Welcome to my guide to bone hunting~~ I hope you enjoy the read!

DISCLAIMER- I do NOT encourage the killing of animals for bones. This is a guide for roadkill/natural finds only!! IF you disagree with this, please turn away and don't read it, nothing you can say will change my hobbies!

So, you want to learn how to bone hunt? Or maybe you are just fascinated by collections you've seen other people have? Either way, this guide will help even the newest of vultures find great bones and learn to clean them!

Here are some simple rules to follow before you go looking for your own macabre treasures.

1. You must have, or are willing to acquire, a VERY strong stomach. The sights and smells can get to even the strongest of stomachs.

2. Always carry an old backpack or bag with plastic bags, gloves and/or small tins (bottles work too). this way you dont end up touching something you dont want to.

3. Sanitation is a very big deal! you can get many many diseases from rotting animals so please be cautious when touching bones with your bare hands. Keep them away from your face or open wounds!

4. Never ever ever take bones from someone's personal property without permission first. you don't want to go to jail!

5. Don't trespass to get to bones, there are others in other places!

6. Be safe! I hunt near railroad tracks and its one of the situations where I don't wear my headphones so I can hear if a train is coming.

7. BE PATIENT. Don't expect to go hunting for a few hours and make it back home with a whole collection.

8. And last but not least, do your research. Some bird bones/skulls are illegal to have in the U.S. and other countries. You dont want your hobby to become your sentence!

Now that you've gotten through those rules I'll give you some awesome tips for hunting in your area.

Cities- This is tricky, since there arent as many animals that get hit in the city as in the country. also when something dies in the city, a road crew often picks it up before it rots. Your best bet would be to look in city parks, birds, frogs and other small mamals can be found there. If there are any 'wooded' areas such as trails, venture off of them and look around. sometimes bones can be hard to spot so keep an eye out!

Country- This is where I live so I have much more experience hunting here. Check cornfields, near ponds, woods, trails, you name it! I have found bones in the oddest of places, Like near school buildings, old factories etc. Places that are less traveled will more likely have bones than someplace that has alot of traffic or walking traffic.

General Tips and Tricks for hunting!

Now that you have figured out where to go, you may need some tricks in actually finding bones.

- Bones can vary in color, size, shape and texture! I've been bone hunting for 6 or 7 years now and can spot out the difference between rock and bone pretty easily, but for the first few months you may walk right past a good bone or two. Study the texutres, colors and shapes, it'll help alot in the long run.

- Brittle bones do not a collection make! Bones that look porous or are spongey feeling cannot be saved, sad as it sounds. If you can break it with your hands then its damaged and you should avoid it.

- If there is something that is not fully rotted yet that you just have to have, take it and put it into a plastic bag, then another bag and tie it tightly until you can get it home or someplace safe. you can either macerate it or bury it! Maceration is basically boiling the flesh off of the bones, its stinky, messy and REALLY gross, so this is only for those of you who have /very/ strong stomachs. Burying it can take a while but it provides nice results.

- If you find one bone, there will likely be others in the same area unless a dying animal walked 5 miles, dropped a leg and continued walking. (not likely methinks) So look closely!

- Cleaning bones is easy as pie! All you need is an old toothbrush (firm works best) dawn dish soap and some patience. Cartilidge can be a pain to get out of joints but a pick or a knife can help dig it out. Brain cavities can be very hard to clean out from my own experience. A high pressure water hose really helps out, or a nice soak in a bucket.

- NEVER ever bleach bones. If you are that intent on having perfect white bones use a mild solution of peroxide and water. watch it closely. you can also sunbleach the bones.

- Good tools to have include- Scissors, Knife, plastic bags, bottles, tins, gloves, hand sanitizer, flashlight, boxes, old clothes so you dont get dirty, a camera and perhaps some bug-spray.

- Look EVERYWHERE I can find bones just walking down the streets at times. you never know where you'll find a great bone or two.

- Take a friend! if there are two people, you'll be sure to not miss someting! It also makes railroad tracks a safer bone hunting experience.


This concludes my short but hopefully, helpful guide to bone-hunting. If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask me and I'll answer as quickly as I can!!!