Old Lumber Camp Dig

[grdigger35]

This past hunting season I came across an old 1870's-`1880's lumber camp. There are many large trees now grown up and numerous saplings all around. I found an old black glass case gin bottle and broken bottles all in one area. How do I dig in this mess? It's hard to probe because of all the roots and I don't want to just jam a spade in and start turning dirt. Thank you in advance for any help you may have.

 

[IRISH]

Old sawmill camps (as we call them here) can be very hard to dig although some just have the bottles all in a pile waiting for you to pick them up [] . If there is a gully close to the camp they often put stuff in the closest point, the tip will very seldom be more than a few meters from the camp on those sites.
There is hundreds of old mill sites in the bush near our property here and people have been digging at them for 30 years yet there is still some where the bottles have never been found. Keep on looking and good luck.

 

[grdigger35]

Thanks Irish. There is a small stream, with rather high banks, running through it. I'll give it a try from that angle, the bottles were very close to that stream. However, I'll have to wait until Spring, as there's about 2 1/2 ft. of snow over it now. Thanks again.

 

[CanadianBoy]

Lots of trees are a problem,but if you dig and cut the smaller roots in radius about 2'-3' from the tree,sometimes you can get the large trees to fall with a little bit of help.If its done right when the tree falls it usually creates a depression,and digging becomes easier.
Sometimes we dig around them in the fall and let the snow & rain do the work for us over the winter.!!
But just keep at it,& the finds will be worth it.

 

[IRISH]

The bottles are more than likely in that small stream [] .