[meteorite-list] Hunters?

From: Michael Farmer <farmerm_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:25:40 2004
Message-ID: <01e001c31a36$9e3167e0$8e31ef42_at_computer>

Just to clarify, what makes you think that I only hunt known strewnfields? I
just listed some of the more remote far off places I have flown to in order
to show the willingness to go anywhere as opposed to only flying to Chicago
for a couple days like some of my competitors. I have hunted cold more times
than I can count. Unfortunately I have yet to find a new meteorite all to
myself.
Well, Ill keep trying.
Mike Farmer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michel Franco" <michel_at_caillou-noir.com>
To: "Matson, Robert" <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_saic.com>
Cc: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 1:15 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Hunters?


> Hi Robert, Hi list
>
> I agree with your position, Robert.
>
> In my opinion the real hunt is when you are the first human to grab from
the
> ground a new meteorite. ( a meteorite never identified by any human
before
> as a cosmic gift)
>
> - You can either track a ( new of course ) fall on clues given by
> watchers. I recovered the Oued al Hadjar 1986 fall in 1998.
>
> - You can either prospect a favourablea area. Gold Basin , Dar Al
Gani,
> HaH , others . In these you may find meteorite that are paired with
already
> known ( and published ) meteorites. But you can also find new ones. I
found
> the first CM2 and the first CR2 of DaG, among others.
>
> For me the noblest hunt is the fall hunting. I only found one of that
kind.
> Please note that in the Oued El hadjar case, I was guided on the landing
> field by autochtones but I was the one we found the first fragment and
> showed it to the people around. After that in a couple of hours we
recovered
> 1200 g of it.
>
> I think that people going on already known strewn fields are also hunters.
> It 's easier, you can buy from a reknown dealer a specimen to adapt your
eye
> to what you will hunt, which is not at all the case for new meteorites YOU
> discover.
>
> Last point: I also think that the most difficult thing to do is to find a
> ( new of course ) favourable strewn field. In the last years I can list:
> Acfer,and some other algerian related fields, (far from the "famous"
border
> with Morocco where few really know what is going on,), Gold Basin, DaG
HaH,
> Oman. Do I miss major ones ( except Antarctica ) . The community should
> reward this ( these ?) anonymous finder who disclosed these fields. ;-).
>
> Are there more fields like that ?
>
> Best regards.
>
> Michel FRANCO
> Caillou Noir
> 100 chemin des Campènes
> 74400 Chamonix France
> http://www.caillou-noir.com
> + 33 450 53 17 57
> + 33 671 626 928
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Matson, Robert" <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_saic.com>
> To: "'Michael Farmer'" <farmerm_at_concentric.net>;
> <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 6:47 AM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Hunters?
>
>
> > Hi Mike,
> >
> > > I have to disagree Robert, I have been hunting in Burkina Faso,
Lesotho,
> > > Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Canada, Portugal and many other places, and I
> > > have found many.
> >
> > I probably should have been more clear in my definition, or at
> > least made a distinction between "cued" hunting and blind hunting.
> > There is a subtle difference between hunting the strewnfields of
> > new falls -- Thuathe (Lesotho), Bilanga (Burkino Faso), Ourique
> > (Portugal), and most recently Park Forest, and older strewnfields
> > (Holbrook, Correo, Imilac, Allende, Gold Basin, etc.), versus
> > striking out into open desert (or wherever) and making a new
> > discovery.
> >
> > I think of strewnfield-hunting as retrieval, in the sense that
> > no strewnfield is ever completely hunted out, and consequently
> > the hunter has a psychological advantage knowing that he or
> > she is not wasting their time in a possibly fruitless area.
> > Sooner or later, finds will be made. This is especially true
> > of a new fall.
> >
> > That is not to say that hunting strewnfields, new or old, is
> > an easy task. Aside from the expense and travel to far-flung
> > corners of the world, you can't just show up and expect to
> > find meteorites with no difficulty. It is a skill that is
> > acquired, as I'm sure you will attest from your own experiences
> > around the world.
> >
> > But making new finds (or being the first to discover a meteorite
> > from a new fall -- e.g. Neuschwanstein) requires another notch
> > of commitment and a completely new set of skills. You don't
> > know what your quarry looks like, and you don't know where,
> > when or even if you will find it. About all you DO know is
> > *how* you'll go about it.
> >
> > I see in the latest Meteoritical Bulletin that a new meteorite
> > find is credited to you: Pitino (H5) from Argentina. So if I'm
> > reading the Table 1 correctly, then you *are* a meteorite hunter
> > in the purest sense of the term, and I stand corrected.
> >
> > Congrats!
> > Rob
> >
> >
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>
>
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Received on Wed 14 May 2003 12:33:55 PM PDT