jort68 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Hey all! New to the forum and happy to finally have something to share. Went hunting in Montague, NJ two days ago on the first of the year and had some luck. I found directions to the site, "Mountaintop Rd. Fossil Beds" using instructions from the first entry on this list. Looks like it's all in the same town as Trilobite Mountain, which I unsuccessfully searched for early on in the day. Eventually I decided to try my hand at this second one before sunset hit. It's a shame that somebody seems to be using this property to hunt animals instead of fossils, but using some discretion you should be able to get in just fine. To my delight, my first fossil hunt yielded many interesting specimens. Shells and more than a few instances of Phalangocephalus dentatus. Wondering about how i might prep this one, which I found inside a larger hunk of rock utterly clogged with shells and trilobite fragments. Would it be useful to take a dremel to it? Also found this strange negative, wondering if anybody more experienced than myself has opinions on what could have left this impression. I hope to do many more fossil hunts in my lifetime. This was a perfect day for me, I can't wait to get back out and do it again. Cheers everybody! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Welcome to the forum and thanks for showing us your finds. You could have a go with a dremel on that trilo, but it may not be strong enough to remove the matrix. I'm afraid I don't see any indications of fossiliferous in your "negative", but maybe it's just me. Could you please elaborate on what you are seeing there? 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 Thanks for the reply!! Yeah, I wasn't sure about that one in general, here's another angle if it helps. The indentation wraps around the entire rock, so I thought it was some sort of negative. Maybe just a funny shaped stone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 The last item is just some weathered/eroded limestone. 3 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 Gotcha!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Congrats on the trilobite pygidia! Trilobites are hard to come by in my local hunting areas so those would make me very happy! What is the bumpy item? It looks intriguing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 Thanks so much!! I feel really lucky about those, it has spurred a whole new level of fossil obsession... Bumpy bit looks like the glabella of Phalangocephalus dentatus to me based off other reports of finds in the area! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Welcome to the Forum! Those are some sweet finds! You are lucky to have found that location but be careful if there is hunting going on in the area. You don't want someone to mistake you for a deer! 1 -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Nice finds! I would have picked that rock up too. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 15 hours ago, Monica said: What is the bumpy item? It looks intriguing... Part of a trilobite cephalon? The glabella maybe? @jort68 Nice finds! Welcome to the forum. The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 Hey thanks everyone (: I know, I passed the property owner's hunting blind on the trail in and it gave me pause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 I don't know what part of Trilobite Ridge you were on but there is a part that borders hunting club property. Once, myself and a couple of my TFF friends were there by mistake on the first day of hunting season. A hunter warned us to leave and we did. Other than hunting season access should be okay. By the way, welcome to the Fossil Forum from southeastern New York. Congratulations on your finds and that bumpy thing is the glabella of Phalangocephalus. Best wishes and good luck. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 Man, sounds like I dodged a bullet. How literally, that is, I'll never know.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Wait... There is a place called Trilobite Mountain?!?!?! 1 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 On 1/4/2020 at 11:16 PM, jort68 said: Man, sounds like I dodged a bullet. How literally, that is, I'll never know.... Many if not most large tracts of private property are leased for hunting or hunted by the property owner. This is income for the property owner and a very good way to keep large areas of woodland intact for the far more numerous non-game fauna. Hunters are required to wear blaze orange while hunting and it would be a good idea to refrain from collecting on land being actively hunted or to wear the same blaze orange vest and hat. Haven't heard of fossil collectors being shot during hunting season but know of several that have met their end while digging. We all need to be conscious of our surrounding while in the field. Nice trilos! Do you have much luck collecting the trilobites in Chicagoland? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jort68 Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Yeah, after these replies I'll probably take more precaution on my next trip that involves hunting land. RE: Chicagoland, not yet. I'm in a couple facebook groups with Chicago and Illinois hunters and one person was able to find a trilobite in a recently built rock wall in the city. Other than that, there's murmurs of trilobite finds way south in Illinois and NW. I'm planning a day trip to Mazon creek from the city to try my luck at some hunting, but mostly just to get out of the city for a day. Too much of city life has me itching to get lost in the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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