[meteorite-list] Buzzard Hunt

[Darryl Pitt]

Hi,

Loved this email.  Really great stuff.

Congratulations to all.   It sounds like this was great fun.


All the best / Darryl



On May 6, 2009, at 11:14 AM, Mike Bandli wrote:


> A big congrats to Tett on his first ever find! We were all honored  

> to be a part of it and his reaction was both priceless and  

> infectious. You couldn't have asked for a better stone, really.  

> Beautiful piece ad the Buzzard definitely got him buzzed to find  

> many more.

>

> Congrats to Patrick Herrmann for finding some exceptional stones as  

> well. That day our little gridding group was like a meteorite  

> conveyor belt cranking one out every 5 minutes or so. It is sad to  

> see the machinery getting prepped to mutilate the field, but it is  

> planting time and farmer's have to farm.

>

> Rob and I noted a few strange firsts (for us) during this trip. They  

> are:

>

> Finding meteorite within 2 minutes of arrival at strewnfield.

> Finding meteorite while tying shoe-lace.

> Finding meteorite under water.

> Finding meteorite embedded in cow dung.

> Park car, open door to find meteorite.

> Park car, get out, find one meteorite at the back of car and one at  

> the front.

>

> We noticed four (very) elderly folks walking the roads dragging  

> magnet canes across the gravel and stopped to talk. It became  

> quickly obvious that they had no idea what they were looking for  

> when they asked if the gravel dust on the bottom of their magnets  

> was the meteorite. We didn't have any stones with us at the moment  

> so Rob and I decided to hop into the field and see if we could find  

> a stone to show them what they look like. We looked at our watch to  

> time how quickly we could find a meteorite and within about 4 steps  

> and under 30 seconds we found a stone. We quickly ran back to the  

> elderly group and presented them with their first rock from space.  

> The reactions were unforgettable. 4 more meteorite hunters born in  

> their 70's and warm, fuzzy feelings for everyone. We dubbed this the  

> 'Karma Stone' as it led to a chain of events taking us to a very  

> fruitful area that we wouldn't have hunted had that not happened.

>

> Some notes on this magnificent fall:

>

> Many of the stones are exceptionally fresh. Some with no visible  

> oxidation. The snow has had little effect on the material and this  

> is, in part, due to the constant very dry air moving across them.  

> Even the stone found under water looked good. Meteorites found on  

> top of vegetation looked like they fell that same day. Meteorite in  

> contact with the soil, especially with broken surfaces, showed the  

> most oxidation. The stone I found in the dung was broken in half  

> with the exposed interior facing up, but had no visible oxidation.  

> Apparently, cow poo has some anti-oxidizing properties :) Lots of  

> flow lines on pieces, which is not so typical for H-type crust.

>

> Another magical life experience on the books.

>

> Mike Bandli

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: "tett" <tett at rogers.com>

> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com

> Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 4:21:20 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific

> Subject: [meteorite-list] Buzzard

>

> Hello List,

>

> I have just returned from Buzzard Coulee after 4 exhausting days of

> travel and meteorite hunting. It was wonderful to experience the

> Prairies and to hunt with other meteorite enthusiasts. Hunted with

> friends from the Royal Ontario Museum, Patrick Herrmann, Rob Wessel  

> and

> Mike Bandli.

>

> All of us were successful. Mike and Rob took me under there wings the

> first day out and shortly after starting with them I found a 90 gram

> individual with over 90% crust. I was on cloud 9! This stone turned

> out to be the largest our small group was going to find. After giving

> half of my haul back to the land owner, as payment for rights to  

> hunt, I

> came home with just under 1/4 kilo (12 individuals). Will post some

> pictures soon.

>

> The plows are now working and it looks like the farmer's fields will  

> be

> tilled any day now. However, there is much woodland to be searched and

> I am sure many fine specimens are waiting to be found. The woodlands

> will be extremely tough to search and it will take much more work to

> find anything compared to our field hunting. They may even prove

> impossible to search.

>

> Having walked over 50 km in 2 full days and 2 half days I now have a

> greater appreciation for how difficult it is to hunt for these

> treasures. Buzzard Coulee was easy compared to many and it still took

> about 3 km of walking (on average) before finding a stone. I don't

> think I would have been able to stand West where many hunters were  

> lucky

> to find one stone in a day.

>

> Cheers!

>

> Mike (tett) Tettenborn

> Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada

> ______________________________________________

> http://www.meteoritecentral.com

> Meteorite-list mailing list

> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com

> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

> ______________________________________________

> http://www.meteoritecentral.com

> Meteorite-list mailing list

> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com

> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list