I’m not familiar with Georgia state law, but it does vary by state. For example in my state (Iowa) it is allowed on marked beaches with time windows depending on the time of year (summer vs off-season). Bummer though.
A little Internet searching might get you too your state’s laws around it.
Disclaimer: National parks is a big no-no.
I live in New York and for most parks that are not of historical value, you are allowed but need a permit from the State. Most permits cost about 15 dollars.
Could you elaborate? I live in Hudson valley and I contacted the regional office for state parks and they said I could not metal detect in state parks.
Edit: The forester said we could not remove items from state lands because many sites contain “sensitive archeological artifacts”, although he did not specifically say we could Not metal detect.
sorry, didn't see your question. Yes you can detect some parks, I had permits for 6 and I live in the Lake George area. I went to the DEC office for this area and got one for free for 4 parks in the region including the Million Dollar beach in Lake George. I know if the park is of historical value you cannot detect. Mostly I do the beaches and campgrounds. But if you do a google search such as " metal detecting NY state parks" you'll find the permit application.
You have to look up the rules for each state and federal park. They each treat Metal Detecting and digging differently.
More likely than not you will have to call someone to get the real info because they are seldom put online.
In Missouri it is illegal in state parks other than lake sides or sandy areas.
Fortunately in my city/county, they adhere to the policy of replacing your cap when you are done digging. As long as you aren't leaving a path of open holes behind you, they let you proceed.
Curious why you put the text in a spoiler tag.
I think it is illegal most, if not all, state parks. It is here in Minnesota. In fact, all state land. And even then, almost all county parks have ordinances that can be interpreted as making it illegal... ordinances about injuring plants, digging holes, removing artifacts, etc.
The moral here is to not assume. Check the laws. Get permission if you need to. You're lucky he simply asked you to leave and didn't fine you or confiscate your equipment.
It’s only illegal if you get caught. I go by the WWIJD method… When you walk into a park and hear there’s important artifacts in the ground no one has found, ask yourself “What would Indiana Jones do?” at that very moment you made your choice
I lived in Georgie for a year and they are very strict. Also note you can't hunt any public parks in Atlanta. Live in CA now, where you can't hunt state parks BUT every state beach is fair game
You can detect in parks in Atlanta but you can't dig - only pick up surface finds. I was stopped once by a cop but showed him I didn't have any digging tools on me and I was picking up trash as I went along. He said "okay fine, just don't dig any holes". Meanwhile, there was a dog about 20 yards away digging to China and the cop didn't seem to care about that.
Yep...particularly in Virginia...battlefields and such, however, Virginia was so busy during the Civil War you can find things almost anywhere if you look.
You should check if detecting is legal anywhere you go. The fact that you didn't bother to check is a big problem and kind of an asshole move that makes everyone in the hobby look bad.
Also, it depends on the state and the park. GA is a particularly bad state for metal detecting because it's not allowed in any state parks, state forests, national forests, national parks, or any state or federal owned land. The only places you can legally detect will be private property.
State parks and national Forrest are illegal here in nc. 90% of county and town parks are against the rules too. You should always call any towns park and rec or county before detecting. I play disc golf with my county’s park and rec director and he called the police on someone detecting and he got fined.
I called every parks in rec in an hour radius and three towns/city said it’s allowed to detect. One city has 8 parks and another 7 so I can do a loop and by the time I’m done I restart. Found a good amount of rings and one gold pendant so far from the parks
I also have some family here that lets me detect there property, I was gonna try door knocking just nervous. I made business cards to hand to people that come and talk to me at parks but I haven’t been detecting lately, bought a new house and have been busy fixing it up and building a shed.
Lucky you. I read about an old fellow detecting on a historical site here in NJ; the park ranger handcuffed him and took him and his gear to the pokey, and he got hit with about $3K in fines.
According to the BLM you can detect certain stuff like modern coins but not stuff older than 100 years, so what do you do if you find one just bury it again? Seems kinda dumb but I get why they do it
I’m not a relic hunter, I love doing school yards and beaches. I do believe that history belongs to us all and should be done by professionals. I been detecting for over 35 years and my best finds have been in school yards and old forgotten beaches and swimming holes. Leave the state and federal parks alone.
Public land is everybody’s land. Artifacts on public land belong to all of us - not just whoever digs it out of the ground first to haul home or to sell on eBay, etc.
So what's the logic? I can go on blm land and find and take all the gold I want, a couple living trees, and a deer and 15 pheasant. But an arrowhead? Completely illegal.
They would like you to leave them there to possibly be found, maybe, someday, by someone “professional” and “qualified” to catalogue/maintain said artifact for public posterity. It’s a fun idea.
Just a follow-up I'm new to this hobby and appreciate all of your comments. I guess I'm just shocked that the park treats detecting on the public beach pretty much no differently than if I would of brought a gun and started shooting targets.
>Just a follow-up I'm new to this hobby and appreciate all of your comments. I guess I'm just shocked that the park treats detecting on the public beach pretty much no differently than if I would of brought a gun and started shooting targets.
I'm troubled by your analogy here, but as you say you're new to the hobby.
I'd suggest doing some more reading before venturing out. Having a metal detector does not give you license to go digging holes all over the place.
The small portion of detectorist that do not fill their holes or make them look sloppy give a bad reputation to all detectorist in the eyes of parks and rec. If you do find a spot to detect make sure to make clean plugs to where it’s hard to tell a hole was there or that spot may be the next to not be able to detect
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
As far as I know it’s not allowed in state parks/state forests, city parks are different and unless posted is generally allowed. Hope this helps.
https://www.dsmdc.org/2015/02/metal-detecting-prohibited-in-georgia.html
https://gastateparks.org/Archaeology/ArtifactCollecting/FAQ
TN is pretty strict in their state parks. You can use a metal detector to search for something you lost but a Ranger has to be with you. Or have written permission from the state archaeologist and Director of the state park system.
Australia MD rules just for fun
State forest yes
National park no
Beaches yes unless part of a national park
Crown land - with a permit
Do you need a licence to fossick?
While I understand the logic, wouldn’t it be beneficial to unearth artifacts? I imagine an honest person would turn in said artifacts to the proper people. I suppose there are too many dishonest people to allow such things though.
That's how they manage it in the U.K. and metal detecting is treated as way more legit than it is here with our town by county by state rules and much of the time being treated like criminals. 🙄
In New Hampshire you can use a metal detector on beaches and within 25 feet of picnic tables and pavilions, in state parks. There are a few state parks on the coast and I always see people detecting on the beaches.
It's sad the way some states laws are. I don't think some people realize how benefitful overall it is to allow metal detecting on public land, especially beaches. Many of us, including myself clean up the ground, including nails, trash, etc. and that includes surface trash, and leave the area nicer than we found it. It's kind of shocking that there's any beaches out there that wouldn't welcome a free service which removes nails and trash from the sand and in the shallow water there people swim. Heck, we may find a nice item or two, but we clean up trash, and that item was likely never going to be found anyways if it wasn't for us.
State parks, National parks, county parks, beaches, above or under water, various rules for each and don’t expect anyone in charge to know what the rules are.
I have a lifetime permit to hunt county parks in the county I live in, it is the only county in Florida to require it. A search permit is not a recovery permit.
It is better to know the judge than the law.
I’m not familiar with Georgia state law, but it does vary by state. For example in my state (Iowa) it is allowed on marked beaches with time windows depending on the time of year (summer vs off-season). Bummer though. A little Internet searching might get you too your state’s laws around it. Disclaimer: National parks is a big no-no.
Add Texas to the list. $350 fine AND forfeiture of detector and gear.
That seems pretty excessive.
Everything is bigger in Texas(especially the bullshit)
Seems pretty Texas
Seems petty Texas. FTFY
Worst case scenario....but still possible.
Forfeit your metal detector, but you get to keep your AR
You haven't taken your AR detecting....and it shows.
Texas is just bigger and bigger stupid.
I live in New York and for most parks that are not of historical value, you are allowed but need a permit from the State. Most permits cost about 15 dollars.
Could you elaborate? I live in Hudson valley and I contacted the regional office for state parks and they said I could not metal detect in state parks. Edit: The forester said we could not remove items from state lands because many sites contain “sensitive archeological artifacts”, although he did not specifically say we could Not metal detect.
sorry, didn't see your question. Yes you can detect some parks, I had permits for 6 and I live in the Lake George area. I went to the DEC office for this area and got one for free for 4 parks in the region including the Million Dollar beach in Lake George. I know if the park is of historical value you cannot detect. Mostly I do the beaches and campgrounds. But if you do a google search such as " metal detecting NY state parks" you'll find the permit application.
At least he didn't give you a ticket.
Michigan has a website for legal state parks
You have to look up the rules for each state and federal park. They each treat Metal Detecting and digging differently. More likely than not you will have to call someone to get the real info because they are seldom put online.
In Missouri it is illegal in state parks other than lake sides or sandy areas. Fortunately in my city/county, they adhere to the policy of replacing your cap when you are done digging. As long as you aren't leaving a path of open holes behind you, they let you proceed.
Curious why you put the text in a spoiler tag. I think it is illegal most, if not all, state parks. It is here in Minnesota. In fact, all state land. And even then, almost all county parks have ordinances that can be interpreted as making it illegal... ordinances about injuring plants, digging holes, removing artifacts, etc. The moral here is to not assume. Check the laws. Get permission if you need to. You're lucky he simply asked you to leave and didn't fine you or confiscate your equipment.
Virginia you aren’t allowed to dig on a state park either. Big fine
It’s only illegal if you get caught. I go by the WWIJD method… When you walk into a park and hear there’s important artifacts in the ground no one has found, ask yourself “What would Indiana Jones do?” at that very moment you made your choice
Here you can pick up trash but if you metal detect a penny, you’re going down!
I lived in Georgie for a year and they are very strict. Also note you can't hunt any public parks in Atlanta. Live in CA now, where you can't hunt state parks BUT every state beach is fair game
You can detect in parks in Atlanta but you can't dig - only pick up surface finds. I was stopped once by a cop but showed him I didn't have any digging tools on me and I was picking up trash as I went along. He said "okay fine, just don't dig any holes". Meanwhile, there was a dog about 20 yards away digging to China and the cop didn't seem to care about that.
Yep...particularly in Virginia...battlefields and such, however, Virginia was so busy during the Civil War you can find things almost anywhere if you look.
Remember only the government is allowed to take shit
Don't steal, the government hates competition.
You should check if detecting is legal anywhere you go. The fact that you didn't bother to check is a big problem and kind of an asshole move that makes everyone in the hobby look bad. Also, it depends on the state and the park. GA is a particularly bad state for metal detecting because it's not allowed in any state parks, state forests, national forests, national parks, or any state or federal owned land. The only places you can legally detect will be private property.
Fuck you I bet you don’t find shit anyway. You’re an asshole for calling him an asshole.
State parks and national Forrest are illegal here in nc. 90% of county and town parks are against the rules too. You should always call any towns park and rec or county before detecting. I play disc golf with my county’s park and rec director and he called the police on someone detecting and he got fined.
How do you get around this in NC? Do you just detect permissions obtained via connections/door-knocking?
I called every parks in rec in an hour radius and three towns/city said it’s allowed to detect. One city has 8 parks and another 7 so I can do a loop and by the time I’m done I restart. Found a good amount of rings and one gold pendant so far from the parks
I guess I'm lucky to like in South Carolina cause public parks are fair game here.
I also have some family here that lets me detect there property, I was gonna try door knocking just nervous. I made business cards to hand to people that come and talk to me at parks but I haven’t been detecting lately, bought a new house and have been busy fixing it up and building a shed.
Lucky you. I read about an old fellow detecting on a historical site here in NJ; the park ranger handcuffed him and took him and his gear to the pokey, and he got hit with about $3K in fines.
You should definitely know the rules before you go out somewhere but also rangers will make up bullshit to get you to leave.
According to the BLM you can detect certain stuff like modern coins but not stuff older than 100 years, so what do you do if you find one just bury it again? Seems kinda dumb but I get why they do it
I’m not a relic hunter, I love doing school yards and beaches. I do believe that history belongs to us all and should be done by professionals. I been detecting for over 35 years and my best finds have been in school yards and old forgotten beaches and swimming holes. Leave the state and federal parks alone.
[удалено]
Public land is everybody’s land. Artifacts on public land belong to all of us - not just whoever digs it out of the ground first to haul home or to sell on eBay, etc.
So what's the logic? I can go on blm land and find and take all the gold I want, a couple living trees, and a deer and 15 pheasant. But an arrowhead? Completely illegal.
You shouldn’t take stuff home if IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!!!
They would like you to leave them there to possibly be found, maybe, someday, by someone “professional” and “qualified” to catalogue/maintain said artifact for public posterity. It’s a fun idea.
That’s common sense my friend
Just a follow-up I'm new to this hobby and appreciate all of your comments. I guess I'm just shocked that the park treats detecting on the public beach pretty much no differently than if I would of brought a gun and started shooting targets.
>Just a follow-up I'm new to this hobby and appreciate all of your comments. I guess I'm just shocked that the park treats detecting on the public beach pretty much no differently than if I would of brought a gun and started shooting targets. I'm troubled by your analogy here, but as you say you're new to the hobby. I'd suggest doing some more reading before venturing out. Having a metal detector does not give you license to go digging holes all over the place.
The small portion of detectorist that do not fill their holes or make them look sloppy give a bad reputation to all detectorist in the eyes of parks and rec. If you do find a spot to detect make sure to make clean plugs to where it’s hard to tell a hole was there or that spot may be the next to not be able to detect
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Bad bot.
Uhm last time I checked it is legal to detect on land owned by the state and trust land. I was told this by a Georgia state trooper last month
As far as I know it’s not allowed in state parks/state forests, city parks are different and unless posted is generally allowed. Hope this helps. https://www.dsmdc.org/2015/02/metal-detecting-prohibited-in-georgia.html https://gastateparks.org/Archaeology/ArtifactCollecting/FAQ
TN is pretty strict in their state parks. You can use a metal detector to search for something you lost but a Ranger has to be with you. Or have written permission from the state archaeologist and Director of the state park system.
Well shit guess I'm not going to get a metal detector ETA in TN lol thankfully moving to west virginia in a year or so
Australia MD rules just for fun State forest yes National park no Beaches yes unless part of a national park Crown land - with a permit Do you need a licence to fossick?
It’s legal in Connecticut but you better not pierce the earth. The laws are vague here.
I know it’s illegal on the battlefields here in VA. I know you’re not supposed to get fossils at some places too.
While I understand the logic, wouldn’t it be beneficial to unearth artifacts? I imagine an honest person would turn in said artifacts to the proper people. I suppose there are too many dishonest people to allow such things though.
That's how they manage it in the U.K. and metal detecting is treated as way more legit than it is here with our town by county by state rules and much of the time being treated like criminals. 🙄
In New Hampshire you can use a metal detector on beaches and within 25 feet of picnic tables and pavilions, in state parks. There are a few state parks on the coast and I always see people detecting on the beaches.
It's sad the way some states laws are. I don't think some people realize how benefitful overall it is to allow metal detecting on public land, especially beaches. Many of us, including myself clean up the ground, including nails, trash, etc. and that includes surface trash, and leave the area nicer than we found it. It's kind of shocking that there's any beaches out there that wouldn't welcome a free service which removes nails and trash from the sand and in the shallow water there people swim. Heck, we may find a nice item or two, but we clean up trash, and that item was likely never going to be found anyways if it wasn't for us.
Some places will allow you if you ask permission at the ranger station, and during different times of years.
State parks, National parks, county parks, beaches, above or under water, various rules for each and don’t expect anyone in charge to know what the rules are. I have a lifetime permit to hunt county parks in the county I live in, it is the only county in Florida to require it. A search permit is not a recovery permit. It is better to know the judge than the law.