Which Parks Are Ok To Detect?

Scooterjim said:

My main concern is the groundskeepers, a little respect goes a long way. It's not hard to figure out where you probably shouldn't be doing any digging. My most frequent park they always stop to talk to me. I've returned the same pair of pliers to them 3 times.

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It's always a good idea to 'befriend' yourself with the groundkeepers, after all, they're responsible for maintaining the grass you're digging up. I've recently found an old park in which the groundsmen are really nice, they'll check on me every hour to see my latest finds. They don't seem to mind me digging which is a win for me.

I have checked about many places in Montana, where I live. Go online and look at the city ordinances, if it says nothing about detecting being prohibited, then don't poke the grizzly bear by feeling you need to seek some sort of permission. Do a good job, don't trash the park and use common sense. The only city in Montana where metal detecting in city parks is specifically mentioned in an ordinance is in Missoula (big progressive college town). They prohibit it in a "backdoor" kind of way, saying in the park regulations that you "can detect" but no digging of any sort is allowed. So... you could bring in a screwdriver and pinpointer and do the tot lots but no digging. Great Falls requires a permit, which is free. I think they just want to meet you and know that you need to do a respectful job detecting. Everywhere else here in Montana it seems just fine, police, public works workers, fairgrounds employees, park workers, etc have all been friendly and no hassles.

Another thing I would add is: I do not construe as isolated "scram" here or there, to constitute a law or rule. *Oh sure* I give lip service & comply at the time. But no, I don't consider it a law from then on out.

Because let's face it: We're in a hobby with ... uh ... connotations. Two examples to follow :

Example #1: One time a cop told me to stop in a park . But after engaging the cop in friendly conversation, he confided in me that the ONLY reason he was there, was that a lady in an apartment bldg. across the street, which overlooks the corner of the park I was at, had called this in. She apparently thinks she's the self-appointed monitor of the park. And apparently calls in stuff all the time to cops. So ... the cop said with a wink wink: "Just go around to the other end of the park where she can't see"

So you can see, that if I'd just taken the initial "scram" and left, I might never have known that they were merely responding to a call, but didn't have any personal gripe with me.

Example #2: One time a gardener drove up in his utility cart and said "can't do that here". My buddy and I engaged him in friendly talk though. Eg.: "Really ? Since when ? We've detected this park for years". The gardener explained that his boss had put the word out to the workers to usher out md'rs. Because someone was supposedly leaving holes at another park.

When we heard the word "holes", we gave him a friendly challenge to look around at where we were all standing. Saying "We just dug a dozen old coins from this area. You can't see a single mark or spot, right ?" The gardener looked around, and agreed that we were not doing any harm. However, he was duty-bound to pass on what his boss had said. We persisted in friendly chat, and then he said : "When I get off work, what I don't see won't bother me". My friend didn't miss a beat and asked: "When do you get off work ?" He said "5pm". We looked at our watches. It was 4:50pm.

We thanked him and he drove off. My friend and I sat on a park bench till 5pm. Sure enough, at 5pm we could see him in the distance put all his tools away in the park shed, get into his city truck, and drove away. Whereupon we resumed md'ing. That was 15 yrs. ago. And to this day, I still hit that park now and then, and have never had any issues.

So there's a couple of examples of how not every single "scram" constitutes gospel law. Sometimes it means: Avoid that singular lookie lou, choose better times, etc....