Are you in a detecting club?

Just wondering, I'm lovin ours............

Ahh, no...... Not my thingy.

I was in one for a year until I figured out the primary activity was seeded hunts. Not my thing. It reminds me of Easter Egg hunts. Last year I found another club that organizes real hunt activities but it is a long drive for the meeting and activities. I don't participate as much as I would like to.

All I can say is Im glad you like YOUR Club...

Been there done that..



Keith

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

The local club's idea of a meeting is arguing about the rules for the monthly $5 prizes. Each clique wants to rig the rules for themselves.
Their idea of a hunt is to pre bury some silver, but just before the hunt starts the hunters turn their backs while a nonhunting club officer throws most of the sliver into the small field. Unknown if the thrower's clique knows about where most of it is thrown or not.

Very not my thing.

I'd probably join a club if they used the dues for Metal Detecting, like say to secure permission to hunt somewhere that isn't otherwise available. That + tolerating none of the nonsense that my local club excels in.

I'd probably join a club if they used the dues for Metal Detecting, like say to secure permission to hunt somewhere that isn't otherwise available.

That's the point precisely. I'm sure ya'll will here about the hunts we are having. After the hunt's have occurred that is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2015 11:38PM by Jack Flynn.

No club where I live.

One other thing. The one club I was in for a year seemed to be a thinly veiled method of promoting a local detector store. There was a general feeling of promoting the main brand sold at that store and scoffing at the majority of other brands. Pretty tasteless plus I considered it completely counterproductive to learning and developing detecting skills for the members. Then there was an obvious group of insiders that seemed to have long term control over the club. FWIW the group Monte Berry is associated with seemed like a great bunch of people when I went to their open hunt in Nevada. I guess it's hit and miss.

I suppose the clubs were the best source of information a couple of decades ago. Then came the internet. I think that created a lot of collaboration (objective and subjective) not available in a monthly meeting. I own brands of detectors not sold in my area because of the internet. Thankfully.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2015 12:44AM by TabWhisperer.

It was years ago as a rookie and took advantage of their library as I was eager to learn...Unfortunately too many cliques and basically felt like a fish out of water...Was in it for about a year busted my tail at a planted hunt as only 1/3 or so showed up to plant 4 fields...The kicker was the proceeds of dues and hunts were used for a end of season hunt.
Well it snowed and 4 or 5 guys showed up as area was in the mountains with bad roads...included the president, treasurer and couple of guys in main clique...well they never hunted just split the bucks up 6 ways and went home...Needless to say I was sure they would have the event the next weekend but found out thru grapevine what happened so I was quickly an ex club member and never looked back...

There are hunting clubs in some of the surrounding counties in our area but, not in ours. Have always wanted to start one in our county but, not sure what all is involved in starting one. Have had a lot of people come into my shop buying detectors and most say they would join a detector club if someone would start one. Seems like it would help all those involved by learning from each other and start new friendships. So yes I would join one if offered

Im in a couple prospecting 'clubs, , the motherlode goldhounds, and AMRA. Not into 'detecting' clubs...dont see the need , I have plenty of sites, and hunt only with those I want to.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2015 01:29AM by deathray.

I pay the local club $20 a year primarily to know their activities so I will avoid the sites they have those activities at. I have met some interesting and valued friends there but the flip side out weighs the need or desire for anything more than a casual relationship with the organization. I could say much more but I did occasionally listen to what my Mother told me .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2015 01:40AM by shoveler.

Never heard of no such as a "detecting club"

But it doesn't sound like much fun to me...

No I like to hunt alone most of the time and like to learn on my own

LowBoy

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

[www.youtube.com]

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!

I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member.

I'm a member of a detecting club, been a member for about 20 years maybe more. The commute is 120 miles round trip from my home, at beginning would attend every month but now try and attend once or at least every other year.

Sure, Most of the members are new to the hobby and most never really get very good even those that have been members for decades. But none the less, Most are starving to hear about treasure hunting adventures and it's at these times when I look into their eyes see myself when I first started decades ago. Everyone dreams of adventure, We must not forget we were rookies one time too.

Share, Share your experiences and adventures!
Paul

Yes was a member for many years, stopped going when my hunting bud died, just was not the same.
My club was charity mostly oriented and was a well respected treasure club. I do recommend a club for new people in the hobby but as a veteran kind of like hunting alone. hh

It's hard to organize a club for an activity that attracts so many people who want to be left alone LOL!

We have a club with about 100 members. We collect no fees and we have no structure. My friend does all the heavy lifting and I primarily lend psychological support. We meet once a month alternating hunts and straight out meetings. When we happen to run into money, we put it back into the club in the form of prizes for best find etc (rare since we don't collect money). Still, we have managed to do some cool things like reach out to our city government and do some community work. We teach metal detecting classes for the city not for money but because we wanted to catch as many first timers as possible to teach them basic detecting etiquette. We have been contacted by organizations both commercial and non-commercial to help out and of course, we help people recover lost items; all free of charge. Sometimes we get pretty good participation, and sometimes it's basically my friend and I but it is always a ton of fun. Along the way, we happened to interest a couple of old…er…I mean experienced hunters who have taught us some invaluable lessons.

Pinpoint twice, dig once

TabWhisperer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was in one for a year until I figured out the
> primary activity was seeded hunts. Not my thing.
> It reminds me of Easter Egg hunts.

Kind of like big game hunting at the zoo...

I joined the week I got my first detector and have missed twice in 5 years. It was a big help putting some human encouragement in with forum feeding. I am not sure I would have stuck it out without the club. So here is one positive experience.

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

As a beach hunter you have a lot of visible competition. There could be 10 or more hunters out there IN the water. I tried a club...... but once you showed your finds that 10 could go to 20 hunters. I also never found a lot of teaching/mentoring going on...... it was more of a brag fest. What ive found better is a group of friends sharing information on machines and meeting up for a beer and a hunt. You just never get that tight with club members.

Dew

I was a member of one of the greatest clubs in the country when I lived in NE Kansas.
The best people, open friendly, welcoming, helpful, it made this hobby so much better for me after being a lone wolf most of my career.
We had indoor meetings in the winter with some very interesting top notch expert specialty hunters sometimes as guest speakers, and in the summer months we had outdoor meetings in public parks where we cooked out and hunted together.
Sometimes we got permission for special hunts at private sites that were off limits to all other hunters.
We had experts in the group and newbies too.
I tried to learn from the experts and gave tips to the new guys and that was great.

Our end of the year special hunts were a seeded type but find one of the 150 or so prize tokens and you had a shot at some of the most and best quality prizes offered by any club in the country.
I won hundreds of dollars worth of prizes at the 3 hunts I attended.

Now I have moved to a different state and a friend who joined the local club and told me about the membership.
Closed off, cliquish, suspicious of any new members thinking they are only there to snipe information about new hunting sites.
Most won't even tell you what kind of detector they use like it is some sort of state secret.
To be fair a few seem to warm up to new members eventually after attending a few meetings, but I have never been a fan of immature and childish behavior so I don't believe I will be joining this club anytime soon.

I do enjoy hunting with others but I have enough friends around here and more I have met on the forums that will satisfy that need.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2015 12:04PM by diggwr27.

Yes I was in a Club
Helped form "The Pittsburgh Pastfinders" many years ago with a friend called Larry Bollinger.
That's my only club connection.
But I've been to several 'Club meets' in the UK and other countries doing PR events when I was with Minelab.

I belonged to one for a few years, enjoyed it for the most part. Met some really great people.

Nope and wouldn't want to be either

Belong to a club with 70 members and another club with limit of three.

Reading through the posts I can't help but notice how often I have heard similar remarks about Church...

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

I'm in 2...
Southeastern PA Historic Recovery Group
Upper Bucks County Historical Recovery Club

Both meet once a month, have dues, members only hunts, guest speakers, both have VERY different perspectives, and VER dedicated.

I'm also a member of LostMyStuff.net

--- Joe ---
Minelab: E-trac | Sov XS | Sov XS2-Pro

I was a member of a local club my first year in the Hobby. Same as most stated, clicks,greed, and everyone accusing others of cheating and buying coins at the local coin shop to get enough points for the yearly gold coin prize. They wanted to know your sites,But wouldn't give you any in return unless pounded to death if even that. I wised up after about 3 months and kept my mouth shout about sites I found. The kicker was the yearly 25.00 due's that was suppose to go to that Federation that was suppose to protect are rites. We lost about 68,000 acres of Forrest Preserves the last year or so. Make's Me wonder where my 25.00 went? They won't get another dime from Me!

Quote
TabWhisperer
One other thing. The one club I was in for a year seemed to be a thinly veiled method of promoting a local detector store. There was a general feeling of promoting the main brand sold at that store and scoffing at the majority of other brands. Pretty tasteless plus I considered it completely counterproductive to learning and developing detecting skills for the members.

The first "club" I was in, back in early/mid '72, was exactly that way. Total control by four people, pushed one guys funky brand, and put on some bogus competition hunts. Not informative or helpful, just 'profitable' for two of them, mainly. I got out of it after maybe three or four months.

I did host meetings back in '81, and I was very clear and open that I was hosting them as a dealer, but it wasn't done to make sales, push any particular brand, or pooh-pooh other detector makers. It was done to get folks more interested in, and active in, the detecting hobby. All Detector Dealers were welcome and the fair rule was any dealer could put out their business cards on a table, and I acknowledged any make that was represented and the dealer/s who handled them.

The main goal was to energize people and lay the groundwork to organize a metal detecting club, and we did in '82. ITHA had a good start and good growth and was active. In '85, not more than maybe a 20+ minute drive away, I got with my friend David S. and we formed another club, TWAS (Trails West Artifact Society), and it also grew. Many people were members of both clubs! I believe it was in '91 we merged the two clubs, keeping the TWAS name, and it is still going well.

Matter-of-fact, they are having their annual TWAS Potluck and Member Fun Hunt this coming Saturday in Ogden, Utah, and I am headed out from Oregon later this evening to make my way there for that. A lot of good people, and the club is growing and has picked up several new memberships in just this past couple of months. Some of them, like David. S. and Mary J. and me, are still part of the original club group before we officially organized into a club some 33 years ago.

There are some good clubs out there, and in the end, if we find (or organize) a good club and are active, participate, and share our time and effort to have fun, all we can do is help a club to be better and gain better people and that can lead us to good friendships and hunting buddies for productive sites.

Quote
TabWhisperer
Then there was an obvious group of insiders that seemed to have long term control over the club.

The first mentioned club was that way, and I know of two others, one current, that is simply over-controlled.

Quote
TabWhisperer
FWIW the group Monte Berry is associated with seemed like a great bunch of people when I went to their open hunt in Nevada.

Thank You for the kind words, and it is really the 'whole group,' not just those associated with the meetings I host in the Portland, Oregon area. On the Nevada 'Welcome-to-Hunt Outing' last week, only Dan S., Bob S, Bob & Kathy W., Gregg Z. and I represent people who participate in the Detector Owner Rendezvous gatherings I hold. The other 14 people, plus two 'spectators, are just folks, like you, who wanted to participate in a fun and enjoyable detecting experience.

I put together an outing to the same three old town sites in May, then we did it again in mid-September. These 'WTHO's are open to anyone, without charge, other than budgeting their time and effort to join a group of people and have a good time. And I think we did, not just in the ways of some nice finds, but by meeting others and making new friends, sharing ideas and learning. I am working on one or two 'WTHO' plans for 2016 and hope we get more people take advantage of an opportunity to get with other good people in this great sport.

Quote
TabWhisperer
I guess it's hit and miss. I suppose the clubs were the best source of information a couple of decades ago. Then came the internet. I think that created a lot of collaboration (objective and subjective) not available in a monthly meeting. I own brands of detectors not sold in my area because of the internet. Thankfully.

Yep, hit-and-miss, and we have to be a part of it to make a club more of a 'hit' because a 'good club' should function like a good 'team.'

Not as many clubs today because the metal detecting industry/hobby is slowly dying, at least in the good ol' USA, and it's up to us to try and do what we can to prolong the hobby, and that just might mean supporting a good, active metal detecting club/group.

Monte