Fossil Hunting the Peace River!

[JoshRockz]

Hi everyone! I am a long time lurker of this community, I browsed these forums endlessly on advice, pictures, and video from many members who made me feel really confident in going out and actually getting into rockhounding.

 

Me and my fiance wanted to document our trip to the Peace River in Florida. So we did. This is our first upload to our channel, and hopefully we will be uploading more as we go on more adventures. My goal with this video was for people to be able to see what it would be like to pull up to a boat ramp and go look for sharks teeth. We found a really nice young whale or dugong vertebrae, its a beautiful peace .

 

We have only been hunting these past couples weekends as the water level has been the lowest its been since we've start this hobby and we have been pleasantly surprised with the kindness of the people around us, but also the success we have had in the river. We found our first juvenile meg tooth on our first dig in the river near the brownville boat ramp. It was super fun and now im really hooked on this river! I have attached the video below, let me know what you think?

 

Youtube Link!

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by JoshRockz

[Ludwigia]

You guys can move quicker than Charlie Chaplin sometimes Thanks for the post.

[Shellseeker]

Welcome to the forum , Josh.  or at least to active posting.

I do believe your vertebra is whale, dugong verts look different (oval, heart shaped). Nice volume of teeth.  I love the hemis. One of my earliest memories on the Peace was trips like yours to Gardner. I diligently sifted most of the day within walking distance of the boat ramp. Found many of the same things that you have.

 

At the end of the day while packing to go home, a guy came into the boat ramp in a Jon boat with a small engine. He noted the sieve in my pickup truck, and showed me a 3.25 inch dead solid perfect Megalodon... olive green blade, tan root. Being a novice, I asked "Where did you find that ??" He responded "Up river" 

The next day I purchased a yellow kayak, and the day after that , I went Up river!!! Took me a while because I was a novice but I found some...just a matter of persistence. That was 11 years ago. May you enjoy your 11 years as much as I have.

 

 

[JoshRockz]

On 4/1/2020 at 9:32 AM, Shellseeker said:

Welcome to the forum , Josh.  or at least to active posting.

I do believe your vertebra is whale, dugong verts look different (oval, heart shaped). Nice volume of teeth.  I love the hemis. One of my earliest memories on the Peace was trips like yours to Gardner. I diligently sifted most of the day within walking distance of the boat ramp. Found many of the same things that you have.

 

At the end of the day while packing to go home, a guy came into the boat ramp in a Jon boat with a small engine. He noted the sieve in my pickup truck, and showed me a 3.25 inch dead solid perfect Megalodon... olive green blade, tan root. Being a novice, I asked "Where did you find that ??" He responded "Up river" 

The next day I purchased a yellow kayak, and the day after that , I went Up river!!! Took me a while because I was a novice but I found some...just a matter of persistence. That was 11 years ago. May you enjoy your 11 years as much as I have.

 

 

Thanks for the kind words! I have been a big fan of your posts on here and they have been so informative. You have had a really big impact on my digs!

 

I have a question for you or the forum, due to the current situation the Brownville park boat ramp is closed. I really liked digging this area rather than the area near gardner boat ramp because the rocks and other fossils I was finding were larger in size, including my first small juvenile meg and it was a wade in area considering I do not have a canoe and dont want to pay to rent one.

 

I want to go back to the area near Brownville (north of the bridge near the powerlines) but I am not sure how I can get there with the ramp being closed since I will be wading in. If I am unable to go to this location, do you have a recommendation on where there might be some larger sized gravel deposits?

 

Should I brave the river and walk north or south of Gardner as far as I can? Or go in at Zolfo and walk as far south as I can? I am not necessarily looking for specific location, but would appreciate some advice on how gravel deposits builds up in the peace. In the video, I found that the gravel area I was in seemed to be due to a fallen tree as I was pulling up ALOT of tree fragments 2-3 feet in the hole and pretty much exhausted the gravel. Other than seeing other hunters in a location I am having a hard time visually spotting where a likely gravel deposit would be. 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by JoshRockz

[Shellseeker]

Josh,

As the corona_virus restrictions have developed, the state asked all Floridians and visitors to avoid large crowds. Some people being what they are,  chose to ignore the request, and flocked to Florida beaches. Some of Florida beaches are inside Florida State  Parks, and the Florida state government decided to close every state park, both those with and without beaches.

if you think about it, Brownsville State Park offers 3 things to Florida fossil hunters. A boat ramp but you do not have a boat! A place to legally park your vehicle while hunting!. and access to the Peace River in and around the park.

You and I no longer have a parking space or access to fossil hunting grounds in or around Brownsville or Payne Creek Florida state park. I have the same issue you do,and opening this park is not happening soon.

There are other parks on the Peace River.. The city of Fort Meade closed it's park.  Arcadia, Zolfo Springs and Wauchula city parks are still open. I am thinking about these 3.. In order of big gravel Wauchula, Arcadia and Zolfo in that order for WALK_IN fossil hunting.

 

Should I brave the river and walk north or south of Gardner as far as I can? Or go in at Zolfo and walk as far south as I can?

You do realize that you can only legally walk on public land , not private land. Public land stops at the high water mark and in many places private land identified as POSTED or NO Trespassing. Due to low water this time of year, you actually WALK in the dry river bed below the high water mark. Eventually, if you become addicted to this hobby and live around the Peace River, you will buy a kayak, or you will just not be competitive.

 

but would appreciate some advice on how gravel deposits builds up in the peace.

 

Complicated.

During turbulent times (hurricanes, summer monsoons, etc) water moves the gravel around and dumps it back into a different area of the Peace River. Hydraulics, water dynamics, and the shape of the river snaking back and forth determine where the heavier gravel exists. When the river is full of rock and gravel, what size gravel drops 1st when the current slows down. When you happen to find small/medium gravel, what is the most likely direction (upstream, down stream) to look for larger gravel. That is one of 100 such insights.

 

Simple.

1) The average fossil hunter leaves NEON signs on where the gavel exists. The neon signs are discard piles on the banks or visible in shallow water (like today).

 

2) The average fossil hunter fails to dig deeply enough. They get discouraged, tired, lazy.

 

3) When you get a kayak, take a day, launch at one bridge, and go down stream between 10 am and 2 pm. Note any fossil hunters and especially where they are digging. Have your wife pick you up at a downstream bridge

 

You do not need to understand how gravel builds up in the Peace River,  you just need to be observant. After 5 or 6 years, you will understand this and more.