# Bottle digging ethics?



## bottlebabe07 (Mar 9, 2007)

I was wondering what kind of ethics everyone has. I have taken friends to bottle digging spots of mine and they sneak back without me. I have not been able to find a digging budy that I can trust. I dont think there are any.I was just wondering if this was normal . I may be blowing this out of proportion. Has any one else had this problem. What is everyones opinion on this subject.I prefer to dig alone because of this.I have just about givin up on the whole thing.
    Lets hear your stories.[]


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## Jim (Mar 9, 2007)

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Although 99% of us bottle lovers are good, honest people, there are always a few bad seeds. The best advice I can give you is to find someone that you know and trust, and take them digging if they show an interest.

 I have a very small, select crew of guys that I will dig and share sites with. Mainly just my main digging buddy, but we occasionally will bring someone else. I don't like to exclude people and keep secrets, but I know what can happen if just one person gets greedy, or if too many people find out where you are finding good bottles. Even non-collectors can be a problem if they see an opportunity to score some $$. So, I don't announce to too many people where I dig. ~Jim


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## GuntherHess (Mar 9, 2007)

Either people are honest or they arent. Doesnt matter if its digging or working on your house or whatever. Sounds like you are just hanging with the wrong people. Keep try, but dont take they to the good spots till they prove trustworthy. 


 ...edit... sorry I just read that back and it sounds like a fortune cookie...its been a long day...[]


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## tiqhuntr (Mar 10, 2007)

bottlebabe07;   Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Sadly, it is a fact of life, you have to establish trust BEFORE you take anyone to a choice site. One of the ways that I have noticed who can and can't be trusted is to trade sites. you take them to one and the next time it is there turn to provide the site. The quality of the site will let you know something about them. I have lost a few sites over the years. However,  I  have gained some good friends and digging partners which outweigh the bad ones many times over. Hang in there, you will find that buddy and your digging fun will be so much better. I just got back from my first dig in many years, I'm 59, did not make a killing but hanging around this site and seeing what others are finding rekindled the old desire to get out there and start looking again. Now all I need is the digging buddy to hang around with also. Good luck in your future hunts.


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## bottlebabe07 (Mar 10, 2007)

Thanks for all of the nice replies. I think this is a great Hobby. I think that the back stabbers dont truely enjoy it the way honest people do. They are just ruining it for themselves. If that is what it takes for them to be happy I guess you will have that.I enjoy finding places to dig as much as the digging. I like the challenge and the scouting. I guess there are low lifes in every hobby and form of life.


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## zanes_antiques (Mar 10, 2007)

It's tough to dig privies and wells alone.... I find it's better to play well with others and share. There are plenty of places to dig. The only unethical digging is that which is without the owner's permission.
    I have taken plenty of diggers to my holes and they have added to their collections nicely. Very few of these people I have taken to my holes take me to theirs. If you are not greedy and try to dig in multiple places then there's enough to go around. I know nine times out of ten the digger showing the spot doesn't have proper permission or it is a dump many diggers have dug over the years then it's fair game for all who know it's whereabouts. One or two guys can't dig out a spot in one day. 
    I know if I find a guy digging in a large dump when I get there it just means good company for the day. That's just my opinion.


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## tombstone (Mar 10, 2007)

Take a kid digging.  They love to get out and "treasure hunt".  It introduces them to a great hobby, gets them out in the sunshine and fresh air, provides exercise, and you can teach them the ethics.


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## IRISH (Mar 10, 2007)

It can be hard to find decent people to get out and dig with, if you dig with as many people as you can and weed out the untrustworthy and those you just plain don't like in time you will form a small group you can trust.

 The group of diggers I often go with is a good example, we are all serious collectors chasing big money items yet there is no jelousy, backstabbing etc. and we can all trust each other with even the best sites out there. Also even when there is bugger-all coming out we still have good company.
 I've dug with plenty of dodgy people who have done the wrong thing by me and others, I just never dig with them again (there loss not mine). It just takes time to get a good group of friends together to dig with [] .


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## bottlenutboy (Mar 10, 2007)

well consider yourselves lucky...no one in my area like digging bottles....if im lucky my little brother will occasionally go scratch around with me......im all alone here.....i think it also makes it harder to find somewhere to dig i dont like walking through the woods alone its boring....so i dont get to get out and dig much.....i think it would be just great if i had someone to dig with here.....


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## RICKJJ59W (Mar 10, 2007)

I dig with one guy, Paul a guy I work with, we have an understanding and  it works out great! that's why I cant see 4  5  6  guys digging a pit to many! We dug a 22 footer in 2005 just him and I it took a month but we had a blast, got over 600 bottles to, you said a (friend) snuck back to the pit and dug? that's no friend, that's a bum, 2 is the magic number for digging privies, for me any way Rick.


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## bottlebabe07 (Mar 10, 2007)

Rick sounds like you got a good friend. I think if you introduce someone to a digging spot they should not go back without your permission. I also think if they do they are a low life snake. They can use anything as an excuse but its still wrong. With ethics like that they have no friends and that is sad. I also think it will catch up with them in time because I write them off as a person for life.


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## bottlebabe07 (Mar 10, 2007)

I am going to dig a pit in the morning with a new digger I hope its a good day. Thanks.


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## epgorge (Mar 10, 2007)

I have never dug with anyone. I have done it alone for many years. I use to bring my son along when he was young, back when he was still thinking with his big head.

 Joel


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## bottlebabe07 (Mar 10, 2007)

Thats funny Joel.[]


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## epgorge (Mar 10, 2007)

aYup, funny, but sad. In more ways than one.[]
 Joel


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## logueb (Mar 10, 2007)

Like Joel, I dig alone. I have dug in dumps where everybody's telling their friends who tell their friends. You get the picture.  I once had a digging partner and we had a blast. Unfortunately he got out of digging bottles and went into depression glass.  Since then its just been me. The wife and kids (both grown) never got into bottles.  The son used to go some. It would be great to have adigging partner again, but I don't know any that I would trust.


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## JOETHECROW (Mar 10, 2007)

Hmmmm, I know where you're coming from...lost a wonderful 1870~1900 dump that way, back in the eighties....(It's STILL closed) we used to go in and dig discreetly and professionaly,...came back one day to huge multiple posted signs and crater like holes w/ ladders going down them...found alot of decent bottles smashed as well (money diggers) I've never thought too much of that practice either. (people smashing common/lesser bottles)..It makes me cringe...                                       Joe


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## Jim (Mar 10, 2007)

I'm with you there, Joe. Fortunately, I have never had a dump destroyed or been kicked out because idiots trashed a place. I was lucky to learn early not to tell a lot of people. There's no reason to bust things up and make a hell of a mess. I like to leave places better than I found them if possible.

 I did smash a common one time out of pure disgust. It was a CLOROX bottle that had broken a nice milk bottle from my home street! The milk was lying right on top of the Clorox, broken in the hole. I could have cried, so I had to "avenge" the milk by "killing" the Clorox []. ~Jim


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## JOETHECROW (Mar 11, 2007)

Hey Jim....Yeah,.....clorox, well _someday_ someone'll want em', I guess, but I'm talking about atwood's and pepto~m~g's, bromos and rumfords even...I figure if they survived that long buried,...they probably deserve to live on in someones window....[&:] Your home STREET? I'd say that clorox had to die too...[]


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## Jim (Mar 11, 2007)

Yes sir, my home street..Highland Avenue Dairy. One of the toughest Mifflin County milk bottles to find. I have the half-pint, but this was a big, beautiful quart []. Although I never would sell it, it would have been a $300-400 bottle around here.

 What kind of (expletive deleted) jerk would smash a Rumford?!? Common, yes, but a beautiful bottle. Even the BIM Bromos have some character and a nice color. I'm glad most of us have a little more appreciation than that [&o]. ~Jim


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## epgorge (Mar 11, 2007)

> It would be great to have adigging partner again, but I don't know any that I would trust.


 
 We should get together and dig. We would be digging with one eye on each other.[][&:][]

 Joel


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