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  • Success Rates?

    I was just curious being a newbie what your success rates are when you go out looking? Does one become more successful as you learn more where to go or is it still just a lot of luck? How often do you find something?
    Thanks!

  • #2
    For me success rates vary. There are many factors involved. If I am out exploring new ground it can be a hit or miss. Like I went out on Sunday with  anther member from this site. It was looking for new sites and we came up empty. A week or so ago I went out to a known site that I usually find a few points, and all I found was a Mano. Experience does help, Over the years you will hone your eyes to identify not only shape but flaking with minimal amount of the artifact exposed. The more your out looking the better your chances of finding. and the more sites you find the better your chances of finding increase. All I can tell you is is that even thou I may not find something every time I go out, I just enjoy getting out. and when I find something then it makes it that much sweeter. I always say there is a reason they call it arrowhead hunting and not arrowhead finding.
    Look to the ground for it holds the past!

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    • #3
      Wish I could say my success rate was higher but its probably 25-30%. Also I have yet to have a multiple point day.  Still fun to get out of the city and in to the wild for a little bit but there's a point cache out there somewhere and I will find it before its all said and done.  Don't Stop Believin like Journey said
      Montani Semper Liberi

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      • #4
        Usually luck in to one or two a hunt, but I've been skunked often. Best day to date, 7 points. You never know what or when you'll find them, but the more often your out there covering more and different places or when the weather gives you changes to the conditions the better your odds.
        Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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        • #5
          gregszybala wrote:

          Usually luck in to one or two a hunt, but I've been skunked often. Best day to date, 7 points. You never know what or when you'll find them, but the more often your out there covering more and different places or when the weather gives you changes to the conditions the better your odds.
          Your in a tough area for hunting mntsolitude. They are out there but you have a couple of things that make hard. First off in south park, its been hunted for well into a 100 years. and the ground movement is minimal so surface finds are hard. One thing you can do to improve your odds is look into the washes around a camp. The one thing I say is you cant find them all and that goes to all hunters. Also the more remote a site is the better your odds are for finding artifacts. Since there is not the plowed fields out here, it is a tougher hunt. and any help I can give you I am willing.
          Happy Hunting!
          Look to the ground for it holds the past!

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          • #6
            Thanks for the input. I figure 2 points within 2 weeks of each other in two different areas was pretty good beginners luck. I have had my eyes to the ground for a very long time, especially since we lived up in the mountains in Guffey up until last January. I never really knew what to look for. Did find a few flakes on our property. The property has a spring on it so I was told by a local it was a likely place the Indians may have made camp. Hoping to get access to some private property here soon and perhaps the success rate would be better there.

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            • #7
              Obviously, everyone has their own approach... For me, it's all about locating a broad "site" through aerial viewing of waterways... and then reading the topography on foot... If things go well, soon enough I'm finding debitage and then the good stuff...
              All the same, don't be afraid to revisit a "site" if it doesn't initially yield... In Oklahoma, I'm required to let the wind and rain do my "digging"... and the wind and rain isn't a steady component...

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              • #8
                I have several areas that I search where I'm almost guaranteed to find flaked artifacts. I may not pick up a point, but there are tools everywhere. Other days I'll go to an area that SHOULD be good and strike out totally. I generally use Google Earth to look for promising locations; since Arizona is a desert state I usually look for old waterways, even if they're little dry creeks.
                I'll start searching an area with an open mind and an eye out for clues (pottery, flakes, rock piles that might be buried ruins, etc). Once I find a clue, I'll follow it uphill, scouting a large area as I go. With our sandy soil artifacts don't generally stay in one place, they usually are washed to a lower spot. If I find a good site I'll then stay at the same general latitude/longitude and widen my search area. Oftentimes the ruins are built in a row, with artifacts primarily lower from washout.

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                • #9
                  Awesome tips from everyone. Thank you!
                  Went out to an area I knew nothing of today and didn't find anything at all. Still got out so it's ok. I figure one of these days I will stumble on a camp.
                  Thinking of going back to a place I know we have found flakes before and a point next Wednesday.. Maybe try there again or move around to another nearby spot in the same area and see what happens. I have heard there was a big battle in this area between 2 tribes. I have nothing to confirm this but it's worth a shot. Back to South Park Chase!

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                  • #10
                    We finally had some rain here in NY so i hit a few fields that were plowed yesterday morning.. I spent about 4 hours walking and didnt find anything worth taking home..
                    My liberty and freedoms are not yours to give or take!.... They didn\'t make us free we were born free, as long as we have the 2nd amendment we will remain free!

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                    • #11
                      We do have small fields here where people grow hay since we are in a rural community. Most are only a couple of acres but there are quite a few. We have a field behind our house of about 2 acres where the previous homeowners had their horses, just weeds now and lots of shale type material. Wonder if it would be worth looking? We don't live by any natural water. They water with ditch water that comes form Skagway Reservoir.

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                      • #12
                        I have hunted arrowheads well over 10,000 hours in my life. but once you are on a spot Knowing what to look for is part of it, but attention to the tiny details will find you alot of points. I cant tell you how many points I have found with just a few tenths of an inch of it sticking out of the ground. Alot of people would walk over the stuff I have found. heck I have walked over them and found them the second or tenth time around. Patience and just spending hours looking at poinst from all sides gets the idea of what you are looking for stuck in your mind. if you dont have points, look at photos. Spend alot of time just looking at them. My mantra is secondary work. that is what my eye is trained to find. Straight lines, and secondary work are what to look for.
                        location:Central Ky

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                        • #13
                          I agree with Waterglass. My eyes automatically pick out the shapes, colors, textures, that are not natural. When I'm looking my brain is elsewhere, but my eyes are always active. I let my subconscious mind direct me to the treasures.

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