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Why did they say no?

kweis

Elite Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2020
Messages
522
Obviously we get a lot of "no's" in our permission asking. Wondering what the reason is for most of the no's not withstanding the current pandemic. First on my list seems to be liability followed by fear of property damage. Maybe a close third would be everything in my yard is mine and "if anybody going to find it, it's going to be me". Maybe a forth is just a fear of strangers in they're yard? What do ya think?
 
Its the stranger factor 100 percent. Waving at a stranger on the other side of the restaurant is not unusual. If that stranger ask to sit at your restaurant table and talk it would be too weird. A weird guy in the yard with some ghost buster looking machine is too weird and too close for people.
 
Obviously we get a lot of "no's" in our permission asking. Wondering what the reason is for most of the no's not withstanding the current pandemic. First on my list seems to be liability followed by fear of property damage. Maybe a close third would be everything in my yard is mine and "if anybody going to find it, it's going to be me". Maybe a forth is just a fear of strangers in they're yard? What do ya think?

My no yesterday was due to a reported “small fortune” that was buried in the 1930’s at the location and never found. These owners have owned the property since the 1970’s, haven’t found it yet, haven’t metal detected, but will get around to it sometime? SMH.
 
Its the stranger factor 100 percent. Waving at a stranger on the other side of the restaurant is not unusual. If that stranger ask to sit at your restaurant table and talk it would be too weird. A weird guy in the yard with some ghost buster looking machine is too weird and too close for people.

I've always said that my privacy-factor would keep me from letting a complete stranger "get a full layout" of my homestead. Once you have experienced a home burglary upon returning home, the house torn up inside, the window smashed, all done in broad daylight? Well you ask yourself about who you'd let inside, AND outside. I know within reason who mighta burglared me those years ago. Couldn't prove it though, but I made bad choices back then. Lesson learned.

Point is, there's no real positive side to trusting folks and invite them to completely "case your joint" for even an hour, all around the outside of the home. jm2c
 
Some general attention points.

NEVER be affraid to ask. Then you will give a wrong message.
Don't be nervous. They will smell it and will not trust it.

Ask as if you ask the most normal thing in the world. :cool3:
Ask it in a way they they almost feel stupid if they say no.
Tell them were you've already hunted. Neighbours. "That man in the farm 2 miles furtheron". So they become comfertable.
And never go in full camo or dirty clothes, face and hands. That will scare of many. :laughing:
Yep. it's almost like door2door sales. :yes:


And sorry. Some say no. :( But for you it is about the ones saying yes. And those also exist.
 
Maybe you're butt ugly 😜😁 Kidding of course. Who knows, they may all have different reasons but on the other hand you could be doing something wrong. Sometimes it takes another person to watch to see what you're doing wrong if anything. Don't give up.
 
My no yesterday was due to a reported “small fortune” that was buried in the 1930’s at the location and never found. These owners have owned the property since the 1970’s, haven’t found it yet, haven’t metal detected, but will get around to it sometime? SMH.

Kind of like the people that have a rare car that needs to be restored but won’t sell it because they will get to it some day. Also if I knew there was a small fortune buried in my yard there would be no way I would tell people about it lol.
 
I posted this thread to see what is the prevalent reason out there. So far it seems the I don't want a stranger on my property is winning out. About 20% of my no's I think are liability related. They're afraid you'll get injured or someting and sue them. This though is mostly with absentee land owners with me. Think I'm batting about 250 with the yes's so I'm okay with that. Just hope it doesen't go downhill from there.
 
This subject always reminds me of the time I made an appt. to meet a church pastor (demon. shall remain un-named) to ask permission to detect a property next to the church. They owned the site and recently had a home removed. They were going to turn it into a park.

He stated he would have to obtain approval from the church's elders/deacons (whatever) "okay" BUT THEN informed me "anything" I detected/recovered "belonged" to the church. My reply..."God only asks for 10%" and just shook my head. :no:
 
The liability excuse is just that. An Excuse. They are looking for a reason that you might buy for their hesitancy to allow you to detect. They don't want you on their property. When you ask permission you are the salesman and they are the person you are trying to sell on letting you detect. They can smell hesitancy from a mile away and they will usually say NO>
 
The liability excuse is just that. An Excuse. ....

You're right George: Anytime someone says: "No because of liability concerns ", that's just a polite way of saying no. The real reason is, that they simply don't want to be bothered.
 
Not that it has ever helped, but if/when "liability" was an excuse...I offer the land owner a signed Liability Exemption Form. No matter, they just don't want a stranger wandering around on their property for an untold amount of time, doing only God knows what. For some reason...I've found men to be adamantly more sensitive than women on the subject. They are a "NO", whereas women are typically "well...I don't think so".

In the end...it's a lot like "sales". Sometimes you win/sometimes you don't, but you have to keep on asking! :cool3:
 
Have you offered to bake them cookies or mow their lawn? Aside from not wanting you there, I think you’ve covered most of the possible reasons. Good luck,
 
Obviously we get a lot of "no's" in our permission asking. Wondering what the reason is for most of the no's not withstanding the current pandemic. First on my list seems to be liability followed by fear of property damage. Maybe a close third would be everything in my yard is mine and "if anybody going to find it, it's going to be me". Maybe a forth is just a fear of strangers in they're yard? What do ya think?

I'll tell you two reasons that usually don't get mentioned:

1. You're on an uphill battle if you run into a property owner that generally lacks curiosity about the world. Some people own old homes and you'd think that would make them curious about history, but they aren't. They know there could be old coins or whatever and they just don't care. Fortunately for us, this group splits into those who still let you go ahead with the hunt because they see an opportunity to do you a favor versus those who couldn't care less about you or the horse you rode in on.

2. You caught them off guard. They might have said yes on a different day and under different circumstances. Maybe they're fine but they don't want to say yes only because their spouse isn't home to run it past them, too. Initially, they'll have all of the concerns people are mentioning about security and liability and who keeps what.
 
Its the stranger factor 100 percent.....

I know what you're saying, but I don't agree with "100%" stranger factor. If that were the case then you could get permission from every friend and family member. That's just not the case.
 
Lots of great reasons posted here.

I have my own reasons why I no longer let people hunt on my land-
Got tired of getting screwed, Sage Groused, whatever you want to call it.

I had let people hunt with very simple rules- You make a kill, I want to see it.

Didn't think that was unreasonable..... but no, that was too much effort on their part.

Hate to bring up the topic of agreements/splitting finds here, but there are members of this forum who stated they would tell landowners to buy their own detectors and learn how to use it, if the landowners wanted a split of the finds...

Unreasonable in my opinion. What does the landowner gain for having someone detect their property?

Nothing.

Same goes for metal detecting.

I won't grant permission, based on my experiences with hunters.

Fool me once.....

I do however invite people to hunt and detect.
 
Bill_Ace_350, I think your on target with the landowner thinking what am I getting out of this. I think permissions may have to come with the landowner getting something out of the deal and this depending on the area you live in. Saw a rundown farmhouse 1880's for sale hadn't had the grass mowed probably since last September. Called the realtor up and offered to mow once free for a permission to detect. He couldn't say deal fast enough. This isn't going to happen a lot but think you got to think outside the box in these times.
 
Saw a rundown farmhouse 1880's for sale hadn't had the grass mowed probably since last September. Called the realtor up and offered to mow once free for a permission to detect. He couldn't say deal fast enough. This isn't going to happen a lot but think you got to think outside the box in these times.

That's a fantastic tip! Did the farmhouse produce anything interesting?
 
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