First off, I’d like to congratulate and thank everyone for sharing their finds recently. It has helped me get my artifact fix. I thought I’d be more interested in hunting artifacts, but the crappie and bluegill bite has cut into my artifact hunting time.
These springs are 3’ or less in width. Has anyone had success hunting waterways this small?
I've had good days hunting in and around springs. Better luck on isolated spring holes in a field, rather than constant running streams, but I've found artifacts in both. Sometimes those small feeder streams like the ones you're describing can be really productive. Crappie aren't hitting here quite yet, looking foward to eating some though.
How old is the lake? I'm assuming it is man made which means those springs were the lifeblood of those who lived on the site which would mean that there should be artifacts in the streams. Post up some pics of the outcrop if you find it.
I started hunting last fall and didn't realize the competition the local fields get in the spring. Every field I drive by has hunters out. Thankfully the crappie and gills are a sure thing. The crappies are at 10' - 15' waiting to hit the flats.
Feel free to post pics of any finds from small springs to inspire my hunt.
The odd thing is most of the artifacts found in the area have been from non-local flint even though most of the waste flakes have been found from local flint. Even the woodland artifacts found have been upper mercer. I don't think the local flint/chert was high quality.
Here are some pics from one of the streams I hunt. It isn't spring fed...it's runoff. There were ancient campsites in the area as evidenced by mounds. I haven't been able to locate the actual campsites as everything is pasture and timber but I enjoy hunting these creeks.
Hunting small spring creeks seems to be hit or miss for me. I either find a couple or get skunked. It always helps when the material is white. I've hunted this natural hot spring that comes out of a cave that's full of quartz artifacts. This chalcedony point I found last year was in a spring about a mile from my house. It comes out of mt. and flows into a river less than 30 yards away. I have a feeling the adjacent field is full of them but it's wild grass unfortunately.
On the springs and feeder creeks it my depend upon how much land was impounded. A spring head may produce but they main site may now be under water. Here some site are thirty feet deep and the old fishing maps show the indian mounds as do our fishing graphs underwater that the crappie sit on.
Hope you catch and find a bunch.
TnMtns
Thats really cool stuff guys. I've only done a few springs and they were out in west Texas where they're the lifeblood of the area. The area to the sides always held flint and other signs. I've always kept an eye for old and dry springs during my desert walks because they don't attract as much attention by hunters. I bought a really cool book years ago called "The Springs of Texas". I think by Robert Brune. It's thicker than the bible and has them listed by county and farm road directions, and describes flow rate and related flora, fauna, and indian activity as obvious or noted by research. This was way before GPS, and unfortunatly the fella passed on before he got the remaining 6 countys. What a life work ,I Tell ya. Thanks for the good read guys, G.
That sounds like a great book Lone Star, wish I could find a similar one for my area. I found out today that walking old dried out springs can pay off. I'm gonna pay more attention to them in the future. The one I walked today was full of raw chert.
I got out to explore one of the springs mentioned above. I decided to explore a spring on the same ridge as the supposed chert outcrop. The spring had lots of chert in it of various sizes. I didn't find what I expected the outcrop to be but there were chert boulders larger than I wanted to move. I expected to find a stratified rock wall with a chert vein.
I didn't find any artifacts but it was interesting to know where the chert came from. The spring was choked full of brambles making it difficult to walk, and I never made it to the headwaters. I didn't have gloves and cut my fingers trying to pry a large piece of chert from the ground. I didn't even feel the cut.
Thanks for sharing the pics archer66 and thirty7. That book sounds like a great resource Lone Star. Heres a few pics of the local chert material and the spring.
Thanks for the pics Rich....that spring isn't quite the flow I had envisioned but at least you found chert in it and those large pieces are really nice. Did you take a chunk home? It is really tough to hunt really small streams like that one especially with all the brush. Do you know if there are any caves in the area?
Absolutely hunt areas like that, the key is to figure out when they get enough water to change the surface dirt. It might turn out to be a site you hunt once or twice a year, but given the amount of flint I'd say there is something to be found.
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