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Rant: I used to just dig stuff up in my backyard, now I spend 3 hours logging coordinates on my phone before I even touch a trowel
When I got into this hobby around 2016 I did what most people do, walked creek beds near my place in Ohio and picked up whatever looked old, arrowheads mostly, and threw them in a shoebox. These days I can't make a move without pulling out my phone, dropping a pin, snapping 6 photos from different angles, and writing down depth and soil color in a notes app before anything comes out of the ground. Part of that is the honest stuff, I learned real fast that context is everything after I found out a point I dug up was basically worthless to anyone studying it because I couldn't say where it came from. But the other part is that every Facebook group and forum jumps down your throat if you post a find with no info, so now I document like I'm writing a report for a museum. Took me 40 minutes last Saturday just to log a broken scraper that turned out to be nothing. I get why it matters, I really do, but sometimes I miss just walking and looking. Anyone else feel like the record keeping has taken over the actual hunting?
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hannahcraig1d ago
Why does every broken scraper need a full blown crime scene report though? Sounds like the groups got in your head and now you're doing busywork to please strangers on the internet. If it's a busted rock that turned out to be nothing, log it in 30 seconds and move on, nobody's grading you. The context thing makes sense for real finds, but acting like every random chip needs six photos and soil notes is overkill. Half those Facebook group rules are just old guys power tripping anyway, not actual science. Go back to walking and looking and only pull out the phone when something's actually worth it.
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