Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,574
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Post by Mark K on Jun 3, 2014 19:44:42 GMT -5
Places in the Rockhounding Montana book that I will not return to.
Keep in mind that these are based upon my experiences and maybe I am just a sucky rockhound.
17. MIKE HORSE CREEK is gone. When I went there I hit a gate that said thew area was closed for reclaimation. I never got closer than the highway
18. BLACKFOOT RIVER In the low light before the sun crested the mountain, I found all kinds of cool stuff. Once the sun came out properly, I found that the stuff was trash and left it behind. I am a pretty good agate hunter and I did not find a single bit of anything that was of any use at all.
23.DARBY MINE nightmare. Got to withing a few miles and hit roadblocks where they keep people out. Plus I was in the middle of a real forest fire.
33. DEER LODGE arsenic I think I wrote a review on this.
45. ARGENTA MINE TAILINGS sucks
47. WARM SPRINGS CREEK I went here and some locals were camping and even they didn't know where the fossils were. I found none and it was not for lack of trying.
81. CASTLE ROCK LAKE I have to work very hard to discuss this place without the F-word.
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hornseeker
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2014
Posts: 268
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Post by hornseeker on Jun 4, 2014 11:51:59 GMT -5
Thanks... Good to know! I spent hundreds of days fishing the blackfoot river... and never remember finding a single rock that I thought I needed to take home... I am not familiar with the description in the book... what does it say? I am a ROCK junky and bring rocks home from everywhere... and have NO memories of finding rocks on the blackfoot... from Missoula to Ovando and beyond....
There are NO DOUBT pockets of interesting rock somewhere on the river... but I never found them!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 12, 2014 9:22:02 GMT -5
Just returned from Montana on a 5 day rock hunt and with great results....I always ask the local rockhounds the best places to hunt and find material....I find the books out there aren't as great as they seem...(having lived and grew up in Montana,I have favorite unknown spots)... Some areas are awesome and it seems not many people hunt those areas anymore-I think that is why I strike it good on my hunts.. Sorry you didn't have the luck you wanted on the finds in that state..... Your next trip there,let me know,I'll clue you in on some hot spots,that aren't in any books!! Thumbs up....
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,574
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Post by Mark K on Jun 12, 2014 12:22:23 GMT -5
Just returned from Montana on a 5 day rock hunt and with great results....I always ask the local rockhounds the best places to hunt and find material....I find the books out there aren't as great as they seem...(having lived and grew up in Montana,I have favorite unknown spots)... Some areas are awesome and it seems not many people hunt those areas anymore-I think that is why I struck it good on my hunts.. Sorry you didn't have the luck you wanted on the finds in that state..... Your next trip there,let me know,I'll clue you in on some hot spots,that aren't in any books!! Thumbs up.... I usually have poor luck with asking people on my trips. Either they have no idea or they outright lie to me. I actually do well based on the rock books, the thread is a review of the spots from the book. I don't just go to spots from the book. I would love to hook up some time.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,622
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Post by QuailRiver on Jun 12, 2014 16:33:36 GMT -5
I've learned to second-guess Road Closed signs and roads blocked with debre if there is no legitimate appearing reason for them to be closed. For example twenty plus years ago I returned to an area on public lands in Eastern Oregon that I had helped survey ten years prior. At the last turnoff before the road ended at a spring I planned to camp at, and had camped at in the past, there was a large state highway type road closed sign, the type that is mounted on a large sawhorse stand. I found that quiet curious because the road was in much better shape than it had been in when I had been there before. And I knew the area and the road well enough to know that there was no possibility of a landslide covering that road ahead. So I moved the sign aside and drove on to the camp site. The road was in great shape and there was no obvious reason it should have been closed. Later I learned deer and elk poachers were putting up "borrowed" Road Closed signs to keep recreation tourists out of their favorite poaching areas. Larry C.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 14, 2014 17:27:33 GMT -5
I know of a couple spots around Melstone,Montana that is state land,but its surrounded by a jackass rancher that bullies people when they go onto the land-all his hired hands wear sidearms..(it scares most people) The kicker is a oilfield company pumps wells on that land and I know the crew,plus being one of the roustabout hands,I was well known there.. I hunt both places and when his guys try to bully me,I tell them to kiss my butt and just move on...Nothing they can do about it as long as I stay on the lease road to the state land.. They don't like it when you do your homework before hunting fossils,on land..(it pays to do so too)!!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 14, 2014 17:30:15 GMT -5
PS:Most fossil hunters won't tell a guy squat....But I know a few oldtimer's that do...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2014 17:34:43 GMT -5
PS:Most fossil hunters won't tell a guy squat....But I know a few oldtimer's that do... or they might tell you"its over in that direction a few miles or so".
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 14, 2014 18:44:53 GMT -5
No,they are spot on,I know that area like the back of my hand now,because of them...LOL Once you have the formations figured out,its easy hunting...
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hornseeker
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2014
Posts: 268
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Post by hornseeker on Jun 17, 2014 10:46:49 GMT -5
So you can legally access the state land Fossil? There is nothing like these jerky private owners that think they own everything... If you are talking about the Brothers up in the little snowys... I have heard much about that as of late...all their ranch hands carrying sidearms and even helicopters buzzing people ON PUBLIC land...
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 17, 2014 11:04:17 GMT -5
Nope,it's the Melstone area and it's called the "Richardson Ranch"...The guy is a muli millionaire (invented the cookie oven for Keebler Cookie Company.. Has his own private air strip and hired hands..All dickheads! If there is a public road going through their property,yes you can access the state land...
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hornseeker
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2014
Posts: 268
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Post by hornseeker on Jun 18, 2014 9:41:52 GMT -5
lmao... sounds like hte brothers inthe little snowies... air strip... the whole works. They are known as the fracking brothers...
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Post by Son Of Beach on Jan 5, 2022 0:05:51 GMT -5
Nope,it's the Melstone area and it's called the "Richardson Ranch"...The guy is a muli millionaire (invented the cookie oven for Keebler Cookie Company.. Has his own private air strip and hired hands..All dickheads! If there is a public road going through their property,yes you can access the state land... Holy crap! I talked with a guy that shuttled me on a kayaking trip in northern Michigan this year about the same thing. We kept driving by miles of 8-10' high fencing and I asked what that was about and he told me this rich guy from Montana was buying up up the land in the area and had put up an airstrip and had helicopters shipped in on trucks. Same guy you are talking about. Richardson Ranch is what reminded me of it. This is, or was at least, some of the chepeast land in the lower Peninsula. I think the closest town is Luther, MI. I think he told me his kids come out there and hunt. Small world.
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