davidds Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 I am very new to fossil hunting. What are the best tools for hunting at the Whiskey Bridge locality near Bryan Texas? My research so far indicates gardening type tools are the best. But what type of sieve (if any) is needed? Right now I only have a 1/4" sieve and I don't know if this is the right size. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 You do not need a sieve. You will either be picking thru loose granular talus or you will be digging into the bank itself. The matrix is mostly unconsolidated. Folks do well with anything from a butter knife to a screwdriver. I have used my pocket knife as well as a very small pointed trowel. Probably more important is having lots of small containers and some tissue to put stuff in and protect it. The fossils are mostly small and delicate. Forceps and a magnifier are nice to have along. The rest is all comfort: hat, sunscreen, water, etc. People get over rambunctious there and dig with shovels or their rock picks. They move a lot of material (from which I have found fossils later). But you only need to dig a small distance (inches) into the bank to find fresh fossils. I'm sure others will have their own opinions on how to get good stuff there. And once you visit once or twice you'll refine your own kit. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Any small digging tool will work. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 i like a hand trowel and knife too. buckets for bulk sampling are an asset. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 While I agree with the above posts, I once found a very nice Conus sauridens firmly attached to the surface of a very large concretion, too large to dig out of the bank. If I didn't have a hammer and chisel on hand I would have had to leave it behind. So while I would not necessarily bring those tools down the hill to the outcrop, it might be nice to have them in your vehicle should you need them. On the other hand if you don't already own a geological hammer and cold chisel, I wouldn't necessarily buy them just to visit this site, as you probably won't need them. Sad story about the Conus, it came out mostly whole but a small piece was detached on a small chip of the concretion. It fit perfectly so the shell could have been made whole. I went from the site to the airport in Houston to fly home, and at security the TSA folks made me unwrap every single fossil. They kept me so long that when they let me go I had only a couple of minutes to get to my gate, so I could only roughly rewrap the fossils, grab my shoes and belt (no time to put them on), and run to the gate in my socks. I got to the gate as they were just starting to close the door, literally 10 seconds later and I would have missed the flight. On the flight, I took out my fossils to rewrap them properly and discovered (you know this is coming) that the small chip with the tip of the Conus was missing. Don Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claire01 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 This may be old news to you, but springtime in Texas means you may encounter a snake or two, so be sure to wear sturdy boots (the taller, the better) and it doesn't hurt to have a 3 or 4 foot stick to poke around before you actually pick something up.You don't want to surprise one! Boots and a stick, 2 essential tools I don't go fossil hunting in Texas without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneman007 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 This may be old news to you, but springtime in Texas means you may encounter a snake or two, so be sure to wear sturdy boots (the taller, the better) and it doesn't hurt to have a 3 or 4 foot stick to poke around before you actually pick something up.You don't want to surprise one! Boots and a stick, 2 essential tools I don't go fossil hunting in Texas without. INSECT REPELLANT! I almost died from a tick bite that ended up giving me Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. You do not want this to happen to you. I'll get off my high horse now! -B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 don, i fared better than you with tsa last wknd....i unwittingly brought along a big steak knife hidden in my fossil backpack, and it didnt make it past the penetrating eye of tsa. many situations in life are facilitated by having wife and kid in tow! on the return trip, my filibuster of geek speak including copious spewing of butchered, new-to-me taxonomy resulted in the desired, glazed over, "get this guy out of here" look on the tsa employee's face = not a single fossil unwrapped! Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Ha! They made me buy a box and check my fossils in Cincinnati back in 2004. After unwrapping a good 4-5 dozen specimens first. None were very big but they couldn't risk me pounding my way thru that cabin door with 'em. It was a bit more complicated since on my first pass at security I had forgotten to stick my pocket knife in my checked bag so they sent me up to the postal drop to mail it home. Then when I came back, at a completely different gate, they had a problem with one of my bolo ties which looked really strange on the scanner (they showed me). Then after unwrapping the fossils they came over and asked me if I had been the guy with the "pocket knife"? Having been in NYC on 9/11 I have given TSA a lot of slack when it comes to all the silly precautions just hoping that they are in fact watching for the real stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Well I didn't want to go into all the other gory details, but on that trip I got stuck in College Station football traffic getting back to the Houston Airport, so by the time I returned the rental car and got to the terminal I was too late to check my baggage. As a result, the TSA made me leave my rock hammer, a couple of chisels, and a small pry bar in the trash can. Then they lost the tail to my Conus. Perfect! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 I either mail my fossils home (flat rate boxes) or put them in the check in baggage. It usually gets checked but so far everything has made it home. A 5 pound plastic bag of sand probably DOES look like plastic explosive to a x-ray machine after all. I haven't heard of any terrorists taking over anything armed with a fossil yet. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Well I didn't want to go into all the other gory details, but on that trip I got stuck in College Station football traffic getting back to the Houston Airport, so by the time I returned the rental car and got to the terminal I was too late to check my baggage. As a result, the TSA made me leave my rock hammer, a couple of chisels, and a small pry bar in the trash can. Then they lost the tail to my Conus. Perfect! Don I found out that here in Austin they have a place where you can go buy all the stuff that folks surrender. A friend picked up a life time supply of Swiss army knives. Probably get some good shampoo too. Wonder how many hammers and chisels they get in a year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverphoenix Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I would not suggest digging unless you know what you're looking for or plan to take home some matrix. There is PLENTY of tailings to sift and sort through---I Would suggest a sifter---I have found Many fossils this way. Many nice fossils will fall through the 1/4", I suggest a screen system of 1/2", 1/4" and 1mm (bugscreen) mesh. Bring a small screwdriver in case you find a fossil stuck in the bank. I cannot stress enough how important it is that people dig deliberately, sparingly, and only when they plan to carefully sort/sift/keep their tailings. The site is getting pot-holed and it's getting a bit worrisome with the accelerated erosion. I was at the site today and dug on a favorite shark tooth lens--I brought home all 10 gallons of matrix to make sure nothing was missed. One last thing---it is SO BLAZING HOT right now; I probably will not go out there for a while until I forget how miserable it was and I live 15 minutes away from the site. Bring Plenty of water---iced down water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Here is an actual picture of the site. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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