I was not the first to hunt this mountain

[Paul in Idaho]

While searching for blood after shooting at an elk, a dark red spot on the ground caught my eye. It wasn't blood, but rather a stone projectile point. About 2.5" long, it was in excellent condition except the broken tip.


I sat down by it for a while and thought about that small connection to a fellow hunter at some unknown time in the distant past. Was the tip broken off in an elk or bison bone? Did he and his family or tribe eat well that day, or go hungry? No doubt the outcome of his hunting had far greater impact on their lives than my efforts do for my family. I had a warm and dry camp just down the mountain. What comfort did he have to return to after the hunt?

After the hunt I sent this photo to BLM, along with its GPS location, and received a great reply from an archaeologist there. Here are some excerpts:

That point you found is a large dart point. It once fit onto a probable foreshaft of a roughly 4-foot long composite weapon (foreshaft, mainshaft, and often fletching) that was thrown with great force and respectable accuracy by use of an atlatl ("throwing board"). It likely predates the bow and arrow. The artifact reveals a corner-notched morphology that fits nicely into the Late Archaic "Elko Corner-Notched" sequence of projectile point styles typical in the Northern Intermountain West. ... The Elko series in this region falls within a time-frame dating from approximately 3,300 B.P. to about 1,200 B.P. ("B.P." meaning "Before Present") -- about 1,300 B.C to about A.D. 800.

So this stone point has likely been laying up there for at least 1,200 years. The edges were still fairly sharp despite the harsh weather on that mountain. I placed it back exactly as I had found it, and walked on, thinking about the skill it would take to get close and place a lethal hit, and cursing myself even more for having missed an easy shot with a modern rifle and optics.

 

[choc dogs]

That's dang cool. The stuff that's out there, we'll never know but a small portion.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Very interesting find and facts about that point. Good luck getting back on another elk!

 

[Goatshoes]

That is super cool and even cooler with the additional info provided. Had it been me that found it, I probably would have picked it up but I think that its cool that you left it there as part of history on the mountain and for another hunter to experience it as you did. I like to think that I'll do the same next time.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Cool post. I often find myself looking out from a vantage point and wondering who else may have stood there before and looked at the same view. Neat to find a clue about someone who came before.

 

[James Riley]

Great story, great find and great integrity to leave it. It's illegal to take them from federal land but a lot of folks do. The colors are awesome. And the picture is excellent. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Kneetopia]

Rad!

 

[RobG]

Someday you will be able to drag your grandkids up there and show it to them and tell them how you found it.

 

[joelhunter]

Two things--makes me want to go dig out my pics from my internship that I did with the BLM, and (2) reminds me that instead of wondering about whether I'm using the best broadheads, I can probably get the job done with the one's I've got as long as I practice. If people used to get it done with an atlatl and compression chipped stones, I should be able to figure out how to do it with a razor sharp piece of metal flying at nearly 300 feet per second from a modern bow.

Very cool find, and no doubt a memory of a lifetime.

 

[marksjeep]

Very cool.

 

[Nameless Range]

Badass find and thoughts. Few things make my mind wander than to think of the people who roamed the mountains and prairies we do from 10,000ish years ago until recorded history. The hunting stories they would have, their connection to and knowledge of the land, the beautiful awful deaths that probably occurred, the kinships they likely had with different animals, their spiritual views on fundamentally non-mental things like volcanos, earthquakes, fire, microbursts, etc.

I have a few arrowheads that I found as a kid fishing Prickly Pear Creek south of Helena. It never once occurred to me to leave them. It's very cool that you left that dart point on the mountain it has called home since, or maybe before, the iron age began in the old world. Thanks for sharing.

 

[1_pointer]

Very cool!

 

[Festus]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing

 

[MNElkNut]

I had 2 thoughts on this.

#1 I am very envious! Finding an arrowhead is on my bucket list and to find it like you did would be icing on the cake. That is really, really cool.

#2 How cool would it be to find one of these and then stick it on an arrow and kill a deer or elk or something with it? THAT would make the guy who made it proud!

 

[Matt/VT]

Nice story and find!

 

[JMG]

Nice find . . . . very cool!

I have been fortunate enough to find two "arrow heads" while out hunting in Montana. The first was when I wasn't old enough to hunt and I was tagging along with my Dad elk hunting outside of Gardner, MT. I found a really nice "arrow head" and promptly put it in my pocket. After the hunt, I reached into my pocket only to find a hole and the "arrow head" gone. So, I assume I re-located that "arrow head". The other I found in the Missouri River Breaks while archery hunting. I was sitting in camp on a log and looked down at the ground and there was a light purple colored, small (maybe an inch in length) "arrow head". I still have that one today.

One of my hunting buddies often teases me, as I have a habit of looking at the ground while out hunting. I'm always curious of the rocks, geological formations, various plants, animal tracks, etc. It has allowed me to observe a lot of things while out in the field. I have also found "gizzard stones" (gastrolith) and fossils in the Breaks.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Interesting. We have several dozen arrowheads my grandfather found while farming. It never occurred to me to have them analyzed and possibly dated.

 

[noharleyyet]

OP...very cool thread on many levels, thanks.

 

[MtnWest]

Sweet find and thanks for posting the response you got. The older I get and more time spent in the woods the more I feel connected to those who used that point you found.

 

[406Family]

Very cool, I hope to find one those someday.