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antler hunting for tools

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  • antler hunting for tools

    I recently decided to start making my own arrows(and tips). I've never knapped, but have watched it first hand, and really want to put in the time. There is something to be said for learning the skills that developed over the millennia before metals and plastics were utilized. What if we find ourselves in another depression where resources are scarce and those things that we take for granted suddenly become unavailable? Doubtful, but I want to be prepared for any situation just in case.
    I've been thinking about making my own tools to get started, and woke up with the motivation to go out looking for materials. I went to the only place where I've found multiple sheds in one day by complete accident in the past. It's pretty isolated, hard to navigate, and fortified with poison oak forests so I don't think many people get back there. I have spent hours looking in other places that must not have been the right type of environment. Apparently, deer tend to lose their antlers in the same places every year. I also think when deer congregate during the winter/fall, they usually lose their antlers together in the same area.
    This would help explain why I find many in one large area, and none in another.
    Spent a good hour just hiking in, and wasted some time looking in the meadow between bedding areas. I have found antlers there before, but the grass was too tall to see anything today. After a while, I almost called it quits when I found my first(last picture). There it was underneath an oak tree totally camouflaged. Who knows how many I walked past? After looking a little more around the same tree, I miraculously found its' brother(first picture). I fount 2 more singles, with only 1/4 being from last year. All the others were found still brown and smooth. Not sure about the goat/deer/sheep skull, but it was interesting enough to pick up. Click image for larger version

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    Last edited by Hoss; 05-05-2019, 06:41 PM.

  • #2
    Hey Jessie, You did great on that hunt. Have fun with the flintknapping: It's a great hobby.
    Michigan Yooper
    If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Ron Kelley View Post
      Hey Jessie, You did great on that hunt. Have fun with the flintknapping: It's a great hobby.
      Thanks Ron

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      • #4
        Scores!
        call me Jay, i live in R.I.

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        • #5
          Went to the coast and found some chert. It's my understanding that the local natives typically used obsidian when available, which it usually was. I've never tried working obsidian, but i'd imagine it's a lot easier to take flakes off than this stuff. My basalt hammer-stone was getting pretty beat up, just taking smaller flakes. I'm going to keep at it since this will make everything else seem easy. I saw sparks, but i'm pretty sure it's chert. Not that much softer than quartz.

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          • #6
            Great sheds .. hope there are some left for me in 10 days and the coons didn’t haul them off .

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            • JesseJames
              JesseJames commented
              Editing a comment
              Thanks, I got lucky with my timing plus going back to where i've found them before paid off. I spent 4 hours today in another vast meadow valley smack dab in between feeding grounds and water sources. I was certain I'd find the jackpot. Zilch. In actuality, I stepped in about 8 fresh cow pies in my "quest". And I mean FRESH. I almost walked right into the middle of the herd. They let me know about it.
              We have raccoons too and many other rodents, some pretty big. Wood rats also make nests with big sticks. I wonder if sheds get hauled off by them here.

          • #7
            I would mount the sheep skull I like that

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            • JesseJames
              JesseJames commented
              Editing a comment
              I like the idea, I might need to coat it with something first

          • #8
            These are the fruits of my labor from yesterday. It was pretty great the few times I knapped the flake I was intending, especially with this material. The second photo isn't worked, but is a very thin, razor sharp flake of quartzite that could definitely be useful as a tool. I used it to cut cow hide. I have a whole new appreciation for the process. I would call the crescent shaped piece a scraper/knife and the triangular piece, an unfinished arrowhead.

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