This dataset contains a summary of the results of an online survey exploring the opinions of hobbyists and heritage professionals on the current state of metal detecting in Estonia. The survey was conducted between September and October 2023 and was completed by 22 archaeologists and 152 hobby metal detectorists. The dataset consists of an Excel file with seven sheets. Sheet 1 summarises the themes and codes that emerged from the data, together with their response rates by target group. Sheets 2-4 summarise the responses from heritage professionals (positive, negative and suggestions) and sheets 5-7 summarise the responses from metal detectorists (positive, negative and suggestions. The dataset is being made public to act as supplementary data (Appendix 1) for the publication Kurisoo & Smirnova in print.