Hunting Trips with Happy Endings or Why I’m Thankful for a Trip.

[DPS Ammonite]

Instead of “pet peeves” while fossil hunting, I thought that I would talk about fossil hunting trips with happy endings or why I’m thankful for a trip.

I am thankful for:

1. 1) Finding a lost friend while hiking the North Sulphur River (NSR) in North Texas. A friend that decided to hike along the rim of NSR because of the mud in the channel became lost when he went upstream on a side creek instead of staying along the NSR. After looking for him for 2.5 hours his wife called me (I had a cell phone) and said that he was at a house about 1 mile away. (We had just called the sheriff to send out a search party.) He came upon a house owned by a nice couple that moved there to be away from the crowds. They were surprised to see him. The takeaway: stay within shouting distance, carry a charged cell phone and bring plenty of water (he was suffering from heat stress).
3. 2) Not having a Sherman, TX police officer hassle me too much while collecting fossil shark teeth along Sand Creek. An office approached me while digging for teeth and asked me what I was burying. (Yikes…have they found bodies in the area)? Once I told him that I was hunting for fossil teeth he left satisfied.
5. 3) Not being hurt when our canoe dumped while trying to avoid a strainer, (logjam), on Denton Creek west of Fort Worth, TX while on a trip with the Dallas Paleontological Society, (DPS). We found great fossils later in the trip.
7. 4) Seeing many large 2 foot plus long gar and catfish bumping into our canoe while on a fossil hunting canoe trip on Denton Creek. I was also happy that they were friendly.
9. 5) Having my over-the-calf waterproof “snake boots” while wading thru the ice covered NSR in North Texas during the winter. Hunting was great with so few people around.
11. 6) Having a pool cue to probe the deep mud along the NSR especially where the side creeks entered. I became an expert in determining if the mud could support my weight even if the pool cue sunk several feet. Hunting the side creeks was wonderful.
13. 7) Having the giant swimming water moccasins leave me alone and swim away from me while I was wadding the NSR.
15. 8) Having the baby water moccasin stay calm and leave me alone when I found it under a rock near a creek while fossil hunting. (Don’t forget… part of my philosophy is to leave no stone unturned.) I also am thankful not having any problems with the other critters that I found under rocks such as scorpions, spiders and centipedes.
17. 9) Having my tendonitis in my right elbow disappear after 3 months after going on a spectacular trip organized by BobWill to collect Oxytropidoceras ammonites in a North Texas creek. Hint… when extracting ammonites from hard limestone, stop hammering after a few minutes and before you can barely lift your arm. I spent up to 25 minutes hammering one out.
19. 10) Finding the best preserved fossil sponges ever found in Arizona after climbing thru chest high chaparral “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” (References to TV shows purposeful.)

Please post your fossil hunting trips with happy endings and describe why you were thankful.

Edited May 20, 2016 by DPS Ammonite

[Fossildude19]

When getting home, after thinking, "Ah,... I did OK. " ... and then going through my finds, seeing all the cool things I have collected.

Splitting matrix when I return home after a good trip, and finding more cool stuff I didn't realize I had.

Memories of friendly outings with other forum members, and sharing of fossils and fossil talk without getting the bored glazed over look.

Finding a gas station right off the highway, when I have dipped below 1/4 tank, and the needle is sinking faster, and I have 300 more miles to go.

Quality Family time spent with my son when he accompanies me on my trips.

Getting to see friends make great finds when hunting together.

Being the first person to set eyes on a fossil that is many hundreds of million years old.

The Christmas Day feeling of getting to a site, and starting to split rocks, not knowing what you will find.

Having bandaids handy when the fossil gods require that blood sacrifice.

Seeing that water snake holding the catfish in it's mouth, out of the water, just under the big rock I turned over.

Seeing wildlife (Deer, Hawks, Ravens, Woodpeckers, spiders, salamanders, snakes, frogs, toads, chipmunks) whenever I get out to hunt.

The peace and tranquility, the sweat of hard work, and the prized fossils that make up most of my trips.

Being away from worries or cares for a few hours, and enjoying nature, company, and activity - getting recharged by it all.

Thanks DPS Ammonite, for starting this thread.

I'm really thankful to have this hobby.

Regards,

[sixgill pete]

Spending the time outdoors, in the fresh air. Alone to reflect on the hunt or spending it with friends. Always learning something new. And being able to share the experience with the great people of this forum.

[ynot]

The best thing about fossil (or crystal) hunting is seeing the expression on the faces of new collectors when they finally get the idea and find the "first" for them!

Helping the new digger identify what they found, and why it was there.

Tony

[ynot]

And, of course, there is nothing bad about finding that absolutely wonderful and rare thing that has never been seen by human eyes!!

Tony

[Darktooth]

I am thankful, most of all, when I, my children, and guests return from a trip, unharmed.

[Manticocerasman]

spending time to share my passion and knowledge of fossils with my daughter, who happily started her own small collection :-)

[Auspex]

The smell of warm shale in the bright sun...

[digit]

Better than the smell of Napalm in the morning...

How about the incredible lightness you feel when you finally slip off that backpack loaded with 50 pounds of Mazon Creek nodules into the trunk after a 1 mile walk back to the car? A sense of accomplishment and that happy tired-out feeling you get after some challenging fun in the field.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Kane]

1. Cracking open that crate of beer when you get home after a whole day of really productive hunting in the hot summer sun.

2. The almost mystical aura you see around that one perfect find of the day.

3. The good-tired feeling of your body and the realization that you actually got a good workout doing what you love.

4. Being greeted by friends or family who are in awe over your fossil-finding prowess (and willing to listen to all the details!)

5. Finding much more than you were looking for.

6. Returning home with a brittle specimen that breaks, but beneath it is a much better example.

[sTamprockcoin]

Finding a fossil that universtity professors beg for or deny that I found where I did because its not in the literature!

[DinoMike]

Going on a hunt on my birthday, finding a few good teeth & some Cretaceous fish fin... then taking some rock home to break down for micros, and finding out 3 days later that a mosasaur tooth is in one of the rocks!

[Wrangellian]

The smell of warm shale in the bright sun...

I do love the smell of sedimentary rock, it's even better/stronger when it's wet. Bit of rain on it after a hot day... Ahhh