Creek hunting - best method?

[Hyzer]

I hunt a couple VERY productive north central IL farm fields separated by a creek. For miles, before it gets to my area, the creek has a mud bottom and runs through flat farmland with no trees. But when it gets to the fields where I hunt the creek changes. First, it now has woods on both sides of it with fairly steep banks that lead up to the fields I hunt. This creek still has a mud bottom in places but there are many areas with a sandy bottom and places with a gravel bottom. There really are no dry, exposed gravel beds anywhere. The creek is about 15 ft wide and 2-4 ft deep in normal conditions. The current is rather slow but moves faster in spots. The fields I hunt have a lot of chert and I find concretions of chert in the creek as well as in the smaller feeder creeks.

I am thinking since there are artifacts in the fields then there has to be artifacts in the gravel on the bottom of the creek. Correct? Scoop and sift the gravel through a screen thing (seen YouTube guys doing it)? Make a viewer? What about where the bottom is sand? Or mud? Worth checking that stuff?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[SurfaceHunter]

First get yourself a flipping stick I use one to check the bottom while I walk a creek to be sure the hard pan isn’t to far from the top cause if it’s deep mud or sand you can sink below the water. I would ignore the sand and mud and focus on the gravel first. If the water is clear you can see to the bottom but a five gallon bucket with plexiglass is a easy way to see better until you get use to it. I don’t need anything I just use my eyes and stick. I make my own walking sticks. On another site before it shut down I had a good thread about making walking sticks

[BabaORiley]

SH. That was you huh? You make some fine sticks. I saw a lot of your work. What ever happened to that site anyway ?

[Hyzer]

Thanks SurfaceHunter for the creek hunting tips and for the warning about sinking deeply in the mud or sand. I've hiked all through the creek many times fishing and just exploring (never artifact hunting) and I have not hit anything yet where I sink very much but I will keep that in mind when I reach new areas.

[SurfaceHunter]

Yes that was me I don’t make them as often but still do when I need one. Every body likes them but not enough to pay what it cost to make one. Not sure on the site as to why it shut down

[BabaORiley]

The creeks in my area are just no good for any lengthy hunts. Mostly muddy with a lot of debris. If that place is that productive I would check the cut banks and bends very well. My only actual creek find was on an eroding bank about 7ft above the water. I see some nice creek finds come from your area.

[Hyzer]

Hey BabaORiley - there are several eroded banks and one big bend on this property. I'll check them out. As I said in the op, the mud bottom mostly ends right where my artifact fields are. Then it becomes a whole different creek as it flows (for miles) through bedrock with woods on both sides. I have already screened some gravel with no luck but it was just a test. I think, like field walking, hunting creeks is the same (as long as you're in a known artifact area) - put in the time and results will happen. As you know, with the wet spring/early summer we've had here in IL, this creek was too high to get into until just a few weeks ago. I will be in it a LOT the next few months!

[BabaORiley]

Yeah right on Hyzer. One of the coolest, wettest springs that I can remember. It really wreaked havoc on the farmers. Many of the spots by me that get turned and planted never got turned just planted. Some of them never even planted at all. I had one place that got turned and planted real late and it produced pretty good for me.

[SurfaceHunter]

5 years ago I got permission to the property I have mostly found and posted for finds the last 2 months. It has a nice creek that runs next to it. I have found at least 100 good points in it and many tools. If anyone ever asked you how long it takes to clean out a creek you can say probably 4 years with countless walks. I don’t hardly ever find anything in it now. It goes for miles upstream. I have permission up there also but and I’m not going to post the reason but sometimes you can run into some dangerous things in areas where there is nobody for miles at least there isn’t pose to be people out there except me. If you want you can message me and I will reveal it but not in open forum. I’m still trying to decide if I’m going or not I can but idk. Some good ones up there to find.

[tomclark]

15 ft wide and 2-4 ft deep in normal conditions

If the water is clean enough those are perfect conditions to work gravel bars and undercuts/bends with mask and snorkel, fanning at arm's length. I guess you don't have to worry about gators woi.

[Hyzer]

It's not the clearest water but when the sun hits it right I can see through the water pretty well. I know not too far upstream cattle freely go into the stream and plenty of farm fields treated with herbicides, pesticides & fungicides, drain into this creek, too. Still, since I am in the water anyway, thigh high sometimes (I'm 6'3"), I guess snorkeling would not be that much more of an immersion. My eyes would be covered and I would where earplugs.

What's the downside of scooping gravel (that's too deep to see it well) into a screen and sifting it?

[tomclark]

[Hyzer]

Wow! That's cool. My creek's water is not so sparkling clear. Do you have earplugs in? I wouldn't want the greenish water of my creek getting in my ears.

[SurfaceHunter]

I know a guy that did that and didn’t use ear plugs got an infection good thinking

[Jethro355]

Tom, is that a Meg tooth?

[tomclark]

I don't remember if that was a Meg lol but that other is a killer coral Hernando. If possible I prefer sight fanning the bottom instead of sifting. I use the water to channel the fanned material behind me. The pic was from the Peace River, where diapers float downstream. Heavily fossiled and canoed river.... I haven't been in years, used to go at least twice per month when the water is down. Yep, too dirty to snorkel/dive now IMHOP. .