A disappointing dig in Ohio

[Eastonian]

I was quite excited last week when I decided to take a day trip to Paulding, Ohio, where the La Farge Quarry mining company has dumped loads of rocks on a parcel of county land.  This is a Devonian silica shale site. It was a very disappointing trip. I was out there for three hours with a 35 degree wind chill, and found nothing more than  a few brachiopods, some horn coral and lots of rocks with fossiliferous matrices. The only trilobite I found crumbled in my palm as I poured some water on it to wash away some dirt. There were some rocks with trilobite parts, but no complete specimens.

 

It's a huge site -- five or six parallel piles 100 yards or more long -- but I had very little luck. I've seen photos of other diggers who walked away with nice hauls, but I struck out. Though it was in late February, it looked as though the site was pretty well picked over.

 

I'm planning a trip to southern Indiana later this spring. I'm hoping it will be more fruitful.

[Darktooth]

Sorry to hear that your trip didn't turn out as you hoped. It happens to us all though. I hope your next trip goes well.

[Fossildude19]

Persistence is the key. 

That's why it's called Fossil Hunting, ... not Fossil Finding.    

[caldigger]

From the sound of it, you found a few items so you didn't exactly strike out.

We can't always find the Motherlode. I have been on many trips, spent the day doing hard labor and only find a few scraps. But it is the enjoyment of spending time in the outdoors that I walk away with. The fossils are just the frosting.

Keep at it. Maybe the pile you were searching came from a spot with not much to find anyway.

At least you can look through rubble that has already been excavated for you and you are not having to extract it from a stone wall with a pickaxe.

[Nimravis]

You will have a lot better luck in Southern Indiana.

[Ludwigia]

You win some, you lose some. That's the luck of the game. I'm sure you'll strike paydirt somewhere if you keep at it.

[Jeffrey P]

Nothing ventured nothing gained. My collection is the result of many good and bad days of collecting. Keep it up. I would suggest when visiting a very fossiliferous site such as this is to bring some rock home to split later. I know that some of the best finds are made after the fact.

[hrguy54]

I suggest you give up and never try again. Then move to a monastery in Peru.

 

Orrr......go back again in the Spring. I know they periodically drop off new stuff ...maybe there's a schedule and some way to get regular updates.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Better luck next time. 

And the more often you try, the more you'll get your eye in, experience also tells, though luck plays a part. 

[Peat Burns]

6 hours ago, Eastonian said:

I was quite excited last week when I decided to take a day trip to Paulding, Ohio, where the La Farge Quarry mining company has dumped loads of rocks on a parcel of county land.  This is a Devonian silica shale site. It was a very disappointing trip. I was out there for three hours with a 35 degree wind chill, and found nothing more than  a few brachiopods, some horn coral and lots of rocks with fossiliferous matrices. The only trilobite I found crumbled in my palm as I poured some water on it to wash away some dirt. There were some rocks with trilobite parts, but no complete specimens.

 

It's a huge site -- five or six parallel piles 100 yards or more long -- but I had very little luck. I've seen photos of other diggers who walked away with nice hauls, but I struck out. Though it was in late February, it looked as though the site was pretty well picked over.

 

I'm planning a trip to southern Indiana later this spring. I'm hoping it will be more fruitful.

May I ask how you searched the site?  If just walking, it's very difficult to find any keepers.  I bring industrial knee pads and basically crawl on my hands a knees until I find a relatively rich spot and then often search on my belly.  Just curious, because I am planning another trip there soon.

[Miocene_Mason]

Water and fossils aren’t always the best of friends, I always hesitate to mix them. Here in Maryland, even a trilo-bit would be an amazing find! Better luck next time!

[TNGray]

Hopefully they will refresh the piles. I had amazing luck there  in 2016.

[Eastonian]

Those are amazing finds! At some point I'll return to the site.

 

[caldigger]

7 hours ago, TNGray said:

Hopefully they will refresh the piles. I had amazing luck there  in 2016.

Nice ones Theodore!

[oldtimer]

Sorry to here about your luck.  I went to a site yesterday with tons of shale in piles.  Supposed to be a good area. I was there for a few hours till it started to snow on me. What did I find? Zero!  But I was outside, hiking and enjoying the day. Name of the game.

@TNGray Very nice bugs you found. I hope some day to find some that exquisite.

 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

With continued field experience comes satisfaction and success, and with that, a higher tolerance for the isolated dud trip.  Wanderlust drives me to explore new and undocumented areas, sometimes resulting in multiple weekends in a row holdin’ nuthin’ but a sack o’ woe.  Then suddenly I find a virgin site worth revisiting.  Keep on truckin’.

[Max-fossils]

Well, as everyone else said already, you can’t always come home with awesome stuff.

Last Monday I was on the Zandmotor (my usual hunting spot in the Netherlands), giving a little tour to one of my Dutch fossil-friends who came here for the first time, but we found nothing but a few fossil seashells (only the very common species). None of the cool mammal stuff... Though the sky was clear, it was extremely cold, especially with the strong winds, and my fingers became numb even through my gloves. 

 

So even though we put a lot of effort in the hunt, and endured through the harsh weather, we found nothing to come home happy with. Plus I also felt guilty for having failed to make this an enjoyable hunt for my friend, who had just done a 2-hour car ride to come here, and got home empty-handed! 

 

My 2 previous hunts on the Zandmotor were similar: cold and with no great finds.  

 

But that doesn’t discourage me from going again! One of my other friends, who  frequently goes to the Zandmotor (a bit more often than me) often comes back with amazing finds. A few weeks ago he found a complete baby mammoth tooth and a partial hippo tooth!!! So I know that the awesome fossils are out there, but that I just need to be lucky, and persistent enough, to find them eventually! That’s why I keep to, and will keep to, hunt at the Zandmotor. 

 

Nonetheless, I would still love to see some pictures of your meager haul.  

[hrguy54]

On 3/2/2018 at 1:34 AM, TNGray said:

Hopefully they will refresh the piles. I had amazing luck there  in 2016.

 

 

Hmph. Couldn't find any prone ones?

 

Those are real beauties.

[MeargleSchmeargl]

On 3/2/2018 at 1:34 AM, TNGray said:

Hopefully they will refresh the piles. I had amazing luck there  in 2016.

I need to find a site to find these amazing rolled Eldredgeops trilos, cause they look super cool! Do you find them sitting around? 

[Kane]

4 minutes ago, MeargleSchmeargl said:

I need to find a site to find these amazing rolled Eldredgeops trilos, cause they look super cool! Do you find them sitting around? 

If you can't make it to Ohio, there is always Penn Dixie near Buffalo. They come out a bit smaller, but they are plentiful!

 

And here is the excellent writeup of the Paulding, Ohio trip by TnGray here

[smokeriderdon]

The trip to KY/OH I just did with my son did not net us any significant bug material, but it was still worth every second. We DID find other stuff and it was the same as fishing. Even a bad day fishing/fossil collecting is better than a good day at work. I have gone to the beach in Calvert county MANY times. Some days nothing more than some sand sharks and duskies. Others, great cows and makos. Luck of the draw. 

 

All that being said, it DOES suck a bit when you find precious little.