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May the claw be with you...


MedicineHat

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Great trip report. You left it up to us to make our own storyline. :zzzzscratchchin:

 

But that's OK, I only read pictures anyway!

 

 

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I enjoyed the photos. Can you tell us what you have found and where? Thanks!

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Hey, I wanted to post some photos but have not had any time to write the narrative. ..I've got more pictures to post as well. Sorry to leave everyone hanging like that. 

 

Once upon a time, in some bad bad lands, far far away, there was a man and his rock hammer... 

 

Haha keep you posted with the rest

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Nice report thanks.   Boy you needed to be a bit earlier on some of those finds.   Where where you?

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2 hours ago, Troodon said:

Nice report thanks.   Boy you needed to be a bit earlier on some of those finds.   Where where you?

East of the dinosaur provincial park along red deer river. 

It's my first large tyrannosaur claw so im stoked. I've been searching for hundreds of hours. Found it while I was stopped for lunch haha. The food almost dropped out of my mouth!

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Hey everyone, now for a little context...

 

A nice 15 degree day in may. Perfect for prospecting. Probably 10 degrees Celsius warmer in the coulees. Almost worried about a sunburn by 2pm. Hiking for 5 hours. East of DPP. Dinosaur park formation and possibly oldman form. I think late companion stage. Different layers of fossils stratified along the river valley.

What I think I have is a claw - dinosaur - theropod- gorgosaurus or daspletasaurus ? I might be wrong.

- A very small premaxillery tooth

- A juvenile hadrosaur ungual

- Another partial hadrosaur ungual

- some croc. Turtle. Marine fossils, clams in ironstone matrix (or impressions).

- vertabrae and limb bones of various sizes champsasaur to ceratops to ankylosaurus

- Partial phalange of a theropod

- croc teeth very worn, all in the same pile down a washout - perhaps associated?

- a tiny black Troodon tooth

- the picture with the small vertabrae also has a toe bone I believe

 

Lots of dangers out there. Didn't see any rattle snakes but the caves and sink holes sometimes go down forever. I was traversing some pretty steep and unstable terrain. Sometimes the best spots to look are out on ledges. The rock hammer usually wont even penetrate the ground with the sharp end, so good luck relying on it to help you climb. I explored less than 1% of the area. Its vast and beautiful, but tricky. You can sometimes her lost in the folds of the coulees that seemingly go forever. Likewise, easier to go up than down. Better be careful so I can report again next time!

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I found an unknown piece. It's a bone with marrow inside but has these strange spikes or bumps on it. Any ideas?

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45 minutes ago, MedicineHat said:

East of the dinosaur provincial park along red deer river. 

It's my first large tyrannosaur claw so im stoked. I've been searching for hundreds of hours. Found it while I was stopped for lunch haha. The food almost dropped out of my mouth!

That is a cool tyrannosaurid hand claw you found, not many around, Congrat.  Reminder that the name troodon is no longer valid in the DP formation...either Latenivenatrix or Stenonychosaurus.

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Hey are you searching on crown land or private land?  I live in Calgary and am always looking for places to go.  Not sure if you want to share your hunting spots?

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10 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Great report with no words. Sometimes I wish that I was an Alberta resident.

Alberta is a great province for fossil hunting, obviously, but the cold long winters I dont care for. Though, I could have it a lot worse. I could have to tough worse winters and conditions like that of Manitoba or Uzbekistan...

I see all the fun people are having in hell creek and kinda want to be south of the border

 

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10 hours ago, caldigger said:

Great trip report. You left it up to us to make our own storyline. :zzzzscratchchin:

 

But that's OK, I only read pictures anyway!

Spending too much time in the field and away from the tech side of life. Glad you enjoyed the picture show. 

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9 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Great photos.

Nice finds. :)

Glad you enjoyed the photos. It's the least I can do to give back to the community. Everyone here have been great to share with! 

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7 hours ago, KansasFossilHunter said:

Awesome! Thanks for sharing 

Your welcome. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

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8 hours ago, Bronzviking said:

I enjoyed the photos. Can you tell us what you have found and where? Thanks!

I posted below what I found but sorry everything was not labeled in order. As per where, east of dinosaur park. Along red deer river.

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2 hours ago, Vacationgirl said:

Hey are you searching on crown land or private land?  I live in Calgary and am always looking for places to go.  Not sure if you want to share your hunting spots?

Everything is either private or government leased as far as I understand. You kinda need to ask permission either way. Sometimes on river outings I just land on a shore and browse around then continue. Different story for hoping fences. Even though lease land is used by the farmers and ranchers, sometimes public roadways go through some very private areas of their land, so it's strange because they are probably wondering why your driving in and around the property...but if it's a public roadway, I guess its completely legal. In any case, best to ask. I'm not going to pinpoint where I go and how to get there. I dont really want to draw too much attention. I get out here because it's my favorite place. It's always the same. Empty. Quiet. Peaceful. However, I will say this, follow the backroads map anywhere along the red deer river between red deer and the sask. border. At any access points to the river, see if you can get access to the outcroppings. 

Or by boat access is always a fun way to prospect. Always show respect of coarse and there is a good outcome.

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2 hours ago, Vacationgirl said:

Hey are you searching on crown land or private land?  I live in Calgary and am always looking for places to go.  Not sure if you want to share your hunting spots?

There is another place called lost river off the 501 south of manyberries. I've looked around the area and it seems very fossil rich. The exact location has eluded me. I tried to follow the directions from some of the other members here but I got confused a little on the exact point. In any case, these coulees run all the way to the milk river valley which is also very fossil rich. I think anywhere in the coulees in the southeast corner of ab are great. 

I stopped by the side of the road near an outcropping, there were no signs . I hiked around, disappeared into the coulees, found some fossils and headed back. Not a other single car around for hours.

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