Decent finds at a State Park

markinswpa said:

Nice pile if finds. Congrats on all the silver and other goodies. Here in Pa. I believe we need permits to hunt in the state parks also. Good luck. Mark

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Hey Mark... At one point, about 10 years ago, I had asked at a local state park here in PA (sorry, Tom! ) and I was told that it was up to the park manager. No permit was required, but they didn't want other visitors being disturbed or marked historic spots disturbed. Now, that was under a different governor and a different "climate" so I have no idea what the situation is here now.

I haven't been back to my local state park since then. But about 10 years ago, they opened the dam and dropped the water level in the lake by a LOT to build some structures for fish habitat. I was fairly new to the hobby and didn't have the best equipment or experience, but I went to the boat launch, desperately looking for gold before they finished the project. Got a bunch of change but I got tired of being fooled by fishing weights. I was so dumb to give up. I still think about it and cringe. They haven't done it again since then.

I do know they've been trying to modernize some things at the state DCNR. You can actually hunt on some Sundays now. And those stupid pink envelopes are going away...you'll be able to order additional doe tags on this newfangled internet thingie. About time!

I'll have to check and see what the situation is. (Again, sorry, Tom )

gismapper said:

.... I had asked at a local state park here in PA (sorry, Tom! ) and I was told that it was up to the park manager.....

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gismapper, Think long & hard about that answer you got ^ ^ . This is similar to answers like : "inquire at each kiosk you come to ", or "with permission" or "up to the discretion of ...." Right ?

But what is that telling you/me/us about md'ing VERSUS ANY OTHER ACTIVITY YOU CAN THINK OF ? Answer : Nothing !

All that that is telling you is that duly appointed authority has the latitude to interpret and apply rules , to the park, as he sees fit. Eg.: They could tell you to "stop" if you were throwing frisbees in a dangerous manner. Or to turn down your boom box if it's bothering the neighboring camper. These type answers do NOT mean : Frisbees "need permission" or boomboxes "need permission".

Same with words like "permit" or "permitted" : All that these phrases and words are saying , is that park authority /rangers have the authority to interpret and implement policy, as they see fit. It NEVER meant that anything and everything you do in the park (whistle, skip stones on the pond, etc...) need their say-so-each time. It's just saying that they have the authority to tell you to stop. Like if you were leaving holes, or on an obvious sensitive monument.

So I do not necessarily construe answers like you got, and answers like "inquire at each kiosk" or "with permission" or "at the discretion of ..." to mean that we md'rs are therefore required to grovel. It's merely the obvious statement that rangers have authority at their particular park, if they decided something was dangerous, or whatever. It NEVER meant : You must ask ahead of time.

And by asking ahead of time "Can I ?", you are simply going to be the latest victim of "No one cared TILL you asked" .

For words like "permit" or "permitted" : That doesn't necessarily mean that there's a card like a library card you carry around. It can simply be the same concept that : Individual park rangers have the latitude to stop you from doing something , at their discretion. It never necessarily meant that there was a permit to obtain !

gismapper said:

.....but I got tired of being fooled by fishing weights. ....

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Was that primarily a fishing lake ? Or a swimming lake ? If it was mostly for fishing, then those will rarely have gold rings, and will be way-too-punishing with lead sinker ratios. But if it was a heavy swimming-usage lake, then yes, maybe you shoulda had more patience

Tom_in_CA said:

Was that primarily a fishing lake ? Or a swimming lake ? If it was mostly for fishing, then those will rarely have gold rings, and will be way-too-punishing with lead sinker ratios. But if it was a heavy swimming-usage lake, then yes, maybe you shoulda had more patience

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Nah, no swimming officially permitted. Some people try for as long as they can get away with it, but the easily available shoreline isn't that big, so it's easy to patrol, and it gets patrolled regularly. It got insanely busy thanks to covid and unchecked population explosion in my area, so probably more people wading now than there used to be. There's actually a town (roads and foundations only) 50 feet below at the bottom of the lake. It got taken by eminent domain and flooded by the construction of the dam in the early 1970s. People go scuba diving there.
Mike

Nice finds, some good Silvers there! Sad to say No Metal Detecting allowed in any Montana State Park.