filling in holes

hi guys went to homebush on the w/end and i could not believe the amount of unfilled holes left around the area ,obviously it is easy to dig ,but too hard to backfill.i just want to remind people that if you dont want to be kicked out of these areas FILL IN YOUR HOLES

G'day trip56,

I think you would find the members of this forum would not leave holes unfilled.. Yes its an issue that frustrates me and most people who go into the bush with their detectors.

A few may destroy what many have fought for over the years.

Regards
Ararat

On the subject on unfilled holes!
A Landowner from Moonambell has contacted the PMAV, to report some detector operators requested permission to detect his land which was refused!
They then went on anyway and left many undug holes!
They have bean doing this in this area for the last 12 months!
It may not be members of this forum leaving the undug holes, but we will all suffer when there is no access to the goldfields!
There must be dozens of new operators every week hitting the goldfields, it is them we need to educate!
Often posts refer to areas where prospecting is prohibited!

Heard on the grapevine, some of the public land managers in Victoria would like to have all prospecting shut down in Victoria within 2 years!
Your future is in your hands!

yeah there are too many unfilled holes. I always fill my holes and always fill other peoples holes, but filling in other holes takes detecting time away from me
Id certainly give someone a mouthful if i saw them dig a hole then walk away from it...

It must be hard I dont understand why they don't back fill there holes beats the hell out of me I dont see why you spend $,$$$ on a detector and then dont fill in your damm holes (which would only take a few seconds) to have one day someone say to you that you can't go detecting anymore because of some lazy wit I'm sorry but it gives me the

Regards Johnny

Do you know it take twice as long to dig a hole than it is to fill that same hole back again. The people who don't fill in their holes don't give a bam if detecting get's band all together they will still go out and do it. They also think they are above the law and don't care about you or I in the least, and are a very selfish type of people that only thinking of them selves They do not belong to any club, web site or organiation like the PMAV that are trying to educate people like this. They can not and will not be told of the damage and dangers that they are doing to prospecting as a whole.

So now the Question :- What can we do to try and stop this type of behaviour, dob them into the Park Rangers, or belt them over the head with a house brick to try and knock some sence into them, "what"???

Filling in their hole is not teaching them, all they will learn from that, is there will be someone coming up behind them filling in their holes.

All we can do is let the Authorities know that it is a minority and not the majority that are leaving their holes open, and we are trying to come up with some sort of a salution to fix the problem.

Wombat

I totally agree with all the above members comments, it frustrates the hell out of me too!!!! I fill in others holes as well.

This is what i tell myself each time i go out:- I DIG it....I FILL it.

HueyDuck....

Out in the WA desert , the old holes become good starting plots for plants ..Have noticed many plants growing in old filled in detector holes which have a nice bit of uncompacted soil and a water trap to boot ...One could say we are helping the desert to re vegetate ..cheers Paul....

Monoloop68 wrote:On the subject on unfilled holes!
Heard on the grapevine, some of the public land managers in Victoria would like to have all prospecting shut down in Victoria within 2 years!
Your future is in your hands!

I think the idea of shutting down prospecting is well advanced - it's cold and rainy in Melbourne today so i was busy trawling the 'net' for info about NCR's (Nature Conservation Reserves). Victorians would have noticed that NCRs are usually adjacent to or surrounded by State Forests. Can be difficult especially when working Waanyarra - Tarnagulla. Timber cutting is permitted in State forests but not in the NCRs - can't dig holes in NCRs or take yer mut in either. My search turned up a 2010 DSE report discussing, recommending declaring all State Forests as STATE PARKS. Whoa, you cannot detect in State Parks so that'll wipe out 4 of my favourite detecting places - The Whipstick at Bendigo, Whroo, Gower / Muckleford, and Waanyarra.

FILL YOUR HOLES friends.

onebob

I really do find this type of conduct these days exasperating!!!!!!!!!!! and agree they will be the catalyst which will see the removal of areas where we as prospectors will be allowed to follow our hobby!! But I must disagree with Wombat one one point --on the other post you will see some pics of careless digging -- this was done by a club! as are many detecting holes left on many gold fields ! we have actually seen posts in here about individuals who state "they don't give a hang" because in their minds Roos and other animals are responsible for more holes than they are!! Yes we all make mistakes now and then but I am getting sick and tired of filling other anal orifices holes!!

They might consider banning it if people keep telling them about unfilled holes and the like, especially saying it on the internet, but ill agree there are some lazy pricks out there but i also look at the piddly 6-12 inch hole left unfilled thats 2 metres away from 100 unfilled 10-30 foot old shafts that are a real danger to animals and even people so if theres been no effort to fill those in whats the drama about a piddly little scratch from a modern prospector which will and does collect leaf litter and all sorts of matter and fill them selves in over a short time,

For instance a dude from Queensland got on this forum and complained about some holes unfilled in south east Queensland telling the entire world about it and i said the next flood or major rain event will fill them and you know what happend they had that major flood of a couple of months ago dunno if the holes are there but ive heard of entire towns being swept away,

Also ive heard people complain about other people raking leaves and twigs out of the way to get the coil on the ground because the ants and spiders will get upset well ill say they will get over it but no says boo when the DSE set a blow torch on them leaving the ground all burnt [not saying they are doing anything wrong here] im just saying raking a few leaves around isnt the end of the world and when the next bush fire goes through as it does every now and again [russian roulette] might be lucky for a number of years but every summer you dont know if its your turn round.

Anyway if the knobs ban gold prospecting i can tell you unfilled holes will have nothing to do with the reason for it being banned but they may just use that as an excuse, They do this all the time, even one day they will ban everyone from living in the bush altogether and they will say its for your own saftey and the sheep will heard where their told to go, no joke.

I think your fairly close to being right on the money there gollstar, but I do reckon the you should fill i your own detector holes, ie: "dig it fill it", I know not everyone agrees, but I just reckon its better to do it.

cheers dave

The other side to filling your holes for me, is to try and show no sign that I was ever there which lowers the chance of other detectorists following in my footsteps!

I do fill in my holes its no drama for me to kick a pile of dirt back in the hole before walking off in discuss but i dont fill in other peoples holes, i suppose some people get frustrated and just leave the holes unfilled thinking that theres no gold on the hill and they wont be going back to the spot again or somthing, but if states with labour and greens governments are a worry the liberal state governments might cut us a break as the liberals where trying to introduce alpine cattle grazing to make the nationals happy which then the labour/greens federal government are trying to stick there noses in where its not wanted, you would think that labour would be for us small time prospectors/miners but with there noses so far up the greens backside labour are not an option if you enjoy the bush.

The short of it is that yes it will be banned along with many other hobbys that involve enjoying the bush shooting, fishing, prospecting trailbike riding, 4wdriving etc etc etc where all in the same boat none of those groups can go into national parks or concervation reserves state parks etc its not just pointed at prospectors they just blanket ban everything and it will happen unless you get onto the shooter and fishers party who won 2 senate seats in NSW at the last election with the greens winning five someone from pmav should contact the shooters and fishers party and throw there lot in with them as well as all people who enjoy the bush so that for once we bush users have a voice to be heard instead of putting up with inner city greens dribble who has never even got there hands dirty out the bush.

Sick of it.

someday wrote:The other side to filling your holes for me, is to try and show no sign that I was ever there which lowers the chance of other detectorists following in my footsteps!

Hear, hear

I like the 'I dig it, I fill it' good motto

Here, here gollstar
Spot on IMHO.
Maybe we could invite some of these city folk you speak of out for a few nights in the bush...
Nah better not, lets just keep it our secret
P.S. My thoughts on the filling of holes is much the same as the well known bush law regarding gates.
Leave them as you find them

someday wrote:The other side to filling your holes for me, is to try and show no sign that I was ever there which lowers the chance of other detectorists following in my footsteps!

Your spot on Someday why would you want to advertize and leave a huge beacon to the world were you have found gold and exactly the ground you have coverd its like leaving a map saying i have found gold here but i havent detected these spots just the side. i always fill my holes (and other detector holes) and even go to the leanth of kicking a few leaves over them, it only takes 2 seconds.

Mick b

Gday

No matter where you go these days you will find unfilled holes left by detectorists, it seems that people simply cant be bothered, and thats not the worst of it as the lazy sods that do this often also leave all their rubbish behind.

The other day while detecting I came across 6 empty stubbies, 4 silver plated 45 cal handgun cartridges, and a few long solid 40 cal ? shotgun cartridges, about 50 mtrs away a mallee tree with gunshot wounds, now obviously this clown just sat there amoungst the scrapes on a very well known detecting area had a drink and shot up a tree, didnt even bother to pick up the evidence I detected a couple of rounds that had bounced off the tree.

Now this person is obviously not really smart or does not care a fat rats clacker about being caught out in the bush with a handgun, its highly illegal and would attract a heavy fine, and confiscation of the gun in question, but I would lay an odds on bet that the gun was not registered anyway.

Its really a case of people simply dont care about what they do or who it effects, when it comes down to the time when we are all banished from the bush and detecting these morons will just go on to some other hobby and procede to destroy that as well.


cheers

stayyerAU

g'day, I am currently camped in the bush a couple of klms out of Chewton and I have been totally disgussded by the amount of rubbish that has been thrown in the bush. This stuff has not been thrown there by people detecting but by people who live in the area, old tv's and computers bedding and beds old tyres household garbage and the list goes on. This stuff has been off loaded in the bush by locals.
On the subject of filling in holes if I dig it I fill it but it does seem quite ridiculous that when you are filling in your 6" deep hole 15 meters away there can be a thirty foot hole dug over one hundred years ago.
A couple of years ago I was in Leanora and talking to one of the movers and shakers of the area about filling in holes and he said he was on one of the environmental committees and when they re instated and area they would actually put in "detector holes" because they caught the rain and allowed for grass seeds to germinate in them. So what I am saying is some common sense has to come into it and see if they can catch the pricks chucking house fulls of rubbish in the bush.

3 cav, camping isn't allowed anywhere in the Mount Alexander goldfields. It's a popular place for bushwalkers, if one sees you they'll dob you in - just letting you know. We may have found the same big pile of rubbish (off Spring Gully Rd?). There were a few weathered accounts among the pile giving an address in Long Gully Bendigo. It doesn't look like a local, but I'll take the paperwork to Parks Victoria next week.

I've spent the last couple of weeks looking around Mt Alexander diggings and have become really annoyed at the digging holes left unfilled. They are real ankle twisters for bushwalkers and generally show a lack of respect for the bush and others who use it, which is the main argument used to try to keep us out of the bush. Leave no sign we were there. Shove the rocks and dirt back in, stamp on it and throw a few leaves over it. I love nothing better than spotting a carefully filled in hole which is almost unnoticable. It says someone before me cared enough to do a good job of it.

Yesterday publicity started about all the councils getting together to have the whole of the Golden Triangle made a National Heritage Region...
If the lazy b***ards who aren't filling in their holes are the reason the rest of us get locked out of these places, believe me, you will not be popular. Don't give people a reason to lock us out for the sake of pulling your fingers out and cleaning up your own mess. Please spread the word for filling in holes every time. It matters now more than ever with this new Heritage Region proposal.

I also fill in all my holes and like leaving minimal trace.
I go so far as to take photo's of my campsite when I leave it and this is probably more a pride thing than anything else.
Anyone know what the "rules" are for digging into the side of creek banks, sides of shallow workings, etc? ie: somewhere that it is nigh on impossible to refill.