Straight to the top! (permission) Help Needed!

Probably not the right/best answer, but I would just hunt it, and if someone makes a fuss, then just move on to the next site. Even if metal detecting were to be 'illegal' where you are, they probably won't fine you on your first 'offence'.

Parks & Playgrounds

It is illegal to hunt national and state parks.
Lafayette Indiana needs a permit for their parks. (Release of Liability)
Unless there is a sign that says "no metal detecting", hunt away. Do your best to keep your digs clean and take the trash you find out with you.
Just be respectful to anyone that has a problem, only city officials can make you leave a public park. I usually leave soon after anyways, but I always take my time cleaning more coins out of the area and move on to another park. I never leave the house without a second or third location in mind.
I only go to schools on the weekend and only if they have an open fence and no signs about trespassing. Enjoy!
Finding some local hunters can help you.
There will be a detecting event in Seymour in early May and a hunt in Vallonia in July. These are great ways to meet people.

Actually your talking about 3 different types of public property.

Parks- you say your are aware, how are you aware, were you kicked out before? Did you already ask someone? Is it posted? Tell us more so we can help. If there are no signs and no person has specifically told you know, you can always play dumb once so to speak. Generally city park officials or the city police will just tell you to move on, unless you've been told before. Again we need more info from you on this topic to advise you better.

Schools- ever seen a school that's maintained by the city parks dept so if there is no sign hunt it!

Curbstrips- these are normally public property and you shouldn't get any static from the city, however a high percentage of the home owners feel they own all the way to the street, so you will probably get some interaction with them.

Loki said:

I am aware my current city does not allow MD inside city parks by speaking with Parks and Recreations.....

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Loki, welcome to T'net. Regarding the bold type in your quote: Seems you got the information that md'ing not allowed in your city parks, by asking the Park and Rec. personnel. Right ? Did they point out any chapter and verse law or code that said such a thing ? You may have been the latest victim of the: "No one cared till you asked" psychology. Ie.: Whoever you asked has images of geeks with shovels.

Thus you don't ask anyone "can I ?" . So that you're not playing Russian Roulette with someone's personal whim, mood, bad hair day, etc... Instead you look up laws and rules for yourself. If you see nothing that says "no md'ing", then presto: It's not prohibited. And then use a little common sense. Eg.: avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments, don't be digging holes in nice manicured turf if busy bodies are watching, etc... Go low traffic times, if you're going to be doing turf, to avoid connotations.

Another repercussion of asking "can I ?" and getting an arbitrary "no", is this: Guess what that clerk will think the next time he's passing the park, and sees another md'r ? He'll remember the earlier inquiry and start booting people. I've seen this happen before! At parks that were never an issue prior to that. And we traced back the evolution to JUST such origins. So just look up laws/rules for yourself. Don't swat hornet's nests and create "pressing issues" for bored desk-jockeys to think they have to solve.

Get the feel of the ebb and flow of the day to day and seasonal site sensitivity...then align your sites/hunting to fit the slack times....As mentioned, the slack times for schoolyards are of course the weekends...super early Sat/Sun mornings..extrapolate this knowledge out to other sites....when are the parks the least active?

To be really productive, You can plan your advantage around everything else going on in an area, sport event schedules, holidays, weather, dirt moisture, grass height even...for instance, theres a really great Public Park just loaded with coins...active in the Summer, the dirt is a clay/chert matrix...when is the optimum time to get in there and royally ransack it?...Overcast day in the Spring or late Fall, weekdays.....dirt is soft and the grass is flat and nobody is around...

A guy gets an idea after a few years keeping the pulse on an area.. ...where should I go today based upon these parameters for the best chance for a positive outcome with a low hassle coefficient?

Make sure you are completely running legal with your vehicle...we have all had our plates run countless times without our knowledge I am sure, any decent LEO would do this, seeing the same vehicle over and over in parks/schools during the slack hours......thats the thing...they wont hassle you at all for detecting and ID you as a harmless curiosity and not a danger to anybody....LEO is about the only one else out during the early morning slack hours, so a guy has to think about these things...

BUT, they will know everything about you!...if you have a record, if you own a pistol, where you live, everything! Its not a good idea to have any bumperstickers of a political nature, or a 'Legalize It' leaf thingy sticker..Anything about 'Jesus' is OK, and one of those Christian fish emblems is a nice touch, 'Ask me about my Grandchildren' is also very handy!......

Basic Urban Camoflage techniques apply...a car tells a lot about a guy, and you want yours to send the right message! "I'm Harmless" to LEO, and "Theres nothing inside worth Stealing" to all the rest! FWIW, Dark Blue is considered the most trustworthy color to Humans...

Anytime after 11am and up to midnight is NOT a slack hour by the way...a guy dont want to be anywhere near a Public park in this time frame..unless its overcast, cold, windy, spitting sleet..early Spring or late Fall...work your detecting schedule around the natural ebb and flow of an area...and you will not have any trouble...

Henny Youngman joke... the secret to comedic success punchline was 'timing'...same here in this Sport and any Outdoor Pursuit Oriented Life in General...a sense of timing and being invisible are the two top skills a guy can learn....master those, and you can hunt Gettysburg if you want to!...

Yes I called parks and recreation to ask instead of just going and trying to hit it and quit it real quick. I am an adult with a family so getting harshly punished for a new "hobby" fresh out the gate wouldn't go over too well with the misses. I see now (was always questioning it though) how I may have had the wool pulled over my eyes by PnR.

I was feeling detoured because I was looking at schools, city parks and sidewalk strips (practically everywhere) as permission only locations. I do have about 5 permission locations (3 homes 2 acreage) just in the month I've been detecting. So, obviously I want/need to hone in on skill before chopping up the place. I've only hit my yard so far and while it doesn't look that bad I would still like to hit the wide open (without being an A&&) before jumping into one of my permissions.

After reading the hilarious and helpful replies its kinda clear I/we have options.

Yup I'm really realizing my mistake calling pnr now. No worries though. Its the beginning of winter and I have authorized access to play with all summer long... Hopefully with time knowledge will out weigh the unknowing.

Loki said:

Yes I called parks and recreation to ask instead of just going and trying to hit it and quit it real quick. I am an adult with a family so getting harshly punished for a new "hobby" fresh out the gate wouldn't go over too well with the misses. ....

Click to expand...

Thanx for the feedback. It was as I'd surmised. Live and learn

As for "getting harshly punished", this statement just assumes you're doing something wrong in the first place. Why this starting premise ? Since when is md'ing evil, harmful, wrong, etc... ? I find it to be: benign, harmless, educational and nutritious.

If you've looked up laws for yourself, and saw nothing that said "no md'ing", then where do you get this "punished" stuff ? And ... sure ... not everyone is going to "roll out red carpets for you". This hobby has connotations after all, if you're in nice manicured grass. Ok, fine: pick lower traffic times and avoid those singular lookie lous. Don't over-think it .

Calling any city offical is the best way to be told no. Even if it was allowed it gives them new ideas for laws or ways to close sites or get money for permits. I always figured that what they don't know won't hurt them. They come up with enough stupid laws and regulations on their own.

Silversmith45 said:

Calling any city offical is the best way to be told no. Even if it was allowed it gives them new ideas for laws or ways to close sites or get money for permits. I always figured that what they don't know won't hurt them. They come up with enough stupid laws and regulations on their own.

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Ditto x2. A voice of reason. Look up laws/rules for oneself. Don't swat hornet's nests

Dude!...You are talking yourself out of this! Looking for a reason why you can go pull Public Park pennies? Lemme help you out then...

I'm gonna satellite surf Fort Wayne IN on google maps...plot a route, find all the schools and parks....then, I'm gonna make the drive and get in there and wipe the place out by mid May...so you may as well sell your gear and take up stamp collecting or golf.....It will cost me maybe $50 in gas to get there and back, but its the principal of the thing! ...You just keep calling random authorities for permission and chickening out, so I'm getting angry, and angry is one hell of a motivator........I'll be leaving here at 3am on a Springtime full moon night...I'll be pulling all your easy coins by 7am....I'll have lunch and knock down cash again til midnight...then I will drive home satisfied and coin heavy to the light of a full moon and do a post.......Fair warning.....Stop calling people! Just get out and hunt!

Mud-puppy said:

Dude!...You are talking yourself out of this! Looking for a reason why you can go pull Public Park pennies? Lemme help you out then...

I'm gonna satellite surf Fort Wayne IN on google maps...plot a route, find all the schools and parks....then, I'm gonna make the drive and get in there and wipe the place out by mid May...so you may as well sell your gear and take up stamp collecting or golf.....It will cost me maybe $50 in gas to get there and back, but what the hell, you just keep calling random authorities for permission and chickening out, so I'm getting angry, and angry is one hell of a motivator as all Husbands know......Its the principal of the thing!.....Fair warning..Stop calling people!

Click to expand...

I only made one phone call to Park and Recreations. That was stated in the original thread post. I was clarifying. I understand that the more the higher ups know the worse it is for everyone.

For the love of God quit calling bureaucrats for permission. Likely they will go straight to no because they get their kicks controlling their subjects.

Use common sense and go dig.

Tom_in_CA said:

Ditto x2. A voice of reason. Look up laws/rules for oneself. Don't swat hornet's nests

Click to expand...

I have looked up the laws myself and Coinshark stated the laws of my state and other helpful info. He basically put it into simple terms so im not having to decipher the laws from outdated txt and legal jargon then take a guess. Was putting to use the forum for a hobby in which both I'm new to. Asking the question was for a reason. It wasn't laziness. I'll take a few negatives for the sake of learning.

Loki said:

I have looked up the laws myself and Coinshark stated the laws of my state and other helpful info. He basically put it into simple terms so im not having to decipher the laws from outdated txt and legal jargon then take a guess. Was putting to use the forum for a hobby in which both I'm new to. Asking the question was for a reason. It wasn't laziness. I'll take a few negatives for the sake of learning.

Click to expand...

I Have big hopes for you Loki Buddy!...did a quick Sat surf of your AO....a lot of nice good looking little areas I'd be slamming...lots actually, dman near year round capable profitable hunting...springboarding to the North Gold fields in the Summer and to the South in the Winter if a feller wanted to.....You may just have some potential afterall....You got the about the perfect metal detectorists Base camp!..E,W,N,or S....yep, right in the zone you are.......

Loki said:

Asking the question was for a reason. It wasn't laziness. I'll take a few negatives for the sake of learning.

Click to expand...

Nah. No responses were negative. We're glad you're here. (Read Mud Puppy's posts again. They are the perferct mix of sarcasm and enough truth to really learn something)

Just go for it. Use common sense. Act like you belong. Ask permission from no one. (Except for private property) Happy hunting!!

Tom_in_CA said:

Loki, welcome to T'net. Regarding the bold type in your quote: Seems you got the information that md'ing not allowed in your city parks, by asking the Park and Rec. personnel. Right ? Did they point out any chapter and verse law or code that said such a thing ? You may have been the latest victim of the: "No one cared till you asked" psychology. Ie.: Whoever you asked has images of geeks with shovels.

Thus you don't ask anyone "can I ?" . So that you're not playing Russian Roulette with someone's personal whim, mood, bad hair day, etc... Instead you look up laws and rules for yourself. If you see nothing that says "no md'ing", then presto: It's not prohibited. And then use a little common sense. Eg.: avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments, don't be digging holes in nice manicured turf if busy bodies are watching, etc... Go low traffic times, if you're going to be doing turf, to avoid connotations.

Another repercussion of asking "can I ?" and getting an arbitrary "no", is this: Guess what that clerk will think the next time he's passing the park, and sees another md'r ? He'll remember the earlier inquiry and start booting people. I've seen this happen before! At parks that were never an issue prior to that. And we traced back the evolution to JUST such origins. So just look up laws/rules for yourself. Don't swat hornet's nests and create "pressing issues" for bored desk-jockeys to think they have to solve.

Click to expand...

“Welcome to T’net”.... Hey now....

Loki....I’m sure you chose your name for a reason,now let’s see if you are indeed “tricky”!
No matter WHERE you’re hunting,it is good to know who to appease,and who can do the most damage. If I’m on public property,I will always be aware of who is around,especially parks personnel or police. Believe it or not,for the vast majority of situations,these people could NOT care less about some guy detecting. Surprisingly,the MORE you’re there,the less they pay attention,you wind up just being another “tree in the park”. The best way to set these people at ease is to SMILE and WAVE!...Acknowledge their presence and let them know YOU know they are there. If YOU make the first move in the (sometimes far away) greeting, they assume you are....metal detecting. If you park WAY in the back somewhere with your license plate hidden by backing into a stall and run behind a bush when they come around....you’re going to get DIRECT contact. Go about this as if you are doing nothing “wrong”. I have had SO little contact in 7 years of hard hunting that I don’t feel as if there is ANY one place that is so important that if asked to leave,I wouldn’t. There is NO WAY I’d argue the point of my being able to be there. It’s not a right to detect,it’s leeway granted by the fact there may be no direct laws against it. We are constantly operating in a very gray to dark area,that lost bit of legislation that hasn’t been passed yet and that really doesn’t need any further attention drawn to it.
The biggest problem you’ll run into is private people making a call to report you are doing something THEY might not agree with. This will happen almost EXCLUSIVELY on curb strips. That’s why I don’t hunt them. In this hobby I don’t need to go through any pain and suffering to obtain my goals. Either a I’ll ask the homeowner directly or stay away,Id never go hunt curbstrips without asking the homeowner who takes care of it. Some of these people do NOT KNOW that they don’t technically own it. The way I see it,they have more of a claim to it than some random guy metal detecting,so pay them the respect and ask first!
When it comes to schools,use your head. Wait til the weekend,off times when practices aren’t going on,summer hours,etc. If you are there alone,it’s no big deal. If you magically seem to show up when there’s cheerleading practice going on,someone WILL call the police. Common sense goes a long way,just use it. I have gear to hunt in bad weather,or not so good weather,which is good because nobody is out for a jog. If you are choosing to go at “off times” it will help a lot,there’s no one out to bother you or call about you. It’s not that you’re staying out of sight,it’s that no one is there to see you.
Don’t press your luck and get a reputation. If you’re asked to leave,leave. Be polite and agreeable with the police if contacted,because it’s their job to roll around town all day. If you’re a troublemaker they’ll be keeping an eye on EVERYTHING you do. If you develop a good relationship with them,you pretty much have a pass on anything public,so long as the local law allows.

Loki said:

.... It wasn't laziness. I'll take a few negatives for the sake of learning.

Click to expand...

Ok. Now go find some gold coins. And remember the rule: You must send me 30% of your finds. If you have any doubt as to the validity of this rule, just email me. And I'll confirm that this is indeed the rule .

I have yet to be arrested for digging holes and killing a few worms
Just keep a low key some think we detectorists are weird for some reason.

I can just imagine newspaper headline "Pulltab put's hobbyist in the Can"