Are these spots public?

Lavishlogos said:

I've been doing research, and it has lead me to a few properties.
I am not sure if these are considered public? I assume I will have to try to catch somebody there to ask but what about:

Community centers?
Town hall?
Civics club?
County highway dept?
Redevelopment Authority of the city of *****?


Some of these, like the last two on the list are just fields. The other properties are community use centers, and I don't think have any one owner.

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Everyone one of the examples you list : Sound public to me ! And I don't say that as a smarty pants . I say it sincerely.

But if you're still fretting, then the advice when you "ask", is only to ask "Who owns it ?" If it's some sort of governmental agency, then presto, there's your answer.

As opposed to asking "Hi, can I metal detect ?". Lest you merely become the latest victim of "No one cared until you asked" routine

Unless it's some sort of obvious historic sensitive monument, then I never hesitate to hit places like you describe. And of course, be mindful that there's never a guarantee that every passerby will adore you. I mean, our hobby has connotations after all (that you might be about to leave a hole, blah blah). So .... just use common sense timing so as not to swat hornet's nests.

I would say yes that in all of the situations that you mentioned that they would be public. I would check online to see if the agency that runs them has rules that explicitly prohibit detecting. If you don't see a rule saying no detecting than go for it. Don't ask though, because you will end up being told no. If you still feel uncomfortable just detect on a Sunday morning.

I would call them all public except maybe the civics clubs, that would depend on the type and where they are meeting. If my taxes support, it I can hunt it until I'm told different. I pay attention to who cuts the grass, if it's parks dept or the city/county cutting the grass I consider it public. A little common sense goes a long way. Stay off the putting greens, or about any place that requires more work than just lawn mowing. All public property has some kind of rule against digging, disturbing plants or removing items that can be used to run you off if somebody with a little authority doesn't want you there. The key is to leave no trace and not give them a reason.
Don't ask, if they don't have a park rule against metal detecting the worst that can happen is someone will ask you to leave. The places where you can get in serious trouble for metal detecting all make it very clear that you aren't allowed to detect.

FYI I detect the sidewalk and parking lot edges at the Senior Center in my town and several neighboring towns every spring. Us old folks lose all sorts of stuff there and the snow removal crews tend to move it to the edges. I’ve returned several pieces of jewelry to grateful owners and one sweet lady bakes me a batch of peanut butter cookies every Christmas as a thank you.

Thank you for the replies.

Considering the civic center, their web site does say it is for family enjoyment and hobbies.


What about a property that is marked "(family name) Family Trust Agreement"
I assume this means multiple people own this property and this is set up for ownership amongst them?

Family trusts could mean that the family had donated the land to the city/county/state for public use, and that the government agency would take care of it. It could also mean that the trust had bought the land, renovated it, maintains decision control over it, and is set up for public use.

Either way, ask the local parks dept about the ownership. Even if its public, the caretaker can get prickly about seeing someone 'tearing up' their well manicured grounds. Been there, seen that.

TommyJay said:

.... Even if its public, the caretaker can get prickly about seeing someone 'tearing up' their well manicured grounds. Been there, seen that.

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Well, for starters, we md'rs don't "tear up" manicured ground (assuming you cover, stomp, and fluff your spots leaving no trace). And .... secondly, ... no one will "see me" in the first place. And as you know: What they don't see won't make them "prickly" anyhow. Presto, problem solved

I would detect all of those public places.

We all have experiences of getting the 'Bums Rush' off of Public areas....Its just part of the game...the key to minimizing confrontations is to be aware of the Humans schedule and not attracting their attention...This means understanding the traditional Human's peak activity hours in any given day and hunting public places during the off hours.. Its just less trouble and more enjoyable...

Humans are nothing but trouble and best avoided altogether...sorta like any other thing that could cause us trouble during any given day...Everybody knows deer have certain 'peak' hours/months where they like to play in traffic...Everybody knows Bull Sharks like to hunt in certain hours and conditions in the trough...Everybody knows when mosquitoes come out...Everybody knows what time the bars close and the Cops are out hunting...

So a fellow simply accepts these facts and avoids being in the wrong place at the wrong time...The quicker and better you get at this understanding of how important to Life Timing is, a peaceful fulfilling Life is the result...

Its dangerous to be outside wandering around, especially with all these Humans, Sharks, Bears, Deer, Bugs, so a guy tries to avoid them all and go through this Life unseen and unnoticed...

About the most dangerous thing to do is hunt a totlot with Kids playing in it! Kids are the utmost Dangerous things for us! More dangerouser even than Bull Sharks and Bigfoots and Grizzly bears, wild hogs or Deer even!

Avoid Kids at all costs! All one of them has to say is "Mommy!" "That old guy has a knife and asked me if I wanted a penny!"

addendum: Second most dangerous thing to a Man enjoying himself is a Bitter Old Paranoid Crazy Woman...They simply cant stand to see a Man out enjoying himself even if he is just looking for pennies, they will call the cops...So yeah, Kids and Old Wimmen top the danger list, then Deer, Bull Sharks, Bigfoots, Bears, UV rays,..

As a Man, All we can really hope for in death is a massive myocardial infarction, one of those 'face plant aeortic blowouts' where you dont even know you are dead, you would probably get a few more coil sweeps in as your lights go out....

...Early of a morning...right in the chips of a totter for the kids to find around noon..."Hey Mom! Theres some old bum over here taking a nap underneath the slide! He's got a knife even! Call the Cops!"....

I dont know whats gonna eventually kill me, out of all the options available, I hope its a bear...Definitely Not getting struck by lightening! Everybody would think I was just a run of the mill kweer Golfer! ...

puppy-mud : I never get tired of reading your posts. In fact, I rush to the forum to see if "mud-puppy posted anything". ha !

Every year I hunt a community center/senior center and have never had any problem. AND....I've never "asked" anyone for permission.

diggin4clad said:

Every year I hunt a community center/senior center and have never had any problem. AND....I've never "asked" anyone for permission.

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Huh ? What ?? It's your DUTY to get their permission. Walk in, with a shovel in-your-hand, and ask "Hi, can I dig holes in the lawn and take valuables away for my own fun and profit ? " Be sure to mention "indian bones" during the request. After all, you wouldn't want to mince words.

Now ... hurry .... go do the right thing ! Make us all proud

I went and hunted all the spots. Nobody batted an eye at me being there. People visited the places while I was there, and could have cared less or even paid attention to me. I had one neighbor stop over.... to see if I was finding anything interesting. His dad was with, and went to school at the site I was detecting. They gave me the layout of the land back in the day. They also gave me permission to hunt their property with an old store on it, and some more places to go check.

I've been telling myself, just go do it. It's best to get someone to come up to you, as it gives you the opportunity for permissions.

Unless it has signage that says RESTRICTED AREA. Hunt it till you feel like going home. It has to be marked if it is Public Property