Arrowhead hunting

[Grizzly Adams]

Anyone out there do much for arrowhead hunting? Or have any good pointers

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Back in the day on our farm we never had one of those fancy rock pickers ours was our 2 hands and feet walking beside the loader tractor throwing the rocks in the loader bucket. Being we walked and did it manually we found hundreds of arrowheads, hammers, hatchets, grinding bowls and round rocks for grinding, and many different things the Indians used.
Read books about the Indians and where they camped in your State. Might also be able to find more info from museums and of course the Interweb would help too. Farmers that had beans in their fields last year would also help in locating the relics but they had to be using that ground for camps and such. Be prepared to walk a lot and don't be disappointed in not finding any or very few. Next time you might find a bunch!
Good luck.

 

[Opie11]

No/minimum till farming has made it a lot tougher to find things. If you can find fields that have been tilled and walk them after a fairly hard rain is a good start. Even better if they are along creeks or some water source where camps would have been.

 

[Bed Wetter]

When I was in the 1st grade, a classmate traded me some flint “hide scrapers” for part of my lunch. Somehow I managed to hang onto them over the years. In college I took an American pre-history anthropology class as an elective. The professor was very experienced and had done a lot of digs and consulted on public projects with potential impact on historical sites. I brought in those pieces of flint and he immediately knew what they were, where they were from, and what tribe produced them without me having to tell him. I still have them in a box somewhere. Priceless stuff, to me anyway.

 

[wjschmaltz]

Just approach it like you're picking out a hunting/camping spot. Near running water where you can see a very long distance. Side valley off that running water where you're in some shade and out of the wind. That's where I would make my camp. Out of the wind, near shade and running water, and a short walk up a hill to look for game and enemies.

The best picking I've ever had was I think in 2006(?) maybe. We had a very harsh drought all summer and at the end of august we had a 2 inch downpour. Everything was so dead and the rain was so fast that it washed all vegetation off the hills. The pastures were completely bare and looked like freshly cut grass. You could cover lots of ground with your eyes.

That rock picking description almost made me want to curl up in a ball. My dad used to call rock picking and square bale hauling purgatory. Only time we worked on Sundays.

 

[Kurtr]

Don’t get caught is the first thing. I know a guy here who did time for finding arrowhead and selling them. any where along the Missouri it is illegal especially on the reservations

 

[dragoneyes]

Best place to hunt for arrowheads would be on private land side of buttes and creek bottoms with flint was my preference if you find flint you may find arrowheads or rough pieces. Best time to hunt is after a heavy rain need a sharp eye to spot a flint point sticking out, also it is better on a sunny day. Gave up arrowhead hunting years ago when they made it illegal and a felony on reservations,state,federal,and corp lands. Do some research on trading post and indian camps. Stick with private land alot less costly and ask for permission never was turned down. Good way to get some excise and enjoy the outdoors. Found some of my best pieces on private land!

 

[guywhofishes]

did time?

good grief, but get caught border crossing and....

 

[Bed Wetter]

did time?

good grief, but get caught border crossing and....

“What am I doing here? Just came over the border. Name is Juan Valdez. No hablo ingles.”

 

[Kurtr]

did time?

good grief, but get caught border crossing and....

yep pick up an artifact here and it’s federal the genius that got caught was selling thousands worth on the internet. When the water was way down here they patrolled pretty regularly to make sure no one was artifacting

 

[Sum1]

So they would just rather they lay in the dirt?!? That doesn’t make sense why you couldn’t pickup a friggen arrowhead for poop sakes. Commy bastards

 

[Wildyote]

yep pick up an artifact here and it’s federal the genius that got caught was selling thousands worth on the internet. When the water was way down here they patrolled pretty regularly to make sure no one was artifacting

If it wasn't for dirtbags trying sell artifacts we could still do it on corps land. I knew one guy that was digging around burial grounds and he was reported to the tribe by a friend of mine .

 

[bucksnbears]

When I was in the 1st grade, a classmate traded me some flint “hide scrapers” for part of my lunch. Somehow I managed to hang onto them over the years. In college I took an American pre-history anthropology class as an elective. The professor was very experienced and had done a lot of digs and consulted on public projects with potential impact on historical sites. WeI still have them in a box somewhere. Priceless stuff, to me anyway.

They sure don't seem 2 important to me?

Never really seen the allure of finding them?

I give away.

 

[CatDaddy]

They sure don't seem 2 important to me?

Never really seen the allure of finding them?

I give away.

Is bucksnbears your native name?

I had a great time on private land in AZ looking for arrowheads. Perfect excuse to get out for some exercise and possible finds. The black obsidian points they have down there are gorgeous.

 

[Bed Wetter]

They sure don't seem 2 important to me?

Never really seen the allure of finding them?

I give away.

Objects possess “magic.”

Heard someone explain it like this: a guitar is just a guitar, until you give it to someone who understands something about guitars and music. Now the context of their understanding imbues meaning on that guitar. Now tell them it was Elvis Presly’s guitar. It’s not just a guitar anymore is it? It’s a holy relic.

I’m not sentimental about very many “things.” It’s just stuff. But the context of my understanding imbues meaning on inanimate objects. The WWII Garands in my safe are holy relics of the greatest generation of our young nation. Knapped flint from the Heart River bottoms are relics of the people that were here long before my families came from Europe. It makes those people real in a way I can see and feel and touch.

 

[bigv]

yep pick up an artifact here and it’s federal the genius that got caught was selling thousands worth on the internet. When the water was way down here they patrolled pretty regularly to make sure no one was artifacting

Wasnt he picking off the indian burial mound that popped out during low water?

 

[guywhofishes]

bad medicine - robbing graves - yeesh

 

[BrokenBackJack]

I agree as it sounds pretty morbid to me about picking grave sites and such.
Bad MOJO!

 

[Obi-Wan]

Wasn't there something a few years back around the Hazelton boat ramp area where a guy was picking something up along the shoreline and put it in his pocket and when the family went to leave a COE or government employee jumped in front of their car from behind a bush.

 

[pointer]

It was a guy with his kids out picking up skipping rocks and such, that Fed guy was more than a little zealous, I actually know the guy that they tried to bust, if I remember right it was his son that put it In his pocket. This Fed guy was hasseling a bunch of people like families when they were shore fishing and the kids get bored so they start looking for crankbaits and other lost fishing stuff