• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Tips for beginners

maxxkatt

Forum Supporter
Joined
Sep 20, 2015
Messages
3,486
Location
North Atlanta, GA
Tips for beginners.

You get a new detector. If by Garrett, Minelab, Whites, Deus, or any other major manufacturer there probably is a book on the detector by Clive Clynick or Andy Sabisch. Yes get booth books if both authors have one on your detector.

Read them carefully. After 50 hours on your detector read the books again.

However the very best knowledge about your detector and detecting in general is found on this and 3 other well known detecting forums.

Now here is the important part. Keep your eye out for the few forum members that really use your detector model a lot and know a lot about it. Avoid taking advice from members who think they are smart and funny in their posts.

Me personally, in my AT Pro and Nox 800 days it was forum member vferrari on another forum. He is not very active any more. But he knew more about detectors and detecting that most forum members.

Now with my CTX3030 I have two very trusted members and that is Rattlehead and Idxmonster. They have used the CTX for many years, make informative videos and answer your questions based on their deep knowledge base of detecting and the CTX.

So you have to use your judgement and find your own vferrari, Rattlehead and IDXmonster. Another valued member is Tom_in_CA. Tom is an active long time detectorists. He will set most people straight about asking authorities for hunting permission. Basically the answer is NEVER ask gov authorities for permission. It the land does not say "no metal detecting" or "no trespassing" then you are free to hunt that gov property. Tom does not suffer fools gladly.

Watch out for a few members that are full of it. I wonder if they even own a metal detector. They often come across as experts, are rather full of themselves and tend to be just recently joined. Eventually older members will just ignore them or call them on their game.

Don't want to feel stupid asking a stupid question? (no questions about things are stupid if you are seeking an answer). Send that member a private message.

Some member attacking you personally, private message a moderator. He/She will put a stop to that quickly. It is now allowed, but it does happen sometime.

Hot days, cold days, rainy days and have free time, visit these MD forums.

One last thing. Complete the "about" section in your profile. Tell us your city, your detector model and type of hunting. Why? When you ask questions to a member for advice, one of the first things we do is check your about profile section to be able to give you accurate advice. Advice is very dependent on location, type of hunting and make model of detector.
 
. If the land does not say "no metal detecting" or "no trespassing" then you are free to hunt that gov property.

No, that's not the way the law works.

Sure you're free to hunt on public and/or government land, but it is the against the law to dig. Most, if not all municipal laws, will state that any digging on public property is illegal. When it comes to parks, etc, as long as you use a trowel and not a shovel, then most people and authorities don't care. However, do such things on historic sites, and you could be facing severe financial repercussions, and possibly even jail time.

Anyway,


My best advice for beginners is derived from the most prevalent complaint of beginners. That complaint is, "I'm sick and tired of digging trash". The answer of course, is knowing how to cherry pick coins.

BTW:

The standard argument against cherry picking is the proverbial "But you'll miss --insert whatever--". Anyway, that argument is not only weak, but nonsense on many levels.
 
Last edited:
Digalicious,

I don't know what state/city you hunt in but in Georgia the only place you have to be careful not to hunt is federal land with the exception of some US Corp of engineer beaches and some state property and of course all federal civil war battle fields. Most federal unused properties are clearly marked US Government property, no trespassing. And of course we don't hunt those properties. There is one such plot of land that is totally empty and just woods. But every 50 feet are the US Gov no trespassing signs. Heavens knows what they are trying to protect in a small 30 acre plot of woods in North Atlanta for the last 40 years.

Other wise most state property, city and county property you can hunt and dig. Recently the City of Dallas Georgia bought up some 300 acres that was loaded with civil war relics. Property was just woods. And people hunted it for relics with no problem of the former owner. But after they bought the property they put up "No relic" hunting signs. So of course we cannot hunt civil war relics on that city property.

Only one metro county says you cannot dig in their parks that is dekalb county. But I have hunted and dug in those parks without any problems. Occasionally a park worker will ask if I found anything good? and we talk some. But never a mention of "you cannot do that here in this park."

Asking permission from any government worker about a park or piece of government land will almost always get you a no answer.

Yes hunting our federal controlled civil war battlefields in Georgia is very serious and you will be charged as a felon.

you gave a broad statement "No, that's not the way the law works." Well how does the law work in these circumstances?
 
Last edited:
Asking permission from any government worker about a park or piece of government land will almost always get you a no answer.

Yes hunting our federal controlled civil war battlefields in Georgia is very serious and you will be charged as a felon.

you gave a broad statement "No, that's not the way the law works." Well how does the law work in these circumstances?

Agreed on never asking a government worker.

It's unlikely that any city, municipal, or county bylaws, won't have a bylaw that states (in one way or another) that digging on public land is illegal. However, unless a Karen comes along, a shovel isn't used, proper plugs are dug, then most won't care about metal detecting.
 
Digalicious,

I don't know what state/city you hunt in but in Georgia the only place you have to be careful not to hunt is federal land with the exception of some US Corp of engineer beaches and some state property and of course all federal civil war battle fields. Most federal unused properties are clearly marked US Government property, no trespassing. And of course we don't hunt those properties. There is one such plot of land that is totally empty and just woods. But every 50 feet are the US Gov no trespassing signs. Heavens knows what they are trying to protect in a small 30 acre plot of woods in North Atlanta for the last 40 years.

Other wise most state property, city and county property you can hunt and dig. Recently the City of Dallas Georgia bought up some 300 acres that was loaded with civil war relics. Property was just woods. And people hunted it for relics with no problem of the former owner. But after they bought the property they put up "No relic" hunting signs. So of course we cannot hunt civil war relics on that city property.

Only one metro county says you cannot dig in their parks that is dekalb county. But I have hunted and dug in those parks without any problems. Occasionally a park worker will ask if I found anything good? and we talk some. But never a mention of "you cannot do that here in this park."

Asking permission from any government worker about a park or piece of government land will almost always get you a no answer.

Yes hunting our federal controlled civil war battlefields in Georgia is very serious and you will be charged as a felon.

you gave a broad statement "No, that's not the way the law works." Well how does the law work in these circumstances?

I agree..... Here you can even hunt the US Corp of engineer beaches with a permit. The permit is free. I have done it. Yes they have rules in the permit about the age of things found and what has to be turned in but it's not like they follow you around checking out what you've found. Because they know as well asa anyone detecting there that all you are likely to find is modern coinage. I think the permit is for anything found to be Archeological. In most beaches like that I doubt a person will find much but you never know.

I have known people who have done it without the required permit. They never even knew you had to have one and the beach is not far from the Corps building. So I doubt it's much of a deal to most of them. I just wouldn't want to get caught there without the permit. Besides, it's FREE
 
Beaches and in water hunting are usually exempt. It's grass damage, sprinkler heads, and underground pipes / wires, that the bylaws typically address.
 
Great post MaxxKatt.

Two others who helped me greatly were Jamflicker (hunted with him a couple times ) and tnsharpshooter.
 
.... Most, if not all municipal laws, will state that any digging on public property is illegal. ....

Yes, it is *all*. Not "most". Every speck of public land will have some boiler plate minutia that forbids digging. AKA: Alter, deface, molest, damage, destroy, etc....

So Digalicious , a quick look down the pages of our show & tell section shows you scores of coins that were found on (gasp) public land. And I'll bet you dollars to donuts, that they had to (gasp) dig to get those coins.

What are we to make of this ? Are we all just lawless miscreants ? :wow:
 
Back
Top Bottom