A Hard Rewarding Hunt	by Bernie Fritz
Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 October Journal	West Burlington, Iowa

This excerpt from "A Hard Rewarding Hunt" published in the 2025 Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 October Journal Read the complete column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 October Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2026

Figure 1. The front face of the axe found by the author in 2019. It measures 8" in length and weighs 8 lbs. At bottom: Figure 2. The obverse face of the axe. Note the slight damage to the bit area.

I have been hunting for Indian artifacts since 1978. That was the year in which I found my first arrowhead. I hunt mainly in Des Moines County in the state of Iowa. This area has produced a myriad of artifacts representing different time periods - from Late Paleo to Mississippian. Like all avid artifact hunters, the places to hunt are diminishing considerably. I believe we all know the reason for this situation at hand. Consequently, there has been an increase in competition for those areas that are still available. I am grateful and fortunate that I have access to a site that has been quite productive. The former farmer and landowner picked up many arrowheads and axes while engaged in farming at this site. The current owner does not hunt for Indian relics but grants me the prerogative to do so. I have been hunting this field since my inception to hunting.

Like most farming operations, currently moldboard plowing is a practice of a bygone era. However, some chisel tilling does take place. This does turn some ground over. It so happens that this operation took place after the 2019 fall harvest.

The date was November 11, 2019, and being a mild day, I decided to venture out and search my favorite site. It had recently rained for a couple of days, and the field had been planted with beans, resulting in not much reside on the surface, unlike corn.

After a few minutes into my hunt I came across a large ...

 

Read other great columns in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 October Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2026