Still Getting Better….

Still Getting Better….

Well, after going on last season about what an excellent hunt I had I thought that things couldn’t get better. To my shock and glee they did!!!

Not only did I find my biggest Meg yet to date from the site but I also found an extremely rare land mammal find – a Gomptherium tusk section!!!

But I jump ahead, so let me start at the beginning. The day started out with a monster of a first tooth – a nearly 2” inch Yorktown Hemmie – SWEET!!!! The next hill was very productive; a dinged 3” Meg and four squalodon teeth – awesome!!! It wasn’t even noon and I was having a great day!!!

After a few so-so hills, I was doing the Yorktown crawl on some great looking material and I saw some dense white fragments up in front as the hill started to turn into Pungo. They looked like bone but something was different… I first thought they might be dugong or manatee fragments but when I picked them up to inspect them I knew right away they were something different. The criss-cross pattern was unmistakable – it was ivory!!!

Right away I though “it must be from a Gomp” but I didn’t want to get too excited so I started to pick up all of the fragments I could see. It was only when one of the fragments had a 3” long, over 1” wide section of enamel that I knew it was true – I had a Gomp tusk!!! I’ve heard of a few pieces from the Calvert Cliffs over the years and Lee Creek Volume IV mentions a few from the site here but I never thought that I would find one at either site. They are just that rare!!!!

I then realized that the section must have been busted not only by nature but also by another hunter. I went on a tirade about people not knowing what they found and smashing it instead of asking what they had found when a fellow 40 feet away confessed to the deed. I went over to apologize for my over enthusiasm and he was gracious enough to accept.

Still on a high from the find, I bumped into another collector who had an awesome day - a nearly 5” Meg and a paratodus that must have been just shy of 3”. That got me back on the Meg wagon and looking for some good Yorktown. I found it on the top of a hill with unwalked James City spread underneath. There were footprints all through the YT but none in the JC and there were plenty of small runoffs to check. The very last one held the prize – check out the photos below. I took about two minutes to scan the rest of the spot and to work up the nerve to pick it up and see if it was whole. My prayers were answered – it was whole and flawless – just two small cracks in the enamel and the tiniest amount of peel starting – but all serrations present and sharp. The 4.5” beast was mine!!! As pretty as it was complete.

A small Chub knocked loose by someone’s footprint on the way out was the icing on the cake for my finds. An added bonus was watching another hunter dig out a 5” honker that just had the tip exposed not more than 30 feet from the ramp. He was praying out loud to be whole and other than some root rot it was awesome – the blade just wide and wicked.

Another awesome day at the creek….