good places to detect without getting in trouble

[elbowgrease]

Hi Folks

Got myself a X-Terra 705 late last year (from one of those anaconda 20% off sales) and done a little bit of detecting at an old school site that is now owned by a local 4x4 club that uses it as their club rooms. Got permission to use the site via a friend who is a member in the club that got the OK from the club president and managed to recover a few decimal coins and a bag full of junk including a bent silver plated spoon looking a bit worse for wear, several broken matchbox type cars a pen nib, ring pulls, aluminum cans or parts of various pieces of metal and a belt buckle. (i posted all these finds here on the forums at the time)

I've been digging pretty well everything just too see what stuff is, even though the signals are a bit ordinary, I've kinda worked out what a coin looks like on the display and the kind of sound it makes but as a learning process I've just dug everything up anyway.

I'm at a point where I'd like to explore other areas but am unsure of places I can go without needing to seek permission OR how to go about seeking permission for council parks \ nature strips \ sporting grounds.

What the requirements if you aren't digging holes so much, like under swing sets or around playgrounds with barks etc looking for stuff that might have been dropped as opposed to buried?

Is there a unwritten etiquette or code of conduct for digging? Even at digging the old school site I was very particular about cutting a neat hole, retrieving the target and refilling as best I can, but despite best efforts it's never 100% perfect, so I was wondering what people use as a guideline for digging in public locations.

Thanks
Adam

 

[mbasko]

Check out this thread:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11178
Allowable detecting spots is pretty dependant on area I.e. some Councils allow it on public land & some don't, some do but not on lawn areas etc. etc.

 

[AtomRat]

I keep to pretty open public areas like parks and where events have been held. I havnt had an issue with anyone but a caravan park owner who's land I wasn't on anyway. I have an advantage and take my kids to the park and they join in and other parents become interested rather than concerned. I state a lot that I'm removing dangers like nails, safety pins, needles etc and keep them in a bag as I detect to show in case.

If it seemed like a place which looks like it needs permission I'd ask. Its pretty free where I live so I'm lucky but still need to keep the peace and not disrupt.

I detected the last of a local park today which was full of families, digging and detecting everyone, even at one ladies feet who also became intrigued and laughed as I picked out another pull tab.

If I feel like I'm not liking the idea of people seeing me detecting or I think I may be bothering someone too often at an area, I just go out bush by the old diggings, buildings and log dumps all over the place here. A lot of people ask me to detect thier property as well so I do have lots of ground lined up all over in case. There's many places to detect but it also depends on your area.

Who in the hell invented the alloy round thing that comes from inside a gatorade bottle lid I think...omg I must have dug 30 of them today. Sound exactly like coins and look like them

I've well and truely cleaned the park. Collected the last of the junk signals and gained only $0.25 and a 10c new zealand coin from 2005

 

[Hunting the yellow]

ask me mate or come back down Melbourne way and well check out some spots

 

[Goldpick]

If you are trying to get confidence up in public areas, probably best to initially stick to some back street parks that aren't that well kept, sometimes these spots actually turn out to be good producers. If you must do sporting areas, steer clear of oval playing surfaces, and limit yourself to only detecting the surrounds. Shouldn't be an issue hitting the bark covered areas around play equipment, we've all done it at some stage - pretty hard to leave any sort of impact in those areas. Just take any rubbish with you, and ensure the place is left in the same condition as you found it.

If the ground is hard or dry, don't go digging plugs as it will only leave a mess. Also ensure plugs are left attached to the runners (half or 3/4 plugs, not full plugs), and don't cut them too shallow as you will cut through all the roots and leave dead patches. Stick to areas with more damp/soft ground, or come back when the conditions are more favourable. In those drier areas you are best to just target shallow finds where you can use your pinpointer to locate the coin from the surface, and flick it out with a screwdriver.

Any onlookers will be less concerned if you are using non invasive methods to extract coins vs excavating holes everywhere, especially if you are digging all targets and still learning at this early stage.

Also consider joining a detecting club if available in your local area. Most have public liability insurance, and allow access to areas not normally available to the average joe. In such circumstances permission is sought prior to any such outing, so no worries there.

 

[elbowgrease]

Thanks guys some good information there!

The parks closest by are all along high traffic roads so I might start looking for some smaller parks in quieter parts of town, I think there is a smallish park just up the road from the local gem club actually and I don't think it gets too much traffic either.

When I was digging at the old school site it was the middle of summer and I actually stopped digging there at the time because as you guys described it was dry and I found the plugs were crumbly and didn't go back real well and most of em the grass died off. Thankfully the guys from the club didn't care in the slightest but I did learn an important lesson that as a detectorist I need to take that into account as well when digging grassed areas.

 

[AngerManagement]

Permission and neat recovery skills are the basics

Then knowing you machine so that you do not wast time and reduce recovery process - trying to recover items that you do not want.

learn to pni point and recover without using a PLUG every time... In many cases it is not needed....

Public and high vis places - making the choice to recover items that are shallow and by passing stuff that will leave a mess if you recover.

PS. Hats off to you for making the call as to Plugs crumbley and the grass not recovering. Many never check and assume that they have done an A1 job...

 

[Heatho]

My technique for getting deeper stuff still involves using a screwdriver but i push it down straight in and lever the grass apart without cutting any runners or roots, anything deeper than say 15-20cm I usually leave, I work the screwdriver in a circular motion to open up the hole to get my hand in. Once the target is recovered I then push the soil back in and then push the screwdriver into the ground about an inch from the side of the hole and lever it back to centre, I do this at 3 different points around the hole and that makes a small mound with the grass on top and still attached, I then tread it down level again.

You can see dirt when finished but when a small amount of rain comes you can't see where the hole ever was, I have checked and re-checked the places I detect and you just can't notice where I've been after a week or so. The grass is never cut and not really damaged. I've shown the council bloke I talk to my technique and he has no problem with it at all. I've removed 1000's targets from one place and you just can't notice where I have removed the targets from.

It's not a good method for very dry ground but no methods are really as AngerManagement mentioned.

 

[rocketaroo]

deep plugs recover fast, if you leave one side attached. Deep plugs are not possible in dry dirt. The slit method is alot better in dry conditions, the slit method is better than plugs for the grass to recover. Depends where you hunt, coastal areas get alot more rain, our impact in those areas is very little.

What causes problems....people who dig craters, and leave them open, busy bodies who acuse us of being environmental terrorists, and golfers who chip the turf.

 

[Goldtarget]

Thanks guys some good information there!

The parks closest by are all along high traffic roads so I might start looking for some smaller parks in quieter parts of town, I think there is a smallish park just up the road from the local gem club actually and I don't think it gets too much traffic either.

When I was digging at the old school site it was the middle of summer and I actually stopped digging there at the time because as you guys described it was dry and I found the plugs were crumbly and didn't go back real well and most of em the grass died off. Thankfully the guys from the club didn't care in the slightest but I did learn an important lesson that as a detectorist I need to take that into account as well when digging grassed areas.

I've done nearly every Park and playground in the city. Not once stopped. You should be right mate in terms of not getting kicked out of anywhere but still I've avoided the lake.
I'll take some time to show you how to retrieve with barely noticeable methods if we can find some time to meet up, I'm less than 15 mins away and work locally.
Be awesome to have someone go shooting with around town and surrounding places, I go out at least once a week for a couple hours. Just shoot me a pm and I'll forward my number.

 

[elbowgrease]

Thanks guys some good information there!

The parks closest by are all along high traffic roads so I might start looking for some smaller parks in quieter parts of town, I think there is a smallish park just up the road from the local gem club actually and I don't think it gets too much traffic either.

When I was digging at the old school site it was the middle of summer and I actually stopped digging there at the time because as you guys described it was dry and I found the plugs were crumbly and didn't go back real well and most of em the grass died off. Thankfully the guys from the club didn't care in the slightest but I did learn an important lesson that as a detectorist I need to take that into account as well when digging grassed areas.

I've done nearly every Park and playground in the city. Not once stopped. You should be right mate in terms of not getting kicked out of anywhere but still I've avoided the lake.
I'll take some time to show you how to retrieve with barely noticeable methods if we can find some time to meet up, I'm less than 15 mins away and work locally.
Be awesome to have someone go shooting with around town and surrounding places, I go out at least once a week for a couple hours. Just shoot me a pm and I'll forward my number.

Hi goldtarget!

Tried sending you a PM but says your inbox is full! Sent via email instead!