First hunt and how we all got started (tell your story)

[Tnmountains]

I was just reading Twitch's post on Newby advice a good post( http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,315448.0.html ) and was reading how he hunted long and hard in New Mexico's deserts before he ever landed his first point and it got me to reminiscing about how I got started and what I can remember of my first hunt. And what a fun journey with many miles and wonderful people it has been ever since.
Thought it might be fun if we all told of our first hunt or find and how we all got started if you remember..... OK. So here is my first hunt ever.

Had an Uncle that was pretty adventurous. He was known as the cave man of the south and had explored and mapped many of the caves in the south east and was with the original group when they discovered Ruby Falls. Anyways one Saturday when I was maybe 6 or 7 or younger he took us to this field that had been plowed. All my cousins and Aunts and Uncles went and we had a family picnic with the sacrificial watermelon and looked for arrowheads. I remember that we got into the guys private garden and must have been tearing things up as he came out of the house with a shot gun. My Uncle always carried a 38 police special in his belt but I do not remember him pulling it. He was an old school Bondsman and had made Bond for this old farmer for something or another. I remember my Uncle giving him a bottle of Whiskey or Shine and some cash and we went back to destroying the garden looking for arrowheads. I know we picked up everything asking "is this one"?
The field we hunted is long gone and we knew it as the Nick-a-Jack field. When my Mom passed away and we were having to go through everything I found a box I had never seen and opened it up and the inside were arrowheads and marbles and she had wrote Nick-A-jack. I have kept it intact with a pair of dice that ended up in there ??
So I guess maybe that is what she and Dad found . I still have that box today
Here is the box and those finds from that day.
Feel free to tell of your first hunt or finds and how you started.
Happy Huntin
TnMountains

 

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[larson1951]

thanks for that
your story and pictures really touched my heart
that is the best story I have seen on this forum
larson1951

 

[naturegirl]

Now that is a treasure chest for sure, Tn.

I didn't start hunting on purpose, the points started hunting me. Long time ago as a young, stay at home Mom, I wanted to go fishing one beautiful spring morning, but my husband had worked hard all week and didn't want to go, I was tired of being cooped up all winter with a baby, and hadn't really done anything on my own in quite awhile, so I grabbed a bucket of minnows and a pole and headed out to a pond. It was a perfect morning, I can still smell the air. I was happy just being there. I plopped my cork and minnow out aways next to a log, and whoomp! It dissapeared. Missed that one, but I was ready for the next one, and pulled in a very nice largemouth. well you know how that gets your heart pumping, so I throw out again same spot, and danged if it didn't happen again! Even bigger fish this time. My heart is pounding, I remember shaking a little, and as I was carefully putting him on the stringer, while I was kneeling down, there by my foot was a beautiful hafted Grand scraper! My first! I just left. I wasn't there 20 minutes, but I had found gold, between the fish and the point, I was walking on clouds. You should have seen my husbands face.

I always kept my eyes down after that when we were fishing, but for twenty five years never really "hunted" At one fishing hole, I found a small broken point, and always thought there might be more. Took a friend there hiking about two years ago, and found another broken, but larger one, and it began to sink in. Fast forward to last year, and after having this spot "call my name all winter" (I even used those words to my friend and husband, I was drawn to that spot like you wouldn't believe) I treated myself to a solitary birthday hike. I walk straight to the spot where I had found the second broken point, because that was the spot that had been pulling me. I knelt down, looking around and my eyes and fingers knew what I had before my brain did, a perfect unbroken Andice.

Needless to say hunting is ALWAYS in the back of my mind now, and it's something I pursue on purpose with my hunting buddy. I didn't ever expect to have a hobby like this, at my age (49), but that just goes to show ya, it's not only the younguns who have all the fun! Like I said "hunting" kinda found me.

Jeeze, what a ramble, thanks for reading!

 

[joshuaream]

TnMountains,

Great history there.

I lived in a small farming community in Indiana and many of my relatives, friends, etc. all had an arrowhead or two (occasionally even a small collection glued or wired to a board.) So I knew what they were. I found my first one when I was 5 or so and liked it. Then when I was 6 or 7 I realized that I didn't like baseball (or better said, wasn't any good at it) and I ended up having a couple of hours to kill after school while my buddies were at practice, and I started looking for arrowheads. My dad collected as a kid, so he kind of got back into it with me and we just clicked.

Joshua

 

[SnakemanBill]

About 11 years ago I was out on a weekend skiff trip with some friends here on the bay. The last night we stayed on an island where one of the girls had found arrowheads on. She showed us where she had found a nice point on a beach and three or four of us started looking. After 2 hours of looking and not finding squat I had had enough and my buddy and I said screw this lets go drink beer. As we started back to the boats I saw a small piece of something in the sand. bent down to pick it up and pulled a 4 inch spear point out of the sand! (bottom left point in the picture) I couldn't believe it! I started whooping and hollering at my buddy who was walking ahead of me to check it out. He of course thought I was BSing him until I held my hand out and showed him. After that everyone started looking for points. Three more small points were found before we had to hightail it out of there to beat a storm. I've been hooked ever since and I go back to that spot 3 or 4 times a year.

 

[artorius]

When I was a child, my family belonged to a swim club just outside of Philadelphia. One summer when I was 8, I was walking aroung a parking area and found a corner-notched point of pretty mottled blue-gray and white flint, washed out in an adjoining gully. I was thrilled; given the fact that this part of Pennsylvania was settled in the late 17th century, in all probability my "arrowhead" was at least 350 years old. That is pretty ancient in the eyes of an 8 year old. I scoured the club grounds, and found a broken stemmed quartz point, as well as several worked flakes of quartz.

I did not research my finds, or indeed collect again, for almost 30 years. On a dreary March day in 1992, a couple of friends and I, just for the heck of it, visited a field in Chester County that was known to produce artifacts. Each of us found one decent point. I have been hooked ever since. My wife occasionally complains that my hobby has made her an "arrowhead widow".

This time, I began to acquire a library on local artifacts, and also showed my childhood finds to a couple of professionals. I was surprised to learn the following:

1. My corner-notched "arrowhead" was not an arrowhead, but was an expended knife;

2. The piece was a lot older than the 17th century, as an Early Archaic (Kirk) piece, a date of 7000+ years old is more like it; and

3. The flint is not local, but is Coshocton flint from Ohio. The flint travelled about four hundred miles from its source, ultimately to rest in a run-off gully outside of Philadelphia. The fact that there are no helpful rivers that run from Ohio to southeastern Pennsylvania makes its travels all the more fascinating.

artorius

P.S. My "arrowhead widow" once saw me on a field while driving back home from shopping, and decided to look in on how I was doing. While walking 100 yards accross the field to where I was looking, and while carrying our then toddler daughter, she found three points. I do not think I found anything that day.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

This link will take you an interview I did a while back that tells how I got started and other interesting tidbits about my collection and collecting in general.

http://www.gulf-shores-travel-guide.com/prehistoric-indian-artifacts.html

 

[Tnmountains]

I think its interesting how we got started in this hobby. Great storys everyone
TnMtns

 

[GroundS.KeepeR]

I just not to long ago started hunting/collecting Arrowheads .. It started when my sister was plowing her garden..and was finding flint))) I mean everywere!! alot of history were she lives ..of course most of the area were i would love to hunt is state owned..but oh well.. she owns a good bit so ill just start there ..I can just say i love collecting history ..

 

[Lone Star]

As a youngster growing up in north west New Jersey I was always interested in old stuff, and looking for it. Around the tricentenial of our township (1964) It began to dawn on me how long people inhabited the rural hills and woods before me. Growing up where "Washington slept here" was a constant reminder that was posted all over Morris County establishments and old houses and many areas west to the Delaware River.
Built a Relco metal detector from a popular science magazine with moola from my first paper route, ran off an am radio signal. Starting combing the old "foundations" in the woods and began finding old bottle piles and the like. Fast forward 10 years. Now living on the Texas Gulf coast. Got the "Lafitte" bug and began researching and exploring as possible ,the haunts and old habitations of the pirate and his many captains around the Galveston bay system and it's many bayous. The problem was wherever I searched or dug I would find traces of indian occupation under the homesites. Much of the colonial dwelling locations had indians there first. Thats when I realized I'm looking for the wrong thing. Since then I've dug with archaeologists, the TAAA, Long's fish and dig, The Dirt Brothers, and every venue available that caught my eye. I've walked hundreds of miles of deserts, rivers and creeks all over Texas. I've met hundreds of other people afield doing the same thing. Not really into shows and gatherings, I like it raw and live. There's something about unearthing a point from down deep that was lost and buried 5 thousand years before the pyramids. It kind of talks to you. I built a mobile screening shaker that would make Geronimo proud, now its only a matter of having enough time to go play. It's turned into an obsession and It keeps getting better every year. G.

 

[Wallydraigle]

When I was maybe eight or nine I lived in town and I was riding my bike down the street. Beside the street in some light colored gravel something black caught my eye as I was riding past. Somehow I knew exactly what it was as soon as I saw it. I stopped my bike and went back and sure enough, it was the bottom half of a flint point. I'm still not sure what kind, it's not exactly like anything I've ever seen. Anyway, yeah, I had my first find while actually riding my bike. But that's not the best part.

I found the bottom half of that point along the street about three houses down from my house. About two years later I was getting into the car at my house and happened to look down. Sticking out of the dirt was the point half of a black flint point. A couple years after that, I happened to notice that both pieces had an odd light inclusion in the black flint right where they were broken. So I tried to fit them together, and they were the same point! My first two finds were the two halves of the same broken point, both found by accident, a block away from each other.

 

[Tnmountains]

I also think its amazing to see that point laying on the ground untouched for maybe hundreds or thousands of years. When you spot one they just pop out at you. The hardest thing I have ever done and this forum got me doing it is taking a picture of it untouched. I have yet to ever find the other half of one but I do look. I go to friends houses and check out their collections and Universitys to see what the local Archies have dug. Not big on shows either.
Great storys.
Enjoy reading them.
So have 228 other people so far
.

 

[steve71]

i just got a wild hair in 1999 and told my sister and her boyfriend lets go find an arrowhead.i have always been amaized about indians i dont know why i didnt look before.tide was low been walking forever it seemed like, maybe couple hours.lol.it was almost dark went up this dune to get past dead trees.when my sister and i got to bottom of dune walked out about 15ft and i seen it a perfect morhiss about 3,1/4in ya babby and my sister picked up a 2,1/2 williams point within 6ft of my find.jack was like f--- this i wanna find one.it was almost dark and jack was zigzaging back and forth quick about 5min he said i got one.little stem point about 2in. i got down on my hands and knees looking under the tress and found a baseless perdiz. that got me hooked.will get pic of morhiss when i return home in about 10 days but heres the perdiz. Here is my friends story how he got hooked.went to airport beach park area in rockport texas and was sitting with his girlfriend on the edge of the water putting his hand in the sand.damn wouldnt you know it he pulled out a arrowhead.his girlfriend thought he was chitting her but no.well on his way home they seen a turtle in the road and stopped to pick it up.went home and could not find arrowhead.backtrack to spot of turtle and it was lying in road in 3 pieces must have been on his lap.

 

[Tnmountains]

Yep after that first find its easy to get hooked. Its funny how it always starts with just one and then look what happens

 

[Jonnyreb]

My dad and me were deer hunting in Presidio County Texas...Way southwest where I'm originally from and climbing up out of a canyon I fount this "livermore" point.

 

[chong2]

k,
so artifacts have been in and out of my life, kinda weird story....
the very first one i found was in albq. new mexico. my moms bf took me to some mountain ranges that were full of obsidian. i found a small frioish bird point made from obsidian and a stemmed scraper, i have since lost the scraper. i was probally 9 years old. then when i was 13 i was walking in the sand of nogales, Arizona, when this small teardrop/preform just appeared in front of me.

now here is the funny part, when i was around 16/17 i had a party at my moms house, i had some guests over, and there was this one native american girl, well me and her made really good friends that night, thanks to alot of alcohol well the next day i woke up, she was asleep in my bed, and i wanted to be as far away from her as possible, so i left her at my house and went walking in the desert. lol, i dunno but me being with her opened up a window, i found around 10 arrowheads that morning , knives and some indianwells buried flush with the ground. i never delibratly searched for artifacts untill that one morning. after that i would occasionally go out to my spot and pick up pieces. i picked it dry. i never researched them, just collected them and put in a cigar box.

about 2 years ago, my friend bought this house at a bank, with all of the previous owners stuff inside, turns out she loved native americans, she was around 90 years old, collected from all over the SW. and she had a room FULL of artifacts, thousands of points "all locations marked "to hardstone to vessels. my friend called me and left me a voice mail telling my to come pick what i wanted, i checked my voicemail a week later his GF's dad came in and took all of the native artifacts ever since i missed out on that oppurtunity, and seeing what she had amazes me.
i guess it was her collection that inspired me, now every piece of flint i try to date, type and catalog as best to my knowledge.
it also shows that cataloging is very important and you need to have someone to leave your collections to for when you move on, so the "bank" or some average joe does not end up with your lifes work and love and historical important artifacts.

I have a 3 year old daughter, she knows what a arrowhead, pottery, mano, and metate is, im teaching her very young. if i was interested when i was a child, i could not imagine what my collection would look like now, with all the exploring and ground we covered in the desert......

 

[jamey]

good one tn. you know i have always loved rocks,i remember when i was young thats what i always did look at rocks.i knew nothing about arrowheads though,remember teachers talking about them but thought i would have to dig though tons o dirt to ind them.sorry my letter after the e dosent seem to want to work.just dusted this thing off,ah there it is,a few days ago.well back too what i was saying.arrowheads just didnt chime in on me,untill a guy told me,while i was metal detecting,that there was arrowheads round here,i guess almost three years ago.i really didnt understand what i was inding.so i sold them,well the best ones i guesss i had.well i spent too much time trying to ind them.then just sell them.wish i had em back though now,i only learn the hard way.it is so easy to ind them,considering how old they are,and so easy to miss the value o them/i guess i chewed them up and spit them out like everything else in my life.i wish i could just take time to smell the roses.i9d better say goodbye tn because i really dont know what im trying to say...thanks or being a riend....jamey

 

[Tnmountains]

good one tn. you know i have always loved rocks,i remember when i was young thats what i always did look at rocks.i knew nothing about arrowheads though,remember teachers talking about them but thought i would have to dig though tons o dirt to ind them.sorry my letter after the e dosent seem to want to work.just dusted this thing off,ah there it is,a few days ago.well back too what i was saying.arrowheads just didnt chime in on me,untill a guy told me,while i was metal detecting,that there was arrowheads round here,i guess almost three years ago.i really didnt understand what i was inding.so i sold them,well the best ones i guesss i had.well i spent too much time trying to ind them.then just sell them.wish i had em back though now,i only learn the hard way.it is so easy to ind them,considering how old they are,and so easy to miss the value o them/i guess i chewed them up and spit them out like everything else in my life.i wish i could just take time to smell the roses.i9d better say goodbye tn because i really dont know what im trying to say...thanks or being a riend....jamey

Jamey
I remember your Stones River hunts when I first joined and thought how cool it was seeing the pictures of an area that I spent my childhood summers fishing and catching crawdads and snakes. We sure enjoyed that post you kept going and the finds you were making. Sometimes life goes diffrent directions and you have to make decisions based upon that one moment in time.I remember you selling your finds and why you did it. I would have done the same.
The points are still out there for you I am sure as you were always lucky. You sent me a package one day from near stones river. I told you then I would keep it for you because one day you would want to give it to your kids. Guess what? It all still sitting here and has been admired by many a CW fan but its waiting for you to take it home
So you see its not all lost hehe. Good to see you back and look forward to seeing what you have been finding.
Happy Huntin
TnMtns

 

[jamey]

hey friend,
you are such a great person.you share your secrects and knowledge thats why i gave it too ya.it is yours and i want you to do what ever you want to do with the collection.it only made me sad anyway to think that americans did what they did to fellow americans.i know its history but i really wish my kids knew nothing about it.i still take my bandito out once in awhile anymore civil war finds i get will go to YOUR collection.sorry about the horse bit i got at the yard sell,took it to a buff to see i it was real and he made an offer i couldnt refuse.i cant wait to show you two of the points i like. that i found this past hunt, down to my busted camera that i still cant seem to find.i have a set of plates id like to give to molly.dont really want to freak her out and ask or a addy,maybe you could get it and send them to her after i send them to you,what do you think?
later tn mountains, jamey

 

[RichPA]

I started hunting artifacts by accident in the fall of 2009. I walked to a local pond that was drained for gas drilling frac water. This pond was fished for years and I was disappointed to find the water level so low. When I sat down my fishing pole, I noticed a rock that seemed unnatural. My first thought was spear point.

I showed some friends and family but they said it was just a rock. This did not satisfy my answer so I went to a local bookstore to find an artifact book. The purchase decision was Paleo-Indian Artifacts by Lar Hothem. The 3 1/2" “rock” looked similar to some paleo knife forms and agate basin types in the book. I needed something with pics to gain the trust of family and friends of the find.

This could be a knife form from any time period, but the book opened my eyes to artifacts older than “cowboys and Indians”. Then I met some great people on this site willing to help a newbie and that grew my interest further. Here is a pic of my first find that hooked me into the hobby.