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MD Hunt Compilation Report - Lessons Learned - Friends Made - Finds Great and Small
Mara_Masina posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hey guys! As a new fossil hunter, I am terrible at keeping up with my trip reports, so instead of struggling to remember the little details, here's a compiled post on how the past three months went. I don't have professional photos of every find, but hopefully what I do have will scratch the itch for anyone interested in my escapades. Oh - I'll be in NJ this Saturday for another hunt with DVPS - any tips for shallow creek hunting would be appreciated! ~ January My first ever attempt at winter hunting. Armed with tips from you generous folks, I went solo! Due to high winds, low temps, and icy shores, my scant finds were all broken or small. Even so, I learned a lot and went home with tiny, worn ecphora. This trip was originally scheduled to be a CHAPTours trip, but Paul wisely cancelled due to the weather. I, however, had gotten myself a hotel room in the area and couldn't get a refund. Therefore, I made the...interesting choice to try hunting in 20-degree weather with 10-15mph winds. I posted in the forum to get some tips on winter hunting, adapted my plans accordingly, and when the date came, headed out. The signs pointed to "go the hell home, Samantha" rather early. When I arrived at Matoaka, the owners were out and I didn't have change with me for my ATM-obtained $20. I hope they used the extra $10 to feed that new pup of theirs! After I came to terms with this, I went down the cliff and started my hunt. Well, attempted to, anyway! The ice made hunting very, very difficult. The waves reminded me of a melting slushie (video!), building up more ice with every wash. I discovered quickly that walking on the ice was a no-go unless I wanted a busted ankle from falling through into the shallow water. Pulling clayfall apart was impossible too - the blocks were frozen solid. Therefore, I stuck to scanning the beach for material. The cold never once really bothered me; I was dressed in chest waders, a polar knee-length coat, 5mm neoprene gloves, and a neck gaiter to protect my face when needed. The wind, however, bit like nothing else! My glasses fogged no matter what I did and what direction I faced, and my nose and ears were all complaints when not covered. @RuMert was a genius to suggest a vacuum-sealed thermos containing hot water, because keeping my core warm was what allowed me to stay on the beach for 6 hours. At the end of the day, the hunt was not at all productive for a tooth-lover like me. I found a broken hemi, a drumfish tooth, and a few other tiny fossils. However, I did walk home with the smallest ecphora I've ever seen, about 90% complete (still needs prepped), and a wealth of knowledge about winter hunting. This was an important lesson. February My first tour with a guide, Paul of CHAPTours and DVPS. Tides were low and the weather cooperated for the most part. While my finds were few, I walked away with my first whale vert! Rescheduled from January, this was my first time going on a guided fossil hunt. I finally got to meet Paul, a fellow member of DVPS and owner/operator of CHAPTours in Maryland. He made the experience smooth for me and the other attendees by having us caravan from beach to beach, with GPS for back-up guidance. At the first beach, the exceptionally low tide exposed sandbars that prevented wave activity, and my rubber boots allowed me to walk several meters out into the crystal clear water without getting wet, which made hunting so very easy. While walking along towards the cliffs, diagonal to the shore, I came upon an old drone that had been in the ocean for a few weeks at least. I pulled this out of the water to be discarded on my way out, and placed it on the shore with my heavier belongings. Then, I returned to where I'd been walking to be sure I hadn't missed anything. A few moments later, I found my first ever whale vertebrae in about a foot of water! Further exploration yielded a broken piece of cetacean bone, as well as a thin piece of rib from a land animal of some sort, as well as a few small hemis, but the highlight of this beach was definitely the vert! Beach two was known as an "unusual" beach, where unexpected finds tend to pop up. Personally, I had no luck here, though I brought home a few interesting shells for friends. Even so, I enjoyed the walk and took a photo of some of the impressions left in iron by shells. The final beach of the day was good ol' Matoaka! Being that we were there thanks to Paul, we were able to park much closer to the beach than usual. The wind picked up though, so the crowd thinned out rather rapidly. I found a couple more tiny teeth before the unexpected cold chased me to my car as well. I thanked Paul for his time and effort, then headed on home. All in all, a great first time with a guide! March The experience with CHAPTours was so good that I signed up again. The weather was better, but the tides were higher as well. I found an unexpected artifact in fresh fall and educated a passersby here and there. A large clay-fresh hemi made the trip for me! This tour was quieter than the last, with a scant four attendees plus Paul leading the way. I enjoyed the peace, and the weather was nice too! While the tides were higher than desired, the water temperature was just nice enough that I was excited to sift with my sore feet in cold water. We began with an unfamiliar beach, one that was best known for large shells. While this wasn't really my speed, I made it my goal to help spot fossilized invertebrates for the shell enthusiasts along with me. It turned out, however, that I had very little spotting to do! We came upon a massive amount of fresh fall, yet undisturbed by the weather or other people. This fall was so fresh that we were trying to avoid falling through the loose dirt and clay! Needless to say, my fellow hunters found many a large shell here. I picked up a smaller, easier to carry shell, and a delightful but small hemi. While the guys continued to fawn over their massive bivalves, I started back towards the cars. Then, I found something even further out of my wheelhouse - a lid to a clay pot! Once home, I contacted archeologist Dr. Alex Glass and provided her with additional photos. She had this to say: Again, I don't typically have much interest in archeology, so this lid will be donated to the archeology lab when I next visit Maryland. I thought the extra information was very cool to read though! Now, back to the hunt! For the second beach, we once again headed to the place where I found my whale vert. This time, the sandbars were submerged and the tide kept us close to the cliffs. There was some older but "new to us" fall here, which we had to navigate, including some fallen trees. I didn't have much luck this time, finding only small teeth, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless! We then hit Matoaka as our final beach. It was busy this time, as the weather was good enough for beachgoers to be out and about. This time, I had my sifter out, and I was prepared to get wet. I spent the majority of the time there sifting away, pulling up small but pristine teeth - some of which I was able to send home with curious folks who had budding interest in what we were doing. (It was this trip that convinced me to start bringing along a dry box of small or broken teeth to give to potential hobbyists, because there's nothing like the excitement in someone's eyes when they realize what you've given them!) Eventually though, I took a break from the constant bending and lifting, and began using my fossil-hunting stick to dig through some fall. This was where I found my best find to date - a large, prisitine hemipristis serra, protected from erosion by the fall it was buried in. You don't find them much bigger in Maryland, from what I've heard! This was a dream find for me, and it sent me over the moon. I found other beautiful teeth on the beach that day, but nothing surpassed my gorgeous bed 17 snaggle. Going home that day, I was exhausted in the best way. The hunt was a delight, the company was good, and the experience was unforgettable.- 9 replies
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Let’s see everyone’s rarest fossil specimen(s). Time for a lot of envy!
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- big finds
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First Group Fossil Hunt of the Season - Thaleops Trilobite!
Bev posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
April 10, 2021 1-4 pm Spring Valley, Minnesota Eagle Bluff Environmental Education Center organized hunt Led by Bev Sandlin, Bluffcountryfossils.net Whispering Winds, Spring Valley, MN Galena Formation Ordovician fossils What FUN!!! And what Great Finds! This hunt was organized by Eagle Bluff Environmental Education Center in Lanesboro, MN. I am doing hunts for them every 2nd Saturday of the month through this season and any private hunts they book as well. We had about 20 participants and it was a whirlwind hunt they all were enjoying as I left them still hunting the 3rd site at 4 pm! We started at my place, Whispering Winds, Spring Valley, MN with the fossil gardens to acclimate their eyes to what fossils they are looking for and a bit about the Ordovician time period. This is the river bank hunt portion of site 1. The cliff face is great for showing the difference between the Stewartville and Prosser members of the Galena Formation. I wish I had pics of all the fossils we found on this hunt! But I have a few and this cephalopod is one found along the creek bank. We hunted by the spring, the abandoned quarry and then the "Cave Man" cave. Taking pictures in the cave. Y And what finds! You will have to forgive my photos as these were all taken in the field on a very cool, 40 degree F, spring day. One of the BEST 3D graptolites I have ever seen! Without a microscope, I can't tell if this is a "print" of crinoids or bryzoans, but it is spectacular! And fragile, and of course these all went home with the collectors. :-D Any of you know what this is??? And DRUM ROLL, I am so envious of this find, a THALEOPS TRILOBITE that appears whole! And this guy is large! Perhaps 2 inches or better across! Dad, an experienced hunter from over south of La Crosse, Caleb's old territory, found this and the trilo is pictured with his son. What a PRIZE!!! We moved on to site 2 with lots collected there including this nice gastropod. Gotta love the enthusiasm of the kids! :-D And onto site 3 where I left them all happily breaking rock! I did invite anyone back over to my home if they needed IDs. I went home exhausted, as I just had surgery the week before and my last covid vaccination which put me down for two days that week, but so happy to see so many smiles under the masks! Thank you TFF for making this possible! Without all of the oh so patient TFF members teaching me about fossils, I would not be able to share the joy of fossil hunting with others! KUDOs TFF!!! Oh, FYI, I know my fossil blog is down, but can't seem to figure out how to get it back up on hostgator. The gal who did it has since died and I'm not techy, but working on it. Anyone with suggestions, please PM me. :-D- 10 replies
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Here is a shot from my 2020 Sandhills excursion. Do you see it? I was back at basecamp utilizing the “facilities” (a bucket and bag with a toilet seat) when this youngster came in in true predator fashion (sun at its back...low and slow) just as I was updating the days GIS data... Good news is it left and no laxatives were needed after a week and a half of MREs...
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Proven fossil hunting grounds in southern Illinois
Grandmabarbie posted a topic in Questions & Answers
Where are the best fossil hunting grounds in southern Illinois, preferably with fossils from non-sea creatures?- 8 replies
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- fossil hunts
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Free Customized Fossil Hunts In Se Mn For Tff Members
Bev posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Hi Guys & Gals, I just got done putting a post together on what there is to do in southern Minnesota besides fossil hunt... Because we often have family members who don't have the addiction we do. Link to the post is here: http://www.bluffcountryfossils.net/blog/bluff-country-an-outdoor-paradise-lots-of-links/ There is no one stop shop for what to do here, so this post has lots of links and videos. I did this because I get asked this question all the time. And as I get asked more questions, it will be updated. That said, any TFF member with more than 50 posts (you are committed to fossil hunting if you have more than 50 posts ) that contacts me, I will gladly put together a hunt for them in SE MN that is tailored to their style of hunting and what they want to find in the Ordovician - with or without me - but I do enjoy meeting other fossil hunters and learn something new every time. So if you are driving by on I-90 and want to stop for a 15 minute hunt or a two day hunt, just PM me! Bev