Night detecting

Hey all,

I am interested in detecting at night due to people around here getting uptight at the sight of a digger and/or someone cutting a plug in the park lawn.

With that said, are there any special tools I can use for night detecting? Thinking along the lines of some sort of headband flashlight or ? Perhaps a pin pointer?

Just wondering what your thoughts are.

Thanks!

Rick

It is never a good approach to try and hide your detecting endeavors. Better to be open, and honest. Carry not only your gear with you when you go out to detect, but also the burden of representing the metal detecting community as a upright and respectable steward to the craft. The special tool you are looking for is honesty.

<} A FatNakedGuy in the park , at night , hunting with lights on his head , packing a detector and a Lesche ..............hmmmmmm............. that might upset some of the citizenry just a bit . Heck the S.W.A.T. Team guys may even show up . rofl Best to keep it a day job FND . :yes:

I do not know about your area, but around here all parks close after dark. I'm assuming that you are referring to public parks and if you decide to hunt at night I would make sure you know the hours that they are open. I agree with Cybersage that you are better off being out in the open with it. As long as it is not illegal to be hunting on the property, then you have a right to be there. Just make sure you are cleaning up after yourself, digging properly and be curtious to anyone that approachs you. I would also recommend not to use and kind of shovel, stick with a lesch digger, knife or small garden tool.

I too would like to do some night hunting but for different reasons. I'm planning a trip up north in the next couple of weeks (like I did last weekend) and I plan on spending the daylight hours hunting the beach and water but I don't want to stop with night fall there's a lot of land there and I wanna make the most of my trip I feel like I wasted a lot of time last weekend sitting around the camp fire and sleeping. Lol. I know red lenses are used in astronomy to help keep your night vision and I'd also like to mount some kind of light on my AT pro so I can see the display in the dark. As for people giving you a hard time for digging in the parks if your not breaking any laws and being respectful that's there problem not yours. Your doing your part and the few times someones approached me I just show them my bag of garbage and say I'm doing my part the help clean up this park what are you doing ?

OK! You want the scoop, here it is from a police officer!
I do a lot of night hunting. Reason, right now I am on nights, that means when I'm off, I'm still on nights. I have a great advatage over you guys, sorry, it is what it is. When the cirizen calls about a fat guy. with a metal detector in the middle of the park, I usally get a call on my cell phone from dispatch, or a fellow officer. If its me they are talking about I go to the complaintant and explain. Then they are all warm and fuzzy on the inside knowing a police officer is so close, keeping his eye out for them. Besides, I hunt only the worse sides of town at night. So nobody cares a whole lot. Ha.

As far as this quote! As for people giving you a hard time for digging in the parks if your not breaking any laws and being respectful that's there problem not yours

W.R.O.N.G.

Please dont take this attude with someone, espeacily a police officer down here. You may find yourself cuffed and stuffed! Ha. Now, some people don't believe this to be the way things should be....... but, they obviously havent spent much time here in the south. Everywhere is different my friends.

But back to the dertecting. My F-75 has a constant backlite. I cover this with a piece of red translucent plastic. I also use red lens covers on my mini mags. The Pro pointer provides a good bit of light. This is mainly to be able to see because the white lights are so blinding and they make excellent targets! Remember, situation awareness is the key to Safe night hunting! Know what and who is around you at all times. Not a bad idea for day hunting in bad areas either.

I never hunt private property at night. Only parks and schools, sidewalk strips in front of buis. Or tearouts. Have fun guys, and HH

CODY link=topic=9366.msg112601#msg112601 date=1338057424 said:

OK! You want the scoop, here it is from a police officer!
I have a great advatage over you guys, sorry, it is what it is. When the cirizen calls about a fat guy. with a metal detector in the middle of the park, I usally get a call on my cell phone from dispatch, or a fellow officer. If its me they are talking about I go to the complaintant and explain. Then they are all warm and fuzzy on the inside knowing a police officer is so close, keeping his eye out for them. Ha.

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All parks in New England area are posted No Trespassing after dark, park closed from dusk to dawn, etc. Night hunting on public property is definately out of the question. As for individuals who use their position of authority for personal gain (I know it happens too often), but it isn't right and it's a violation of the Code of Ethics for public officials. If a law applies to the citizen, then a person of authority should respect the law and not use their position to get extra privileges.

There are certain things that irk me and that is one of them. I had an incident years ago at a National Seashore. I saw a guy metal detecting on the beach. I started metal detecting and was promptly told to leave. When I asked about the other guy, I was told He's a park ranger, so it's alright. I wrote quite a few letters complaining about abuse of authority. To no avail, I might add.

Now, back to the original question, FatNakedGuy, night hunting is only ok if the parks are not posted with the aforementioned signs.

midas link=topic=9366.msg112658#msg112658 date=1338125905 said:

All parks in New England area are posted No Trespassing after dark, park closed from dusk to dawn, etc. Night hunting on public property is definately out of the question. As for individuals who use their position of authority for personal gain (I know it happens too often), but it isn't right and it's a violation of the Code of Ethics for public officials. If a law applies to the citizen, then a person of authority should respect the law and not use their position to get extra privileges.

There are certain things that irk me and that is one of them. I had an incident years ago at a National Seashore. I saw a guy metal detecting on the beach. I started metal detecting and was promptly told to leave. When I asked about the other guy, I was told He's a park ranger, so it's alright. I wrote quite a few letters complaining about abuse of authority. To no avail, I might add.

Now, back to the original question, FatNakedGuy, night hunting is only ok if the parks are not posted with the aforementioned signs.

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Chez midas, chill! I didn't say anything about hunting where it was illeagl. Or on private property. The places here that I hunt at night are not posted and are public property. As I said, everywhere is different. If a citizen see's me and calls in a suspisious person I make sure they know who and what I am doing. Then they are OK with it. Every one of our dispatchers and officers know I do this as a hobby. A lot of people use our parks at night to walk their dogs, exercise, take lunch breaks etc. The only people we run out are either smoking dope or honeymooning. If I saw a guy metal detecting, which I never do in these area's (bad areas) I'm sure I would ask if he was finding anything and to be careful! Believe me, I know what you are talking about. We have a State Park not far from us. Built in 1933. ALL State Parks are off limits to detectors. They drained this lake a few years ago. I know for a fact that the person over the park let a personal friend in with a MD. He found a ton of stuff! What I meant by having an advatage is that I am not going to be questioned about who I am and what I am doing. Everyone already knows who I am and what I am doing. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

Thanks for the explanation. I guess I misunderstood your meaning in the post. When I first read it, it hit a nerve. People are not allowed in most public parks after dark in MA CT RI area. And most parks are posted as such. Even most beaches along the CT coastline are posted. So, that excludes night hunting for us folks up here.

i detect at night only! for the following reasons.

1 spectators
2 temperature
3 family
4 but mostly i dont want anyone to see the gopher if you catch my drift.
seriously im not joking LOL rofl

oh ye almost forgot i have been approached by law enforcement before.
not because someone called but they were actually curious if i struck it rich!!!
cops are nice here.

follow the detectors etiquette and never trespass.
be aware of surroundings
try to keep away from questionable people.

p52ntwrk link=topic=9366.msg113125#msg113125 date=1338518136 said:

i detect at night only! for the following reasons.

1 spectators
2 temperature
3 family
4 but mostly i dont want anyone to see the gopher if you catch my drift.
seriously im not joking LOL rofl

oh ye almost forgot i have been approached by law enforcement before.
not because someone called but they were actually curious if i struck it rich!!!
cops are nice here.

follow the detectors etiquette and never trespass.
be aware of surroundings
try to keep away from questionable people.

Click to expand...

Ditto

I don't detect at night but I can think of a lot of reasons one might want to; working a night shift, having a medical condition that makes one sensitive to light, crippling social anxiety, looking to escape the heat. As long as your not breaking any local laws I also don't think there is anything wrong with it, my only concern would be your plugs might not be as neat at night.

CyberSage link=topic=9366.msg105565#msg105565 date=1332639197 said:

It is never a good approach to try and hide your detecting endeavors. Better to be open, and honest. Carry not only your gear with you when you go out to detect, but also the burden of representing the metal detecting community as a upright and respectable steward to the craft. The special tool you are looking for is honesty.

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I find that those most willing to accuse others of dishonesty are usually projecting and that they themselves are untrustworthy.

Good luck in your detecting FatNakedGuy!

freemindstuck link=topic=9366.msg125845#msg125845 date=1351029454 said:

I find that those most willing to accuse others of dishonesty are usually projecting and that they themselves are untrustworthy.

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Ya, that's me... untrustworthy. lol

My inference was one of using a direct approach to the situation, rather than going to the trouble of figuring out how to hunt at night. I do agree, that there are many good reasons to hunt at night. In Colorado city parks close after dark, and usually have a sign posted to that effect. So this would actually be against the law here. I am sure that the laws vary, so this may not be the case for FatNakedGuy. I do apologize to you FatNakedGuy if my post came off as being accusational.
I have a park I hunt in a small town near by. One of the first things I did was to go to the local town hall, and speak with a police officer about detecting in the park. He said it was OK, and gave me his card. Several months later a local neighbor reported me, because they did not like to see me cutting plugs in the park. Another officer showed up, and informed me of the complaint. I showed him the card the other officer gave me. I was in the process of recovering a target (Wheat Penny) when he approached me. I showed him how the plug went back in, and also showed him a previous plug from the hunt the weekend before. He then told me about another old park that was just off the town square, and that I should give it a try. After checking out the Wheat that I just dug he said, good luck, and went on his way. Needless to say I still hunt this park from time to time without concern.
The direct approach worked well in this situation. All I am saying is if there is no law against it, why try to hide your activity? I do understand that being discreet is a necessary at times, but better to be direct in my book.

I do find it ironic freemindstuck, that the concept of your above of post by definition would seem to include you as well now.

Jack

CyberSage link=topic=9366.msg125904#msg125904 date=1351086981 said:

I do find it ironic freemindstuck, that the concept of your above of post by definition would seem to include you as well now.

Jack

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Touche Jack. Lol

There are always a few complainers. I think the direct approach is best as well. Showing the officer how clean your plug was is exactly what I would have done.

I did detect a football field in the dark for a week and it was interesting the only think is you cant hear whats behind you with ear phones on,now detecting in the dark in the woods that's super scarynot for me! :blackeye:

'Night hunting', sounds so dark. I don't know about where you live but where I live they have these things called street lights. Pretty bright, I can see pretty well. In the older parts of town the commercial districts its pretty bright. Knowing the cops, using some common sense, which doesnt appear to be so common anymore, I've never had a problem 'night hunting'. I talk to every cop I get a chance to. I always make sure I let them know I use a metal detector and I'm often out at night and in the business districts. During any conversation I make sure I mention that I'm very visible, I carry a phone with 9ll on speed dial, I carry a very ugly digging tool so if anyone had any wrong ideas about entering an establishment after hours they probably would pick another time. Usually, the cops laugh, knowingly. Like I said, I haven't had a problem. Had this gig since 1966.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with night detecting if done in a professional way!Its very fun too!Espicially if you have problems with the bright sun with your skin and eyes and I bet your local eye doctor would encourage night detecting especially in the summer its highly advisable in the summertime!

most parks around here are closed from 10 pm until sunrise.

Had the good fortune and oportunity to work in Norfolk a few years ago, I had to sort out my own digs, so chose a nice little village with plenty of history and a good B&amp:beerbuddy:. One of the first things I mentioned to the land lady was that I liked metal detecting and did she know any of the local farmers??
When i got back to the B&amp:beerbuddy: on the first night she had already phoned most of the local farmers and got me permission to detect on their land what a woman
Went and spoke to the nearest farmer that night as his farm had the main London to Norwich Roman road running right through the middle of it. I explained I would be at work till 17:00 and wouldnt be able to get on his land till after dark. (it was winter and got dark around 17:30) he was more than happy with this, as he saw it as a bit of extra security to have someone around his fields.
The very next night I'm on one of his fields which also ran close to the modern dual carriage way....first thing i heard was a police siren followed by flashing lights hurtling down the main dual carriage way at Ramming speed I watched the lights dissapear into the distance and then same thing again another police car lights flashing, siren sounding and also going at ramming speed...it was at this point i thought to myself something serious must be going down in the main town which was about 6 miles away.
I thought no more of it untill around 5 mins later both cars are at the edge of the field, lights still on with 4 policeman shining torches at me shouting Stop what youre doing and come here This was hard to hear as they had also seen fit to bring 2 dogs with them who clearly liked the taste of metal detectorist. :cheesysmile: needless to say, walking towards them became slighlty difficult with my trousers now doing their very best to contain my fright....if you know what I mean :blush:
To cut an even longer story short, once the farmer was contacted and an explanation was given they did see the funny side of it. They were more interested in what i had found after that and i eneded up giving them some roman coins which they were very happy about As for the dogs I still felt sorry for the increased sense of smell and could only appologise on my own behalf lol lol.

So with this in mind I suggest taking a spare pair of pants (thats Britsh pants) as i think Americans call trousers pants:huh: and I'm not entirley sure what you call underwear :cheesysmile:

*Edit* having re read the original posters forum name, clearly my suggestion is irelevant rofl

Hunting around people does not bother me at all. I often hunt at urban parks and in the inner city with people all around all the time. I have hunted at night before and have done so mainly to escape the heat in the summer and to extend hunting hours. My day long outings are few and far between so I will go out as long as possible when I get the green light for a day. I especially will hunt in the dark in the fall when I get out in fields and in the woods when the days get shorter. That gets a little freaky sometimes though if you are on your own.