Big Boys Hobbies

CT metal detecting laws

T

Tankerhoosen

Full Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2016
Messages
114
Hey folks, I know this has been mentioned on the forum before, but the laws that every metal detecting website use are from 2002. I am new to detecting and want to make sure I don't run afoul of the law. However I cannot find anything not the state of ct website when it comes to metal detecting. http://search.cga.state.ct.us/r/basic/dtsearch_form.asp

Perhaps my searches are hitting the right spots, anyone have any insight? From reading the 2002 we are not allowed to dig in state parks or forests. But from searching the records for "Metal Detection Devices" nothing pops up.
 
Tankerhoosen said:
... the laws that every metal detecting website use are from 2002....
Click to expand...

tankerhoosen, good sleuthing work so far. I see you found your way to the FMDAC's state-by-state compendium. And yes, the stuff they cited there is indeed dated to 2002. And instead of just being someone's commentary (to someone who wrote in and asked what are the laws), it does indeed appear to cite some sort of chapter and verse text.

And in *that* particular wording , CT shows ok for their state beaches. And on land, apparently ok too. Yes but you can't "dig". Well, gee, go figure: I'm sure if you asked for any park anywhere "Hi, can I dig?", the obligatory answer would be no. But that's a different rabbit trail! ha :roll:

So you are wondering if this is still current, since you can't find such language in current word search state of CT material. Right ?

If you click on the link within the FMDAC'S little popup box, it takes you here:

http://dep.state.ct.us/stateparks/

And from there, when I did a word search on "metal detectors", I got this relevant hit: This appears to be the "current" you are looking for:

http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?A=2716&Q=417480
 
And once you are at that specific last link's page, notice that the only places detecting is not allowed, is "archaeological preserves". I'm guessing that not all state parks are "archaeological preserves". Perhaps just the obvious historic sensitive monuments ones. But logically not their beaches, mundane forests, etc.... would all necessarily be "archaeological preserve". So it's not border to border all state park land.

You can research further, to find out exactly how they define that. But to make matters simple, if you just avoided obvious sensitive monuments, that's no doubt the intent of such wording.

And don't forget: This is only for state parks. And has no bearing on other forms of public land in CT. Eg.: City, county, federal, private, etc..... And not all state-owned land, is state "park" either. Road right of way is another example of a type of state land, etc...

Good luck ! Show us what you find ! :cool:
 
Tankerhoosen said:
Hey folks, I know this has been mentioned on the forum before, but the laws that every metal detecting website use are from 2002. I am new to detecting and want to make sure I don't run afoul of the law. However I cannot find anything not the state of ct website when it comes to metal detecting. http://search.cga.state.ct.us/r/basic/dtsearch_form.asp

Perhaps my searches are hitting the right spots, anyone have any insight? From reading the 2002 we are not allowed to dig in state parks or forests. But from searching the records for "Metal Detection Devices" nothing pops up.
Click to expand...


Carol and Vlad have compiled some area's that are off limits as well as rules...

Down here in the SW corner you can metal detect but you cannot cut the turf with a digging tool... all I am going to say is I have never been stopped hunting the turf anywhere... most laws are locally written and varies from town to town... again down here any jewelry or anything valued at more than $50 is supposed to be turned in to local management. I have asked permission to hunt parks allegedly off limits as they are considered "historic" sites and gained permissions from the rangers... I will say this they asked me to stay off the sports fields and hunt the woods which is where I wanted to hunt anyway.

http://gometaldetecting.com/ct-detecting-law.html
 
The bad part is most cops in CT don't even know what the law is so they just do what they feel like. I've been approached by police probably 5 or 6 times at any number of places I know i'm allowed to detect. Sometimes they are responding to some nosey neighbor complaining, sometimes, they just don't know what you're doing and want to find out. Sometimes they're just jerks and sometimes they're super cool and genuinely interested. Most times, they do not know the law. I've had encounters with police (while hunting with other forum members) where they told us "you can't do that here", to which i replied "this is a public park is it not? There is no signage to that effect." She replied with "this is a private park" to which I replied "Really? so all these people have passes to be here?" I don't think she expected any push back. Her next line i'll never forget as she blurted out "This is a private....er...private public park and you need to leave"

I knew we weren't doing anything wrong but I also know when to pick my battles and could tell she was threatened by the line of questioning and I don't need any trouble.


Another time I had the law in my wallet and took it out only to have the cop get defensive and accuse me of telling him how to do his job. That was the one time I thought "ok you should leave NOW"

So while I would avoid all places specifically mentioned (like the town of Sharon), you should be ok at most others. Hell, nail park is on the historic registry and look how many guys pound the daylights out of that place, basically daily. Last year that place was torn up by several people including one guy using a claw hammer. Nobody got the boot. I think ghetto areas you're a lot less likely to be bothered by police (but more likely to get robbed)
 
Swinglow said:
The bad part is most cops in CT don't even know what the law is so they just do what they feel like. I've been approached by police probably 5 or 6 times at any number of places I know i'm allowed to detect....
Click to expand...

Sure. No cop is going to know every single law and rule, chapter and verse, in encyclopedic form. They're doing the best they can, and , yes, respond to complaints (and have to please various "miss lookie-lou's").

So while your lament that they could arbitrarily say "you can't do that" (and then digress into a battle of semantics), yet the opposite can also happen: There are many incidents of supposed (or actual) rules on the books that would indeed forbid detecting, yet .... are never enforced. Ie.: no one *really* cares, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who knew about it, or cared less.

So the arbitrariness can work both ways, at times.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Sure. No cop is going to know every single law and rule, chapter and verse, in encyclopedic form. They're doing the best they can, and , yes, respond to complaints (and have to please various "miss lookie-lou's").

So while your lament that they could arbitrarily say "you can't do that" (and then digress into a battle of semantics), yet the opposite can also happen: There are many incidents of supposed (or actual) rules on the books that would indeed forbid detecting, yet .... are never enforced. Ie.: no one *really* cares, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who knew about it, or cared less.

So the arbitrariness can work both ways, at times.
Click to expand...

Absolutely I agree. It's when they do not know the law and enforce something that doesn't exist that bothers me. (like the public/private park officer above) I have no problem with police officers so don't take my post as a rant against them. I do have a problem with them not showing mutual respect to citizens who are doing nothing wrong.
 
Swinglow said:
Absolutely I agree. It's when they do not know the law and enforce something that doesn't exist that bothers me. (like the public/private park officer above) I have no problem with police officers so don't take my post as a rant against them. I do have a problem with them not showing mutual respect to citizens who are doing nothing wrong.
Click to expand...



You are a scavenger and a pirate.. of course you are doing something wrong :yes:
 
Swinglow said:
What makes you think that? Is it the pirate sticker on my detecting mobile? :D
Click to expand...

Do you think you are a white knight for returning a ring? There was a reason for that... you are what you are and there is nothing wrong with that... when I first started detecting I made every attempt to return items but after a couple wet badly and left a bad taste in my mouth.. the only way I will return something is if I am asked to find something.

:crazy:
 
Cfmct said:
Do you think you are a white knight for returning a ring? There was a reason for that... you are what you are and there is nothing wrong with that... when I first started detecting I made every attempt to return items but after a couple wet badly and left a bad taste in my mouth.. the only way I will return something is if I am asked to find something.

:crazy:
Click to expand...


Please refer to me as your highness next time.
 
Cfmct said:
...when I first started detecting I made every attempt to return items but after a couple wet badly and left a bad taste in my mouth.. the only way I will return something is if I am asked to find something....
Click to expand...

I hear your angst Cfmct. I know a "certain" hunter in the USA, whose been doing beach for nearly 40 yrs. now (a veteran of some whopper storms and 10+ gold ring days, etc...) He's found over 1000 gold rings in his career thus far.

One day, while looking at his collection, I spotted many class rings. I asked him "do you track down owners?". Without hesitation or apology, he said "no".

At the time I kind of wrote that off to him being a kill-joy. But now, years later, I'm starting to side that direction too. Oh sure, sometimes it's fun, sometimes you'll get a tip, etc... But other times you're looked at as if you're a door-to-door solicitor (they've long-since written off and forgotten the ring perhaps).

The last ring I returned, I got a thankyou is all. I can live w/no tip, that's fine. But what bugged me, was as I was handing the ring to the gal, (an out of town couple from 3 hrs. away) the husband and I began chatting about detecting in general. He told me the story of how, as a kid, in the gold rush country, he'd scuttled under one of the old whiskey-row saloon/hotels in the historic district of one of the towns. He had found old bottles . And he suggested I should try that.

I asked if I could contact him later, via email, to get more information about that, since his family roots were in that town. Eg.: a referall to the building owner perhaps, etc.. He said yes, and that he'd email back a pix of the bottles that were still in his family's collection.

A few days later, I sent the email. I never heard so much as thankyou, no thankyou, or kiss my grits in return. I figured, "sheesk, I just went to great effort to track you guys down. At least you could do is follow through with a communication you'd promised." :mad:
 
Tom_in_CA said:
I hear your angst Cfmct. I know a "certain" hunter in the USA, whose been doing beach for nearly 40 yrs. now (a veteran of some whopper storms and 10+ gold ring days, etc...) He's found over 1000 gold rings in his career thus far.

One day, while looking at his collection, I spotted many class rings. I asked him "do you track down owners?". Without hesitation or apology, he said "no".

At the time I kind of wrote that off to him being a kill-joy. But now, years later, I'm starting to side that direction too. Oh sure, sometimes it's fun, sometimes you'll get a tip, etc... But other times you're looked at as if you're a door-to-door solicitor (they've long-since written off and forgotten the ring perhaps).

The last ring I returned, I got a thankyou is all. I can live w/no tip, that's fine. But what bugged me, was as I was handing the ring to the gal, (an out of town couple from 3 hrs. away) the husband and I began chatting about detecting in general. He told me the story of how, as a kid, in the gold rush country, he'd scuttled under one of the old whiskey-row saloon/hotels in the historic district of one of the towns. He had found old bottles . And he suggested I should try that.

I asked if I could contact him later, via email, to get more information about that, since his family roots were in that town. Eg.: a referall to the building owner perhaps, etc.. He said yes, and that he'd email back a pix of the bottles that were still in his family's collection.

A few days later, I sent the email. I never heard so much as thankyou, no thankyou, or kiss my grits in return. I figured, "sheesk, I just went to great effort to track you guys down. At least you could do is follow through with a communication you'd promised." :mad:
Click to expand...

One of my attempts after doing research and making multiple calls to the school who would not share personal info.. I contacted the BOE for that area and they helped me with a name.. I took it from there and found where she lived knocked on the door.. told her the story of how I found it all of a sudden I was being accused of invading ones privacy and got the door slammed in my face... I melted that sucker... my policy now is you lose it and I find it you are out of luck... My only issue these days is I wish I never melted or sold off many of the rings I have found over the years... it would have made quite an impressive display... oh well ;) I doubt I will ever put up numbers like I did in the past... hurricane Sandy changed our shorelines and not for the better...
 
Another

A buddy of mine tracked down an owner. And then tracked down a phone #. Turned out it was someone that lived close to the school yard where the ring was found. He called, but only got a voice-mail. So he left a message to the effect of:

"Hey, I've got your ring here. Give me a call and we can discuss getting it back to you".

That night, as the family sat down to dinner, there was a knock at the door. It was the police ! :shock: Turns out that that neighbor's house had been burglarized several weeks prior. And this ring was amongst things taken.

So my friend was now a suspect in burglary! Naturally he tried to explain to the cops he'd only *found* it. He even tried showing them his metal detector (which he quickly tried to retrieve from the closet to show them). But their attitude was "Sure buddy. That's what they all say". Ie.: all thieves, when caught with something stolen, are inclined to say "I found it" or "someone else gave it to me", blah blah. :roll:

The cops took the ring and left. Said they'd turn over the info the DA, and .... if anyone had any questions, they'd be in touch.

For weeks-thereafter, my friend didn't know if he was still suspect in a crime. And didn't know if he should try to go over to the neighbor's house to explain. Nor did the neighbor ever call him back. It was a sickening feeling, and the LAST time that guy ever attempted to return a ring again :no:
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Another

A buddy of mine tracked down an owner. And then tracked down a phone #. Turned out it was someone that lived close to the school yard where the ring was found. He called, but only got a voice-mail. So he left a message to the effect of:

"Hey, I've got your ring here. Give me a call and we can discuss getting it back to you".

That night, as the family sat down to dinner, there was a knock at the door. It was the police ! :shock: Turns out that that neighbor's house had been burglarized several weeks prior. And this ring was amongst things taken.

So my friend was now a suspect in burglary! Naturally he tried to explain to the cops he'd only *found* it. He even tried showing them his metal detector (which he quickly tried to retrieve from the closet to show them). But their attitude was "Sure buddy. That's what they all say". Ie.: all thieves, when caught with something stolen, are inclined to say "I found it" or "someone else gave it to me", blah blah. :roll:

The cops took the ring and left. Said they'd turn over the info the DA, and .... if anyone had any questions, they'd be in touch.

For weeks-thereafter, my friend didn't know if he was still suspect in a crime. And didn't know if he should try to go over to the neighbor's house to explain. Nor did the neighbor ever call him back. It was a sickening feeling, and the LAST time that guy ever attempted to return a ring again :no:
Click to expand...


I have heard that scenario quite a bit... I don't understand how people wear such expensive things to the beach or parks... but then again if they didn't we would be hunting and finding Felix pennies ;)
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Another

A buddy of mine tracked down an owner. And then tracked down a phone #. Turned out it was someone that lived close to the school yard where the ring was found. He called, but only got a voice-mail. So he left a message to the effect of:

"Hey, I've got your ring here. Give me a call and we can discuss getting it back to you".

That night, as the family sat down to dinner, there was a knock at the door. It was the police ! :shock: Turns out that that neighbor's house had been burglarized several weeks prior. And this ring was amongst things taken.

So my friend was now a suspect in burglary! Naturally he tried to explain to the cops he'd only *found* it. He even tried showing them his metal detector (which he quickly tried to retrieve from the closet to show them). But their attitude was "Sure buddy. That's what they all say". Ie.: all thieves, when caught with something stolen, are inclined to say "I found it" or "someone else gave it to me", blah blah. :roll:

The cops took the ring and left. Said they'd turn over the info the DA, and .... if anyone had any questions, they'd be in touch.

For weeks-thereafter, my friend didn't know if he was still suspect in a crime. And didn't know if he should try to go over to the neighbor's house to explain. Nor did the neighbor ever call him back. It was a sickening feeling, and the LAST time that guy ever attempted to return a ring again :no:
Click to expand...

That's why I showed that 24k chain to the people I was hunting with out of sight. Heard too many " That guy found my jewelry and won't give it back!" told to a cop on the beach only to find the ring didn't fit. Can prove a chain don't fit:shock:
 
itsaring! said:
That's why I showed that 24k chain to the people I was hunting with out of sight. Heard too many " That guy found my jewelry and won't give it back!" told to a cop on the beach only to find the ring didn't fit. Can prove a chain don't fit:shock:
Click to expand...

Only an idiot would show his finds on the beach:yes:
 
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