None. I’m keen to that concern too.
My new place
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Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
My first thought when seeing the aerials and of your stream was that this would amazing for looking for artefacts. I could suggest some starting spots if you'd like, but I understand if you're looking to discover the place on your own.
Did you use ArcGIS for the lidar map?
By all means, shoot me any suggestions you’ve got. I’m a little stubborn with deer and turkey strategy, but I’m in the dark on artifact hunting.
I’m using QGIS for the maps. Mostly self taught after @FarmerDan got me started on some fundamentals several years ago after responding to a thread of mine.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
I would start by checking just downstream from that major oxbow on the west side. You will likely find a gravel bar there where the current slows down and drops a lot of the rock. I would also consider looking in the banks just upstream from the oxbow as well. Overtime, streams change directions and you will find some outwash from a few hundred to thousands of years ago all in that area. Virtually every rainfall event that changes water levels in the streams and river will shuffle the deck and expose more artefacts.
Finally, I would focus on the dry creeks or ravines that are being fed from those hills that feed the streams and rivers. This is where you will find the best preserved pieces but they will likely show new rock less often.
I follow a number of youtubers and it seems like MS is incredible for artefact hunting. It has quickly become one of my favorite activities on our farms in MO.
Watched a couple YouTube vids and now I’m raring to walk some ditches. I will say, after perusing the artifact thread, I don’t see many pockets of 1”+ gravel in these creeks, for what it’s worth.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
I can almost guarantee some are in those streams. You might need to find the right conditions and spots for them to be there, but I'd bet almost anything you will find some eventually. There is a chance they might get buried by sand or silt, but a stream that wide with flowing water in the summer will have some rock collection points. If there are fewer rocks, it might even make it easier to spot some artefacts.
I spent half an hour or so walking the ditch on the middle right side of the maps. Nothing of interest found, but I’ll keep poking around. This is what the spot looked like.
This is also a drainage I really need a crossing for. It’s deep but dry most of the time. Only drains about 50 acres of land.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
That looks better than many of our ditches that we find some of our best points.
I'd go there and check them after some significant rain events.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
What’s your plan for a crossing?
Well, that’s a really good question. Need the dirt man to tell me what he thinks. The crossing itself won’t be a problem, but the approaches will be the headache, haha. A low water crossing would probably work. Alternatively, at a bit higher cost, from my research a single (probably 30”) culvert could be used and would reduce how deep I have to cut the road down into the stream banks. As I’m typing this, that may actually be a strong advantage to a culvert. If I assume the culvert crossing is 4’ tall across the stream bed and the ditch is 10’ deep (right now), then only 6’ of “cut” needs to be made. Alternatively, for a low water crossing, it’d have to be 10’ of cut, making for longer and/or steeper approaches. Uggh. More $$
“New” slopes are usually a problem for erosion. Bare ground washes bad here. So the approaches are likely to be problematic. Hopefully with some water bars, clay gravel, and some canopy cover from the trees, it’ll stay together.
Alongside getting a good access road and “beach” on the creek, this is the most important project on my list right now, as it’s vital to accessing that portion of the place in a low-impact fashion. Luckily, no real aspirations to have fields over there in the near term, so all I really need to be able to get across is an ATV. Tractor would be nice, though.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Reason I ask is I’m in the same, but different boat. I have roughly 70 acres on one farm I can only access by foot and even at that by crossing a log. The reason it’s different is because my water flow (well except right now it’s bone dry) is typically way too large to reasonably culvert and possibly too deep to drive through by cutting down the bank to take the slope down. I was thinking of some kind of bridge that can support a utv. Have you considered that?
Yeah, what matter is flow during those worst rains. Those are what define whether a culvert can work or not.
I’ve given only a very small amount of consideration to a bridge. It’s farther than 50’ across, so I doubt a flatbed frame would work. I assumed that would increase the price and require something more custom or at least harder to find. I have actually noticed someone local that specializes in custom bridge construction. If the dozer guy doesn’t give me a good feeling I may check into it, but I really think a bridge would be a future plan B.
I’ve given only a very small amount of consideration to a bridge. It’s farther than 50’ across, so I doubt a flatbed frame would work. I assumed that would increase the price and require something more custom or at least harder to find. I have actually noticed someone local that specializes in custom bridge construction. If the dozer guy doesn’t give me a good feeling I may check into it, but I really think a bridge would be a future plan B.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Yeah would be mine too but logistics may make it a necessity. Thought about 3 telephone poles as joists and 2x’s for planks.
Keep us posted what the dozer man says.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
In the low points you could consider what they call a Mississippi mud bridge. You lay softball to a bit larger stone on the banks down through the stream and then fill in with some smaller stone. It lets the water flow across it but creates a stable bed to drive across.
