Well, technically...

Bomberman

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I found this sign at an old church that was built in the mid 1800’s. I was considering giving it a go but realized that they meant metal detectors. So, just curious and for discussion purposes, would you detect here?

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I absolutely would!! The sign clearly says no Geiger counters, nothing about metal detectors
 
You are cruel. Much too cruel. I'm not touching this with a 10 ft. pole ! :laughing:

Awe c'mon Tom, this begs for your input!:lol:

Dig it! That sign says nothing about detectors! Do you think it is possible someone else had been detecting and told the person who confronted them that his detector was a Geiger counter? :lol::laughing:
 
I have had women actually come up to me & ask me " is that a geiger counter"?yes really ! I replied " lady I'm looking for coins not radiation. I would hunt that church until someone shows up & tells me to leave, but usually church people are pretty nice about it & dont cause a fuss as long as you dont interfere with their operations.
 
A church presumably being private property, why would one detect there without permission?? Wouldn’t that be akin to just starting up on somebody’s lawn til they came outside and asked what the heck you are doing?
 
Haha, that's pretty funny! Since the church grounds are private property, I think it would be best to refrain from detecting there without permission. :yes:
 
A church presumably being private property, why would one detect there without permission?? Wouldn’t that be akin to just starting up on somebody’s lawn til they came outside and asked what the heck you are doing?

Agreed! I think people lose sight of the reality that churches aren’t public property, they are private. Yes, you can often get away with hunting church grounds especially when no one's around - but the same can be said for any home, business, or farm field, too. Doesn’t make it right, though - hunting a church without permission is just as much trespassing as any other private land.

um.. that is No Church area they are referring to.. that is a Bone Yard..

are you serious?

...and the really sad part is, you know they put that sign up as a result of catching someone out in that bone yard with a “Geiger counter”. I’ll give the OP the benefit of the doubt that the sign refers to the entire church property, and not just the cemetery in the background! (Edit: realized after hitting “post” that the OP mentioned this was purely for discussion and amusement, so I want to make it clear that I don’t mean to imply he was considering hunting a cemetery)

With all that said, if they’ve had such a problem with detectorists hitting the grounds without permission that they felt it necessary to put up a sign, I’d probably just move along, because that sign may as well say “Don’t waste your time - already hunted out” :lol:
 
A church presumably being private property, why would one detect there without permission?? Wouldn’t that be akin to just starting up on somebody’s lawn til they came outside and asked what the heck you are doing?

teotwanki, airmet, princess, etc.... : Everything you're saying technically true. But stop and think for a moment , as to whether or not, IN ACTUAL PRACTICE, there is any difference : The same could be said of shopping centers. But you will notice people coming and going all the time (albeit for the express purpose of shopping). And for churches: People coming and going all the time (albeit for functions, services, etc... that go on there).

When I was a Jr. high kid, the school buss picked up all the kids in our neighborhood, at the edge of a local Baptist Church's lot. That was just where we lined up, to get on the bus. No real "parking strip", per say. But just where the grass just sort of dead-ended at the street.

So ... at about 8th grade, when I got my first detector, and was thinking "where to try this thing ?", I recalled our bus line-up point. And thought that since that had gone on for 30 yrs. up till then, that *certainly* some kids must have dropped some coins. Eh ?

And I was rewarded with some pennies and dimes from the immediate bus load zone. As I cleaned that out, I began to make ever-widening circles of coverage. Till I was probably, actually, out into the church lawn itself. One day, a church janitor emerged and eyed me. Came over and asked what I was doing. He recognized me as a neighborhood kid, shrugged his shoulders, and went back in side.

Would/could this ever happen in someone's private yard ? OF COURSE NOT ! Is there any legal/technical difference ? OF COURSE NOT.
 
A church presumably being private property, why would one detect there without permission?? Wouldn’t that be akin to just starting up on somebody’s lawn til they came outside and asked what the heck you are doing?

^^^^^^^^^^
What HE said ! Geiger counters ... metal detectors ... it’s NOT public property and it’s NOT YOUR property. This semantics game I see a few of you playing is a “red herring” to the real issue. Sheesh !
 
Just make sure you wear a lead vest. Also may need a backhoe, I believe all the good stuff will be pretty deep, approx. 6 foot deep. :D
 
I’d never hit a cemetery but the sign is awesome, I want 1 lol


Bounty hunter - treasure hunter - cabelas
Best find to date - 15g platinum ring
 
Tom, for many years you have been the guru when it comes to the wisdom of not seeking bureaucratic permissions to detect public property. I'm always in awe of your eloquent common sense prose. And I am, as we all should be, extremely appreciative of the sites that have not been closed because you convinced yet another skittish newbie of the perils involved in seeking what you often refer to as those "princely permissions"

Where we differ is in obtaining permission for private properties. I know there are gray areas in our hobby. And yes, there are many private properties where most likely no one would ever give a darn. But the bottom line is if you detect on private property without permission, you are trespassing and thus breaking the law. Churches are private property. And you can't argue that the "all are welcome" sign inside refers to metal detecting.:lol:

I would recommend that anyone detecting on private property anywhere always do so with permission. I would also recommend that anyone whose moral compass points in a different direction not post about it on a public forum. Radical archies, government bureaucrats, and others who are not pro-detecting have been known to lurk on metal detecting forums. Let's not give them any extra ammo.
 
Great post! Try as I might, I've never had any luck detecting in Graveyards?...Maybe I'm not doing it right? Besides all the obstacles, its too much work!...Who wants to dig a 6 foot hole and bust through a coffin for a foil/gold coin signal? No ROI potential!....

That signal could just as well be a damned old brass zipper or belt buckle or a Gatorade top or the coffin handle!....Plus, theres a big risk hunting a boneyard, primarily busting a coil on a headstone in the darkness!....

Sure its fun and relaxing to be out hunting in a peaceful graveyard, the history and reflection and whatnot of the inscriptions, the ample seating, the bouquets of free fresh flowers to take home to the Wife, etc........theres just no money there!...

Unless you are the Clergy or the Undertaker of course....Those bronze 'Veteran Plaques' have some metallic melt value though, but a guy dont need a detector to rack up a whole trunk full of them, you can walk through and pluck them out of the ground like daisys! Haul them off to the scrapyard for the remelt! If that dont sound right to your sensibilities, you can make yourself a cool windchime or a belt buckle!!

But really, with an empty beer can bringing me a dime, its a lot more economical and easier to go hunt for them in a Stadium garbage can than pulling up bronze veterans grave rondeles in a boneyard and hauling them to the scrapyard....

Like I said, Unless you are Clergy or the Undertaker, theres just no money in a boneyard!!


All the time I've spent trying with different settings, I've not even met a decent ghost in a graveyard! Not one that could carry on a good conversation anyway...All "Woowoowoo" like maybe EMI?...Dissapointing! I can get that all day long in a totter..or right here at home from the Wife!..

I actually look forward to when I'm a ghost! I'd be sitting out there smoking, telling stories to the very few people that might wander in accidental with an AtPro someday..."Pro Zeroooooo, Pro Zerooooo! Drop sens 3 clicks and Iron Audio Off you damned dummy!" I'd be woowooing...then I'd stomp on their carrot and bust it in half just for the hell of it...slap the hat off their head, etc...

Make them run off and ask a Forum question about "whats the best way to deal with an aggressive ghost in a boneyard?".... I bet Howard Carter might even chime in with his advice? Us Grave robbers gotta stick together! No Forum for straight grave robbers though, so us Detectorists and Archies got to go on in tandem...But its pretty easy and self explanatory though ...
 
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.... Where we differ is ....

Marcomo, thanx for your input. Ok, I repent. While I intended to paint a pix of differences @ various forms of private property (personal yards vs. public participation zones), yet you're right : It's not right to try to paint them all in a broad brush. And yes, someone could infer from my post "have a ball". Hence, I repent. :no:
 
Marcomo, thanx for your input. Ok, I repent. While I intended to paint a pix of differences @ various forms of private property (personal yards vs. public participation zones), yet you're right : It's not right to try to paint them all in a broad brush. And yes, someone could infer from my post "have a ball". Hence, I repent. :no:

You are wise beyond your years, my repentant young friend. I predict a golden future, may you again become grounded with the Eagles!:D
 
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