Big Boys Hobbies

Finally happened, police showed up.

HDMontana

HDMontana

Elite Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2019
Messages
934
So I was out detecting the park where I found the old Chinese coin last week. About 2 hours into the hunt, I was near parking area, knelt down popping a coin, when I heard a car stop behind me. Looked around to see a local cop. He asked me what I was doing. Seemed like a dumb question but I told him I was metal detecting. He asked me if I was digging? I was honest and said yes. He said no digging allowed. I could metal detect but not dig. I pointed to the softball field i had just fished on and told him that I had dug up to 20 small holes and offered to let him try to determine where they were. He declined and repeated no digging. He said that last year in another park in town, someone had left numerous holes without much effort to refill them. At least he was nice and not a jerk about it and I told him I wouldn't dig. I did get $4.26 in clad from the field before he showed up. I went home and looked up the city ordinances, just like I had last year. Sure enough, now it said no digging on city property. I'm pretty sure a snooty lady turned me in. She came by earlier with her 2 little house dogs and when I said hello, she just gave me a look and kept walking. Guess tomorrow I will drive another town further that I haven't detected. Just checked their laws and they say nothing about not being able to metal detect or dig on public areas.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
 
Don't ya just HATE people who can't keep their nasty proboscises OUT of other folks' BUSINESS?! TCHEEEE!
My attitude is "Look, ya got a problem with me, TALK to me, dangit and let's get this settled without involving the Po-pos! C'mon, we're ADULTS!"
Once I explain what I'm doing, most people are fine with it!
For a long time, I used to carry a pocket full of pennies, all dated within the last 12 years, and when kids would descend, I'd ask "What year were you born?" and give them a penny from that year! "This was made the year you were born. You know what they say about 'lucky pennies'... this is EXTRA lucky for you!"

That kept the lil monsters off my back for a while, until someone complained I was "giving candy to kids" *!* WHAT? Sheesh! I mean... I'm a harmless lovable lil fuzzball! No more Ms. Nice detectorist!
Sage(Go 'way, Kid... Ya BOTHER Me!)Grouse
 
HDMontana said:
...I went home and looked up the city ordinances, just like I had last year. Sure enough, now it said no digging on city property....
Click to expand...

You probably didn't even need to "look them up". Because ... gauranteed ... it's in every single city's muni code, in some form-or-fashion. Eg.: Dig, or alter, or deface, or molest, or remove, etc.....

Yet as you may have surmised : there is no shortage of md'rs among our ranks, that detect parks. IN SPITE of such verbiage. Technically if we leave no trace (cover/stomp/fluff), then we have not alterED or defacED anything. And I would even go so far as to apply that logic to dig vs dug :roll:


It's probably like you say: Some nosy parker called it in. Hence perhaps just give it a rest for a bit, and I bet the matter is forgotten. Flukes like that type of "scram" happen sometimes, but do not constitute law, from then-on-out. Sometimes it just means "give lip service" and pick lower traffic times in the future.

Also, whenever someone says "because of holes" (and cites supposed incidents of previous md'rs holes), I'm not so quick to take that at face value. A lot of times, the mere site of a man with a detector carries the connotation of "holes". Whether or not he actually ever left any holes. Nosy parkers can just assume "they left holes", simply because they some them down on the ground poking the sod. Ya never know.
 
Here in cascade county the sheriff's have taken my side more than once. I've learned to bring a screw driver with me and when asked if I'm digging I say nope just probing and since I never leave holes, no one can argue with me lmao. Once everyone is gone I go back to my digger. I've only had to deal with the police once or twice but usually het a couple salty old ladies who feel the need to protect property that isnt theirs. Montana has a ton of good hunting ground, and a lot of history. Some of the older town's near where i'm at, the people are more interested than offended. Western Montana seems to be where the snooty folks linger and HATE metal detectors haha
 
Tom_in_CA said:
You probably didn't even need to "look them up". Because ... gauranteed ... it's in every single city's muni code, in some form-or-fashion. Eg.: Dig, or alter, or deface, or molest, or remove, etc.....

Yet as you may have surmised : there is no shortage of md'rs among our ranks, that detect parks. IN SPITE of such verbiage. Technically if we leave no trace (cover/stomp/fluff), then we have not alterED or defacED anything. And I would even go so far as to apply that logic to dig vs dug :roll:


It's probably like you say: Some nosy parker called it in. Hence perhaps just give it a rest for a bit, and I bet the matter is forgotten. Flukes like that type of "scram" happen sometimes, but do not constitute law, from then-on-out. Sometimes it just means "give lip service" and pick lower traffic times in the future.

Also, whenever someone says "because of holes" (and cites supposed incidents of previous md'rs holes), I'm not so quick to take that at face value. A lot of times, the mere site of a man with a detector carries the connotation of "holes". Whether or not he actually ever left any holes. Nosy parkers can just assume "they left holes", simply because they some them down on the ground poking the sod. Ya never know.
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, on some parks I hunt around Atlanta actually removed the no digging item from the 2019 park regulation brochure. Go figure how that happened. Did some old lady go to the park director and tearfully say "I am sorry about complaining, the detectorists are really the nicest people and we need to let them hunt and dig in our parks"?

small wonder.
 
Give that place a breather and go back when regular people usually aren’t.

I don’t equate digging a plug and replacing to “digging”. More like “plugging” :lol:
 
ChrisnAmanda1 said:
Here in cascade county the sheriff's have taken my side more than once. I've learned to bring a screw driver with me and when asked if I'm digging I say nope just probing and since I never leave holes, no one can argue with me lmao.
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea.... I haven't been approached by police but a screwdriver might just save your trip. I actually know a city that doesn't allow digging but actually ALLOWS screwdrivers/probes!
 
I had a screwdriver in my pouch but I wasn't sure if he had been watching from a distance.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
 
ChrisnAmanda1 said:
Here in cascade county the sheriff's have taken my side more than once. I've learned to bring a screw driver with me and when asked if I'm digging I say nope just probing and since I never leave holes, no one can argue with me lmao. Once everyone is gone I go back to my digger. I've only had to deal with the police once or twice but usually het a couple salty old ladies who feel the need to protect property that isnt theirs. Montana has a ton of good hunting ground, and a lot of history. Some of the older town's near where i'm at, the people are more interested than offended. Western Montana seems to be where the snooty folks linger and HATE metal detectors haha
Click to expand...
Tell me about it. Try living near Bozeman.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
 
HDMontana said:
So I was out detecting the park where I found the old Chinese coin last week. About 2 hours into the hunt, I was near parking area, knelt down popping a coin, when I heard a car stop behind me. Looked around to see a local cop. He asked me what I was doing. Seemed like a dumb question but I told him I was metal detecting. He asked me if I was digging? I was honest and said yes. He said no digging allowed. I could metal detect but not dig. I pointed to the softball field i had just fished on and told him that I had dug up to 20 small holes and offered to let him try to determine where they were. He declined and repeated no digging. He said that last year in another park in town, someone had left numerous holes without much effort to refill them. At least he was nice and not a jerk about it and I told him I wouldn't dig. I did get $4.26 in clad from the field before he showed up. I went home and looked up the city ordinances, just like I had last year. Sure enough, now it said no digging on city property. I'm pretty sure a snooty lady turned me in. She came by earlier with her 2 little house dogs and when I said hello, she just gave me a look and kept walking. Guess tomorrow I will drive another town further that I haven't detected. Just checked their laws and they say nothing about not being able to metal detect or dig on public areas.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

ass wipes are everywhere! morons wreck it for everybody!
why don't they care? destroy the hobby! just stupid is all!

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
ChrisnAmanda1 said:
Here in cascade county the sheriff's have taken my side more than once. I've learned to bring a screw driver with me and when asked if I'm digging I say nope just probing and since I never leave holes, no one can argue with me lmao. Once everyone is gone I go back to my digger. I've only had to deal with the police once or twice but usually het a couple salty old ladies who feel the need to protect property that isnt theirs. Montana has a ton of good hunting ground, and a lot of history. Some of the older town's near where i'm at, the people are more interested than offended. Western Montana seems to be where the snooty folks linger and HATE metal detectors haha
Click to expand...

the "old ladies" consider you the "great unwashed! never gonna win with them!
as far as they are concerned, you are a "criminal!" destroying their beautiful park!
now go home and "beat yourself to death!" sin, and go down no more! ehe! heh! he!

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
Anyone here ever watch "Live PD" on the A&E Network?

If you do, you see the type of idiots the police deal with day after day. It's so predictable -- someone gets pulled over for something minor. Then the officer discovers at least one of the below:
1) No driver's license
2) No insurance
3) Intoxicated or have drugs in their car
4) Have warrants for their arrest

So after dealing with the above they get called to respond to a complaint about a metal detectorist in the park. That is quite a relief from the rest of the idiots that they are constantly dealing with. I would guess that if you are polite to them, 99.9% of the time they will just inform you its not allowed and will let you go.
 
Last year I was hunting a park when I observed a lady leave her house across the street with her dog which was not on a leash.

The dog spotted another dog ( leashed) across the park and sprinted in its direction. The lady then came over and asked what I was doing. After I answered she pulls out her phone and announces she’s calling the police.

When I didn’t respond she announced it again. I looked up and and asked why. She said to report me. I laughed and said “Go ahead” and went back to what I was doing. She told me I wouldn’t be so lackadaisical when the police arrived.

I said “Don’t be so sure. What I’m doing isn’t against the law, but YOU are standing next to a sign that says all dogs must be on a leash and YOUR dog is way over there!” and I pointed at her dog across the park where the owners of the second dog were trying to chase her dog away.

I added”I think they will want to talk to YOU more than me!”

She gasped and hung up her phone and started running towards her dog. 15 minutes later she dragged her dog into her house and didn’t come back
 
Chipk said:
Last year I was hunting a park when I observed a lady leave her house across the street with her dog which was not on a leash.

The dog spotted another dog ( leashed) across the park and sprinted in its direction. The lady then came over and asked what I was doing. After I answered she pulls out her phone and announces she’s calling the police.

When I didn’t respond she announced it again. I looked up and and asked why. She said to report me. I laughed and said “Go ahead” and went back to what I was doing. She told me I wouldn’t be so lackadaisical when the police arrived.

I said “Don’t be so sure. What I’m doing isn’t against the law, but YOU are standing next to a sign that says all dogs must be on a leash and YOUR dog is way over there!” and I pointed at her dog across the park where the owners of the second dog were trying to chase her dog away.

I added”I think they will want to talk to YOU more than me!”

She gasped and hung up her phone and started running towards her dog. 15 minutes later she dragged her dog into her house and didn’t come back
Click to expand...

Great story! The naughty dog is the hero! :lol: I wish it was always that easy to shut down, or get rid of the ones who need that.
 
Have a question. In Michigan its against the law to harass a fisherman or Hunter while he or she is practising they're sport. You can be cited or arrested for this. Michigan also recognises metal detecting as a legitimate sport.
If someone confronts you with a nagitave attitude while detecting wouldn't that be considered harassment?
 
HDMontana said:
So I was out detecting the park where I found the old Chinese coin last week. About 2 hours into the hunt, I was near parking area, knelt down popping a coin, when I heard a car stop behind me. Looked around to see a local cop. He asked me what I was doing. Seemed like a dumb question but I told him I was metal detecting. He asked me if I was digging? I was honest and said yes. He said no digging allowed. I could metal detect but not dig. I pointed to the softball field i had just fished on and told him that I had dug up to 20 small holes and offered to let him try to determine where they were. He declined and repeated no digging. He said that last year in another park in town, someone had left numerous holes without much effort to refill them. At least he was nice and not a jerk about it and I told him I wouldn't dig. I did get $4.26 in clad from the field before he showed up. I went home and looked up the city ordinances, just like I had last year. Sure enough, now it said no digging on city property. I'm pretty sure a snooty lady turned me in. She came by earlier with her 2 little house dogs and when I said hello, she just gave me a look and kept walking. Guess tomorrow I will drive another town further that I haven't detected. Just checked their laws and they say nothing about not being able to metal detect or dig on public areas.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yep. As others have said: "Digging holes" is not what you were doing. You open the sod, recover the metal target, and replace the soil and sod. Not digging holes. Next time someone asks if you are/were digging, I suggest a polite, no-attitude reply, like: "no, that's not what I'm doing", and have your explanation ready.
 
Thanks everyone for the tips on how to deal with the situation when it arises.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
 
N6BY said:
Anyone here ever watch "Live PD" on the A&E Network?

If you do, you see the type of idiots the police deal with day after day. It's so predictable -- someone gets pulled over for something minor. Then the officer discovers at least one of the below:
1) No driver's license
2) No insurance
3) Intoxicated or have drugs in their car
4) Have warrants for their arrest

So after dealing with the above they get called to respond to a complaint about a metal detectorist in the park. That is quite a relief from the rest of the idiots that they are constantly dealing with. I would guess that if you are polite to them, 99.9% of the time they will just inform you its not allowed and will let you go.
Click to expand...

"most" of them are just responding to a public complaint, and could care two sH**s less about metal detecting.in my experience, they just check ya out,determine you are not doing anything wrong, and disappear.occasionally they might "linger" and watch ya for a minute ,or two, and THEN take of!

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
HDMontana said:
So I was out detecting the park where I found the old Chinese coin last week. About 2 hours into the hunt, I was near parking area, knelt down popping a coin, when I heard a car stop behind me. Looked around to see a local cop. He asked me what I was doing. Seemed like a dumb question but I told him I was metal detecting. He asked me if I was digging? I was honest and said yes. He said no digging allowed. I could metal detect but not dig. I pointed to the softball field i had just fished on and told him that I had dug up to 20 small holes and offered to let him try to determine where they were. He declined and repeated no digging. He said that last year in another park in town, someone had left numerous holes without much effort to refill them. At least he was nice and not a jerk about it and I told him I wouldn't dig. I did get $4.26 in clad from the field before he showed up. I went home and looked up the city ordinances, just like I had last year. Sure enough, now it said no digging on city property. I'm pretty sure a snooty lady turned me in. She came by earlier with her 2 little house dogs and when I said hello, she just gave me a look and kept walking. Guess tomorrow I will drive another town further that I haven't detected. Just checked their laws and they say nothing about not being able to metal detect or dig on public areas.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You can be honest without saying your digging. I answer like this.

"No sir, I'm only cutting a neat flap and removing what I find, and there is no trace, I absolutely do not dig holes."

Because I don't. Digging, to me, means removal of dirt from a location and piling it somewhere else. It's so incredibly rare that I do that (most everything I pull is less than 4" deep, and a flap method gets it done.).

In fact, I started using this phrasing, because my local city ordinance, specifically calls out "no digging, but a neat flap may cut." (or something along those lines, calling out the difference.)

Skippy
 
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