~Types Of Land in the Hell Creek Formation: Where we collect, there are 4 types of land, Private, BLM, State, and CMR. Commercial private collectors are only allowed to collect fossils on private land with land owner permission. The other three land types allow fossil collection by special permit only, which are reserved for public institutions. In the past, we needed to use topo maps that showed the land types along with a gps. Today, we just use a gps while prospecting because we have software loaded in that shows the land types along with land ownership. This tool is awesome!
~Collection Methods: We utilize three types of methods for our fossil collection on private land. First, is prospecting. This is where we go out and hike around looking for fossils exposed on the surface. This is the best way to find skeletons, though it is very rare to do so. Second, we get calls from landowners asking for us to come and see a dinosaur they have found. The third, and the main one, is channel deposit collection. This is where we find a layer that holds an abundance of animal bones that have tumbled in a river before they were fossilized. We do not find skeletons this way, but do find individual bones and teeth, some in excellent condition. (Before we collect fossils, an agreement is first made with the landowner that outlines percentages of revenue from the sale of the fossils.)

After the fossil is collected: After we collect the fossil, it must be cleaned and stabilized before it can be sold. We do sell some fossils unprepared, but not very often. We prepare the fossils in our small lab in Fort Peck, Montana. On an average year, we will prepare around 1000 fossils, from small teeth to 6 foot limb bones. We prepare the fossils following museum accepted practices. After the fossil is prepared, we sometimes mold the unique ones. This allows for copies to be made and sold to private collectors along with public institutions. High quality molds can produce replicas that can be studied. Even though the original fossil may be in a private collection, we record all information with it along with the mold. High quality replicas are very collectable because of their cost and likeness to the real fossil. At the end of the day, there are just not enough good fossils for the amount of collectors. Replicas help fill in this gap. The original fossil is then photographed, documented, and sold. We sell directly to private collectors, dealers, and public institutions. We also utilize ebay for many sales. We maintain a store through ebay that offers a variety of fossils and replicas we have collected over the years.