An excellent day in Wash*ita county, Oklahoma

[docmann]

Occasionally, I'll have a day in the field during which time it seems that I'm finding intact points, a variety of other artifacts, and all in close proximity to each other. Then, I wake up. This past Tuesday, however, I experienced something close to that kind of a day. While the rest of Oklahoma was dodging cyclones, I took to the field with my younger kids and my hunting partner after gale-force winds blew through Wash*ita county in Western Oklahoma. It seems that the gods indeed smiled upon us and we had quite an afternoon. Five intact points, multiple broken points, scrapers, large pottery pieces, even an older point or two. Notice the ears or ridges constructed into the exterior of the pottery. Functional or ornamental?
Hope to be able to demonstrate more of the same in the near future!

[JoshnMO]

Very nice Arrowheads and Hunt

[The Grim Reaper]

Nice looking Points. I love those Point types.

By the way, you have to spell it Wa-sheeta or it will block it every time.

[naturegirl]

What a haul docman! I can't believe those fragile little points are whole, they really nice. Do you hunt in plowed fields? I'm glad you missed the more exciting weather, and hope you aren't as dry as some parts of the state. Nice to see your finds, thanks for sharing them, looking forward to more

naturegirl

[RGINN]

Wow, you guys had a great day! I always had pretty good luck in Wa$hita County. My son discovered a new site not far from there and I got to go look it over for a little while. We didn't find any of the small points, which should be present, but I suspect there's still a lot of dirt on top of the original level.

[1320]

Wow, I'll take one of those Plains points over an archaic one any day of the week! You must be living right

[docmann]

Thanks Gang,
NatureGirl, We hunt plowed wheat fields about 95% of the time. Typically we don't have plowed fields this early, but as you probably know, we've experienced the worst drought in this area in probably 50 years. Consequently, most of the wheat has been bailed up as hay and the fields are already plowed. This is one of my honey holes, but the conditions last week were just optimal. The dirt was smooth and the flint seemed to jump out at us. Occasionally, we will hunt grass pastures. Believe it or not, we look for gopher mounds. If you check enough of them, you'll eventually find a point or two. The first one I found this way I thought was a fluke. However, after finding a couple dozen or so, I'm a believer. However, a person needs a large pasture with a good hard rain to wash off the loose top dirt.
1320, I'll have to look long and hard to do as well as you and your brother did. I still think that whole story is magnificent. I think most of us armchair archaeologists dream of stumbling onto such a find. Then, persisting through until you hit paydirt. That's classic. The fields I work are well-known among locals. Many folks think that there's not much left to be found, but every year, there are a handful of us who consistently prove them wrong. I think they'll be finding points well after we're all dead and gone.
RGINN, You likewise did very well. I'm impressed with the photos. I think I know the lake where you were. I've heard of some nice pieces coming out of there but haven't seen any pieces until now. Strong work.
SRV and Josh, thanks for the nice comments. I hope to hit that area again this weekend, although we've had no more rain. Interestingly, many of the pieces we find have multiple footprints around them which reminds us of how frequently we walk over this tiny pieces. 1320, as much as I value my intact little Alibates points, I'd be hard pressed to compete with the jewels you pulled in. Again, congrats!
When any of you are ready to collect a few of these, give me a shout sometime and we'll
give it a go.
Doc

[musky44]

what a day!! i love those little alibates points. thanks for sharing

[Tnmountains]

Good seeing you Doc. I hope you and all is well and safe from the winds. Stellar points and the Gods were indeed smiling on you that day my friend. Fantastic hunt.
I say if it works,,, gopher it!
TnMtns

[1320]

Roger that Doc, thank you. Great idea to check gopher holes, that's something I've never thought of...we have plenty of humongous ground hog holes in my area, now I just gotta go out and take a look!

[RGINN]

You probably do know where that spot is docmann. I'll PM you about that. I like the story about the footprints. Long time ago when I lived in Cordell, there was a fellow who shall remain nameless but you can find him on the internet in relation to Oklahoma artifacts today, as he's like a big dog in arrowheads. He would always beat us to a field after a rain, and we would see his tracks, walkin a pattern, ten feet apart. One day my buddy found a perfect point right dead center in the middle of one of the guy's footprints. We danced around for 15 minutes over that.