South Carolina SUCKS!

[Creekrat]

SC Beaches

I live in Surfside Beach about 4 miles down from Myrtle. I don't know where you were in SC but you are aloud to metal detect in both state parks here and the beaches in and out of water. Its a goldmine of rings and jewelry.

 

[jmaryt]

Jugger, You dont have to follow any laws if you dont want to! Take a look around...people get away with all sorts of things!
Mud

dead nuts right! go anywhere ya want! hunt ya brains out! if they "pitch" ya!
go somewhere else! simple! no horse sh*t!..

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[jmaryt]

Yeah...I know right!....

Tom will tell a story about a guy who was hunting an "Off Limits No Detecting beach" for a year making amazing finds, he got away with it too! Old gold and silver up the wazoo! He was wondering why he had this place all to himself! hunting it daily right in front of the Rangers and everything! He was completely unaware he was breaking the "law"! He just never bothered to ask, and nobody told him to stop!
Mud

reminds me of a state park i hunted long time ago!
didn't know ya couldn't hunt it in my state.found the "world" there!
hunted for a solid 8 weeks every day!..found out later the "warden" lived
in the "corner house" at the gate of the park!..he had "passed" and the state had not replaced him while i was in there hunting!..when they did, the "new" warden
caught me in there, and threw my as* out, and read me the 'riot act"..got away with all that super hunting for 8 solid weeks i literally cleaned it out! (hot damn)
nice to catch a break once in awhile! (true story!)

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[Scooterjim]

Tom,

Thanks for the info. Have you an idea as to where I should look for info pertaining to city parks? Like you said, I don't want to go asking city officials as I am sure to get a "NO"

Should I look for a city website pertaining to parks or go to the town hall and look for regulations? Greenville city has a rule of no soil disturbance in any city park, so I am assuming that Md'ing is a no go.

I'm headed out with the little lady to seek some private permissions if we can. I just didn't realize how many laws are around stating things like no soil disturbance but yet you can drive in spikes for a badminton net....go figure

Most cities with any kind of decent park system are going to have a website that lists park rules. They all have some kind of no dig or disturb law. Unless they specify no detecting I ignore them until told different. If you feel the need to ask, don't ask to metal detect, ask if kegs of beer are allowed, they will direct you to the park rules, if it doesn't say no metal detecting have at it. Use some common sense, stay off of fresh seeded ground or areas that they do more than just cut grass. 99 times out of a hundred the worst that can happen is a park worker telling you it's not allowed. Leave and go to another park Any place that you can get equipment confiscated or arrested is going to make it clear that it's not allowed. The spikes for a badminton net are just as illegal as digging for treasure but if no one cares it's ignored, set up the court in the flower garden and someone will care. Detecting works the same way, if no one cares you can do it. My states parks website make it clear that detecting is only allowed in specific areas with a permit, some even have time and date restrictions. They also make it clear that they enforce it and the penalties you face.

 

[maxxkatt]

In Georgia all State parks/property is off limits as any federal parks.
County and city parks have different rules.

But some county parks near me don't have a "No metal detecting" rule posted but do have "no digging" rules. I hunt these parks and the park maintenance people and police don't give me a second thought. Why? one reason I don't go in there with a big shovel and dig in areas that are not manicured grass and cover all my holes and take out all my trash.

the most I get out of the police or park employees is "find anything good?".
I also don't hunt on the busy weekends when you are likely to come across a busy body citizen who feels it is their duty to confront you or report you.

Maybe you could do the same in S.C.. Contact Calabash_digger and find out how he gets all the great private property permissions.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reminds me of a state park i hunted long time ago!
didn't know ya couldn't hunt it in my state.found the "world" there!
hunted for a solid 8 weeks every day!....

But then you got a "scram", eh ? No arrests, tickets, or confiscations ?? SAY IT ISN'T SO. And I also wouldn't have been surprised if your story had said that the eventual person you bumped into, either didn't care, or wasn't appraised of such minutia.

IN ANY CASE, once you got the "scram", and learned you shouldn't have been there, then I am assuming you dutifully turned in all the ill-gotten gain, right ? Lest you would have been conscience stricken, right ? If not, go ahead and mail all the stuff to be. I will make sure it goes through the proper channels, and absolve your conscience of all guilt. Ok ?

 

[jmaryt]

have no guilt tom! others wanted to get in there,but apparently no one tried.i just wandered in there and NO BODY bothered me,as i kept hunting till i got tossed!! no big deal, he just said don't do it any more...guilt? hell no! been at this too long,and know what gets it done!
if ya get ''approached",just leave and live to hunt another day is all! not worth all the bull sh*t to gain permission! waste of time! on to the next! that's all!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[Beachhunter]

Even if we leave no discernible evidence of our digging all they see is this.

 

[jmaryt]

Even if we leave no discernible evidence of our digging all they see is this.

yes! the french have a term for it!..they call it an "event physiological"
it IS what the general public "perceive" you to be doing when you hunt in a
well kept public park.this can have an adverse effect on the hobby..."perception"
is everything!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

...."perception"
is everything! ....

Yes. Our hobby has "connotations", eh ? That we might be about to "leave a hole", eh ? And sure, you and I can debate them till-we're-blue-in-the-face, about how we'll cover , stomp, fluff, and leave no trace, right ?

But why even enter into that debate ? Why even go there ? Just choose lower traffic-times, when said lookie-lou (or cop or ranger or gardener, etc...) isn't there. Presto, problem solved. Kind of like nose-picking: Rather than debate people that it's legal to pick your nose, .... instead, you just choose more-discreet times to pick your nose. Right ? Same concept for md'ing.

Some people call that "sneaking around". Ok, fine, then sneak around

 

[georgeinsc]

The State says that you can hunt Most State parks with permission of the park Manager. However if one finds a relic you must leave it where found and inform the Manager of the location.

I have never been run out of a city or county park in SC However The City of Charleston says NO metal detecting on any city of Charleston Property. So far I have not been caught.

Charleston County says No Metal Detecting in ANY county park. I have not braved the gestapo so far.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The State says that you can hunt Most State parks with permission of the park Manager. ......

This is not an uncommon "easy answer" that gets into print, at a variety of places. And a bit of "back-story" is in order :

In the 1980s (pre-internet era), a fellow wrote a book called "Treasure Laws of the United States". His attempt was to make a one-stop-shopping compendium detailing the laws, regarding each of the 50 state's state parks. Such that people who, for example, travel around in RV's, can simply turn alphabetically to each state's page, and know right-off-the-bat whether allowed or not -allowed.

And the way the author went about it , was (drum-roll): Asked. Yup, he xeroxed off 50 copies of the exact same letter, and mailed it to each state capitol heads-of-park's dept. The letter read something to the effect of "What is your state park's policy regarding the use of metal detectors ", blah blah.

Pretty noble effort, eh ? And who-better-to-ask, than the powers-that-be there, eh ?

And, like your quote here, many of them, who perhaps had no express DIS-allowance (ie.: silent on the subject) would answer back, with odd answers like you cite. Ie.: "With permission" or "Inquire at each kiosk you come to", or "at the discretion of manager of individual site", blah blah.

Thus readers of the book took that to mean that they had to get permission at every park they came to. That certainly sounds like what the answer conveys, eh ?

BUT ODDLY, when you look into the ACTUAL WORDING of the park's rules and laws, it NEVER ACTUALLY SAYS "with permission" anywhere. In other words, whomever was saying this, was just giving .... uh ... the easy answer. And yes, for sure an individual park ranger can indeed call-the-shots on his terrain. Ie.: tell someone to stop doing something dangerous, etc... And sure, perhaps *some* state parks have a historical sensitive theme (that common sense logic tells us md'rs to avoid). Thus the *easy* answer was "With permission" or "inquire everywhere" blah blah.

Yet it doesn't actually say that anywhere, in actual laws or rules. It was merely commentary, so-to-speak. And after the book came out, you had old-timers scratching their heads saying "since when ?" . It was CLEARLY a giant case of: "no one cared, till you asked" routine. And in those states, with the "with permission" line, no one was "asking permission", as it had simply never been an issue.

Then the problem with the people showing up at each individual park's office, and asking , as the book says, was a giant "self-fulfilling loop". Where this "pressing question" perpetually now pops up. And rank-&-staff at each location, pass the question up-the-chain to a purist archie. And then guess what happens ? Pretty soon, it becomes a new or invented rule, or policy that now-becomes-in-print. Gee, aren't we glad we all asked ?

I was there, as a young man, when all of this evolved. So I saw it first hand happen exactly like that.

.... However if one finds a relic you must leave it where found and inform the Manager of the location......

Oh gee, and let me guess how many md'rs "rush to the nearest ranger station" to turn in all their old cool objects. Eh ?

Reminds me of the "permit" that NYC dreamed up. In the fine print, on the back, it too says that any object over .... I think ... $25 value must be turned in to the city. And when a city personnel was interviewed, several years after the invention of this permit, could recall no items ever brought in to the city. Gee I guess those NYC hunters never find valuable objects, eh ?

 

[jmaryt]

Yes. Our hobby has "connotations", eh ? That we might be about to "leave a hole", eh ? And sure, you and I can debate them till-we're-blue-in-the-face, about how we'll cover , stomp, fluff, and leave no trace, right ?

But why even enter into that debate ? Why even go there ? Just choose lower traffic-times, when said lookie-lou (or cop or ranger or gardener, etc...) isn't there. Presto, problem solved. Kind of like nose-picking: Rather than debate people that it's legal to pick your nose, .... instead, you just choose more-discreet times to pick your nose. Right ? Same concept for md'ing.

Some people call that "sneaking around". Ok, fine, then sneak around

i've done my fair share of that over the years.generally,if i got "pitched" from a site, would wait, maybe two or three weeks, then pick a day, and or, a time to go back and "wack" it again! problem solved.

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[georgeinsc]

Tom i looked up the state regulations re state parks and it says plane and simple. One can detect with permission of the park manager. Do go twisting what I said. There a few parks that it states NO METAL DETECTING. Complain and gripe all you want but your complaining and griping falls on deaf ears and those of us who complain are not going to change the mind of some politician who listens to the folks who complain about us being there detecting.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... Do go twisting what I said. .....

Not "twisting" at all. I have no doubt that's what the "commentary" says. All I'm saying is : Guess how it came to be that way , in the first place ?

 

[georgeinsc]

Not "twisting" at all. I have no doubt that's what the "commentary" says. All I'm saying is : Guess how it came to be that way , in the first place ?

And like I said what good has all your pissing and moaning on here done to change the mine of some rectal orifice in a government office. NOT ONE DANGED BIT.
.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Here was a thread about "commentary" vs "law" :

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=264945&highlight=commentary

Although the "with permission" pat-answer wasn't given as an example of "commentary", yet .... it's another form of "commentary".

And if it ever actually got beyond commentary/FAQ stuff, into actual codified laws/rules, I have a sneaking suspicion of what leads up to that

 

[Tom_in_CA]

And like I said what good has all your pissing and moaning on here done to change the mine of some rectal orifice in a government office. NOT ONE DANGED BIT.
.

Yup. And guess what happens when md'rs try to "fight" supposed laws & rules ? All it ends up doing is shine more-light-on-us (ie.: bring us all-the-more on to their radar). And ends up bringing more laws AGAINST us. Not FOR us.

So the best thing that will benefit us the most is: The LESS attention towards us. Not the more-attention.

Anytime our "pressing issue" ends up on someone's desk for "princely sanction", is when silly pronouncements start coming forth.

So I don't pretend for a second that my "pissing and moaning" will change anything, at administrative levels. I'm just hoping that we md'rs will realize how these things get started in the first place. So as to alleviate the self-fulfilling vicious loop from progressing further.

 

[jmaryt]

always been that way!..like to ''soil" yourself tryin' to convince the "powers that be"
that you are NOT damaging property.incredible waste of freaking time! "exposure" has ALWAYS been a dirty word in this hobby.more inconspicuous you are the better! fortunately,
"most" impartial observers have given us a "pass" over the years, and if they had cared "two sh*ts"
we all would be practicing our digging technique in our own backyards, and no where else,
or (heaven forbid) playing' golf, and goin' broke...i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[jmaryt]

Asked "who" ? Fellow md'rs what their experience is ? Or the powers-that-be, in charge of those parks ?

If it was a "green light" from the powers-that-be, then at first blush, this would seem to be fodder to the "should ask" notion. After all, it's hard to argue with a "yes". Right ? Hence stories of "yes's" just push the next person to think "aha, great idea. It's a good thing to know I can !"

But ... this always struck me as an odd conclusion. Because what other answers could you have expected ?

1) If they had said "no", then the conclusion would have been same. Eg.: " Wow, It's a good thing I asked. Because now I know I can't detect" (never mind if a law or rule *really* exists that says such a thing) Vs

2) If they said "yes", you'd conclude the same thing: "Wow, It's a good thing I asked, because now I know I can detect".

But is there really any other answer ? Do you think this 3rd option is a possibility ?

3) Would they say: "Gee, that's a funny question. Why are you asking me? If there's no rule against it, you don't need a green light from me".

No. Of course not. Authority figures never answer with #3 option. They will grant you their princely powers of #1 or #2. After all, you asked. And that implies that their princely say-so opinion is needed. Right ? Otherwise, if it didn't need their say-so, why would you be asking them ?

why not just hunt,and make 'em 'commit" to tossin' ya! it's all phscycological anyway, and ya saved YOUR valuable time by NOT attempting to do the 'right thing" (so to speak!).ya win if they leave ya alone! if they approach ya, ya gone!
ON TO THE NEXT!..simple ! no !!!!,and save "tons of grief! "..just sayin' been doin' this for 35 years! (lol!)

(h.h.!
j.t.