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In recent months I've had the great opportunity to meet many new relic hunters.  No young guys all between 50-70 years of age and very avid hunters.  Conversations from modern day sites to colonial and everything in between.  Being very curious, at some point I ask, what detecting forum do you belong to?  Answer 100% of the time has been, none.  Thinking, how can it be 100% no.  So it got me to thinking, just how much history has been recovered with no record, other than their own experience.  One guy even stated he would not post his finds, even if he belonged to a forum because he was afraid someone might see and follow him to his private hunting site.  Now that make sense.  Just sharing my thoughts and encounters.

 

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Mark,

Thier concerns are valid, I’ve heard stories like that. One friend of mine went to a local relic hunting club meeting and some there followed him to a CW campsite he had discussed finding. They raided the campsite with a Bobcat (mini-bulldozer).

As far as relics being lost to history, that is all in your perspective. I’ve found many relics and they are preserved and will be passed on to my sons when I am gone. Many of these old-timer relic hunters have huge collections that we couldn’t imagine, I’ve seen a few.

Most of the CW relics that are still in the ground have been lost to history forever. Either the land has been developed or they will be corroded by time and fertizer before they can be discovered.

Joe

 

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I have asked at clubs, and most detectorists claim not to spend any time on forums, Facebook, etc. The reasons are varied, but the fact remains all the online discussion takes place among a minority of detectorists. The forums themselves have been on the decline with the ascendancy of Facebook and YouTube. About half the forums I used to frequent are either now gone or ghosts of their former glory. I do also think in the U.S. at least we have passed “peak detecting” and are now facing a slow decline in interest that is playing into all that.

So yes, I do believe the vast majority of finds are quietly made and known to few.

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There is always the possibility that they might be lying and do go on forums but dont contribute , just read. 

Look at the Minelab Owners Forum . 

15241 at last count and people register but almost all dont hang around . If you look on the "who's online " its almost all guests . Up till now today its been 40 members and just over 1000 guests . 

I hope its not peak detecting here in the UK , i want to find a hoard . But i do think its past peak beach detecting now . The cashless society is killing it .

My finds rate is killing it too . On my local beaches .

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Most of the best detectorists I know do not post on forums. Their reasoning was not so much that someone would follow them, but that even telling them what type of hunting you are doing invites 100's of on-line lurkers to try what you are doing. Here on the east coast, beaches and colonial cellar hole hunting has been over run with people that would never hunt there, especially in the winter. Now I see detectorists out on a beach in 30 degree Fahrenheit weather. I can see their point - keep quiet if you want to enjoy finding quantity and quality targets. One husband and wife team I met with a friend in the woods, has over 60 GW (George Washington inaugural buttons)  He even scoffs at Spanish silver or King George coppers. I will gladly take them if offered lol.

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I have to confess I only belong to 2 or 3 forums and only just started reading forums. I started in hopes of finding more hunters in the Tennessee and or Kentucky area around Fort Campbell. Plus I like reading what other have found or advice on metal detector equipment to buy. I am sure that most of the members of our local club don’t belong to.a forum. Which is to bad. 

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Its a pity that the hobby is turning into a secret society..

I like to share up to a point my experience and on MLO I have my ET beach programs. 

My Nox beach 2 program seems to work well too . 

I blame Faceachebook for the demise of forums and also its to blame for the large amount of new small clicky clubs that have formed up lately. They are the sort that flood farmers with requests for land and put farmers off. They are also less likely to declare finds unlike the older more experienced clubs of old. Being in secret groups on Faceachebook means everything is hidden.

Faceachebook has a lot to answer for, glad I am not on it .

Can someone hack into banks and screw up card and phone payment so cash can come back!

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A parallel topic is book reading.  How many (or what percentage) read books and magazines?  Charles Garrett (among others) was writing books 40+ years ago.  Those works (and orders of magnitude more) are still available today. Have they ruined the hobby?

There certainly is a tradeoff -- if you never come in contact with others then you can't learn from them and they can't learn from you.  Of course you can be a one-way communicator, devouring the knowledge others are willing to offer but never returning the favors, if that suits your conscience.

I'm reminded of a conversation with Gerry McMullen a couple weeks back regarding his YouTube videos.  The question was how important is it to keep the video exciting enough for the typical viewer to continue watching.  What percentage of viewers stay for the full video, and how hard do you try to keep them?  My opinion was that this shouldn't be the goal.  In Gerry's case, he wants his videos to (among other things) attract customers.  Ask yourself "what is the typical YouTube viewer interested in?"  IMO, instant gratification, thrills, etc., like a video game experience.  How many of those are going to get into metal detecting?  The goal should be to keep it interesting for the type of person who likes a physical hobby and can accept 100 disappointments for every exciting moment.  That's far from your typical YouTube viewer, social media frequenter, etc.

It seems I'm veering off-topic, so I'll summarize my opinion:  although you occasionally are going to draw someone into metal detecting you don't want around (for example, the stealth site thieves, trespassers, etc.) for the most part this hobby is too much effort for insufficient reward for the typical 21st century human being.  So we can continue to share our efforts, stories, and advice with little worry of attracting the parasites.  I hope that continues to be the atmoshere here.

 

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Let face it people like to see what’s being found especially in their area if they detect.  People now look for things others lost....its a business.... and even government agencies want to enforce relic laws.  People have a wealth of info via the net and seem less likely to allow anything of value to be taken.   The information highway has not helped our hobby.  We are lucky...for now that we don’t have the restrictions other countries have started to impose

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I have met a lot of other hunters and they are often lurkers on forums.  I like to think most of them are trying to learn more about their machine or the hobby.  Hope I am not being too naive. 

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