Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Filling your holes!!!

bamadigtab

bamadigtab

Elite Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2012
Messages
815
Location
Bessemer, AL
Hello everyone,

I went and joined a club this evening and all the people there were great. They were very dedicated to preserving and protecting our hobby. The subject came up about filling your holes after extracting your targets. I believe personally that it is very irresponsible for anyone using a metal detector to leave holes and not fill them NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE! This includes a park, a plowed field, or the BEACH!

Now someone at the meeting this evening told a story about a jogger running down the beach and stepped into a hole that someone using a metal detector supposedly left unfilled and was injured with a broken leg. The person using the detector was prosecuted and sued, and put our hobby in jeopardy. Now there is a bill in Florida that may make metal detecting a thing of the past in Florida even on the public beaches. First of all I want to say FILL YOUR HOLES EVEN ON THE BEACH!!! I would feel horrible to even think that I might have even slightly contributed to someone getting injured.

Now with that being said I have to express several red flags that popped up in my crazy head at that time the story was told, and they became even more red the more I thought about it.

The first thing I questioned was this, How do we know it was a hole left by the person using the metal detector? Oh wait a minute I know it is because people using metal detectors are the ONLY ones that dig holes on the beach right! Well we know that a toddler or preschool child with a sand bucket would NEVER leave a hole they dug on the beach, now would they, and what about those crazy kids that like to bury themselves in the sand. Naw they wouldn't dare leave a hole now would they. Wait a minute I know, that grown adult whose hobby is to make those beautiful pieces of artwork in the sand call sand castles. Would they dig a hole the size of a number 3 wash tub and not fill it and a week later you go back and remnants of the hole still exists. Why no silly they wouldn't do that at all!!! Why we know that only people who use metal detectors on the beach are the only ones who dig holes.

WOW .... How do we know that the person didn't step in a hole that the toddler made filling their sand bucket a dozen times, and just happened to see the poor guy using the metal detector and say hey it's gotta be him he is using a metal detector!

Another thing I questioned was this Where is the runners responsibility in all this? Where they running down the beach with their blame eyes closed? Did they wake up that morning and say hey I'm going to run obliviously down the beach and not pay any attention to where I'm going, because I KNOW that NO ONE EVER digs holes on the beach!!! Well I know that when I run I always watch where I'm going and if I do fall or injure myself I realize that when I took off to start with that I might fall and get hurt. Why? BECAUSE I'M RUNNING!!!!! DUH!!! In my experience's in life I have found that running is much more dangerous than metal detecting. So if they just have to pass some kind of law because they don't have anything better to do, then ban running on the beach. I can think of a much better argument for banning running on the beach than I can for banning metal detecting on the beach, if personal safety is going to be the premise. Years ago I saw a man running on the beach and he took his eyes off where he was going because he was watching a young lady in a bikini and kicked a man who was laying down right in the face. WOW a running accident that didn't even have anything to do with a metal detector. Wait there had to be a metal detector in there some where.

The truth is that before metal detectors were ever invented that people dug 1000's of holes on beaches daily, but it wasn't until the advent of metal detectors that anyone even cared to take notice. Why?

Well, it's simple when a toddler finishes filling their sand bucked at the end of the day they go home with an empty bucket. When a kid is buried in the sand the only thing he takes away from the beach is a pocket full of sand, and when the guy finishes his sand castle the tide takes his castle and leaves nothing but a number 3 sized wash tub hole in the sand, but often times when a detectorist leaves the beach he leaves with enough to pay for his vacation. Often times the dectorist walks away with something he can be proud of. The bottom line is there are some out there that just cannot stand to see anyone that finds something of possible value and has the right to keep it. I don't know if it is jealousy or what, but it is almost as though it eats them alive to know that someone else has the technology and expertise to find treasure other than them self. THAT MY FRIEND IS WHAT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOLE!

Bottom line, it is not about the holes, it is about some government official that has nothing better to do than to control, regulate, and take away our freedoms one by one. Any excuse to little by little take our public lands away from us will be used, and that is why this story, as their reason to outlaw metal detecting on public beaches is so full of HOLES!!!

Please everyone fill your holes and let's try to do things in such a way that it at least will make it just a little harder for them to steal our public lands from us.
 
Haven't spent much time on the Florida Beaches, but in my younger years out in Oregon, we use to dig for clams on the beach, and can't remember ever filling a hole, or anyone else for that matter...

Think more people get hit or run over by cars on the beach, than trip over metal detector holes, around here anyway. Maybe it just never makes the news.

Some people just look for the first likely cause of their problems (they are never wrong, of course). My last dog use to get blamed for all kinds of things, but was never allow to wander the neighborhood alone, nor was into running off. He learned early not use yards and businesses for his toilet needs. We'd just happen to be walking by, we get blamed for dead flowers, or brown piles. No way it was him, and no way he was the father of those puppies either (dog's been dead for while, neighbor still brings up).

It's better to do you best, and leave no mess, whether you made it or not, because people see you digging, some are going to blame you for what others did anyway. Pretty much why we need to fill the holes, and get the word out. Really don't know how some could break a leg, running on the beach, but any painful injury isn't worth it.
 
I was detecting the other day on the beach, and an elderly irish man walks up and starts up a conversation about metal detecting. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation he says that he wallks along different beaches every morning, and I am the first metal detectorist that he has seen that actually filled his holes...

I haven't come across any unfilled holes yet, but if I catch the person that is doing it, he is going to get a strong warning from me...

I beach hunt a lot before sunrise and after sunset, and there are a lot of people jogging along the beach in the dark, and holes are damn near impossible to see if they aren't carrying a flashlight (which most aren't). Very easy for someone to sprain an ankle/break a leg in a hole that we dig...
 
Great information for the general discussion section.
 
bamadigtab said:
Now there is a bill in Florida that may make metal detecting a thing of the past in Florida even on the public beaches.
Click to expand...

I agree that we are need to be responsible MD'ers and I'd also like to hear a bit more about this proposed bill. If this is true it is something that everyone needs to be concerned with. If true, we all need to write some letters, phone our elected officials, etc and let them know how much we oppose this bill.
 
I've been running for 35+ years and tripping and falling are just part of the equation. In fact I have practiced on grass falling and rolling so I don't injure myself. I've run on a beach before and they're not perfectly level. I've tripped and fallen on someone's extremely long dog leash on the beach and that was no fun. This year a truck pulled in front of me and stopped and I crashed with some serious road rash. Don't know why he stopped since his windows were tinted. I always fill my holes no matter where, after all it takes so very little time and effort. If I sued someone every time I fell, I'd be rich.
Running and MD'n are both just hobbies to me but I respect both, in fact I'm running Boston in April and I own a Etrac. :lol:
 
I HAD A MAN APPROACH ME ONE TIME TELLING ME HE WAS GOING TO CALL THE
POLICE ON ME FOR M.D UNTIL HE WATCHED ME FOR A WHIE AND SAW THE CARE I TOOK IN FIXING MY HOLES.It pays to take your time and fix them right.
 
oldrunner said:
I've been running for 35+ years and tripping and falling are just part of the equation. In fact I have practiced on grass falling and rolling so I don't injure myself. I've run on a beach before and they're not perfectly level. I've tripped and fallen on someone's extremely long dog leash on the beach and that was no fun. This year a truck pulled in front of me and stopped and I crashed with some serious road rash. Don't know why he stopped since his windows were tinted. I always fill my holes no matter where, after all it takes so very little time and effort. If I sued someone every time I fell, I'd be rich.
Running and MD'n are both just hobbies to me but I respect both, in fact I'm running Boston in April and I own a Etrac. :lol:
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your post :)

I have always wanted to hear it from the runners perspective..

I know every runner that goes by me, waves and smiles and I don't exactly groom my digs to perfection on the beach..They can clearly see the bomb pattern well in advance and if they trip on an uneven spot, then they are simply careless..I too have run in the past for training and thought it was laughable that a runner would trip or fall in anything left behind by a hunter.
I guess growing up on the beach alot of the debate just never made sense to me..Leaving pot holes or a hole that would go up to someones knee is ridiculous, but a small divet is a joke and especially on an incoming tide..

All the people that run or walk their dogs regularly near me all know me..Why ??

Because I'm FRIENDLY to them...Try it guys it works..There is plenty of time to hunt and being pleasant to the locals goes a long way to helping our public image..I recently showed a couple who own a large beachfront home, the nasty stuff I dug right off their front yard..They couldn't even believe the nasty stuff that is inches away from their bare feet in the summer..

I used to discard my trash in the cans on the boardwalk as I was leaving..If you notice that in my finds pics now, you can see all or most of the trash I dug that day..
I have been saving it in a huge pile to take a pic one day, should the proposal of banning metal detecting ever come to be in my area ..

I think hunters digging on any type of ball fields or soccer fields is way worse of a hazard, no matter how careful they are in replacing the plug ..

Those fields are more heavily used and mostly by children and were created exclusively for sports recreation, so a lawsuit would be much more likely if it happened there..

Good Luck and HH !!!
 
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One way to tell a hole was left by someone metal detecting is because in addition to not filling their hole, they left the junk they found next to it. I see that a lot.
 
Recently read a post about somebody who was leaving large holes in a park/playing field. This to me is much more of a threat than holes at a beach. I ran into a kid the other day who told me he just bought a $20 detector at a thrift store, and he planned on getting rich off of it. All I could think was he'd end up leaving holes, because he's not serious/realistic about the hobby. I warned him to fill his holes of course, but I fear he didn't care.
Even as a 13 year old it never occurred to me not to fill in holes. It's called respect - something lacking in today's youth IMO.
One thing I did learn that newbies may want to heed. Digging circular plugs is a terrible idea. When a kid I did this and when I went back to the site days later, the plugs had come off the hole - holes everywhere with dead grass plugs laying next to them. This will certainly lose you and the rest of us future permission. Please dig plugs "horse shoe" or "V" style. HH.
 
How do you know the whole story wasn't fabricated just to make a point at the meeting? Time and time again we see stories being made-up that support someones agenda. Just look on Facebook. There are hundreds of them daily. Example, the story about the old lady that gets pulled over by the police, and ends up having a bunch of weapons on her, blah blah blah etc. I'm sure some of you have heard a variation of this story. It's a well known fabrication among Law Enforcement circles. I would doubt the accuracy of this story until I saw an actual News article, or disposition from a court ruling. You just can't prove that a hole was dug by someone on a beach UNLESS there is an eye witness that sees them doing it, and, even when an eye witness says "Yeah, I saw him digging holes", they can't refute whether or not he didn't fill them in, or if the hole this jogger tripped in was actually dug by this individual. This entire story smells bad from start to finish, and I would caution the readers to take it with a grain of salt until proof is provided. Lets not assume it's true, and approach this like any story that lacks any facts or evidence. It seems like someone at that meeting wanted to scare the group into being responsible for personal reasons. Telling a story like this would benefit the story teller if they can convince people to be neat and fill their holes, so their hobby doesn't suffer from those that would ignore the Code of Ethics. Just my $.02
 
Blaming a detectorist for holes on a beach is ridiculous. Every living thing makes holes on beaches - kids, dogs, crabs, birds, turtles, the waves themselves!

As for parks, since that's where I do 99% of my hunting so far, I try to avoid playing areas and stick to the edges, but even if I do venture into playing fields, I'm as careful as can be regarding filling holes back and making it look like I was never there. One thing I've noticed that really helps is wet or recently wet weather - as long as the soil has some moisture, you're guaranteed to be able to tamp it back down pretty well. On dry spells, I think that's a lot more difficult to do and you risk having that plug pop back up, leaving bits of dead grass everywhere.

On the flip side, some of these parks are beat up regardless from cleats, dead patchy grass, dogs, etc - so I never feel all that terrible about digging in them. These aren't the fairways at Augusta after all.
 
Schweddy said:
One thing I did learn that newbies may want to heed. Digging circular plugs is a terrible idea. When a kid I did this and when I went back to the site days later, the plugs had come off the hole - holes everywhere with dead grass plugs laying next to them. This will certainly lose you and the rest of us future permission. Please dig plugs "horse shoe" or "V" style. HH.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that somehow a V or U shaped plug is less likely to come off the hole than a rouind plug, or were you trying to say that we should dig flaps instead of plugs?

Quite frankly, I don't think a plug that is properly dug and replaced will come up as easily as you make it sound. At least not in the soil that I dig. I will continue to dig approx 3" diameter plugs for items below 2", and smaller V shaped flaps for shallower stuff.
 
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