MRfossilMISTER Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 just a simple question if i decide to go on a nice (and probably short) holiday . games are fun, but finding fossil is even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 I have no personal experience, though i have some Florida fossils, but this may be of help ; http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/forum/98-florida/ Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Florida is blessed with quite the abundance of fossils from the Eocene to the Pleistocene. There are beaches from Jacksonville to Venice that produce fossils be simple beachcombing. Many of the creeks and rivers in central Florida cut down through fossil bearing layers exposing fossils and depositing them in gravel beds for ease of access. Fossil shells are nearly everywhere in Florida (they turn up any time I dig in my backyard). Winter-Spring (dry season) is really the best for fossil hunting in Florida. The break in heavy rains allow the water levels to drop and the creek/river deposits to become accessible. There are several guides that can help make for an informative trip and can be easily found on the internet (Mark Renz, Fred Mazza, and Fossil Funatics). Alternatively, let us know when you are planning to visit Florida and there may be some Florida TFF members who might be free to take you out and show you hot it's done. Welcome to the forum (lots of great info here). Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone Daddy Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 In the winter, the best place to hunt (for a wide variety of fossils) is the Peace River and most of the creeks/rivers in the Bone Valley Formation. Right now, the Peace is too high and too fast for meaningful hunting - typically it lowers to reasaonable levels starting mid to late November - it just depends on when the seasonal rains stop. During the wet season like now, your best bet is dry land sites or spoil islands. Dry land sites are usually hard to find because people are secretive about them. Spoil islands can be productive, but you need a boat to reach them. BTW, Welcome to the Forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud Girl Posted September 17, 2018 Share Posted September 17, 2018 On 9/7/2018 at 9:04 PM, digit said: Florida is blessed with quite the abundance of fossils from the Eocene to the Pleistocene. There are beaches from Jacksonville to Venice that produce fossils be simple beachcombing. Many of the creeks and rivers in central Florida cut down through fossil bearing layers exposing fossils and depositing them in gravel beds for ease of access. Fossil shells are nearly everywhere in Florida (they turn up any time I dig in my backyard). Winter-Spring (dry season) is really the best for fossil hunting in Florida. The break in heavy rains allow the water levels to drop and the creek/river deposits to become accessible. There are several guides that can help make for an informative trip and can be easily found on the internet (Mark Renz, Fred Mazza, and Fossil Funatics). Alternatively, let us know when you are planning to visit Florida and there may be some Florida TFF members who might be free to take you out and show you hot it's done. Welcome to the forum (lots of great info here). Cheers. -Ken I was in Florida July 2013 and went collecting with Fred Mazza (Paleo Discoveries) (https://fossilhuntingtours.com/) The Peace River was too high and he took us to a creek behind a mobile home park down in Sarasota area (we were staying in Clearwater).......a location we would have never found or ever considered trying had we stumbled upon the creek ourselves. I don't remember his prices but we were really happy with the day, his knowledge, etc. He knew which sediments were likely to be productive and which weren't. So, even within that creek, he told us where to dig more and where not to waste efforts. We were 100% novice level so I'm sure many of the people on here might know things like that already. I dug most of my own, but he shovelled his off all day, & kept adding extra loads to our screens so everyone was actually sifting all the time, especially for my kids who were 10 and 12 at the time and didn't have the capacity to shovel anywhere near as much as the adults. I came home with a small-ish megalodon tooth but it is in perfect condition, a vertebrae, some other pieces of rib bone that were abundant, and a pile of small shark teeth from different sharks. Anyway....the reason I posted was if anyone was considering spending money on a guide, it's nice to hear from someone who tried them. He was great for a mixed group, kids, grandma etc. Especially related to this post, we had the advantage of him knowing alternate options when you can't collect in the Peace River. I'm guessing a good day on The Peace River yields more? But it was totally worth my time....a great memory....and a Megalodon tooth find added to my bucket list. Now however, I hope I don't sound like an advertisement for him either. I just tend to talk in TOO much detail. I'll add a few pics because they show better what I described above. I hesitate to post the 1 of myself, but it really gives you the idea that we were literally in a little creek behind a mobile home park where we never thought we'd find what we did. I can take pictures of the rest of my finds if that helps and/or a picture of that tooth next to a ruler. It is 2.5 in tall x 2 in wide. The guy in the brimmed hat is Fred Mazza.....but the baseball cap is my dad:) Talking about this makes me want to go try it again, right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted September 17, 2018 Share Posted September 17, 2018 2 hours ago, Mud Girl said: I was in Florida July 2013 and went collecting with Fred Mazza (Paleo Discoveries) (https://fossilhuntingtours.com/) The Peace River was too high and he took us to a creek behind a mobile home park down in Sarasota area (we were staying in Clearwater Thank you, @Mud Girl I will save your post and quote it every time someone asks me where/how to go hunting in South Central Florida as a newbie.... Fred is the best there is and delivers for his customers just like a charter boat fishing or diving captain, he knows where to go, and has a huge amount of experience and knowledge... He actually delivers better than I can because he provides all the gear, takes you to a fossil bearing location, and pays attention to your quality of experience .. @TheRealWiwaxia The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted September 17, 2018 Share Posted September 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Shellseeker said: behind a mobile home park down in Sarasota area (we were staying in Clearwater Much better, @Mud Girl!!!!!!! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud Girl Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 4 hours ago, Shellseeker said: I will save your post and quote it every time someone asks me where/how to go hunting in South Central Florida as a newbie.... Fred is the best there is and delivers for his customers just like a charter boat fishing or diving captain, he knows where to go, and has a huge amount of experience and knowledge... He actually delivers better than I can because he provides all the gear, takes you to a fossil bearing location, and pays attention to your quality of experience .. @Shellseeker that was an awfully nice compliment. Thank you! You summed Fred up in a fraction of the verbage I used. "Pays attention to your quality of experience" is exactly right. We only went out with him 1x and I havent communicated with him since....that's why I tried to clarify it was a great memory, not an advertisement:) Right about now I wonder if he can't figure out why his ears are ringing. lol @minnbuckeye I was grateful for your msg. Not enough people are straightforward and I wish everyone was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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