Places i've hunted without permission

Woodz71 & M-puppy: It all depends on the mental image of the lot in question. If you are imaging someone's corner lot which is indeed an extension of someone's yard, then sure: M-puppy's post might not seem to be funny.

But if you are imagining something truly innocuous, then what he's saying makes sense. After all, there's not a single one of us that wouldn't take a well-worn shortcut path across a corner vacant weed-choked lot. Right ?

Yet... think about it: If you sent a letter to the out-of-state corporation who owns that corner vacant lot. Saying "hi , can I take a walk (or birdwatch, or spit, or detect, etc.. ), they will just say "no". Or probably never answer.
 
:laughing: It's a sense of humor.... twisted, but a sense of humor none the less. :laughing:



I'm a newb as well and have the same philosophy (convictions) you have. There are plenty of empty lots in the town and surrounding areas I live in with some history to them but I wouldn't step foot on them without an affirmative response from the property owner or manager. A quick look at the GIS map and sure enough, the tract is in someone's name...



I could get out there and swing away but wouldn't be able to focus on the hunt. Maybe with the more NO's I get, the more of an outlaw I may become :lol: but right now I'm gonna gain permission myself.



GIS map? I guess that's land roles.
I am always looking for new resources


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
GIS map? I guess that's land roles.
I am always looking for new resources


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

GIS maps are an indispensable resource - and usually an easy one to find and use, depending where you live. They'll not only give you names and addresses for property owners, but also property boundaries, sometimes the year the home or whatever was built, and lots of other useful info. For many US counties, you can find the GIS maps for your area on your county auditor's website. For example: http://auditor.co.wood.oh.us/Map.aspx?Todo=Init
 
GIS map? I guess that's land roles.
I am always looking for new resources



GIS maps are an indispensable resource - and usually an easy one to find and use, depending where you live. They'll not only give you names and addresses for property owners, but also property boundaries, sometimes the year the home or whatever was built, and lots of other useful info. For many US counties, you can find the GIS maps for your area on your county auditor's website.

What ole Airmet said.... :goodpost::agreed:
 
Interesting topic and caused me some soul searching. The answer to the question is yes. I grew up on a farm ten miles out of town. There were some old acreages with old buildings adjacent to our farm. They are owned by a family in New York when I was a kid. My father used to farm the surrounding land for the family. The neighbor kids and I used to ride our bikes there to meet up and play around. When we were older we all used to hunt rabbits there. And when we got even older we would drive our girlfriends out there after the movies. We never ever thought of it as trespassing. We were kids. That was fifty years ago or more. My father has since passed away. I don't know who farms the land around it anymore. Probably a farm management corporation. I don't know if the third generation of heirs still own the land or if it was sold off. The buildings are still there, just a little more dilapidated than they were years ago. I went out there several times metal detecting. I found an old harness with buckles. Lots of square nails. Some old coins. A wrench. A bucket full of spent .22 cartridges. Lots of old tin cans and trash. An old padlock. Took it all home with me. So, after thinking about it, I guess I'm a thief and a trespasser.

Interesting that people consider what I'm doing as trespassing while at the same time many of them will check the coin machine at the grocery store for coins that someone left behind. Some might say that the people who stuck them in the machine abandoned them and therefore are free for the taking. Some might say that they belong to the machine. I say that they don't belong to the person who takes them so it is stealing. It just depends on which angle you want to take to justify what you are doing.

Bottom line, most everything we dig up belongs to someone else.
 
Permission

I have found it's easier to get forgiveness than to get permission a lot of times.
Corporate properties especially. Just my personal experience that is obviously not shared by many metal detecting "purists".
Most here have done the same but is not politically correct to admit.
 
Interesting topic and caused me some soul searching. The answer to the question is yes. I grew up on a farm ten miles out of town. There were some old acreages with old buildings adjacent to our farm. They are owned by a family in New York when I was a kid. My father used to farm the surrounding land for the family. The neighbor kids and I used to ride our bikes there to meet up and play around. When we were older we all used to hunt rabbits there. And when we got even older we would drive our girlfriends out there after the movies. We never ever thought of it as trespassing. We were kids. That was fifty years ago or more. My father has since passed away. I don't know who farms the land around it anymore. Probably a farm management corporation. I don't know if the third generation of heirs still own the land or if it was sold off. The buildings are still there, just a little more dilapidated than they were years ago. I went out there several times metal detecting. I found an old harness with buckles. Lots of square nails. Some old coins. A wrench. A bucket full of spent .22 cartridges. Lots of old tin cans and trash. An old padlock. Took it all home with me. So, after thinking about it, I guess I'm a thief and a trespasser.

Interesting that people consider what I'm doing as trespassing while at the same time many of them will check the coin machine at the grocery store for coins that someone left behind. Some might say that the people who stuck them in the machine abandoned them and therefore are free for the taking. Some might say that they belong to the machine. I say that they don't belong to the person who takes them so it is stealing. It just depends on which angle you want to take to justify what you are doing.

Bottom line, most everything we dig up belongs to someone else.

Excellent post Rollie. When I was a kid, we used to play in the fields behind my house (some sort of alfalfa fields). We'd ride our BMX bikes on trails there. Catch frogs in the ditch that ran through there, etc.... It was also the short-cut path to grammar school. And ... I'll be durned ... none of us was ever arrested (how can that be ?).

I think most of us can get an image of "innocuous" for things like your story & mine. But how does all this relate to md'ing ? : Why the heck the act of metal detecting somehow so evil and dangerous and horrible, that that too can't fall under the same "innocuous" standard that the average Joe knows exists for other things in life ?
 
I own abandoned property and I like to detect it. Maybe once a year. So how would I feel if I stopped in for my annual hunt only to find another guy detecting it without permission? I would not like it. Just because it's an abandoned house falling down doesn't mean someone doesn't utilize the property. Private property is what it is. If you don't own it it's not your right to detect it, or even step foot on the premises. Sorry, but this is my feeling about this topic. Always ask permission. If you don't ask permission, one day you will get caught and it's not going to be pretty.
 
.... or even step foot on the premises......

spenglure, in a way, you're absolutely right. The world would be a better place if everyone employed this 100%

But on the other hand, is there EVER a point where it can border on ridiculous over-worrying ? For example, if you were walking this street, do you take the long way around this ? Or do you take the path ?

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spenglure, in a way, you're absolutely right. The world would be a better place if everyone employed this 100%

But on the other hand, is there EVER a point where it can border on ridiculous over-worrying ? For example, if you were walking this street, do you take the long way around this ? Or do you take the path ?

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I see what you mean by that picture, but a lot of cities own the first 10 to 15' in from the road. That picture might be one of those situations.
 
....a lot of cities own the first 10 to 15' in from the road. That picture might be one of those situations.

Granted. Ok. Do you go to city hall assessor's office, researching borders, boundaries, legal allowances on-said-zone (whistle dixie, versus just walk, versus detect, etc....) ? Or .... do you just take the short-cut path and don't even think twice about it ?
 
It all depends on the situation. Use some common sense, and you're likely not to have any (lasting) issues.

Most importantly, leave no trace of your presence. Fill your holes. Pick up trash and people will think you're just a neighborhood do gooder. If necessary, carry a garbage bag of typical park trash (bottles, cans, weathered newspapers, plastic grocery bags, etc.) with you. Leave it out so it looks like you picked up the site.

Read the law on trespassing and how it is defined. Look for loopholes. In Wisconsin there is a very strict definition about how land must be posted. This relates to how far apart the signs must be, the size of the signs, and what the signs must include. There is also a big loophole that says it is not trespassing if you enter private land from a public park. There are also clauses that make certain types of trespassing a far more serious issue, and/or create special types of trespassing, like for construction sites.

Don't draw attention to yourself. Treat the land with respect and act like you belong there. If you are hunting a construction site wear a yellow vest. Most people and cops will not even give you a second look then. If you are challenged, leave quietly, peacefully, and apologetically if necessary. Get out of the situation before a ticket can be issued.

Plan out in advance what you were going to say if you are challenged. It is always easier to ask forgiveness for inadvertently making a mistake then to ask permission from a corporation or government agency that sees you as a liability and feels no obligation to grant you a favor. Think about this in advance so that you are not flustered or defensive if talking to someone.

Finally, respect individual property owners and always ask permission of them if they can be located. This is just common sense/courtesy.

Be careful out there!
 
Does anyone know where I cant metal detect in Desoto, MO., I am meeting my cousin there and we want to metal detect. Can someone give me some places to go.

Thank you!
 
Does anyone know where I cant metal detect in Desoto, MO., I am meeting my cousin there and we want to metal detect. Can someone give me some places to go.

Thank you!

Look up metal detecting clubs in that area. Check Facebook. They can fill you in on where to go and regulations. If you can’t find anything then go to local parks. Make sure you dig a good plug. It’s the poor digging habits that get detectorists kicked out of public property.
 
I always try to do what my conscious tells me is right. That doesn't mean I am right all the time. Perhaps only in my mind. If you think it out and try to do right then hopefully you won't wind up on the wrong side of the law or just as bad to me is when you offend your neighbor by abusing his property.
 
Look up metal detecting clubs in that area. Check Facebook. They can fill you in on where to go and regulations. If you can’t find anything then go to local parks. Make sure you dig a good plug. It’s the poor digging habits that get detectorists kicked out of public property.


Hey there Chris. 1) Sure. "Local clubs" is a start. But ... humorously .... I can tell you of "local clubs" that are simply clueless . Example: A club, in CA, that if you were to walk into one of their monthly meetings, and ask any of the rank-&-file if a certain park in their city was ok to hunt, they would tell you : Absolutely not. And proceed to paint a dire picture, blah blah.

Yet you can hunt that park ad nauseam w/o incident. As long as you're not sticking out like a sore-thumb, and waltzing over people's beach blankets, ..... you can go broad daylight.

Now I suppose if you tried to tell any of the "rank and file" of the "club" that info, .... then guess what they'd do ? They'd merely go to some city or county offices, knock on enough doors, talk to enough archies, find the "pressing answer" and dispel the notion. Right ? :roll:

Point is: Sometimes local folk are simply parroting some older held-notions. That came about decades earlier, because someone fetched a "no" or "scram". So it merely goes into the "rumor mill", and gets bandied about for decades following. Meanwhile, others who 'simply don't know any better' go hunting, and never have an issue.

So while "asking locals" is certainly a start, ... you sometimes have to "read between the lines" in discerning the answer. Ie.: technical vs reality.

2) As for "poor digging habits" being the reason for md'rs getting "kicked out" of certain parks : Don't be so quick to think that. I realize that's the "go-to" reason, that the person who "scrams" you will often cite. But more often than not: Holes are NOT the reason for such scrams or no's. It's merely the knee-jerk reaction that a passerby, or desk-bound bureaucrat (whom someone before you approached for "permission") has. When tasked with thinking of a man with a detector. EVEN when no holes were ever seen. It's simply the image that md'ing evokes.

So they will often say "no" or "scram" because of "holes". To which the md'r mutters under his breath: " Durned those md'rs who left holes." Right ? But in reality, it's likely there was NEVER ANY HOLES (or scars or whatever). Instead, it's simply the image conveyed, whether or not any holes were ever actually left.

And there's NO AMOUNT of disputing this , that will ever solve this. Ie.: to debate that you'll leave no trace, you'll cover your holes, or you'll "pop" not "dig", blah blah. Instead, I hate to say it but: Sometimes it's better to just remain un-seen :roll:
 
I've got two pieces of advice about detecting private property without permission.

#1. Don't do it.

#2. If you disregard #1, don't blab about it on a public forum where archies and government types who may not view detecting in a positive light have been known to lurk.:nah:
 
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