Nigel Tufnel
Jr. Member
The Good, Bad, and Ugly. A Newbie's Guide To Hunting.
I have been going at this for about 3 full months. I have only hunted in my area I had "discovered", kind of like Columbus, which lay within the limestone hills of Austin, Texas. Surface hunting while hiking makes for a great day! My area has a natural pond and proceeds to climb over 200 feet over rolling layers to the top.
I have found some amazing pieces. I have been given tons of guidance and help augmenting my collection. BUT, there is always a big hairy but at the end, at times I have made mistakes that border on the absurd. In the spirit of helping other newbies I have decided to write down a few thoughts so you know that no matter how foolish your actions might appear, they likely pale in comparison to my own. So without further ado.
1. Remember every mistake that you make has been made by every person on this forum at some point. When you find yourself confused fret not, that is called learning.
2. Memorize what rock(s) may cover the majority of your hunting area. In Central Texas we have about 90% limestone where I hunt. After many "false positives" I began studying limestone. It can be tricky in appearance but they seem to make tell tale shapes. Once you have those down you just eliminated 90% of the rocks you will see. I do not know if this is the "correct" action but it has helped me and just makes common sense.
3. A bad day of artifact hunting beats any day stuck inside.
4. Do not be shy in posting your finds. At some point we have all been fooled. I took home a piece of flooring tile once. It looked like, well, flooring tile when I got home.
5. Do not be intimidated by comments filled with multi-syllable words that you do not know. In the beginning just have fun. Uniface said never go out hunting expecting to find anything. Touche. Then everything you find is icing on the cake.
6. Find a friend/local person who knows their stuff to go with you at least once. You will learn more in one day than you can read about in 100 books.
7. When in doubt, pick it up. If doubt persists, bring it home.
8. Look at this as a giant puzzle you must piece together. I am enamored with my little area trying to figure out the details. It is hunting as well as detective work.
9. Grow a thicker skin than you have because this will break your heart many times over! It helps if you are an artist of some type or in sales because we get told "No" daily and have forever.
10. Please do not ever become like many of the posters on here who rarely appear to be having fun. You can learn from even the biggest jerk on here, just do not take it personally. I have managed to view a few of them as utilitarian. I need their knowledge and consider their cynical demeanor a small price to pay. Never deign to their squabbles, though, because it is futile and you will regret it later.
11. Once you find a fertile area study it before and after heavy rains. Then you will have an idea of just how useful a good rain will be for uncovering new rocks.
12. Keep all of your flakes!
After a joint hunt my tutor told me exactly when he quit keeping all of his flint flakes. He said his house was full of them which I can imagine. I still keep every flake I find. Sometimes those moral victories can spur we Newbies on to bigger and better pieces.
13. When you have a question get more than one answer. You will often find them to be contrary which belies the very nature of searching. Also remember that even those answers may not be correct.
14. Always be on the lookout!! You need to stay abreast of your location, of course, but keep looking down. Yesterday I was standing on a great piece for five minutes before I moved and looked down.
15. The best advice that I can give Newbies... Do not to take my advice. I have not for years!!
Any input from the saltier amongst you guys and dolls would be fantastic. These are just a few thoughts that I had to learn through error and trial and error. More than anything just remember to have fun. Otherwise pick up golf.
Happy hunting!!
I have been going at this for about 3 full months. I have only hunted in my area I had "discovered", kind of like Columbus, which lay within the limestone hills of Austin, Texas. Surface hunting while hiking makes for a great day! My area has a natural pond and proceeds to climb over 200 feet over rolling layers to the top.
I have found some amazing pieces. I have been given tons of guidance and help augmenting my collection. BUT, there is always a big hairy but at the end, at times I have made mistakes that border on the absurd. In the spirit of helping other newbies I have decided to write down a few thoughts so you know that no matter how foolish your actions might appear, they likely pale in comparison to my own. So without further ado.
1. Remember every mistake that you make has been made by every person on this forum at some point. When you find yourself confused fret not, that is called learning.
2. Memorize what rock(s) may cover the majority of your hunting area. In Central Texas we have about 90% limestone where I hunt. After many "false positives" I began studying limestone. It can be tricky in appearance but they seem to make tell tale shapes. Once you have those down you just eliminated 90% of the rocks you will see. I do not know if this is the "correct" action but it has helped me and just makes common sense.
3. A bad day of artifact hunting beats any day stuck inside.
4. Do not be shy in posting your finds. At some point we have all been fooled. I took home a piece of flooring tile once. It looked like, well, flooring tile when I got home.
5. Do not be intimidated by comments filled with multi-syllable words that you do not know. In the beginning just have fun. Uniface said never go out hunting expecting to find anything. Touche. Then everything you find is icing on the cake.
6. Find a friend/local person who knows their stuff to go with you at least once. You will learn more in one day than you can read about in 100 books.
7. When in doubt, pick it up. If doubt persists, bring it home.
8. Look at this as a giant puzzle you must piece together. I am enamored with my little area trying to figure out the details. It is hunting as well as detective work.
9. Grow a thicker skin than you have because this will break your heart many times over! It helps if you are an artist of some type or in sales because we get told "No" daily and have forever.
10. Please do not ever become like many of the posters on here who rarely appear to be having fun. You can learn from even the biggest jerk on here, just do not take it personally. I have managed to view a few of them as utilitarian. I need their knowledge and consider their cynical demeanor a small price to pay. Never deign to their squabbles, though, because it is futile and you will regret it later.
11. Once you find a fertile area study it before and after heavy rains. Then you will have an idea of just how useful a good rain will be for uncovering new rocks.
12. Keep all of your flakes!
After a joint hunt my tutor told me exactly when he quit keeping all of his flint flakes. He said his house was full of them which I can imagine. I still keep every flake I find. Sometimes those moral victories can spur we Newbies on to bigger and better pieces.13. When you have a question get more than one answer. You will often find them to be contrary which belies the very nature of searching. Also remember that even those answers may not be correct.
14. Always be on the lookout!! You need to stay abreast of your location, of course, but keep looking down. Yesterday I was standing on a great piece for five minutes before I moved and looked down.
15. The best advice that I can give Newbies... Do not to take my advice. I have not for years!!
Any input from the saltier amongst you guys and dolls would be fantastic. These are just a few thoughts that I had to learn through error and trial and error. More than anything just remember to have fun. Otherwise pick up golf.
Happy hunting!!
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