I'm back, but still pissed.

[Jelly_936]

If you are hunting in an area that you know or reasonably think there is potential for legal measures then you shouldn't be detecting it. Holds true to any activity or hobby. If you knowingly and intentionally go against the codes, laws, or regulations and you get caught then you live with the consequences, whatever they may be...confiscation, citation, arrest, hanging at the town square, scolding, etc..

If you use tactics to detect in places that you have a right to but its just easier to do at dark or when busybody's aren't around then that is a different scenario. Having done the prior due diligence and knowing you are in the right without asking "permission" or drawing attention to yourself is just avoiding a potential incident until or unless there needs to be one really.

Speaking as a law enforcement member, if a detectorist has a detector confiscated then they either were in a place they knowingly shouldn't have been, they escalated the situation in some way when confronted, or most likely a combination of both. It would take an absolute lot to seize and confiscate a metal detector from someone as a member of law enforcement trust me. If that has happened to someone then they most likely had it coming I would say.

I'm sure instances have occurred where someone felt slighted by an overzealous enforcement official but the situation described in this original post just doesn't add up to me based on my knowledge and experience in law enforcement having worked with hundreds of agents and officers from DNR, State Patrol, Rangers, Police, Sheriff's Departments, etc.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... you made a blanket statement that people don't have their detectors confiscated..

See again : Post #137. Here is my exact quote:

"On the rare (and I mean rare) occasion that someone can EVER point to someone in an innocuous benign spot where this supposedly occurs : That is flukes. That is not norm."

Thus you can see ^ ^ that I didn't said that it NEVER could happens. I acknowledged that flukes happen. SURE. And people get chomped by sharks, and roughed up for jaywalking. Sure . I've not denied that flukes happen. But am saying : Recognize them for what they are : "Flukes".

There's going to come a point, in any activity you choose to do in this life, that if you want to inoculate yourself from any potential risk, that you will literally not leave your front door in the morning.

Sure, don't throw caution to the wind. But on the other hand, no, the sky is not falling. And when you go to look for examples of "confiscated detectors", it's in the realm of flukes. There are NOT commandos waiting to jump out from behind bushes on us. We are NOT hated and reviled of all men. A bit of common sense, and the magic of google, and you will NOT have your "detector confiscated".

 

[Cfmct]

See again : Post #137. Here is my exact quote:

"On the rare (and I mean rare) occasion that someone can EVER point to someone in an innocuous benign spot where this supposedly occurs : That is flukes. That is not norm."

Thus you can see ^ ^ that I didn't said that it NEVER could happens. I acknowledged that flukes happen. SURE. And people get chomped by sharks, and roughed up for jaywalking. Sure . I've not denied that flukes happen. But am saying : Recognize them for what they are : "Flukes".

There's going to come a point, in any activity you choose to do in this life, that if you want to inoculate yourself from any potential risk, that you will literally not leave your front door in the morning.

Sure, don't throw caution to the wind. But on the other hand, no, the sky is not falling. And when you go to look for examples of "confiscated detectors", it's in the realm of flukes. There are NOT commandos waiting to jump out from behind bushes on us. We are NOT hated and reviled of all men. A bit of common sense, and the magic of google, and you will NOT have your "detector confiscated".

Well Tom... I will never have to worry about losing my detector, because I only hunt private property, I do not hunt parks as I have no wants to... they remind me of a land fill, full of trash... I always ask permission even if I see a plot of land, I go out of my way to find out who owns it... its quite easy going to city hall and finding the owner...

 

[metaladdict]

Well, c'mon metal-addict : What *can* happen, and what likely *does* happen, are two different things. There is always some "ominous sky is falling imminent maximum fine & penalty" that is "on the books". Yet the *reality* is far different.

If anyone can point to instances of "confiscated metal detectors", I'm betting that it's probably someone being defiant that can't take a warning. Or someone night sneaking obvious off-limits monuments, etc.... On the rare (and I mean rare) occasion that someone can EVER point to someone in an innocuous benign spot where this supposedly occurs : That is flukes. That is not norm.

For example: I'm sure that if we scoured the newspaper headlines long enough across the country, we can probably find someone who got his ticketed, jailed, and car confiscated for nothing but a tail-light out. Sure. Flukes happen. For example : I have a clipping of a guy who got a ticket for eating a hamburger while driving (the cop called it "distracted driving"). But notice we recognize these for exactly what they are : Flukes.

So when these rare sky-is-falling posts happen, the WORST thing we can do is to think this means that such instances are imminent. Oh sure, use common sense, but no : The sky is not falling. The worst thing we can do is think this means we need to waltz in asking "can I ?" questions. Lest it merely become a self-fulfilling vicious loop. If someone is skittish (that they might be within an off-limits area), they can study rules and map-boundaries for

 

[metaladdict]

Tom just requests that no one ask for permission to detect from a Gov agency.
There we go Tom problem solved.

 

[james45]

So, I have been away from the forum for a while. My brother, who lives in Atlanta Country Club Estates, took me to detect a new spot where he frequently rides his mountain bike. This place is not far from his house and he goes there several times per week. I have never been there but I did look it up on Google Maps and it's a really big wooded area. It's a wooded area with bike trials all throughout. I wasn't planning on doing much detecting. I just wanted to see the area and would plan to come back when I could spend the day there. Anyway, after about an hour, we started to leave and he said there was a better way out which was a short trek through the woods to a dirt road that would lead back to where we were parked. Once we got on the road and were walking back towards the car, we were approached by a Park Ranger. Yep, it turns out this area was NPA land and they do not allow detecting. Google Maps did not list this as NPA land. I know better and would not have gone there if I knew that. Actually, it's not NPA land, it's just managed by the NPA. I did a web search and found it listed as NRA land and the website said it was open to everyone for recreational use. There was no mention of Metal Detecting being forbidden. I guess my brother knew it was NPA/NRA land but he didn't now detecting was not allowed and he has never seen a park Ranger there before. Not only did I get $860.00 in citations for "Possession of a Metal Detector" and "Destroying Plants" which I did not do. I dug one hole in a dirt area and properly filled it back in. He never even saw me digging. I was just walking with the detector turned off. But this jerk took my AT Pro, 2 Pro-Pointers, a Lesche Samson Pro, my edge digger and Garrett digger's bag, rechargeable batteries, gloves and everything else I had with the exception of my phone and my clothes. The odd thing about this is that so far, the U.S. District Court has no record of the citation or my gear being confiscated. It's been nearly 6 weeks since this happened. It looks like I got robbed by a Federal Cop. He did make the comment "This is MY metal detector now" when he confiscated it but I took that as a smart remark rather than his true intentions of keeping my gear. He was also careful to tell me brother to go ahead and walk back to the car, obviously so he wouldn't be a witness to the theft of my gear.

Well, I have an AT Gold but rarely use it and without a pin-pointer, shovel and edge digger I just wasn't interested in doing any detecting. I bought a new AT MAX and Pro-Pointer AT which I got Sunday and the new Lesche Samson Pro is scheduled to arrive today. I am going to go buy an edge digger and some gloves tomorrow morning the head out to do some detecting.

View attachment 510747View attachment 510748

Hmmm,when in that kind of trouble get a lawyer ! Its going to cost you money either way
.

 

[Coin-Saver]

The problem is if the Ranger is fake you're f***ed. If he's real and they have no record of the citation. He could simply be a criminal Ranger (Yes they DO exist) and he can always say he lost misplaced or whatever he want's about his copy of the citation. At that point he can store your equipment and detector in his trunk or wherever. Then he can wait awhile to see if you push the issue which in 99% of cases people won't if they were where they shouldn't have been. At which point he can sell your stuff or give o his kid for Christmas.

Most people think the LAW is what is in a law book or what is or isn't on a sign. At the point you are standing in front of the judge the law is however THEY interpret it bottom line. Unless you have $$$$$ for an appellate lawyer which would defeat the purpose you're just at the mercy of the court and good luck with that.

On a side note though, you should have known something was up when he told your brother to go back to the car. I think unless I'm being detained and I'm not breaking the law by simply BEING where it was legal to be, he could kiss my ass. Or in the words of a 4th grader "Make me".