I found myself back in Iowa last week . My Grandma Abbie past Tuesday night and by late afternoon Thursday we had landed in Sioux Falls and drove on down into Iowa . We meet up with the rest of the family as they flowed in , all in good spirit it became a celebration of Grandma’s 97 + years here .
Now on these trips back to Iowa there is always a family gathering of some sort , but I always try to get out and do a bit of point-hunting , but time is usually very limited . I knew this trip was coming sooner then later , and the crops would be high in the field . I planned to try some of this creek -hunting . Boy, I’m telling ya’ll my hat’s off to you that do this on a regular basis . I did find one larger flake in about 3 hr.’s , so it can be done !!
Now , after my 4 hr. window on Friday [creek-hunting ] , I had Sunday , I had a car , I had a mission . My mission was to keep my “run I’ve been on.....for a while “ alive . I also wanted to head on over to my mom’s family farm and get some pic.’s of the Burial-mounds out there , to share with you . And make a few call-in’s as well .
There are a few other things , that are making point-hunting in Iowa harder every time I go back . First the state is buying up all the land it can along the river . I found my favorite field just last week posted as state land , for public use . I suppose it’s a good thing , as this narrow field has “opened-up” about 3/4 mile of river front for hunters and fishermen and the like , but I will miss looking there . Another problem is well , the farmers are getting sooo... old !! That in it’s self , isn’t a problem , but there land is leased-out and is being farmed . I havn’t had any problem’s with any tenants yet , but I can see it becoming one . It would be easy to say that farming is becoming a business more then a way of life , but these younger “business” farmers , farming several hundred acres , and competing with true corporation farms are sticking there necks out just as much as the old 1/4 sec. Farmers ever did and then some . There are a few other “things” but I think I’m starting to preach to the choir , I may give a bit of a sermon toward the end of this post on minimum-tilling , will see how it goes?
This mound is about 70 ft dia. and about 3 ft. tall , the cattle have really have "walked them down " over the year's , with the weeds hard to see this one is in a group of two with a U shaped platform all the mounds in the area where looted a long time ago. I must have walked by the ridge that has 7 or 9 ? smaller ones ?
Sunday morning I was heading south to a field I could hunt , I know it was in alfalfa and would be near impossible to hunt but it was along the river and the banks maybe worth a look . Anyway on my way there I saw a field along the river that just had the corn cut for silage . This field was atop a low ridge /ancient river bank ? , it was set back some 300 yd. from the river over looking the bottom land , it would hold a few points for sure . I soon had permission , and I was a bit surprised to hear that she [owner] was surprised that I wanted to look for arrow-heads in her field ! She told me she had 4 sons that had never looked for them , let alone find one , or anyone else for that mater !! Well I started walking the field ,it was lean in terms of lithic-waste , but it was the best game in town that I could find . Anyway I started thinking if I found a true arrow-head [madison type ] I was going to give it to her , I have plenty of them . In about 2 ½ hr.’s the field yielded to me one little thumb-nail scraper , a small piece of cut pipe-stone and a broken arrow-head , which is my first digital-camera in-situ pic. Now I had other places I wanted to see that day , I figured I would come back at the end of the day and finish up the sunlight there , on the out side chance of finding a nice point . On my way out I gave her the point , she seemed to like it , I told her I believe I would be back that late afternoon .
My first in-situ pic. with my digital camera , gave the point to the land owner , good P.R.
I got back to the field at about 5 o’clock , just as the farmer [owners nephew] was making his last two passes with the disc. I walked the field for an hour or so , I saw a few flakes . But what caught my eye was that every stone , say 6 in. Or larger had at lest one new white disc kiss . I did notice earlier that day how hard/dry? The field was , but boy the chance of finding a larger point after some 20+ yr.’s of minimum-tilling , it’s going to be tough .
This is my run I've been on ....for a while [8 yr. 4 mo.] I mean thats it!! No broken tools , well I think one scraper and one broken tip ? strange ? I'm calling this run OVER starting again.....
All is not lost , I will find a “few” more nice points along the Sioux river in the future . And in the future , out on the plains to the east I would like to spend some time looking , I know , I even have a few thoughts and leads , but perhaps that could be another post
Sincerely ; Blindpig
Now on these trips back to Iowa there is always a family gathering of some sort , but I always try to get out and do a bit of point-hunting , but time is usually very limited . I knew this trip was coming sooner then later , and the crops would be high in the field . I planned to try some of this creek -hunting . Boy, I’m telling ya’ll my hat’s off to you that do this on a regular basis . I did find one larger flake in about 3 hr.’s , so it can be done !!
Now , after my 4 hr. window on Friday [creek-hunting ] , I had Sunday , I had a car , I had a mission . My mission was to keep my “run I’ve been on.....for a while “ alive . I also wanted to head on over to my mom’s family farm and get some pic.’s of the Burial-mounds out there , to share with you . And make a few call-in’s as well .
There are a few other things , that are making point-hunting in Iowa harder every time I go back . First the state is buying up all the land it can along the river . I found my favorite field just last week posted as state land , for public use . I suppose it’s a good thing , as this narrow field has “opened-up” about 3/4 mile of river front for hunters and fishermen and the like , but I will miss looking there . Another problem is well , the farmers are getting sooo... old !! That in it’s self , isn’t a problem , but there land is leased-out and is being farmed . I havn’t had any problem’s with any tenants yet , but I can see it becoming one . It would be easy to say that farming is becoming a business more then a way of life , but these younger “business” farmers , farming several hundred acres , and competing with true corporation farms are sticking there necks out just as much as the old 1/4 sec. Farmers ever did and then some . There are a few other “things” but I think I’m starting to preach to the choir , I may give a bit of a sermon toward the end of this post on minimum-tilling , will see how it goes?
This mound is about 70 ft dia. and about 3 ft. tall , the cattle have really have "walked them down " over the year's , with the weeds hard to see this one is in a group of two with a U shaped platform all the mounds in the area where looted a long time ago. I must have walked by the ridge that has 7 or 9 ? smaller ones ?
Sunday morning I was heading south to a field I could hunt , I know it was in alfalfa and would be near impossible to hunt but it was along the river and the banks maybe worth a look . Anyway on my way there I saw a field along the river that just had the corn cut for silage . This field was atop a low ridge /ancient river bank ? , it was set back some 300 yd. from the river over looking the bottom land , it would hold a few points for sure . I soon had permission , and I was a bit surprised to hear that she [owner] was surprised that I wanted to look for arrow-heads in her field ! She told me she had 4 sons that had never looked for them , let alone find one , or anyone else for that mater !! Well I started walking the field ,it was lean in terms of lithic-waste , but it was the best game in town that I could find . Anyway I started thinking if I found a true arrow-head [madison type ] I was going to give it to her , I have plenty of them . In about 2 ½ hr.’s the field yielded to me one little thumb-nail scraper , a small piece of cut pipe-stone and a broken arrow-head , which is my first digital-camera in-situ pic. Now I had other places I wanted to see that day , I figured I would come back at the end of the day and finish up the sunlight there , on the out side chance of finding a nice point . On my way out I gave her the point , she seemed to like it , I told her I believe I would be back that late afternoon .
My first in-situ pic. with my digital camera , gave the point to the land owner , good P.R.
I got back to the field at about 5 o’clock , just as the farmer [owners nephew] was making his last two passes with the disc. I walked the field for an hour or so , I saw a few flakes . But what caught my eye was that every stone , say 6 in. Or larger had at lest one new white disc kiss . I did notice earlier that day how hard/dry? The field was , but boy the chance of finding a larger point after some 20+ yr.’s of minimum-tilling , it’s going to be tough .
This is my run I've been on ....for a while [8 yr. 4 mo.] I mean thats it!! No broken tools , well I think one scraper and one broken tip ? strange ? I'm calling this run OVER starting again.....
All is not lost , I will find a “few” more nice points along the Sioux river in the future . And in the future , out on the plains to the east I would like to spend some time looking , I know , I even have a few thoughts and leads , but perhaps that could be another post
Sincerely ; Blindpig
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