Fossil Hunting - Florida

[Max-fossils]

Hi all,

 

For us Europeans, Florida is a very exotic place. This may not be your view though, especially if you are from there (as many members here are). Anyways, I am really excited, because this winter (around x-mas) I will be going with my family to Orlando!  (the hotel is less exciting: it's the Disney World one ). Anyways, we have a few days to go fossil hunting in one of the most fossiliferous regions in the world. We have already booked a trip with Fossil Voyages, owned by our very forum admin @Cris and his friend Kyle, which I'm sure will be a very exciting moment. But we have still a few extra days free for fossil hunting. We will surely go to the famous Peace River at some point, but having a few extra good hunting locations will be good.

 

Though these may be, in your eyes, very basic/usual hunting locations, I am looking for your favorite hunting spots in Florida. So please jot down in the replies any good locations, and tips you have about them! Any info is welcome  (Not too far from Orlando though, we don't want to spend the day in the car).

 

Also, meeting up with some of you, and maybe even hunting with them, would be great too!!!

 

I will, obviously, make some nice reports of the hunts afterwards.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Max

[FossilDudeCO]

Hey Max, what days will you be there exactly?

I could make a trip down from Colorado possibly.

 

I don't know any spots, but would love to meet up possibly to join you on your day with Cris

 

[jcbshark]

Cris and Kyle are both great guys and very knowledgeable, no doubt they'll be able to put you on some good stuff I'm near Venice so if you make it down this way on a weekend I could probably take you out as well. Just let me know, Jeff

[Shellseeker]

Max,

You have time between now and xmas. I just did a search of this TFF forum for the word 'Orlando" and got 184 hits.  You might read them all.  Many have asked your question. You have a great head start with connections to Cris, Kyle, and Jeff.

[Miocene_Mason]

I went to the phosphate museum (1 hour from orlando) they have a pile of sediment from a phosphorus mine. Nothing special, but sharks teeth and Ray teeth are common, I have heard of kids walking out with megs though.

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, FossilDudeCO said:

Hey Max, what days will you be there exactly?

I could make a trip down from Colorado possibly.

 

I don't know any spots, but would love to meet up possibly to join you on your day with Cris

 

Whoa Blake, don't excite yourself to come all the way down from Colorado!!! That's a long way. 

Plus, the trip with Fossil Voyages (Cris) is paid. It's in a private creek owned by one of their friends (from what I understood), and it's not open to public. The only way to hunt there is to book a trip with Fossil Voyages. So if you do want to join us that day, you would have to pay too.

 

I'll arrive the 18th of December (well, 17th, but only late at night), and will leave the 27th.

I'm not sure whether I will have free time to go fossil hunting from the 18th to the 23rd, but I know for sure that 24-25th I'm free. 26th is when we booked our trip with Fossil Voyages. Also, I think that my family rather have it that we do that trip as a family (with the guides), rather than having other fossil friends joining. But, if you do stick with the crazy idea that you will come all the way from Colorado, then I would really love hunting with you!

 

Best regards,

 

Max

[FossilDudeCO]

2 minutes ago, Max-fossils said:

Whoa Blake, don't excite yourself to come all the way down from Colorado!!! That's a long way. 

Plus, the trip with Fossil Voyages (Cris) is paid. It's in a private creek owned by one of their friends (from what I understood), and it's not open to public. The only way to hunt there is to book a trip with Fossil Voyages. So if you do want to join us that day, you would have to pay too.

 

I'll arrive the 18th of December (well, 17th, but only late at night), and will leave the 27th.

I'm not sure whether I will have free time to go fossil hunting from the 18th to the 23rd, but I know for sure that 24-25th I'm free. 26th is when we booked our trip with Fossil Voyages. Also, I think that my family rather have it that we do that trip as a family (with the guides), rather than having other fossil friends joining. But, if you do stick with the crazy idea that you will come all the way from Colorado, then I would really love hunting with you!

 

Best regards,

 

Max

No worries Max, I can leave you all to it

I have a condo down in Tampa and my grandparents are in Largo. I am going to be down there that week anyways, maybe we will bump into eachother!

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, jcbshark said:

Cris and Kyle are both great guys and very knowledgeable, no doubt they'll be able to put you on some good stuff I'm near Venice so if you make it down this way on a weekend I could probably take you out as well. Just let me know, Jeff

Thanks Jeff! I'm also pretty confident that Cris and Kyle will be of good help!

 

Venice is about 2 hours away by car from Orlando, so if I do go there (not sure if my parents will agree) I would love to meet up and hunt!

 

Best regards,

 

Max

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

Max,

You have time between now and xmas. I just did a search of this TFF forum for the word 'Orlando" and got 184 hits.  You might read them all.  Many have asked your question. You have a great head start with connections to Cris, Kyle, and Jeff.

Thanks a lot! I will surely look at that, and hopefully something interesting will show up!

I should have done the search before though, oops 

 

Best regards,

 

Max

32 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

I went to the phosphate museum (1 hour from orlando) they have a pile of sediment from a phosphorus mine. Nothing special, but sharks teeth and Ray teeth are common, I have heard of kids walking out with megs though.

Sounds interesting, thanks a lot! That's rather close to the hotel, so going there won't be too hard.

 

Best regards,

 

Max

5 minutes ago, FossilDudeCO said:

No worries Max, I can leave you all to it

I have a condo down in Tampa and my grandparents are in Largo. I am going to be down there that week anyways, maybe we will bump into eachother!

Maybe we will! That would be a great coincidence. 

Well, if you're down there anyways, then it might be worth meeting up.

 

Best regards,

 

Max

[minnbuckeye]

Max, 

Try contacting the Tampa Bay Fossil Club and see if they have any hunts during your visit. They have access to areas vacationers can't get to and allow visitors to tag along!  I went with them to a quarry west of Orlando last winter and had a lot of fun.

 

Mike

[Max-fossils]

38 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

Max, 

Try contacting the Tampa Bay Fossil Club and see if they have any hunts during your visit. They have access to areas vacationers can't get to and allow visitors to tag along!  I went with them to a quarry west of Orlando last winter and had a lot of fun.

 

Mike

Seems interesting, thanks a lot for the suggestion!

 

Best regards,

 

Max

[Sacha]

PM me when we get closer to the trip time. I don't know what my plans are for the holiday, but if I'm available, I'll take my extra kayaks and meet you for a day on the Peace. I have 2 extra for guests and you could rent others for the day if you have several people coming and Blake is available. A trip with me is worth every dollar you pay (it's free!).

[Jeffrey P]

I don't live in Florida and I don't have any suggested sites, but I visit Florida at least once a year and the last time I noticed a lot of fossil shells just lying about on the ground in vacant lots as a part of landscaping, etc. Many were complete and in excellent condition. So while you're there I suggest keep your nose to the ground. 

[Max-fossils]

46 minutes ago, Jeffrey P said:

I don't live in Florida and I don't have any suggested sites, but I visit Florida at least once a year and the last time I noticed a lot of fossil shells just lying about on the ground in vacant lots as a part of landscaping, etc. Many were complete and in excellent condition. So while you're there I suggest keep your nose to the ground. 

Thanks for the tip Jeffrey, and I will definitely keep my eyes down: fossil seashells are my favorites!!! 

 

Thanks for  telling me,

 

Max

54 minutes ago, Sacha said:

PM me when we get closer to the trip time. I don't know what my plans are for the holiday, but if I'm available, I'll take my extra kayaks and meet you for a day on the Peace. I have 2 extra for guests and you could rent others for the day if you have several people coming and Blake is available. A trip with me is worth every dollar you pay (it's free!).

So a trip with you isn't worth anything??? Guess I won't join then!  

 

It would be great to have a nice small community of hunters spending a day in the Peace River! That would be awesome, and we can definitely create a PM group with available hunters!

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Max