New member from FL. This board is amazing!

[cthulhu]

Hello everyone,
I'm in Tampa bay FL and have been looking at the forum for a few weeks. I am totally amazed at the stuff y'all are finding, especially in the midwest. I'm also blown away that y'all can tell the type of material the points are made from and where it came. How do you learn this?

I hunt for fossils in my area, mostly in the Peace River, but I've never found a point before. I do it just for the joy and wonder of the bones. To me they're invaluable. Now Indian artifacts are cool on an entirely new level. I'd be so thrilled to find something. I have found a few chert flakes in the river and I'll probably post 'em for your perusal.

I've been fascinated with Native Americans in FL for a long time. I have a few books on the subject, and have another one on the way. I have to admit that I'm more most interested in paleo and archaic era, but it's all good.

Does anyone here in FL hunt fields or could take a newbie out to show me the ropes?

Thanks and greetings,
-Darren

 

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[jamey]

hello there,
hope you find one so i can see it,lol.hey,did the indians there really build fires to bring in the ships,only to crash into the reefs,or rocks there.i heard there were some nasty boogers there, jamey

 

[centfladigger]

welcome to the forum, heres a few pics of some of the coral I find in Hillsborough county and pasco county and a few pics of some of my points from 25 years of digging here in Plant City Pasco county and Polk county
coral

artifacts

 

[ohio]

Cthulhu,

Welcome . Post your fossils on the fossil board.


Central FLA Digger, killer stuff man. Unreal.

Chuck

 

[centfladigger]

yeah post som eof your finds from the Peace, I have seen MANY srtifacts that were foundin the Peace. Of course its now against the law to collect any artifact in Fl rivers.

 

[GroundS.KeepeR]

Welcome to the site ..You can learn alot here ..

 

[Tnmountains]

@ centfladigger. Wow nice pictures. Great fossils and artifacts. So no more river hunting?? That does not sound right.. : ( Gov claiming everything not found?

 

[centfladigger]

we had an IFP aka Isolated Finds PRogram for years. All the state asked was that whatever you found to send a pic and info of what and where it was found in the rivers. No one really did this and I guess they saw all the money being made by the finders at shows and internet sales etc. So they took it away . Only fossils can be collected with a permit from the U. F. which only cost $5( for now). they even did a sting here at a show about 2 years ago with a feloow collector here in Fl. Used an agent pposing as a school teacher and ended up raiding his house inthe moiddle of the night and took EVERYTHING, including the computer. They did give him back, later, some of his Ala. finds made of TQ, judge said those were repro`s. what an idiot.
As for digging here in Fl. STILL LEGAL, as long as you are on private property and have permission.

 

[shopdog]

WELCOME . THIS SIGHT IS COOL ISN`T IT. I`M FROM POLK CO. FL. MULLBERRY AREA THERE ARE ALOT OF PLACES IN YOUR AREA TO LOOK THE HILLSBORO RIVER IS AN AWSOME PLACE TO LOOK . AS WELL AS PEICE RIVER . YOU SHOULD TRY THE ALIFIA RIVER AROUND BRADLEY JUNCTION . ABOUT 14 MILES SOUTH OF LAKELAND ON HWY. 37 . THERE ARE ALOT OF GOOD PEOPLE THEIR THAT WOULD POINT YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRRECTION.WHACTH OUT FOR THOSE GATORS AND GOOD LUCK.

 

[godisnum1]

I'm in Saint Petersburg... just wanted to follow this thread.

Bran <><

 

[Tnmountains]

heck yeah, get us a Florida thread going. Heres one of 6 I dug up in my "secret" spot in Polk county last week. Bewtween 3 of us we dug up 27 points. The "plummet" I`m wearing came from a site in St. Pete. It was actually a busted busycon shell hammer so I used the whorl for a pendant

Great photo! I always enjoy seeing the finds outta Fla. You guys just keep hunting the private land and digging em up How do you sift that mud?? Water or just feel with your fingers?

 

[*Molly*]

Welcome to T-net CT.
You sure have some sweet finds from here in FL.

Molly.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Welcome aboard TreasureNet!

 

[cthulhu]

welcome to the forum, heres a few pics of some of the coral I find in Hillsborough county and pasco county and a few pics of some of my points from 25 years of digging here in Plant City Pasco county and Polk county
coral

artifacts

Holy crap that is some awesome stuff! Love the Bolens. Where can you find that coral to dig up, I'd love to do that!

 

[cthulhu]

yeah post som eof your finds from the Peace, I have seen MANY srtifacts that were foundin the Peace. Of course its now against the law to collect any artifact in Fl rivers.

I'll post some stuff soon. I need a new camera, the last one gave up the ghost a month or so back.
My coolest stuff is probably a sloth tooth, capybara tooth, camel teeth, bison teeth, and some nice makos. I still haven't found a perfect meg front tooth (which is a source of much frustration for me).

I have a couple chert flakes, but have no idea if they might just be natural or as a result of worked stone. You don't find chert normally though.

 

[cthulhu]

WELCOME . THIS SIGHT IS COOL ISN`T IT. I`M FROM POLK CO. FL. MULLBERRY AREA THERE ARE ALOT OF PLACES IN YOUR AREA TO LOOK THE HILLSBORO RIVER IS AN AWSOME PLACE TO LOOK . AS WELL AS PEICE RIVER . YOU SHOULD TRY THE ALIFIA RIVER AROUND BRADLEY JUNCTION . ABOUT 14 MILES SOUTH OF LAKELAND ON HWY. 37 . THERE ARE ALOT OF GOOD PEOPLE THEIR THAT WOULD POINT YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRRECTION.WHACTH OUT FOR THOSE GATORS AND GOOD LUCK.

I'd love to! Do you want to go looking some time?

My problem is that I don't know anyone who knows any good spots, so I have no idea where to look.

I live not far from Weedon Island myself, so yeah there should be stuff around but I have no idea where to look.

 

[cthulhu]

I'm in Saint Petersburg... just wanted to follow this thread.

Bran <><

Hello Bran. I'd love to meet some other board members and hunt together, do you know anywhere locally to check out?

 

[cthulhu]

heck yeah, get us a Florida thread going. Heres one of 6 I dug up in my "secret" spot in Polk county last week. Between 3 of us we dug up 27 points. The "plummet" I`m wearing came from a site in St. Pete. It was actually a busted busycon shell hammer so I used the whorl for a pendant

That is fantastic! Gorgeous! Got room for another buddy on the next hunt?

 

[godisnum1]

I'm in Saint Petersburg... just wanted to follow this thread.

Bran <><

Hello Bran. I'd love to meet some other board members and hunt together, do you know anywhere locally to check out?

Hey... no, I don't have any places off-hand. I used to be a part of an Archaeological group here in St Pete back in high school... but that was a LONG time ago! I usually just metal detect, but I wouldn't mind doing some digging again here in the area.

Bran <><

 

[cthulhu]

About the rivers... It's the gators that bug me. I like to dig in deep water. This past Saturday I was in neck deep water all day. Obviously the deeper you're in the water the more trouble you can get into.

I've had great luck in the Peace river as far as gators. I've never had one get very close at all. In fact this year I haven't even seen an adult gator yet. They have been sparse in the past few years. Perhaps I'm just being naive and they are just there and I don't see them. So maybe I have more guts than I'm giving myself credit for. I've also never seen a poisonous snake there either.

Now, it seems that the other rivers and creeks seem more infested with gators. The Hillsborough River and other local rivers have a lot of gators in them. I won't lie, that concerns me. Ever since I saw Jaws at 8 years old I'm paranoid in deep, murky water. And since I'm a dad of a young child, that makes me even more cautious.

I'm actually not far from having gear to scuba, as that is taking this hobby to the next level, but fear has stopped me from going to get certified. I think I'm getting better though at not letting fear dictate what I do. If you want a big Meg in FL, they're mostly in the gulf and you have to dive for them.

Any other folks have thoughts about the waterways and the hazards involved? (I haven't even mentioned getting tangled in debris in the rivers, which is a good possibility too)

Digging on land seems like a nice safe option right now.