Warfield Quarry Vip Dig -- Worth It?

[Perfect Castaway]

This summer i will be driving through Wyoming on vacation on my way to visit my wife's family in Montana. Since I have to put up with the inlaws for the week my wife agreed to give me a day in Kemmerer to hunt for fish fossils. From what I can tell online the Warfield quarry looks like it's the best (feel free to correct me on that if that's inaccurate). I plan on spending the whole day splitting rock in the split fish layer, but their website says they also have a VIP night dig where you get to hunt the 18 inch layer with the crew. No other quarry lets people anywhere near the 18 inch layer. Since this might be my one and only trip to Wyoming, I'm really interested in going for it. However, I have some concerns. It's pricey - $500 for one night, and the website says you get to keep some of what you find. I know the rare stuff always stays with the quarry, but this doesn't sound too promising. I'd hate to spend 5 bills on a dig and only walk away with a couple of Knightias. Anyone have any experience with this trip? Is it worth it?

[mikeymig]

I dont blame you! Thats a lot of money and wouldnt it stink if you find something nice only for them to say "thanks, now step aside". I was spoiled when I got to dig with Mr.Tynsky everytime I went out west and I got to keep my finds. We dug the split fish and the 18 inch layer. Why is the dig at night? Kinda hard to find stuff in the dark and a little dangerous. If you do go take the time to wander around the tailings or scrap piles around the quarry. I found a complete crayfish, half a palm frond, a partial sting ray, and other goodies this way

Mikey

[Uncle Siphuncle]

i say go for it. if there is anything in life worth doing, do it now before it becomes prohibitively expensive, or impossible - my philosophy. it won't be getting any cheaper, i assure you.

i've spent well more than that on several once in a lifetime digs. in the 18, 15-20 diplos are not uncommon. i would imagine you can keep knightia, diplo, prisky, pharo, mio but not heliobatis, noto, gar etc. best bet: contact and ask about species/size/association slab restrictions. also ask if it's a share dig, meaning you'll alternate picks w the owner/lessor out of your pile.

night is especially productive in the 18. you'll b flipping and splitting piano sized slabs, the shinining a lantern on them at extreme low angle, the shadows giving away the presence of fish you'll never see by day.

Edited January 22, 2014 by danwoehr

[sseth]

I dont blame you! Thats a lot of money and wouldnt it stink if you find something nice only for them to say "thanks, now step aside". I was spoiled when I got to dig with Mr.Tynsky everytime I went out west and I got to keep my finds. We dug the split fish and the 18 inch layer. Why is the dig at night? Kinda hard to find stuff in the dark and a little dangerous. If you do go take the time to wander around the tailings or scrap piles around the quarry. I found a complete crayfish, half a palm frond, a partial sting ray, and other goodies this way

Mikey

They actually dig the 18" layer at night using halogen lights across the surface to reveal the slight bumps and variations in the stone that indicate buried fossils that are not visible with the sun beating down from above. They pick up little critters that might have been missed otherwise.

Fishing is quite fun if you have never done it.

[cowsharks]

i say go for it. if there is anything in life worth doing, do it now before it becomes prohibitively expensive, or impossible - my philosophy. it won't be getting any cheaper, i assure you.

i've spent well more than that on several once in a lifetime digs. in the 18, 15-20 diplos are not uncommon. i would imagine you can keep knightia, diplo, prisky, pharo, mio but not heliobatis, noto, gar etc. best bet: contact and ask about species/size/association slab restrictions. also ask if it's a share dig, meaning you'll alternate picks w the owner/lessor out of your pile.

night is especially productive in the 18. you'll b flipping and splitting piano sized slabs, the shinining a lantern on them at extreme low angle, the shadows giving away the presence of fish you'll never see by day.

I agree with Dan and do it now while you still can; so long as you can afford it and the wife is ok with it regardless of whether or not you find much. $500 is a lot of money; but then I compare it to the time of year when I travel to Aurora, NC for a fossil festival, plus a few days of fossil collecting here and there. By the time I get home I have spent at least $500, and sometimes the only fossils I have to show for it are the usual/common stuff that I already have several of - but the trip was still "worth" it because I had a great time.

[mikeymig]

Dan makes a very good point "do it now before it becomes prohibitively expensive, or impossible". That makes sense using a lantern to collect at night. I found a 20" Diplo during the day and all I saw was his backbone (Duane Tynsky prepped him for me) so I never thought of collecting at night. If you go please show us what you find and take a lot of pics at the quarry!

mikey

[jpc]

I think the price is a bit steep, so I would definitely ask what you get to keep before shelling out the Benjamins. And the others beat me to explaining the night digging. I have dug at night in a different layer of the GRF that also tends to show raised vertebral columns, and it works.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

pc-have a look at my july 2013 collecting report at bmns.org to see what the 18 inch layer produced for me in a day and a half. i'd do it all over again. your wallet will heal, and your new found treasures will remain. obviously, most economical if you do your own prep.

[Ray Eklund]

Dan makes a very good point "do it now before it becomes prohibitively expensive, or impossible". That makes sense using a lantern to collect at night. I found a 20" Diplo during the day and all I saw was his backbone (Duane Tynsky prepped him for me) so I never thought of collecting at night. If you go please show us what you find and take a lot of pics at the quarry!

mikey

Duane does beautiful work on his prepping 18 inch layer fish! Have a huge slab hanging in my hallway down to the basement. They need to be hauled yourself if you want a BIG slab. I have too many slabs leaning against the wall from their yellow School Section quarry. Those split CLEAN and are beautiful!

In July you will prefer to split the yellow School Section material at night as well as the darker grey 18 inch layer material! The Tynsky's use to lease this quarry from the School District which would give you a dark tan in two days. The wife will watch you split rock and get $100 worth of tanning!

The problem I have with the 18" layer... you need to have it prepared with someone with experience. Duane has done this since he was a kid... I know, I remember him at the School Section easy to split quarry AND his prepping 18" when he WAS a KID. He is a nice guy, easy going and knows what he is doing. They use to have a shop in downtown Kemmerer, Wyoming near the Penny's first store. I would be more likely interested in buying a already prepared 18 inch large Diplo... by Duanne and be happy for the choice. You are not guaranteed anything when splitting 18 inch. I am sure the mammals, reptiles and sting rays are... not on the list, still, for you to KEEP. But, you have to understand that is why they can pay the leases that have really sky rocketed.

There are numerous private quarries west of Kemmerer. Some sites are reserved for small fish are, or were, $35 a half day, $50 for a whole day. They even provide the equipment. I would check out on the internet any other quarry operators and rates for small or large fish. I could find more partial fish over the side that you would be proud to own! Even a nice fish gets missed under 12 inches and easily split out in some formations.

My advice. A wide brimmed hat and sun glasses for day work. In my University of Wyoming days I would have a Caribbean tan in three days and my hair was bleached to golden blond. If you find nothing... and are not embarrassed to pull off the tee shirt, wear short pants, some heavy duty hiking boots to protect your feet... you will return home as the Fossil God, cooked to well done. But... if you are a UK pure white skin... you will have 3rd degree sun burn and end up at the hospital.

There are many quarries and many offers. The Tynsky's have been around since the 1930's prospecting out of Rock Springs when Duane's great grandfather operated a gas station and hunted fossils. Great family to do business with and those who knew Duane's dad will agree. I can think of only one quarry operator that I would not care to do business with, but if you have been there... you already know and I want this post to be positive.

added:

On cooler days getting to the quarry early to catch the "shadows" of vertebrae is also good. Have a carpenter's pencil to MARK the spine and the head and tail. You will figure it out by watching someone who finds something before you do. Multiple small specimens on a large slab also look nice framed in wood on a wall.

Also... cut the slab larger than trimming a small amount of matrix around the fish to be prepared. Then on the wall it becomes a piece of ART. You can always cut the slab down later. The quarry will have a number of "frames" to lay over your find and you can determine what suits your purposes. Good Luck.

Montana? North of Billings is Roundup. Back in 1961 I was 11 years old and the family was driving from Kalispell, Montana we stopped in town. Of course, I saw black shale outcrops behind where we had stopped and it must have been Cretaceous as there were broken Baculites with nice white shell washing out. Of course I did not know what they were, but check a geological map first to see if there is indeed Cretaceous around the town. I remember the town name and associate it with baculites ever since.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Ray Eklund

[Uncle Siphuncle]

I learned to prep the 18 inch layer by diving in head first...trashing a couple fish in the process. Good thing I started with the small, common fish.

[Perfect Castaway]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I should just email the quarry operators and ask to elaborate on "some of the fossils..." I will probably end up doing it regardless of what they say, though. If I can get a few good specimens and prep them myself then I should make out well. $500 can buy some good Green River fish, but as others have said, it's the experience more than anything. And as Dan said, it might become impossible someday. When these tours eventually come to an end (as a lot of these collecting sites seem to be) I'd regret not taking the opportunity when I had it.

Ray - I'm not very familiar with the different quarries - what is the yellow school section? Are those the ones that the matrix has a slightly yellowish look? Like this -

Just a guess.... I could be WAY off.

Again, thanks for all the input, everyone!

[ZiggieCie]

When I was 17, I had the chance for a 2wk Ski trip to France and Swiss for $300...... All included.

I Didn't go and have regretted it for many years.

[mikeymig]

Ray, Mr. Tynsky was a great guy! I bought hundreds of fish from him and Duane when I was a buyer for The World of Science. When I was out digging with Jim he would tell me "find me a bird Mikey" and I tried but only found a feather.

Mikey

[Ray Eklund]

Ray - I'm not very familiar with the different quarries - what is the yellow school section? Are those the ones that the matrix has a slightly yellowish look? Like this -

Just a guess.... I could be WAY off.

Again, thanks for all the input, everyone!

The yellow "School Section" limestone/shale was leased by the Tynsky's for many years, but I believe they would not pay the increased lease wanted some years back. It was on a School Section so the school district would lease it out. It is a bit more yellow than yours without the waves of staining. Although, maybe the layers above could be from the quarry to get to the solid yellow member.

[jpc]

I think what Ray is calling 'the yellow school section' is actually two things.

1) yellow refers to the color of the rock. It is often commonly called the Split Fish Layer. It is about 4 ft thick and full of fish that when you find them, they often split along the fish so you have a part and couterpart. Often one will be better preserved that the other. This is one of the two common layers the fish quarries are in. The other one is the 18 inch ayer, which is what the Warfield VIP outing is to. Here the fish are found as raised vertebral strings a few layers below the layer the rock actually splits on. Hence the hunting at night.. you illuminate the slabs with low angle light to see the subtle hints of an fish inside. These fossils are often prettier but are lot more work to prep.

2) the school section refers to a section of land (a square mile) that is owned by the State of Wyoming. The purpose is that any money made by leasing the land for whatever... cattle, oil, uranium, fossils, goes into the state's school budget. There are a few fish quarries on School Sections and the state retains the ownership of the rare stuff.

I hope this explains 'Yellow School Section'.

Perfect castaway, your examples are from the 'yellow', but not necessarily a 'school section'. There are more quarries in the split fish layer on private land than on state land. There are a few layer in the Split Fish that have those beautiful orange swirl patterns.

[Ray Eklund]

I think what Ray is calling 'the yellow school section' is actually two things.

That is 100% correct. See what twenty years can do to you! Obviously your know Stuart G. in Laramie as well and Kent S. in Casper. I went to school with both of them and covered a lot of ground in the early 1970's.

Thank you for clarifying everything. Split Layer Fish... remember that now.

You might want to tell the story about the Sheriff and airplane looking for fossil diggers on Federal or State land back in the 1980's. I heard about it and read some newspaper clippings, but this was a big thing for fossils hunters at the time.

[jpc]

That is 100% correct. See what twenty years can do to you! Obviously your know Stuart G. in Laramie as well and Kent S. in Casper. I went to school with both of them and covered a lot of ground in the early 1970's.

Thank you for clarifying everything. Split Layer Fish... remember that now.

You might want to tell the story about the Sheriff and airplane looking for fossil diggers on Federal or State land back in the 1980's. I heard about it and read some newspaper clippings, but this was a big thing for fossils hunters at the time.

Hi ray-

yes I know them both. I work with Kent and used to have Stuart's rock saw in my lab, but he took it back. That's fine, it was tripping my circuit breakers.

I'll refrain from telling that story because I really don't know the details. Twenty three years in Wyoming, five international dinosaur expedition behind me, there are others I could tell...

[old dead things]

I am currently on the way to Tucson and attempting

the reply on the cell phone. I will PM you once

I get to a computer. I've dug warfield's 18 inch

Quarry for the past ten years and can probably

Answer all your questions.

Jim

Old Dead Things