Cabin fever is setting in and looking to find a local digging partner around Ottawa

[kissmyglass]

Hello all,
Not sure if bylaw will frown upon digging, creek walking or metal detecting but I have to ask.
The cabin fever is setting in and looking to find a local digging partner around the Ottawa area. Self-isolating is definitely not going away anytime soon but was wondering about doing some research along with some covert searching for dumps/privies or creek searching. I've got my probe, shovel, hip waders and if all things fail I have metal detectors ready to go! Regardless I see no problem with finding and setting up a time and place in the future. I'm open to discussion and ideas if you want to contact me.
Take care and happy hunting! Wayne Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

 

[CanadianBottles]

Hi Wayne, I might be in Ottawa over the summer, not sure at this point. Bylaw definitely does frown upon bottle digging in the central city where all the interesting bottles are, unfortunately. I'm curious about privy digging, I've never heard of anyone doing it in Ottawa, not sure what the privies there would be like. For some reason it doesn't seem to have caught on in Canada the same way it did in the States, not sure if that's due to a difference in the privies here or not.

I don't know if you know about this site or not, but the city of Ottawa was kind enough to provide a map of all known dumps in the city, along with their dates of operation. https://open.ottawa.ca/datasets/former-landfills?geometry=-76.152,45.305,-75.226,45.474 Most of these sites are off-limits now, but some of them can still be accessed with a bit of difficulty.

 

[kissmyglass]

Hi Wayne, I might be in Ottawa over the summer, not sure at this point. Bylaw definitely does frown upon bottle digging in the central city where all the interesting bottles are, unfortunately. I'm curious about privy digging, I've never heard of anyone doing it in Ottawa, not sure what the privies there would be like. For some reason it doesn't seem to have caught on in Canada the same way it did in the States, not sure if that's due to a difference in the privies here or not.

I don't know if you know about this site or not, but the city of Ottawa was kind enough to provide a map of all known dumps in the city, along with their dates of operation. https://open.ottawa.ca/datasets/former-landfills?geometry=-76.152,45.305,-75.226,45.474 Most of these sites are off-limits now, but some of them can still be accessed with a bit of difficulty.

Thank you so much for the map info, Like you said Ottawa is capped to death with all the good sites covered. I do have a great spot but, you have to dig on the super lay low. Should you ever swing by Ottawa after this corona stint I can take you and we can dig. Trust me it's good. No common as corn flakes BROMO bottles in this area! The latest stuff is 1920's and as early as the late 1800"s.

 

[CanadianBottles]

Sounds like a pretty good spot! Wondering if I know where it is, I can think of a few great spots where the authorities definitely don't like people digging. Pretty hesitant to go near those since my job often has me working with NCC people, I definitely don't want to get on their bad side. I know the dump by the St Patrick Street bridge was recently capped with rip-rap, never dug there but found plenty of interesting stuff just from walking along the shores there.

 

[kissmyglass]

Sounds like a pretty good spot! Wondering if I know where it is, I can think of a few great spots where the authorities definitely don't like people digging. Pretty hesitant to go near those since my job often has me working with NCC people, I definitely don't want to get on their bad side. I know the dump by the St Patrick Street bridge was recently capped with rip-rap, never dug there but found plenty of interesting stuff just from walking along the shores there.

Your on the right track for digs and river area can be a very hot spot. I have my hip waders ready. I myself work in a goverment job, I look at it this way, if it aint posted no digging it's fair game. I always respect the area I dig and fill my holes clean. It's the difference between complaints and none. I have used a reflective contruction vest to give the appearance of a city contractor and with keeping clean I usually don't even get a second look. Around here you have to be creative and the more open you are about it I find even police think " city workers digging lines or pipes.

 

[Matt halliday]

Hey there. Im from the valley about 45 mins an hr away from ottawa. Very new to bottle digging but have found a few 1920s and earlier bottles fishing the creeks in the area. Im also right along the Ottawa river and have found some shore walking around creek and river outlets to the bigger ottawa river.