Where to dig?

[gingerbeerman]

hey everyone,
my name is jay im actually the son of ginger beer man and he has recently got me intrested in this hobby this week is the first couple times i have ever gone digging. Both days i have dug two different dumps. the first it is a place where no one has ever dug but the second one you could tall has been dug many times. ym question is where is th ebest place to start? do i just walk up and start digging anywheers? do i dig in holes that have been previously dug? beside these holes? and also what are the best things to be looking for? in other wards whats the treasure and whats the junk?
The first dump i was excited becuase everytime i put the shovel in i got a bottle and i havent even gone down a foot the other place just seems like broken glass and bricks and the odd bottle , so i got kind of discouraged by this after the first day of digging. Am i on the right track for this second dump? do i just keep diggin?
i know im just rambling but i find this very exciting but what you can come across , and also the fact that i am new at this and really dont have a clue
If anyone can help me out that would be great and i would appreciate anything.
thanks,
jay

 

[CanadianBoy]

hey Jay,
I'm not sure why you would go to a dump that others have dug,when you have a VIRGIN dump at your fingertips,in this hobby a VIRGIN dump is the ULTIMATE find.
As for what to look for,well,there's lots of posts here that tell you that!!!
Are you digging for the cash reward or are you digging for the PURE fun of digging.
Sometimes its the digging,sometimes its the bottles,but really all the time its for the hobby.
Its hard to explain,its just in the blood,its the treasure hunter in all of us,in this hobby everyone can be a treasure hunter,and we are.!!!!!

 

[gingerbeerman]

Dave:
Thanks for the reply. What Jay didn't mention was the virgin dump he located appears to be mostly 40's and up bottles. What he was after was ginger beer bottles. The second dump was a major turn of the century dump where local diggers have been extracting ginger beers from for 40 + years. The digging is difficult! His question really was how far down should he have dug. The first four feet was mostly brick, broken bottles and pottery chards.Then he hit a level of burnt garbage that has solidified. After that level is what appeared to be ash, should he have kept digging. It is very hilly terrain and it's hard to tell, how far previous diggers have gone, as their holes get filled in quickly. Next time he goes out , I'll get him to take the digital and we'll post some pictures. He did find an intact perfect seal quart. On the bottom is embossed 14, is this a date code for 1914?
Kevin

 

[CanadianBoy]

Hi Kevin,
there could be lots of layers of ash,I found a couple of gingers at the 8' level,even when it seemed I had reached solid earth at the 5' level.I just kept going through 1' of clsy,and reached another ash layer.
Sounds like you guys are in the Maritimes??.

 

[gingerbeerman]

Dave :
We're in beautiful and wet saint john. JAY is so dissapointed, it is too wet to dig today. He's just off from university( you'd never tell he's fourth year, from his spelling in his post) . He starts to work next week and he's all fired up to find some of those Dolans, before that.
kevin

 

[CanadianBoy]

You guys must be fair weather diggers,with me its never too wet to dig.[8D][8|]

 

[Hannahbelle]

I've started digging in the rain as well...never used to, but this is a HORRIBLY wet spring here in Quebec, so I have no choice!
It's either that, or don't dig, and for some reason, that's not an option with me anymore...I'm getting seriously addicted!

 

[Yooper14]

I've been digging in the rain lately, too. In fact, that's how I really got into the bottles. I've been more of a metal detector for the past number of years, but when it rains detecting is really not much good, so I started digging dumps I came across while detecting. Digging in the rain is NO problem with some rain slickers and boots.
Yooper

 

[Toxic_Waste]

I am so frustrated because I am new and I do not know of any places where people can legally dig without being considered as "trespassers." In fact, I don't even know of any old dumps on private land. People who DO know just won't tell me anything, because, of course, they wish to keep their secrets. How did the rest of you find anything out? I am interested in digs in Central California and in the general Niagara region of Ontario.

 

[WhiteLighting]

Hey - a tip if your still tryin to find dumps or botts in general,..
I lived out in long beach for about a year for a few back but moved back to NY,but also noticed everything was either paved or built over down in southern cali,and the amount of arptment complexs would bggle the mind!...

but since your talkin bout the northn part of cali and such,try lookin for the old Beer's Atlas's of 1866 or the Sanboen Insuriance Maps,There is a person on ebay who sells maps of almost everywhere in the USA,and also is fast very reliable and will also send the maps via email but for a very very small fee of like 25 to 50 cents "i forget",i do know its like a buck a sheet/map though...
just go to ebay and type in "Sanborn Insuriance Maps" and if you see the name along the lines of "Senitnalman or somthing like that then you got the right guy!".........


as for tresspassing,here ya go check the local laws about soil/mineral disturbance,each county in the us has a differnt law about it and tresspassing,...
Also here in NY where i am ,you have to change the tresspass signs every 3 years or somthing or the sign is useless!!!!!,so just do a fast check..
another good way of getting info is just asking the local historian via thier website,you most likley will have one for where you want to go since your in gold territory and would have such a history documented that you first should look for that because there could be maps for free and they can most likley tell you where to look.......
or if you have a old house that pre dates the 20's,dig it!