# Am I blind?



## jerry russell (Jun 12, 2012)

I have always considered myself someone that is acutely aware of what is going on around himself in the woods having hunted and fished a tremendous % of my 50 years. I see you guys posting all of these awesome ancient finds and I am wondering if I am blind, lol. I know it is all about being aware of what to look for and obviously I don't know what to look for. 
Put a single hog in the middle of a 1000 acres and I will hunt him down but if I trip over an arrow head and it sticks in my neck, I won't see it. I would love for someone to help me to learn "how to see" what I am missing and get the chance to pass this skill on to my son who is 14. I have access to a lot of land in Middle Georgia near Forsyth and it has large creeks and some high bluffs etc. I know the stuff is there...
If someone can help me out I would love to spend some time with one you professional rock hunters or just talk some on the phone to get us started.

I have always enjoyed looking at all of your finds.

Thanks


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## JustUs4All (Jun 12, 2012)

Arrow hunting is best on plowed ground after a rain or in areas where erosion exposes the points.  Just like looking for deer , do not look for the whole thing, look for a piece of it.  Once you find a few you will know what to look for, straight edges, worked surfaces, shoulders, pointy ends and the like.


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## blood on the ground (Jun 12, 2012)

jerry russell said:


> I have always considered myself someone that is acutely aware of what is going on around himself in the woods having hunted and fished a tremendous % of my 50 years. I see you guys posting all of these awesome ancient finds and I am wondering if I am blind, lol. I know it is all about being aware of what to look for and obviously I don't know what to look for.
> Put a single hog in the middle of a 1000 acres and I will hunt him down but if I trip over an arrow head and it sticks in my neck, I won't see it. I would love for someone to help me to learn "how to see" what I am missing and get the chance to pass this skill on to my son who is 14. I have access to a lot of land in Middle Georgia near Forsyth and it has large creeks and some high bluffs etc. I know the stuff is there...
> If someone can help me out I would love to spend some time with one you professional rock hunters or just talk some on the phone to get us started.
> 
> ...



your not alone


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## fishfryer (Jun 12, 2012)

The whole process would be easier if there weren't so many wateroak leaves on the ground. Maybe some of you know what I mean.


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## JustUs4All (Jun 12, 2012)

That and lots of other foolums.


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## GLS (Jun 12, 2012)

In addition to plowed fields, I like fresh cut firebreaks and site prepared clear cuts after a rain.  Every now and then you'll find one fully exposed, sitting on a dirt pedestal, but usually, just an edge or glint of out of place coloration.  I have a friend who for years stepped over a large rock near his pond where he slid his boat in.  One day he flipped it over. It was a mortar which now sits on his fireplace.


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## trad bow (Jun 12, 2012)

Jerry most people walk to fast to notice much of anything laying on or partially buried in the ground. Just pretend you are looking for unusal hog tracks and they will start showing up for you. The biggest key is to be somewhere the natives wanted to be. All areas are not create equal. First ridge or high flat off a creek or river are places to start looking.


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## jerry russell (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks guys. I am going to get this thing down. It is something that has always amazed me.


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## NCHillbilly (Jun 12, 2012)

A lot of it is just developing a feel for where to look.


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## fish hawk (Jun 12, 2012)

Do your creeks have shoals.....If so, you can take arrowhead hunting to a whole nuther level!!!!


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## bronco611 (Jun 12, 2012)

a lot of us develop a better feel to look at what the real hunters of the heads can find. LOL


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## Al33 (Jun 13, 2012)

For me, much depends on where I am looking determines what I train my eye to look for.  First and foremost I look for color then shapes. Up here in the northern part of the state I primarily look for bright white or black because we have a lot of quartz and Ridge and Valley chert. In the southern and eastern parts where mineralization has had its affects on many of the points I may look for a dull or opaque white but primarily shapes such as points, edges, etc.. Clean chert (without mineralization) has an almost translucent look to it and I might compare it to looking for pieces of glass but not that shiny or translucent. I prefer an overcast day when looking because for me I seem to be able to see them better.

Like others have noted, I look for places I think would have made a good permanent camp not far from water.

I devised a tool to help me in my searches and I call it my Flint-Flicker. It is a 3" piece of 1/2" diameter stainless steel tubing shaped to a point then bent to a long fingernail shape. After drilling a 1/8th" pin hole through both sides I attached it with a pin to a walking stick. It allows me to flip over or pull up surface finds for a better look without so much bending over. Additionally I can just tap on the find with the point and the sound and feel of it will often tell me if it's worth a closer look. The steel point tapping on chert/flint is very distinctive from other rocks. It has more of a tink sound versus a thud sound if that makes since.


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## Nicodemus (Jun 13, 2012)

If there is exposed dirt, I look at it, and I pay extra close attention if it is disturbed dirt. A washout, runoff on a hillside, dirtbanks, plowed fields, newly cleared land, logged areas, anywhere. After a rain is always best. I even look at the bottom when i`m fishin` if the water is clear. Down here, on undisturbed soil, most of the artifacts on gonna be underground. That`s why you want to pay attention to the disturbed areas. When a field is subsoiled and bottom plowed, it turns up a lot of points to the sun. Get in the habit of lookin` at anything that looks abnormal layin` there. It might be nothin`, but then again it might be a once in a lifetime find. Points can turn up in places you wouldn`t believe. And random finds can sometimes be the best ones.

Ironically, I find more points while I`m turkey huntin`, than any other time. I guess a combination of freshed plowed fields, and lookin` for turkey sign helps.


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## GLS (Jun 13, 2012)

My most unusual find, was not so much what I found, but how I found it.  I was swinging on a rope swing over a river and the tide was low.  As I went out over the river, I saw the point sitting perfectly  atop  an arrowhead shaped pedestal of mud below me.  It was a beautiful point, probably Savannah River, made of fired chert, white with red streaks.  I lost the point in a house fire over 30 years ago.


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## markland (Jun 14, 2012)

Jerry I have the same problem and could miss an arrowhead laying in the middle of a paved road, but the man you need to talk to is Jeff Roberts, he has an unreal canny for finding stuff, heck he has even stopped my walking down a trail before and told me to look at the ground at my feet, of course I just stare and don't see anything, then he reaches down and pulls up a point or flakes or piece of pottery or something, burns me up, but he sure can find them.  Of course I just tell him I'm distracted from looking for artifacts cuz I am concentrating on finding game to shoot, but alas he spots game pretty good as well>>LOL


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## Whiteeagle (Jun 14, 2012)

Jerry, it is not a "blind" problem. You know the old saying "can't see the forest for the trees"? Most new     comers to head-hunting are looking too hard for the arrowhead shape. The idea is to look for something different to the surrounding soil. Been finding artifacts for 60+ years and still get excited when one shows itself at my feet. Two most memorible finds- one at the base of Mt. Yonah during a rappeling class and one at the "Wolf Den" in Warm Springs teaching another class. Like I said, focus on different and they will find you!


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## oops1 (Jun 19, 2012)

I'm having the same problem after finding this forum and having a renewed interest in artifacts. ..We had a lease years ago in Stewart county. I was probably 8 or 9. Arrow heads were so plentiful and easy to find that they just didn't seem like that big of a deal. Now that I want to find one again...they are being quite evasive. I can't even find the ones I had when I was a kid.


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## robert carter (Jun 19, 2012)

Like Nic said I look close around washes. And as Jeff said the flats and ridges along a River work. I find lots of pottery by looking at places around the River that would be a good place to build a house. Chances are one was there if its suited for it. May have had Buffalo hide walls though.RC


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## DCHunter (Jun 19, 2012)

Apparantly, alot of people have your problem. I've found one at a golf course right next to the golf cart trail. No telling how many people had walked right past it.


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## doofus (Jun 20, 2012)

i was out with my son and a couple of his fellow boy scouts and they were pickin up points like they were easter eggs and i never found a one...yet i could see a squirrel in a knot hole and they couldnt even figger out which tree he was in....go figger.


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## fish hawk (Jun 20, 2012)

doofus said:


> i was out with my son and a couple of his fellow boy scouts and they were pickin up points like they were easter eggs and i never found a one...yet i could see a squirrel in a knot hole and they couldnt even figger out which tree he was in....go figger.



There lower to the ground!!!


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## florida boy (Jun 20, 2012)

I have found them out the window of the truck, digging  , walking fields and clearcuts ,diving,sifting the creeks,walking to and from stands . Once you get it into your brain you will always be looking without knowing you are .


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## jerry russell (Jun 22, 2012)

OK, I have got my mind right and we are going on the hunt for rocks this weekend. I am leaving my bow at home because when that thing is in my hands I seem to loose a bit of focus. My guess is I will be rock-less on Monday but will see the mega-hog of a lifetime...lol.


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## heardcountyriverrat (Jul 18, 2012)

florida boy said:


> I have found them out the window of the truck, digging  , walking fields and clearcuts ,diving,sifting the creeks,walking to and from stands . Once you get it into your brain you will always be looking without knowing you are .


You are exactly right man. Same as gin sang digging. Once you learn Sang no matter where you are in the woods your always hunting sang. I can be riding my 4 wheeler wide open on a fire break and see a point and slam on the brakes much to the chargrin of my buddys!


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