due to darkness and came back the next morning and nearly all the holes I had dug were open. Turned out her dog had dug them out after I had filled then in.
:laughing7:That damn dog was trying to make you look bad!
 

Some idiot is leaving holes in Tucson also, I fill them in the best I can,,,,, sucks
 

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