How open/protective are you of your hunting sites?

Beyonder's post about his recent hunt made me wonder how I would have reacted if I would have been the other person in his story...i.e., hunting a really good site and two guys I don't know, approach me wanting to know if I've found anything and if so, what. I think back on my years in this hobby and lessons I've learned "the hard way" from being open and trusting of people.

I would have to say, the Daniel today is a lot different than the Daniel that first entered this hobby. I was young and had quite a thirst for knowledge and research. I would blab my mouth about my latest research findings, etc to anyone that would listen and if I found anything good, I would tell them right where I found it at. It wasn't until I started encountering the bad people of the hobby, that I started to learn to keep my lips closed a little more. I wasn't as quick to tell of my newly researched sites; and my descriptions of where I found stuff, began to get more vague and vague, until a lot of times these days, some of my local buddies wont know I've found something until they come over to the house and see something new in my display case. I have my reasons for that.

One of my really good friends is very trustworthy as far as not being the kind of guy you have to worry about going back to a site you take him too. But he likes to talk and if you or he happens to find something good...or something at all, he will tell everybody and their brother about it. As hard as he might try, he will eventually slip up and tell where the stuff was found at, and then the pirates do their thing and pounce. Therefore, he usually don't get the invite to come hunt with me at ANY new site I'm working. You would think he would have learned by now not to talk; he has actually found a couple of really good sites on his own and had both of them ruined by pirates that he told way too much info about. He had the horror of one of them going to his newest site without him, and digging a Georiga frame buckle and two carbine sling buckles...then having the audacity to go to him bragging about what he found and where he found it. I actually met him at a site that he had started hunting about a week before I got onto it. It was a site they were clearing for a subdivision...and those kind of places are relic hunter magnets. I was hunting and he came over to me and we started talking. He started telling me about all the stuff he had found there; and I already had a pouch full of drop bullets and buttons myself. It was a site we shared for a while; then he told a few other hunters about it, and one of them was up there EVERY SINGLE DAY for nearly a month after that.

I've been burned by a few people that I was trying to be nice to and get started in the hobby. I would take them to a site so they could get some Civil War lead, under the condition that they wouldn't go back without me. They all agreed. They all broke that agreement. What they didn't know was the landowner and I are good friends and he would call me and let me know when they would come back. Some of them even tried to gain access to the site by telling him they were a good friend of mine...using me as their leverage to try and sneak back into a site. They violated a major trust barrier for simple shot 3 ringer bullets worth maybe .25 cents a piece. Now they text me or call from time to time...same ole story...would like to go hunting some time but ain't got nowhere to go. If I ever need somebody to go with me...to just give them a holler. To which I think in my head...I'm not doing the research, getting permission to the sites, and then having them ride my coat tail into it and not do anything.

I've tried to get some to help me locate new sites; they don't want any part of the actual hunting/scouting for new places. But if they find out you actually found a new spot....look out. I used to think it was cool to have metal detecting decals on my truck....I had one for the DIV hunts, and a few others on my windows. Then I figured out they were giant billboards to other relic hunters that might see my truck and know what those logos/decals are of. Some of my YouTube friends don't make videos anymore due to the pirates matching up the background/landscape of some of their videos and finding their sites!!

Good post Daniel! My only input wood be that this was a public area where anyone could go w/o permission. If you were at the site at the same time, I would give you space and search another area until you were done for the day. Happens all the time on the beaches! Again, great post!

I don't share my sites...its to hard to find them and they are public but I think outside of the box and have been lucky so far. If I had a hunting buddy I would share as I would want him to share with me. Once I year I pay to go hunting back east. I'm from the Gold Country of Calif. I get a chance to find civil war and British relics and it is worth the cost to be hunting in that era of history.

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

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If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

We have a club in a near by town that I swear was started by a group of people who are too lazy to find their own sites. They love when chatty new people join that are wanting to impress. I stay away from them and their club. When I find a good spot I have my wife my young niece and 3 nephews and 3 friends whom I will normally try to include one or two. They all know to say when asked where something was found "In the ground" or you know where Kmart is? Well its no where close to there lol! When I take new people I take them clad hunting in a park if they like it then they can research their own old sites. If they invite me to a few neat permissions then I will start taking them places that are know to produce older coins. But I won't lie when I finally locate an old picnic grove or homesite it's my wife an I that hit it first. That really sucks that people have treated you that way but it seems to be human nature. I just figure I've never been invited anywhere by someone that has given up any cool finds so I don't get to worried about any one else, unless it's my wife or kids kids are a blast to take out and watch find their first wheat or v nickel and so on! Thats also why I never post pics of finds on line on any site. With GPS tagged pics and nosy people it's not worth it. Good luck with the sneaky people they will learn their lessons especially when their phones don't ring and they can't seem to find any good spots on their own.

Kinda tough to protect a site where I dig...its all public beaches. I have a huge advantage over tourists but locals can watch the beach erosion, know the times to go, etc too. But the cool thing about the beach is that its always changing and fresh drops happen daily.

_________________________________

Nox600, CTX, CZ21, Excal II and White's DF with 920i stealthscoop...I live and hunt at the beach in Wilm NC

Firstly, I did know this person in the sense that I hunted with him before for a few hours. Secondly, I approached him and spoke to him as a fellow hobbyist, with respect. I spoke to him about different machines as well as other topics. Lastly, he also asked me how I found the spot and I told him how I how I found it. What would I do if the situation was reversed? Tell the truth or nothing at all. To try to force people off of public land with intimidation and lies, is wrong and illegal in some parks where I live(which is how I perceive what happened in my case).

As to your post, I completely understand your cynicism toward others in the hobby. In this day and age, it's "me me me" and I think that does a disservice to the hobby. I know that greed brings out the worst in people. I have posted on that before. There really is only two choices on how you can be in life in these situations. Either you do what is right, or, what is right for you. It can't always be both, as they conflict. A simple understanding that, "I am working this area, you go work another area" has always been my motto.

Are you doing the right thing? That's not for me to say. On the other hand, what happens if you are not territorial? Your spots get picked clean. That's not fun at all.

Daniel Tn, you could have signed tabman at the end of your post and it would have been fitting. Some people don't want to do any research or legwork to find good sites to detect. If they do happen upon a good site to detect, they sure aren't sharing it with anyone. I got tired of the one way street.

tabman

And if you are sharing pictures of your finds in the field taken with your phone and don't want others to figure out where you are, make sure your location is turned off!

Public sites there's nothing you can say or do as they're open to all and honestly I don't really care much about who or if someone hunts them as I try not to hunt public land/s unless it's just for something to do or I'm testing new machines close to home/etc.The only exception here though is the public beach front on lake michigan. I hunt there as do a million other guys but if you want to get lucky once in a while and find gold/diamond jewelry = it's a must.

On the other hand, private land that *I* personally have permission on is a different story altogether! I don't take ANYone to my private sites anymore (learned the hard way with backstabbers too) unless I'm confident that I've beaten it down to the point that there's barely a chance of finding anything good and/or maybe if someone is from out of state that wants to hunt with me while they're here visiting so that I know they'd never be able to just jump in their car for a 20 min ride and start diggin the site behind my back!

I have a few guys that call/text me almost weekly ALways wanting to go dig but they never have anywhere good to go themselves and always want in on my sites OR try to get me to do the drive all over H and back pounding on doors hoping someone says yes thing but I'm not about that as it's a big waste of time/gas when you just do it on a whim with no research behind it so I pass on their invites most times and don't take any of them on my personal "good sites" or "new sites" at all anymore either.

Like you say Daniel = everyone wants a free ride

Whenever somebody sees me detecting and asks what I've found, I usually say, "Nothing good today."

True Story: A couple of Novembers ago I was detecting in my favorite park. I dug up a metal tag that said, "Mr. X metal detected here in 2014." I was annoyed and fascinated at the same time.

When I got home, I googled the name on the tag. It turned out to be a Youtube handle. Mr. X had a bunch of metal detecting videos posted. I sent the guy an email, telling him that I had found his tag in my favorite park. He sent me back a pleasant response.

I proceeded to watch all his videos. There were a few videos where he was finding lots of great coins and was careful not to show any identifying landmarks. After a couple of days, I realized where he was. It was public land that I mistakenly thought was off limits to detecting.

I started digging there the next morning, after sending him an email announcing my impending arrival. He hadn't cleaned it out quite yet. I got some Indian heads, a Liberty nickel, a Buffalo nickel, a silver dime, and piles of wheat cents before snow ended my season a few days later.

If the guy hadn't gotten cute with the buried calling cards, plus the Youtube videos, he never would have been on my radar. He was friendly when we met in person by the way.

A year before this, I saw another Youtube video of a beginner hunting a familiar property that I thought was cleaned out. He got lucky and happened to hunt it right after some earth moving had been done. He found a few old coins with his beginner machine that he never could have found otherwise. This told me that the property was not cleaned out, the old coins were just particularly deep. Using this information, I've pulled a bunch of deep silver, obsolete nickels, and wheat cents since seeing his video.

Well my feelings here on the topic.

I'll carry anyone who want to go some of my sites.

The problem here is though,,some of my sites are owned by very curious people,,and they know me but not necessarily who I might bring along.

So If I did bring someone along.,,,,I could jeopardize my own permission to hunt.

It is I funny and interesting most times I have participated with other detectorists when at a site.
It seems when this happens,,you can almost feel the tension,,,,like folks are afraid someone else will make a good find or prize find for a site in question.
And in their thinking,,,they get taken off their game-- they try to detect too fast,,,pass on some ueationable targets,,looking for that textbook say silver coin signal that says dig me.

I usually try to stay on my game plan,,,let nature take its course.
I try to enjoy and at the same time learn something,,and hopefully find something.

I hope everyone finds something worthy,,,but detecting if like anything else in life-- it is what you put into it,,your attitude.

In the end,,by the graces of God,,,things will generally workout.

Hunting with a companion,,can be very enjoyable,,and it can be very aggravating.
I have witnessed both.

The best detectorists,,who is this person??
The one who finds the most finds??
The one who finds the most rare finds??
The one who finds the best finds??

I'll leave this question for the detecting Gods to answer.

I just like to detect,,and sometimes share my experiences.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2016 07:04PM by tnsharpshooter.

"It is I funny and interesting most times I have participated with other detectorists when at a site.
It seems when this happens,,you can almost feel the tension,,,,like folks are afraid someone else will make a good find or prize find for a site in question.
And in their thinking,,,they get taken off their game-- they try to detect too fast,,,pass on some ueationable targets,,looking for that textbook say silver coin signal that says dig me. "

Excellent point which I experienced myself.

Certainly more to consider if you hunt with a buddy or group. I mostly hunt alone.

Where I live in Virginia there are no "public sites". I'm envious of places with public sites. Here you gotta do research and hope that the landowner lets you hunt. We own a pretty good size farm in the Shenandoah Valley that I hunt quite a bit, but it's not full of CW relics and never has been. I like taking people there to see what they'll find, generally a few CW relics and some colonial stuff. But we lease the farm to some guys I taught in school 30 years ago, and I know they'd shoot anyone that was there without written permission. So I have no concern that anyone I take will come back on their own, and I never give anyone written permission. It's strange what people will do for a few Civil War relics. There's nothing out there that important or valuable to me to take risks that I've seen people take. You never know what someone might do when they catch you trespassing. Just not worth it.

OK - here's one of my best sites, al Haeer,

Just south of Riyadh Saudi Arabia - finds include a sucession of pottery from the late bronze age through the early and modern Islamic period, and my personal favorite, a 2nd century roman coin minted in Mesopotamia - man's head on one side, woman's on the other - don't know who they are.

Located on the edge of the local vehicle scrapyard, between that and the lagoon system where Riyadh's treated sewage runs out.

Have at it!

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

I take Ozzie to all my sites, so then at least someone will find something....

I won't get rich doing this so might as well have company while detecting most times.

lytle78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OK - here's one of my best sites, al Haeer,
>
> Just south of Riyadh Saudi Arabia - finds include
> a sucession of pottery from the late bronze age
> through the early and modern Islamic period, and
> my personal favorite, a 2nd century roman coin
> minted in Mesopotamia - man's head on one side,
> woman's on the other - don't know who they are.
>
> Located on the edge of the local vehicle
> scrapyard, between that and the lagoon system
> where Riyadh's treated sewage runs out.
>
> Have at it!

Flight scheduled!

Beyonder -- No need to get defensive. I wasn't picking on you. I was using your story as a reflection as to how I would have approached/handled a similar situation. In your case though, I don't see how you can say that you or he knew one another well enough to trust one another from just a few hours of being around one another on a previous hunt. If people could do that, then nobody would have an ex wife or husband, or ex business partners, etc. It takes more than a few hours to see a person's true colors. Some are wolves in sheep's clothing and play the part well and know how to play the angles to get what best benefits them. Sadly, I learned that lesson the hard way from some people I went to church with some years back.

We have discussed the avenues of public vs private land. There is another twist to throw in the mix as well: organized hunts aka paid hunts. Everybody pays the same amount of money to hunt the same property on the same weekend. So much like public ground, they have as much right to be there as you do. But how does a person handle it when approached by other hunters? In this arena, I shot myself in the foot. I was very active on the forums via posting videos and pictures and thus people knew my face/voice in the field. I was getting approached by people all the time asking if I had found anything, just to chat, etc. Some of that was all well and good but the bad side about that was that some would recognize me and basically root me out of an area I was working; their thought was "that's Daniel Tn...he always knows where to go to find stuff...so stick around him and you'll find stuff". I became sort of a sought after individual. I learned to keep my mouth closed too, even when I had found a screamer relic/coin that I wanted to show off really bad. Unless I knew them really well, I would keep it in my pouch and never volunteer up that I had found it or where. I always keep my distance from people when I see they are working an area. I have the same mindset about this as fishing....if I am heading to one of my best spots on the lake, and another boat is already sitting there before I get there...I wont go root them off their spot. I will go to another place or try to find a new spot on the lake.

One side story to this and I'll post it and go to work. Around here, the metal detecting community is quite small; we might know who one another by name but that don't necessarily mean we are best buddies. Anyway, one of the local guys that I know pretty well, had been into relic hunting for several years. He took a new guy under his wing; I had met the new guy a time or two but that was about the extent of it. One day I was driving by a site that the veteran relic hunter had been hunting and I saw the new guy there hunting it. I happened to be talking to the veteran relic guy one day at work (we worked together at the same place) and I told him I had saw his protege out there hunting one of his sites without him. He kinda smiled and said "yeah I know...he's been doing that for a while now and thinks he is slick. When he leaves to go hunt, his wife calls to let me know and then while he is pounding my sites, I am over at his house pounding his woman". Now THAT is one time I didn't know what to say. lol

"He kinda smiled and said "yeah I know...he's been doing that for a while now and thinks he is slick. When he leaves to go hunt, his wife calls to let me know and then while he is pounding my sites, I am over at his house pounding his woman"."



" I don't see how you can say that you or he knew one another well enough to trust one another from just a few hours of being around one another on a previous hunt."

I didn't. I said I knew him in the sense that I hunted with him for a few hours. You are right, it takes a long time to KNOW someone and to trust them. It is a shame we live in an era where finds are SO few and far between, that we have to screw people over to get them. Again all these thing tie into what I have been saying over the past few years on here.

I was a lot different when I first started as I would tell all where I found stuff until one day it dawned on Me they were not giving Me any sites in return. So one day I asked and they named a few city Parks everybody and their Brother knew about. After that I kept My mouth shut. Even if its Public I say nothing anymore let them find it. Not only the finds but a lot of them will dig it up with a shovel and get it closed so no one can Detect there. Public sites have become very few last couple years and I am not going to loose them if I can help it.

Harold,ILL. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was a lot different when I first started as I
> would tell all where I found stuff until one day
> it dawned on Me they were not giving Me any sites
> in return. So one day I asked and they named a few
> city Parks everybody and their Brother knew about.
> After that I kept My mouth shut. Even if its
> Public I say nothing anymore let them find it. Not
> only the finds but a lot of them will dig it up
> with a shovel and get it closed so no one can
> Detect there. Public sites have become very few
> last couple years and I am not going to loose them
> if I can help it.

Good point as I highlighted. Unfortunately many people are into showing off their finds and are not stressing the importance, especially to the new people, of what is helpful to keeping public areas open. The people using the shovels are only part of the problem. Another part is people not discussing the issues on public forums and Facebook.

I much rather have someone with me hunting never know what may happen to you, It is a unspoken rule that you just don't go back to places that someone has taken you.

I never tell my sites to anyone, even closest hunt buddies. But if anyone wants to hunt with me, I'll gladly take them along.

My hunting buddy is my Dad and I know I can trust him, he gives me all his finds! LOL But I keep them separate, so I can keep tabs on who found what.

well years and years ago I blabbed everything I knew and took everyone I knew..

NOT NO MORE..

Found out after awhile it wasn't a two way street..I showed my places but they showed me the places everyone already knew about if I Was even that lucky..

I remember when i was about 18 or so I knew no better .I had a place I was digging Reb buttons and Reb Bullets..A LOT of them..I got to flashing them around..wasn't long before the older guys in the Detecting Club.....Started acting like they were my buddies..One talked me into taking him and him only to the site.we met up and went and the next time I went there were 4 of the club gus there.. ..Me being Naive and Young and really not that great at reading sites did not know how to accurately hunt it.....I didn't hit the old chimney are much that was on the camp site..THEY DID...LOL..

Well it turns out it those older guys had never had such luck...5 plates One C.S.A. Buckle...hundreds and hundreds of minnie balls ..confederate..ETC..I was still hunting the camp while they were hunting the house site..They never told me a word about the goodies they were finding...they told no one till they were confident they had cleaned it out..then they offered to the club president a site to hold a club relic hunt on...

They went as far as to publish the findings in a magazine back then ...


Had another buddy one time..Well I thought was my buddy anyways...I had been researching a site for awhile ..I was about 23 I guess and through with clubs..I had pinpointed a site in a diary and figured out where it was...I told my BUDDY one day while we were hunting what I had been researching a Texas cavalry camp....I said I know where they camped.I said you know where such and such is and that guy has a huge pasture he cuts hay on...I said in the back out behind his house there's a high Knob ..Texas cavalry set a piece of flying artillery back there and guarded an old intersection looking back towards the creek...and Protecting General Hoods main camp up on the main road about 2 miles..Hesaid Yeah I knw that spot you think its there???I said yeah I've been studying the old road and that intersection is in that pasture on that hill.

Well I worked 4 days on 4 days off..I said next week we need to go and see if we can get permission form that guy..He said OK...well he went the next day while I was at work and got permission and took his buddy..So for the next 4 days they hunted daylight to dark on a Heck Of a Confederate cavalry camp..

On my first day Off I said let's go over and get permission...He said man I got a yard up in town thats a Good un..let's work on it first..so hunted those 4 days around some rental houses up in town..and dug some stuff but nothing great few bullets and silver.

He never mentioned a word about the camp..So the next week on the way to work I pull in to get permission as I saw the farmer out front..He said funny you should ask that there's been 2 guys here for over a week hunting..all day..I said really what's their names..he said and I said O really..then told him the whole story.,.He said well son I'm sorry your free to look anytime with all the stuff they have gotten so far there's bound to be more..

Called my buddy that evening and asked him why he was hunting that spot ..He just laughed. and said yeah i heard from the owner today you came by...said we can go over and hint next day your off...I said no thanks..and hung up..I ran up on his Buddy a few months later and the conversation drifted to the camp...He said man I wish I had of Known it was your place Keith...He said back then ..I have been hunting since the 50's and I never in my life seen so many RIngtail sharps...we dug over 1000 out of there alone...Spurs buckles man what a spot....Then He said I knew Such and Such could of never located that spot...I always wondered who he robbed it from..

So for the last 25 years I've learned keep tight lipped and only Trust certain people..And never show what you find..other than some odds and ends..

I Have a few more stories in between those ..But those give a good example...

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

My friend would have been drinking from a straw.....Some people are no good and couldn't care less about their own reputation. That story made me nauseous for a second there Keith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2016 09:42PM by ozzie.

Better keep an eye on that new Relic buggy.

These GPS tracking devices can be had fairly easily.

I wouldn't put it past some folks.

I don't share mine but the best site I have ever had was taken from me because "what dat white boy cracker do'in".

------------"Cz's still bad to the bone".------------
Living on a big ass Astroid.
The woman that got my rib,I want it back.