Rain?

[MilesofTx]

I understand the idea behind hunting after a rain, but I need some guidance on when and how. We are expecting rain in our area Mon, Tue and Wed. I hunt the gravel bars of the Brazos River near Sealy Tx. When should I go, and what should I expect to have changed after this rain? Also are the fossils I find on the surface being uncovered, or are the being deposited by the current and gravity?

[Auspex]

The rain will help sand-bar collecting if it is enough to flood the bars. The time to go would be as soon as the bars are exposed again. The river is mixing, sorting, covering, uncovering, and redistributing everything it can move.

[Guest solius symbiosus]

Also are the fossils I find on the surface being uncovered, or are the being deposited by the current and gravity?

Probably the latter. The higher energy of the flow(during, and just after the storm) will erode the stream bed, but as the energy decreases deposition occurs. Google flow regimes.

[Guest solius symbiosus]

Deposition also occurs during the higher energy phase, but those structures are usually obliterated as the energy decreases.

[tracer]

miles - stop reading now if you don't want too much info on this. brazos.org is the brazos river authority's homepage. there is a listing there for river levels at various measuring stations. one is at richmond, which is the one nearest you. memorize the river level that is the best for your hunting. like right now, if a bunch of gravel bars are exposed, and the river level shows 9 feet online, then remember that. so then, watch the area weather upstream as well as locally. you can also check the river level frequently. when it rains toady frogs upstream, the river will rise. when it comes back down to a level where you know the bars are exposed, go check it. if it's the rainy season and the levels are high for months, don't waste your time.

in response to your question about whether more is being uncovered or being deposited, the answer is "yes". both occur, but it is unlikely that all the fossils just happen to be on those bars and get uncovered by new water. in actuality stuff is coming down from upstream. you learn this as fact when you find well-rolled cretaceous oyster shells on the gravel bars on the brazos at stone city, when that area isn't cretaceous exposure.

again, your clue on your fossils for where they're coming from is how badly beat up they are. if they're really nice, they probably weathered out just about where you find them. if they're beaten to death fragments or so worn that they have no detail, they're likely from a ways away. this is very imprecise information, though because the energy of the water and the hardness of the fossil, and the condition it was in when it fossilized also matter.

i'm a bit jealous of you getting to look in the brazos a lot. i love the brazos river, but i'm not very close to it.

[MilesofTx]

Thanks for the info Tracer. I feel very lucky to have a hunting spot so close. I hate to sound ungratefull, but after seeing the stuff you guys find. I think I may tire of the same old bone frags and horse teeth. Can I expect to find anything else down here? Will I ever find shark teeth or anything more exotic than horse, Camel or bison? I am a firefighter, so I have a great deal of free time and If you think the area will produce, I will put the time in.

[JohnJ]

MilesofTX,

Head upriver to the Hwy 21 crossing, near Bryan; you will find shark's teeth there. Hike down on the west side of the river within sight of the bridge.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Yeah, what John said...

[tracer]

you've got to do some research, miles. there is other material than horse where you're looking, and you might get lucky and find something from a mammoth there. but it's also boring to always look one place.

west of you is the cretaceous, so go west, young man! (sorry) if you can't find fossils in the roadcuts around the bandera area, then you have a problem.

north of you, as others said, is a well-known fossil area called stone city bluff. look on the hgms.org web page for info on that site. there are shark teeth there, but they aren't easy to find like the ones the spoiled rotten people elsewhere keep tripping over and paving their sidewalks with. (yes, i know i'm just jealous, thank you.)

there's lots of petrified wood in the area, which can be fun to find.

then you start getting into the real road trip sort of places where you need to stay overnight at least. there's nothing wrong with my fossil-hunting limitations that couldn't be solved by moving to dallas. with long vacations in florida, south carolina, maryland, and maybe utah...

[MilesofTx]

Sounds like I need to broaden my horizons. I'll take any excuse to go to Bandera. now that you mention it, I used to hunt deer in Medina County (just a few minutes outside Bandera) and I would find sea shell type fossils on mountain tops (big hills) and in the spring feed creeks. I never thought anything of it, except that it was wierd to find stuff from the sea at such high elevations. I never even picked anything up. I would love to have access to that old deer lease now. My dad still has a lease up there somewhere, I gotta go with him. I dont hunt deer anymore, but I could go and drink beer and hunt fossils.

[Auspex]

...I could go and drink beer and hunt fossils.

The ultimate road-trip!

[mommabetts]

Texas has such a wide variety of things to collect one could never get bored. After a good rain any road cut, creek, river or construction site has good potential. When I first started out because I was expecting to find certain things at certain spots that is all that I looked for. I had to retrain my way of hunting or seeing should I say. Because I found that there was alot of things that I was missing because I wasn't looking for them. I learned to take my time and look at everything, not just seem over the area, so that I found more. Some of the places I would look I only expected to find shells so that is all I looked for, then one day at a place I had been to many times I found a Shark tooth, once I retrained my way of hunting I found alot more different things in the same spot. Don't look with any one thing in mind, look at everything and you will start to find a bigger variety of things.

[MilesofTx]

I know exactly what you mean. I think I get better and faster each time I go out. The brain needs to be trained, so its hard to scan and see things other than what you are focused on. Also, my parents have a lake house at Lago Vista, Lake Travis I have never looked up there, but they cut roads in pretty often in there area. What should I look for?

[Auspex]

...my parents have a lake house at Lago Vista, Lake Travis I have never looked up there, but they cut roads in pretty often in there area. What should I look for?

To quote the ever-wise mommabetts: "Don't look with any one thing in mind, look at everything".

Set your brain on "wide angle"; this is also the key to birding.

[MikeD]

I know exactly what you mean. I think I get better and faster each time I go out. The brain needs to be trained, so its hard to scan and see things other than what you are focused on. Also, my parents have a lake house at Lago Vista, Lake Travis I have never looked up there, but they cut roads in pretty often in there area. What should I look for?

Look for fossils!

Seriously, you can usually find fossils in Austin, but sometimes it is hit or miss. Most common are bivalves (clams), gastropods (spiral shells) and oysters. The oysters retain their shell material while the clams and snails tend to be be chalky looking internal molds (steinkerns). There are layers upon layers of limestone that are totally barren, then others that have fossils pouring out of them. You need to get the geologic map for the Austin area, so you can see where the different formations are located. Some places have multiple formations showing, so you have to get familiar with them. I am still working on this myself as I don't get to hunt Austin very often, but have found some good spots there. Look at creek beds in addition to road cuts.

[MilesofTx]

I'm getting excited, maybe I will visit my parents more often now that I have something to keep me busy. I have one of those overly loving smothering moms. Could be worse I know.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

MoT

The entire Bandera area is Glen Rose formation, about 108 MYA. The upper and lower Glen Rose are separated by an arbitrary stratigraphic marker, the Salenia texana zone. In this zone I have found about 8+/- species of echies plus Paleopagurus banderensis hermit crab claws an occasionally rare crab carapaces. In general the Kgrl is more fossiliferous than the Kgru, but the latter does have its zones of obscure and sought after echies. Floating crinoids sometimes come to hand as well in this formation. Ammonites and shark teeth are rare in the Kgr of South TX. Up by Lago Vista look for marly gray recessive layers in the road cuts. You'll recognize them by erosional undercutting, being bounded above and below by more resistant limestones. The productive road cuts I've hit in that area are Kgru and sometimes an abundance of well preserved Loriolia rosana echinoids can be had there if you get there first after a good rain. These little dime sized gems are regular (round) echies with the surface studded with tubercles where the spines once attached. As these other guys have suggested, spread your wings and enjoy your itinerant trips to prevent burnout. Hit enough creeks and you just might run into some spear points as well.

Now for some specific guidance for you and anyone else who ventures out toward Bandera. Feel free to hit the graded area just north of Hwy 16 b/w the towns of Pipe Creek and Bandera on the west side of the Privilege Creek valley. You can't miss the place as it is about 25 x 75 yards of gently sloping, denuded exposure, creamy tan in color. Here I've found various echinoids (Salenia, Heteraster primarily), crab claws, floating crinoids, and occasionally broken ammonites. Again, get there fast after a good rain before the clubs and locals wipe it out. Take your knee pads and methodically grid search it for 2-3 hours to justify your long drive. Good luck and post your finds. Variety is one of my favorite parts of this gig.

[screweduptexan]

Interesting...