joshuajbelanger Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 All, I have been being particularly careful to not go out and fossil hunt during this pandemic...and then with the tragic loss of Doren, irrational fears and depression began to overtake my love for fossils. I just kept thinking about what could happen and what did happen...but yesterday I realized that Cal wouldn't have wanted that. He had a deep appreciation for fossils and fossil hunting, an appreciation that he showed by his generous gifts to all that were interested. I don't know many active people on this forum that doesn't have a little bit of Doren's fossils in their own collection. When I was just a young buck, desperately searching random spots in the rivers of Florida not knowing what the heck I was doing, Doren was there to offer knowledge, insight, and above all FOSSILS! I remember years ago, I did a blind trade with caldigger, much like all of you. I was new to the game, and looking back the fossils I sent him were pretty much garbage to my standards nowadays...when I received his package, I was immediately embarrassed. The quantity and quality amazing...I made it a goal to make it up to him, even though he showed great appreciation for my lacking blind trade. That began years of back and forth between us, my fossil finds got better, and so did my packages to him, but of course, he would counter-he would always counter. Finally, one day, I sent him some bulk! Mammoth tooth, ground sloth, camel, horse-very nice specimens, all found by myself. I even threw in a cannonball that I found just to top off the cake....well...in transit, that cannonball broke free and destroyed ALL of the fossils...Doren meticulously put each of those bits of fossil back together and even made a display for the cannonball along with two civil war bullets he had found. It makes me happy that he kept something I gave him on display... Anyway, enough of the teary memories-I propose an alteration to the blind trade that caldigger loved so much. A blind hunt trade! I am going out Thursday in Doren's memory, to reflect and find fossils, and if there are any takers, whatever I find will be yours! But, you must do the same. If in fact the hunt is a bust, it downgrades into a regular blind trade. It will get us out the house, it will get us finding fossils, and it will give us a chance to honor our generous friend-Doren. @aerogrower-has volunteered to throw in some of his fossil famous cubes(I own a couple), and I'm sure @Bone Daddy can throw in some of those peace river beauties. Anyone up for it? For caldigger? 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Rico Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 I would love to trade but at this point the U.K. is still in lockdown. So in the future maybe. Doren really liked the cannonball, I have seen it may time when he posted pictures of his displays .He did talk about the cannonball once in a pm to me. I sent him for one Christmas a Roman Dice because I spotted that cannonball and other artefacts he had and thought he must like curiosity's , the dice was beautiful . A hunt find trade is a nice way to remember Doren and remembering him is the best way for all his friends here to find comfort . Good luck on the trade and on the hunt Be safe be kind Bobby 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Great idea Josh. I would love too but at this point I dont know when I will have the time to get out and hunt. I have too many projects around the house right now. Good luck though, this ought to be interesting. Dave I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 I'd love to! I was planning on going hunting tomorrow! 1 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 I am a willing participant. Tomorrow, I am heading to SE Iowa in search of crinoidal material and MAYBE a few shark's teeth. I am sure brachiopods and neat archimedes bryozoans may be found. I will likely have WAY TOO MUCH collected to send it all. How about a large postal box full??? 3 hours ago, joshuajbelanger said: whatever I find will be yours! But, you must do the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuajbelanger Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 1 minute ago, minnbuckeye said: I am a willing participant. Tomorrow, I am heading to SE Iowa in search of crinoidal material and MAYBE a few shark's teeth. I am sure brachiopods and neat archimedes bryozoans may be found. I will likely have WAY TOO MUCH collected to send it all. How about a large postal box full??? I love it, I have three takers so far! Looks like I’ll have to search my white river spot extra hard! Where is an oreodont den when you need one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone Daddy Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 I wasn't as close to Doren as many of you, but we did do a couple of deals and I learned a lot from his postings in the forum and wisdom shared when I would ask him questions. I sent him a big box of the Gardner "micro matrix" (Peace River) and we talked about going through it and what kinds of fossils could be found inside. I kept checking back with him and I don't recall if he ever got around to searching that matrix material. I really liked him and I am saddened by his passing. If one can put any kind of positive meaning on terrible things, then Doren passed doing something he loved and engaging in a passion that drove him to live life more fully than many ever achieve. Maybe something caught his eye and lit a fire in him and he was digging and then he was gone. It is deeply sad, yet I only hope that my story of life ends with doing something I love. Doren walked the walk when it came to amateur paleontology and fossil-hunting. Mad respect there and I hope to one day become as knowledgeable and experienced as him. I'd be more than happy to kick in a big box of Gardner micro matrix. To make things interesting, I will "salt" the box with additional fossils from the same locality. Miocene/Pliocene/Pleistocene verts and inverts. I was planning on going hunting last week (for the first time since March), but something came up, and now my truck needs new front tires. I'm going to get tires tomorrow and then I'll be ready to hunt again - maybe one more time before the season ends down here with the arrival of the summer rains. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 I would love to participate in this! It's a great idea! Today is my last day of school, so starting tomorrow I'll have a lot of free time and will surely go to the Zandmotor (which is full of Pleistocene fossils) in the coming days. However the location is very variable, so it's unsure whether I'll find good things, so if I happen to be unsuccessful I'll complete the package with a nice selection of other fossils from my collection. Doing this trade with me would mean you would have to ship to the Netherlands though, so whoever wants to trade with me must make sure they're willing to send their package here. I'm willing to send my package to any country worldwide For Doren 1 Max Derème "I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day." - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier Instagram: @world_of_fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 So how do we do this? Do i send a bit of something to everyone who is participating? Goodness knows I've got enough extra Texas Cretaceous stuff to do so for everyone! 2 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuajbelanger Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 1 hour ago, JamieLynn said: So how do we do this? Do i send a bit of something to everyone who is participating? Goodness knows I've got enough extra Texas Cretaceous stuff to do so for everyone! Well, I plan to send something to everyone, good lord knows Doren would have lol. I don’t know how big the packages will be, it all depends on my finds, and maybe I’ll go out a few more times before I send anything. I admittedly didn’t think about the structure of the blind hunt trade-but we will figure it out! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuajbelanger Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 I might even start randomly assigning people to each other if it gets popular enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishguy Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 I would be willing to try this out. I have a trip planned this weekend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 I would love to do a blind trade what a great idea edit, what i find will be what i get from about 4 kilos of micromatrix i collected myself the day before quarantine for me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Hey @joshuajbelanger! The weather is really nice up here in southern Ontario right now, so I think I'll head out to the Lower Devonian Formosa Reef tomorrow (Friday) and do a little fossil hunting in honour of Doren's memory. If you/anyone would like to do a "blind hunt trade" with me, then please count me in! Monica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuajbelanger Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 Went out today, beautiful day, found some goodies. Not nearly enough for everyone! I’ll have to add some past finds in there. Also, apparently the main post office that handles all mail for Wyoming and Colorado has a huge covid outbreak, and is shutdown...so, hang tight I guess guys! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 On 5/19/2020 at 8:07 PM, minnbuckeye said: I am a willing participant. Tomorrow, I am heading to SE Iowa in search of crinoidal material and MAYBE a few shark's teeth. I am sure brachiopods and neat archimedes bryozoans may be found. I will likely have WAY TOO MUCH collected to send it all. How about a large postal box full??? I would be interested in trading if you'd be interested in a large postal box of Pennsylvanian inverts I'll be hunting this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbsharks Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 I’m away for this weekend, but afterwards I’m definitely in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 I missed out on doing a trade with Doren and I regret it, given what I have seen regarding his offerings. I would have liked to receive one of those little crabs from California... oh well. This sounds like fun, I'll be watching to see how it plays out! With the shipping costs to/from up here and the low likelihood of finding much at my local site I don't think I'll be able to participate. Maybe after several trips over the summer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 @joshuajbelanger I really don't want you to feel pressured to hunt a crazy amount of times so you can send nice packages to everyone, that just seems silly and unbearable to me! Doren's original idea of doing blind trades quickly grew into something other members could organize between themselves without Doren intervening, and I feel like that would work just great for this thread too. That way everyone still gets the fun of participating, and you don't have to spend tons on shipping packages to everyone. The topic already appears to be very popular, there are at least 10 participants so far, so I feel it's probably better for everyone (especially you!) if others just couple up and send to each other 3 Max Derème "I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day." - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier Instagram: @world_of_fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuajbelanger Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 5 hours ago, Max-fossils said: @joshuajbelanger I really don't want you to feel pressured to hunt a crazy amount of times so you can send nice packages to everyone, that just seems silly and unbearable to me! Doren's original idea of doing blind trades quickly grew into something other members could organize between themselves without Doren intervening, and I feel like that would work just great for this thread too. That way everyone still gets the fun of participating, and you don't have to spend tons on shipping packages to everyone. The topic already appears to be very popular, there are at least 10 participants so far, so I feel it's probably better for everyone (especially you!) if others just couple up and send to each other Yes, I was getting around to mentioning that! Best idea I’ve heard all week! Lol, I’m about to start assigning names 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 Sounds good. www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 Sounds good to me, too, @joshuajbelanger. Viola and I had a great time yesterday at Formosa Reef - we spent about 3 hours in the bright sunshine and there was a cute little garter snake that revealed itself just as we were getting ready to leave: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuajbelanger Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Alrighty! I'll be heading back out tomorrow, I did find a few goodies Thursday. I use a garmin inreach to track my every move(and also so my wife knows where I am when I go alone.) I am able to see exactly what ground I covered, where I spent the most time, and where else I have to go. I have so much more to cover at this spot! Anyway, I'm going to need to know what strata every one is digging in. I don't want to pair up people that are digging the same timeframe. I'm currently hunting white river formation. So, @JamieLynn, @Monica, @minnbuckeye, @Max-fossils@fishguy, @will stevenson@connorp, @mattbsharks, @Wrangellian-which extinction even are you guys playing around in? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuajbelanger Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 6 hours ago, Monica said: Sounds good to me, too, @joshuajbelanger. Viola and I had a great time yesterday at Formosa Reef - we spent about 3 hours in the bright sunshine and there was a cute little garter snake that revealed itself just as we were getting ready to leave: I was actually expecting to see some rattle snakes at my spot Thursday, but nope, not a one...that's ok by me though! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 2 hours ago, joshuajbelanger said: Alrighty! I'll be heading back out tomorrow, I did find a few goodies Thursday. I use a garmin inreach to track my every move(and also so my wife knows where I am when I go alone.) I am able to see exactly what ground I covered, where I spent the most time, and where else I have to go. I have so much more to cover at this spot! Anyway, I'm going to need to know what strata every one is digging in. I don't want to pair up people that are digging the same timeframe. I'm currently hunting white river formation. So, @JamieLynn, @Monica, @minnbuckeye, @Max-fossils@fishguy, @will stevenson@connorp, @mattbsharks, @Wrangellian-which extinction even are you guys playing around in? I collected a bunch of stuff from the Amherstburg Formation of the Lower Devonian yesterday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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