Huge Hillside Private Farm Dump - Need Advice

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DeepSeaDan

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Greetings,
Up til now I've done all my hunting underwater, but I've been offered access to a large farm property that's been operational since 1840. The owner indicated the family has been dumping on this lengthy hillside since the 1840's. I picked an area at the base of the hillside where I thought the earliest dumping likely occurred.
I don't have a probe, so I just dug a test hole, about 4' long and about 2' deep.
:
IMG_5819.JPG


I found nothing in the hole, nor is there anything sticking out from the hillside edge of the hole. Here are some more pics of the area:
IMG_5821.JPG


I used this old wagon wheel as a guide for where to start the digging; I also walked the length of the grade, and about 100' across, newer trash was evident on the surface.
IMG_5816.JPG


Question: Should I continue down in this first test hole, or should I start testing on the slope face?

Thanks for any help you provide!

Regards,
DSD
 

Timelypicken

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Did he say when they stopped dumping their. I would look around and try to see were any glass or other trash mite be. If you have a metal detector use it to find a spot where it beeps a lot which could mean there is metal trash And bottles.
 

nhpharm

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On these hillside dumps, I walk the top of the hill and watch for glass/trash up there to get a sense of where the actual dumping took place. Usually they were just tipping a bucket to dump the trash so most of it stayed high on the hillside. It looks like a pretty stable hillside, so much of the trash should be evident close to the surface.
 

Timelypicken

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Also maybe dig right next to the wheel. It could have caught some bottles while they were going down the hill
 

Harry Pristis

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Is there a reason you haven't checked the bottom of the water body at the dump site? That's where the trash was intended to wind up, if not immediately, then eventually.
 

DeepSeaDan

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Did he say when they stopped dumping their. I would look around and try to see were any glass or other trash mite be. If you have a metal detector use it to find a spot where it beeps a lot which could mean there is metal trash And bottles.
Not specifically, he just said the entire stretch of hillside was used. It makes sense though that it would have been used left-to-right, as the left end of the hillside was closest to their farmhouse.
 

DeepSeaDan

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On these hillside dumps, I walk the top of the hill and watch for glass/trash up there to get a sense of where the actual dumping took place. Usually they were just tipping a bucket to dump the trash so most of it stayed high on the hillside. It looks like a pretty stable hillside, so much of the trash should be evident close to the surface.

So, you think I should abandon the test hole & look higher up?
 

DeepSeaDan

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Is there a reason you haven't checked the bottom of the water body at the dump site? That's where the trash was intended to wind up, if not immediately, then eventually.

No water body available to me at this location Harry - I wish there was!
 

Harry Pristis

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Your second image appears to show water -- a lake, perhaps -- at the bottom of the slope. A perceptual phenomenon, I guess.
. . . You were at the bottom of the slope looking up, and the "water" is actually sky? Must be.
 

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