Big Boys Hobbies

How about a free web site listing metal detecting sites in different cities in the US

maxxkatt

maxxkatt

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Do you think US detectorists would contribute to a free web site that listed local areas to metal detect?

I am thinking this might be a good resource for people on vacation and those who travel often and like to metal detect in their down time.
I know we are all kind of secretive with our good sites.

But I have easily a couple of dozen sites that I have hunted but no longer interested in due to a change of interests. For instance, in metro Atlanta I know where there are two old gold mines on county park properties that few people know about. Nice tailings pile at one site the other is a nice creek about 10 feet from the mine entrance.

Also know more than a few productive parks, and areas that you still can hunt for civil war relics. Plus numerous old buildings that are just rotting away owned by the city or county.
Each hunt site entry would include the name (if available) of the property, lat/long position, description of site and what has been found. Nearest town and zip code.

Membership would be free and members encouraged to post some local hunt sites data. Would not include sites that required permissions for private property. No would we allow listing of parks of any kind where metal detecting is prohibited.

Ok, I seriously want to hear your comments on this idea. If you think it won’t work, then tell me. If you think it is a good resource and just might work, then tell me why.

Don’t want to waste my time on a project that no one is interested in or would not have good contributors. My background is developing web sites, so I can do this in a very short period of time.
 
This is all rather ambiguous. Because people could submit sites that in their mind are "good " and " worth another try" (eg.: silly treasure Legends, etc...). Yet to the next guy is a total waste of time.


But even assuming there was some way to weed out the silly and frivolous stuff, then this question is sort of like asking a trout fisherman to reveal his good holes on the creeks and rivers . For everyone else to gather around and crowd it out.

I know you mean well and are quite sincere, but this just never would work out in practical application, for our hobby.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
This is all rather ambiguous. Because people could submit sites that in their mind are "good " and " worth another try" (eg.: silly treasure Legends, etc...). Yet to the next guy is a total waste of time.

But even assuming there was some way to weed out the silly and frivolous stuff, then this question is sort of like asking a trout fisherman to reveal his good holes on the creeks and rivers . For everyone else to gather around and crowd it out.

I know you mean well and are quite sincere, but this just never would work out in practical application, for our hobby.
Click to expand...

It is a very nice idea and it's really good of you to be willing to put it together but Tom has a valid point as I'm pretty sure I remember people posting in the past that they have some good hunting spots they keep to themselves, maybe partially to prevent those who might leave unfilled plugs and trash from getting that area banned from detecting.

EDIT TO ADD: Having said that, I think that if someone is in your area or going to visit your area and you feel they are responsible detectorists who will fill their plugs and not leave trash you could always PM them individually with areas you want to share.

remined me of a few funny edits :lol:
mdcrowdFMDF.jpg

Muds_beach_competition.jpg

mudclowning1.jpg

Mudson4.jpg
 
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Gary, you always bring a chuckle and bright spot to the discussions.

Yes, metal detecting is an odd Hobby. : one or two persons in a meadow or field are totally ignored. But once you put three four or five there. (Or several persons back-to-back over a multiple week period), then sure as heck Somebody looks down and says: Gee, what are all those guys doing ?

Example : I knew some guys passing through a town in Idaho on a business trip. They stopped to check a main big Plaza Park. And started getting silver coins, hand over fist. Apparently all the previous hunters in that part of the state, didn't go deeper than 6 " or whatever. They extended their business trip to several more days. Just for the express purpose of hunting that Park. Ended up with something like 150 silver coins over another 3 days hunting, between the two of them.

There is an example of something that they probably, realistically, couldn't get back to anytime soon. But you can imagine the drill : In a nicely manicured Turf Park, how quickly something like that would come to a crashing end, if too many people started showing up week after week , day after day.
 
well sounds like most think it would not work and that is good enough for me. why waste time and effort on something that just does not make much sense.

thanks, need this kind of feedback. I tend to think you can computerize or make an Internet app on many ideas. But in reality (in my case) 99% don't make it. Fortunately I have had 1% do rather well on the Internet.
 
How about a list of all the places NOT to metal detect in your state? I could provide a HUGE list of locations that I've pretty much hunted out and other spots that stunk from day one. That would save a newbie a lot of time and frustration when they're trying to find a good spot to hunt. Just a thought...
 
FreeBirdTim said:
How about a list of all the places NOT to metal detect in your state? I could provide a HUGE list of locations that I've pretty much hunted out and other spots that stunk from day one. That would save a newbie a lot of time and frustration when they're trying to find a good spot to hunt. Just a thought...
Click to expand...
Good idea, as those are the kinds of places I really clean up! :grin:
 
Tom_in_CA said:
This is all rather ambiguous. Because people could submit sites that in their mind are "good " and " worth another try" (eg.: silly treasure Legends, etc...). Yet to the next guy is a total waste of time.


But even assuming there was some way to weed out the silly and frivolous stuff, then this question is sort of like asking a trout fisherman to reveal his good holes on the creeks and rivers . For everyone else to gather around and crowd it out.

I know you mean well and are quite sincere, but this just never would work out in practical application, for our hobby.
Click to expand...

I agree with Tom here. While some people would call us selfish, most of us are thankful to have the spots near home to detect and would be hesitant to broadcast them. On a local level I had told a few local diggers of spots I would dig (public land) only to find them with 5 friends there 3 days a week soon after. As mentioned above, one or two guys are not noticed but soon enough the increased activity was noticed and made a big deal of.

I think it is each diggers responsibility to do the research, find a spot they think is good, get permission (yes I said that while quoting Tom :lol:) and so on. Many of us put many many hours into finding a dot on a very old map and so on, it is not easy, those folks deserve that spot, they literally worked for it. I suspect few of those would post those spots.
 
one detectorist on youtube I asked where did you go to and his response was like basically without saying I am not telling you. so yes their selfish and wouldn't tell people about it cause it's in their nature not to do that. "mine." anyway use your own thought processes and figure it out much like a fisherman sportsman detective etc. A spouse trying to find whether their other is cheating. have a plan where you're going and what you are doing an old county fair lot' park from the 1800s etc.
 
brianw4brian said:
one detectorist on youtube I asked where did you go to and his response was like basically without saying I am not telling you. so yes their selfish and wouldn't tell people about it cause it's in their nature not to do that. "mine." anyway use your own thought processes and figure it out much like a fisherman sportsman detective etc. A spouse trying to find whether their other is cheating. have a plan where you're going and what you are doing an old county fair lot' park from the 1800s etc.
Click to expand...

It may not be so much a "mine" as it is the thought that he maybe spent weeks researching, looking for something that was rumored to be there and felt deserving of the rewards he found for his efforts. Maybe I am reading you wrong here but are you saying folks who spend hours, days or even months diligently looking at maps, topography, old newspaper articles, spend hors swinging in areas to find "that spot" they suspected may be there should just broadcast it for the asking?
 
Regarding Apps....I've got a million dollar one inside my head right now! It has nothing to do with metal detecting though..It would be as big as Uber...

PM me if you are good at writing and marketing Apps and we can collaborate! Seriously...You might be able to hammer it out this weekend! .

Oh, Nice Work GKL! :laughing::laughing:
 
Theres already an App that we use..Like Google Earth/Historic aerials satellite view, etc....a guy can see a town He's never been to before and tell a whole lot of things about primo places to hunt...not just parks and totters and sportsfields, but curbstrips in old parts of town,, Train Trestles, ...all sorts of old things jump out topographically when viewed via the Satellite...

In this Sport, unless a guy has developed some trusted relationships that share site intell....its every Man for himself! And thats a lot of the Fun!
 
FreeBirdTim said:
How about a list of all the places NOT to metal detect in your state? I could provide a HUGE list of locations that I've pretty much hunted out and other spots that stunk from day one. That would save a newbie a lot of time and frustration when they're trying to find a good spot to hunt. Just a thought...
Click to expand...



I think this is a good idea. Especially if backed up with a link or Code reference. Very useful if expanded to include other countries that may be a vacation spot- there seems to be a regular inquiry thread about cruise line destinations here.




.
 
I don't think it will work. People will share sites with the people they hunt with. They are less likely to share with the general public, because, part of the general public contains the sub set of detectorists who crater the hell out of sites and don't care about anyone else or the future of detecting on those sites - so long as they find some cool stuff.


I will only share sites with people I know can responsibly recover targets and not get future detectorists banned.
 
Mud-puppy said:
Regarding Apps....I've got a million dollar one inside my head right now! It has nothing to do with metal detecting though..It would be as big as Uber...

PM me if you are good at writing and marketing Apps and we can collaborate! Seriously...You might be able to hammer it out this weekend! .

Oh, Nice Work GKL! :laughing::laughing:
Click to expand...

Thanks Mud, and in case you haven't seen the funny edits thread in a while you might have some catching up to do -

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=258582&page=89

the page above has one titled "Mud made sure to dress appropriately for his senior community's Thanksgiving dinner !" :laughing:
 
amc rulz said:
Tim, you really hurt my feelings.
Click to expand...
I apologize if I hurt your feelings. I thought my idea was a good one and you shot it down in a blink of an eye with your comment, which really annoyed me.

I would have killed to have had a list of places in RI that are a waste of time to detect when I started detecting five years ago. Just my take on it...
 
FreeBirdTim said:
I apologize if I hurt your feelings. I thought my idea was a good one and you shot it down in a blink of an eye with your comment, which really annoyed me.

I would have killed to have had a list of places in RI that are a waste of time to detect when I started detecting five years ago. Just my take on it...
Click to expand...
No big deal, but I didn’t shoot down your idea, I said it was a good one.
When I got back into the hobby ten years ago, I would occasionally run into hunters telling me there’s nothing left in the spots I was frequenting. One person that lived across from a two-acre ball field said he’d seen many people swinging there over the years, and that I’d need good luck. Over two weeks time I dug close to 20 silvers, a half-dozen IH’s and close to 50 wheats at that place. I can give a dozen examples of spots like this. All my parks have been hard hit over the years but I have dug hundreds of old coins from them, and I still do, just have to work a bit harder. Even my hunting buddy won’t go back to many places that I do, but I still squeak out the oldies, because of determination, not because I’m any better than him. I also like really trashy older spots, they mask the good signals.
 
I think half the fun is doing the research & finding these odd & different places to detect. Why make it easy for the tourists who you don't even know or what they will do. I keep going back to old spots to see what I have missed while trying to find new spots, so I don't want to give that away.
A site that shows restricted areas or off limits areas would be more useful, I think. My 2 cents.
 
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