Red Tully, G9s and 10s, and my insecurity......

[Twitch]

Red Tully, G9's and 10's, and my insecurity......

When we (me and my idiot buddy) were first learning to hunt we'd find some 'great' points for us, we'd bring them to Red and he'd tell us something about them and then ask, 'now do you want to see some good ones?' He'd go get a case full of whatever type we just found, except all G9's and G10's versus our 5's and 6'. Red is the reason, to this day, I don't believe that I own a legitimate G10 point and probably not even a G9. I think I top out around G8 and I blame Red for my point insecurity. His collection set the bar too high. Maybe I have one G9, maybe. He'd tell us stories about hunting back in the day that would make you sick. Clovis? I remember when they were building the lakes getting out, walking 15 feet and there was perfect 5" Clovis just laying there. Etley's? Oh yeah, I remember finding 4 nice one's one day. Dalton's? Yeah, do you so-and-so spot? I remember a really nice 6 incher coming off there. You know that other so-and-so spot? I remember us finding dozen and dozen of... well you get the picture. It was a different time....

Red owned the Johnstone figurine. The first I saw it he made the point of calling it a 'man'. I took the bait, asked how do you know it's a man? Bam! He flips it over and shows me the person's 'junk' carved into the flourite. Pretty funny. He also owned a set of four ~5 inch turkeytails that were carved out of the same nodule. To this day together they're one of the coolest artifacts I've ever seen.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[Get-the-point]

Twitch i use to talk to the old hunters and they would all say the same story. Back in the early 1900's we would be walking milk crates full of artifacts home. Those stories killed me but made me realize as well that those collections might come out to be sold now.........

 

[GatorBoy]

Twitch i use to talk to the old hunters and they would all say the same story. Back in the early 1900's we would be walking milk crates full of artifacts home. Those stories killed me but made me realize as well that those collections might come out to be sold now.........

That's a good point.. and probably means the market will eventually flood..which in my eyes is great news. The prices will bottom out and alot of interest will be lost by exactly the people I personally think our "hobby" would greatly benefit from moving on to something else.

 

[scotto]

I know there has to be a lot of people who don't even know what they have. When some of the older people die and their possessions get willed to family members, they will undoubtedly open boxes and be amazed at what grandpa or great-grandpa collected and they sat in an attic or a shelf in a basement and nobody knew about them. Sadly a lot of people only care about the money, and that's why a lot of antique stores do well from people hauling in "Grandma's junk" and selling it all.

 

[rock]

I talked to an old timer not long ago and he said when he was a kid they use to go and find a hand full of them and then run to town and sell them for a nickel a piece. He is in his 80s today. I told him I liked to hunt them and we talked for a while. He told me good luck in finding any cause he felt as if him and his buddies had found all of them, lol.

 

[Tnmountains]

I had a mentor that had stuff like that. I would find a lost lake he would have a drawer full of perfect ones. I could not compete with his old time collection. They hunted before the government flooded everything and they dug a lot. Last artifact show I attended 6 mths ago no one was selling much of anything just showing off their finest pieces. I met a guy with a wad that would choke a horse and was trying to buy a frame of triangular Guntersville's for his new house. He was waving the money at the guy he was so mad. I gave him the number to a friend that was selling some. Decent frame for a couple thousand.
Point is what you are saying lots of nice old frames to show but everyone was just sitting on them. It will never be like in the day. Even Civil war soldiers here dug mounds for artifacts on their down time. We had mounds downtown big enough they put cannons on them.
That is why today if you find one good item it was a good day.

 

[pointshunter]

I once had a friend like this . He was my grandfather and when he died his daughters fought for each and every piece only to sell them to the highest bidder. My grandmother saved me a few cigar boxes worth and one frame I was very happy with this but the sad thing is my aunts never understood the true value they were to grandpa

 

[rock]

It is sad to look at the auction sites as for the prices on the true artifacts. To me they are a work of art. Work of art usually goes for great money not a few dollars. I wouldnt sell mine for a few dollars. That is why I buy others, lol

 

[Th3rty7]

Thanks Twitch, I enjoyed that and I can relate to some of the responses and stories in this thread. I honestly think the whole grading system is highly subjective and flawed. I think it works for comic books, coins, and baseball cards but not N.A. artifacts, jmo.

 

[Twitch]

Thanks all.

Thirty7 - I agree with your thoughts on the grading systems. Not being a buyer or seller it doesn't matter to me. Some of my favorite pieces wouldn't grade well and aren't worth anything to anyone but the guy who found them, me. I have a crappy 1-1/2" Adena that I wouldn't trade for the world. First whole piece I found.

I guess when a collector passes it's a good thing for the collection to get dispersed. If the family doesn't really appreciate the collection for what it is, why not sell it to someone who will appreciate it? When I die I'm putting all mine back in the ground!!!!! I'm taking them with me!

 

[NC field hunter]

That's a good point.. and probably means the market will eventually flood..which in my eyes is great news. The prices will bottom out and alot of interest will be lost by exactly the people I personally think our "hobby" would greatly benefit from moving on to something else.

Never thought of it that way.

 

[GTK96]

They make me sick too...I couldn't even imagine getting more than 10 in a day, but my gym coach told me about how he used to get about 40 in a good morning walking....and other old folks talking about how they were laying everywhere...

 

[GTK96]

Oh, and the guy who when he was a kid smashed them for fun since there were so many...I wanted to scream at him haha and they're like nice 5-6" blades

 

[rock]

I had a guy tell me and he is probably 50 yrs old. One day him and his buddy was ridding horses and looked down and there were points laying all scattered in one big spot. Can you even think of it? Anyway he didnt stop and pick them up he thought he might go back and get them. When he finally remembered about them he decided to go and get them somebody had bought the land and fenced it off. I asked him if he might remember where they were and he told me but there is acres of land and tree leaves every where. No luck

 

[Twitch]

I've heard people tell me they used to just skip them into the river.....

 

[NC field hunter]

Pops and I hunted for years just gathering points. Some made it inside others in the glove box. Who ever bought pop's little Ford Currier got a nice collection. Everyone seems to know the old guy that played with 3 foot points until it broke. Lol

 

[GTK96]

I've heard people tell me they used to just skip them into the river.....

Get the scuba gear