Tips for How to Rockhound in Heavily Hunted Areas

Not finding ANYTHING at your local rockhounding spot? Sometimes it can be frustrating when you go out to your favorite rock collecting area and you don't find anything that brings a smile to your face. I get tons of emails from people wanting to know of "better" spots or my exact GPS location. I can tell you that I am out at my local area public river gravel access locations almost always. What I find that I need to do is "look smarter." I tried to put together a quick video with tips on smarter rockhounding when you are out on gravel bars.

As you will see, I am at a quite busy public recreation area. However, I found the MOST INCREDIBLE colorful jasper I believe I have ever found thus far in my rockhounding hunts.


Are you looking to do some rockhounding in Montana?
Here are some links to some Montana rockhounding resources:

Rockhounding In Montana (Where To Go and What You Can Find!)
by Rock Seeker:
https://www.rockseeker.com/rockhoundi...

Montana Rockhounding Location Guide & Map by Mike Rhea, a professional geologist:
https://rockhoundresource.com/montana...

Here's an Amazon link to a great Montana rockhounding guide:
https://amzn.to/3Bv3fIS

Looking to learn about Yellowstone River agates? This is a publication from 1972 by a man named Paul Fry. This was the very first literature I read when I was learning about Montana agates. It is called "Meanderings of a Montana Rockhound" and it is priceless:

https://pdf4pro.com/view/meanderings-...

Here is another page with great information on Montana Agates by Jim Landon called "Montana Agate: The Best Catch on the Yellowstone River" :

https://www.rockngem.com/montana-agat...

For all those asking, I do not sell my rocks. As my supply permits, I do rock trades. So, if you have some nice specimens you think I would like to add to my collection, we can trade via any size flat rate post office box. Or, if you are an artist or have something else you think I would like, that's an option too! Please be patient as I have lots of emails and sometimes miss some. If you are wanting to purchase some Montana rocks, I have listed the Stores below of two fellow Montana Rockhounds KatyDidRocks and Theo Kellison, great friends of mine.

As far as places I rockhound, greater than 95% of the time I utilize PUBLIC fishing access spots on the Yellowstone river. KatyDidRocks has a great book out on all the places us Montana rockhounds like to go on the Lower Yellowstone River:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1089523180