Comprehensive Listings of Paydig's with Location Maps

[silverback]

If this site is to compare with the Austin Digger's or Texas Cashe in regard to info about paydig's, there's room for considerable improvement here.

Suggestions:
1. List every paydig in Texas with contact info, prices & a link to the location map.
2. Allow members to post to a list of each paydig to record what & when they found the artifacts.
3. Allow small photo's of the finds to be displayed with the message.

Probably a number of the active sites are just about completely dug out. It'd be helpful to ask the artifact finder how many total complete points & broken ones they found that day(s). Additionally, ask for their opinion of what percentage they think that the paydig is completely dugout.

This info would be very helpful to anyone wanting to visit a paydig from Tx or anywhere. It'd also allow the comments to be chronicled, unlike the 2 other artifact email list's that I mentioned above.
Why not think outside the box & put together some information that would exceed what's available else where?

[Mojave]

1. This is a national site, not just Texas
2. This site is already light years beyond AD or TC (with due respect to Michelle and Pat)
3. Members are already allowed, if not encouraged, to do exactly what you are suggesting. It is a FORUM.
4. Would you like the mods to dig 'em up for you too?
5. Maybe put it all on AAA or the NY Times?
I've only been doing this for a relatively short time and I have made a pretty large network of contacts and friends. Between that and all the message boards I can pretty much figure out what is what. There are at any time around a half dozen public digs in Texas (which means the entire US.) It is no state secret or underworld society keeping it from you.

Here are my opinions, for what it's worth.
a. Nacho's is great and expensive but he's nearing the end of the Barksdale dig.
b. Frio River Landing is great but is rumored to be closing soon for various reasons. You have to stay on the property.
c. Tatertot has a great operation down near Luckenbach but it has its ups and downs.
d. Rio Bravo is pretty dug out but there are still occasional good finds.
e. Oakalla Ridge is getting mixed reviews - I've never been there.
f. Palmer's Pipe Creek is still probably producing but I haven't been there in a few months. Like Chris, the Palmer's are good folk.
g. I went to Christner's once, had no luck, doubt I'll go back.
h. McWilliam's TAAA is always good but currently doesn't have a working site.
i. TJ's - no comment
j. Randy's - no comment
There are a few others that I know less about so I won't repeat the hearsay I've heard. I probably missed some too.
I don't have current prices, GPS coordinates, or guesses of what percentage I think they are dug out. It would be a meaningless opinion anyways. Phone numbers are available everywhere.
Good luck with keeping your finger on the pulse of Texas Diggin'.

[manoman]

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[Big Ed]

Originally Posted by silverback

If this site is to compare with the Austin Digger's or Texas Cashe in regard to info about paydig's, there's room for considerable improvement here.

Suggestions:
1. List every paydig in Texas with contact info, prices & a link to the location map.
2. Allow members to post to a list of each paydig to record what & when they found the artifacts.
3. Allow small photo's of the finds to be displayed with the message.

Probably a number of the active sites are just about completely dug out. It'd be helpful to ask the artifact finder how many total complete points & broken ones they found that day(s). Additionally, ask for their opinion of what percentage they think that the paydig is completely dugout.

This info would be very helpful to anyone wanting to visit a paydig from Tx or anywhere. It'd also allow the comments to be chronicled, unlike the 2 other artifact email list's that I mentioned above.
Why not think outside the box & put together some information that would exceed what's available else where?

Those are fine ideas. Especially since the whole goal of this site is to utterly destroy AD and TC!!!

Anyway, I get your overall suggestions, which can be implemented at anytime by the community at large, but I think you are suggesting something more specific... do paydigs get their own forum? or are you seeing a need for a whole new section of the website (like blog, galler, forums, etc)?

I think it's a good idea and we appreciate your ideas to help us bring about our world domination!

[silverback]

Thanks for the feedback so far! As I mentioned, there is no place a person can go to review a specific site chronologically. Sure, I could do a search for a particuliar paydig & end up with 100's of mentions of that paydig's name & of course some of it would have some good info but nothing would be compiled.
I like Mojave's review of a portion of the sites & maybe this website could enlist someone with the time, energy, etc to put together a review of all the paydig's each month. It would help if there were a Paydig Forum where folks could express their luck or lack thereof, in addition to posting pic's of their latest finds.
Yes, it might be a crossover of sorts with a few of the other forum's but it'd be a place where someone could get the latest reports of find's, a link to a map location with contact info, prices, etc. The Paydig folks might allow us to have an Arrowheadology Annual Festival of Moving Dirt, so that we could have another group meeting of collectors, diggers & those wanting to establish a "real" community where can actually meet & dig beside one another without breaking any laws. Toss it around for good measure.

[Mojave]

Ok, since you suggested tossing it about, I'll add my 3 cents. But only because I've already had a few beers, I don't have to work tomorrow, and my wife is out of town so she can't stop me.

I am surprised that anyone would think this would be useful. It is contradictory and self-defeating. Good public digs in Texas are fleeting. They typically last 6-12 months. Some more, some less. I think I am a pretty typical digger which is one that gets out maybe 6-8 times a year to dig. Now if I find a great dig where artifacts are pouring out of, the last thing I'm going to do is run home and post on an internet forum full of strangers and tell them where to go find cool stuff before I get my licks in. As a matter of fact I would venture to guess a lot of people would post dis-information to keep folks away. Or even praise sterile sites as a decoy. Then you are forced to play the mind games to figure out the truth. Then the inevitable badness happens when someone goes to a dig site based on internet posts and doesn't have a good time. It happens! That is just the way it goes. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Whether the original information was good or bad, the backlash WILL happen. I've seen people complain when they go to a site that a friend told them two years ago was great and they get mad at not finding anything. That is when you get accusations, threats, name-calling, and all the other BS that has come to define the other forums that you claim you think you have a way of improving. I had this exact conversation just last week with Pat when I was digging with her in Luckenbach.
If you are looking for someone to teach you how to dig in Texas, I'd suggest convincing yourself that this universe is not that idyllic. It is not human nature to be that nice. There's an anthropological analysis for you. Get out, make friends and contacts, see for yourself, and make decisions based on your own observations.
I don't think I've ever met any of the creators or moderators of this website in person and I promise I have no axe to grind. But that would be a section of the website I would not visit. I think Arrowheadology is a wonderful and informative place. I'd like to see it last as long as possible.

Sorry for the rant,...but you asked.

[Dirt Diggler]

Mojave nailed it. Get out and mix and mingle if you want to find out what's happening in the digging world. The real story isn't played out on line in forums. Make friends and get your hands dirty. I saw you passed on the Temple show. That was a missed opportuntiy. Good luck.

[silverback]

It's OK...if you want to poo poo the forum idea for paydig's that's fine but if it wasn't for the other 2 artifact list servers....how would anyone be able to know where to go or see what the latest finds were?
Also, why not have an Arrowheadology Annual Festival of Moving Dirt, so that we could have another group meeting (digging paty of sorts) of collectors, diggers & those wanting to establish a "real" community where can actually meet & dig beside one another without breaking any laws?

[Big Ed]

Originally Posted by silverback

why not have an Arrowheadology Annual Festival of Moving Dirt, so that we could have another group meeting (digging paty of sorts) of collectors, diggers & those wanting to establish a "real" community where can actually meet & dig beside one another without breaking any laws?

This is a great idea!

[Shannon Graham]

Originally Posted by silverback

why not have an Arrowheadology Annual Festival of Moving Dirt, so that we could have another group meeting (digging paty of sorts) of collectors, diggers & those wanting to establish a "real" community where can actually meet & dig beside one another without breaking any laws?

hmmmm.....Silverback, I like that idea.