Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Invitin us for a doggie roast? I've got a slight touch of pyromania in my blood, nothing like a good burn going. From the pics it looks like it'd burn now
Stone Branch, build it, they will come.
- Thread starter George
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George
Well-Known Member
I scheduled an appointment with my forester for the first day of winter. He spent the month of November down in Hazard county working on 50 fires.
I don't want to bare my soil this early in the winter, that is why I say burn in March. Some more of those sticks might burn if I wait a few months.
G
George
Well-Known Member
Sometimes, an 18 acre ditch can seem like a lot of trees to kill.
Freezing nights and warm temperatures during the day will put an end to hack and squirt in the maples and I still have a lot of maples to deal with. Most of the upper rim of the ditch to the west borders up with land that no one hunts, and for the most part, no one goes, but me.
I would rather turn maple thickets into maple food plots anyhow and this is a good spot to do so.
G
Freezing nights and warm temperatures during the day will put an end to hack and squirt in the maples and I still have a lot of maples to deal with. Most of the upper rim of the ditch to the west borders up with land that no one hunts, and for the most part, no one goes, but me.
I would rather turn maple thickets into maple food plots anyhow and this is a good spot to do so.
G
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Merry Christmas G. Keep up the good work.
George
Well-Known Member
Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you, Steve.
Forester Bill was out today and thinking grouse might be coming back when he looked at what I did. He was speculating what the deer might think too. $5,166 pay day on this unit. Not a bad job 57.5 hours, works out to about $90/hr.
G
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Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
You've got a good brand there. I've got a Stihl blower but I've mostly switched to using Milwaukee battery blowers. Is that thing for prescribed fire ignition?
weekender21
Well-Known Member
Those things are awesome! I’m sure you’ll put it to good use on those fire breaks.
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George
Well-Known Member
My contract with the feds stipulates that I need to have the first unit completed by this year. I have completed units F, A, C, and D for a total of 68 acres which is half of the contracted 136 acres. I should have the 7 year contract completed this year.
3 days ago I started up the ditch on the southwest end of the unit.
With colder day time temperatures, the sap has stopped flowing so I am back to hack and squirt on the steeper slopes.
Yesterday I worked my way up to the top of the ditch while feeling crud starting in my chest and fevering. Covid was one of the gifts that my Loved One in Michigan gave me for Christmas. Today started out a rain day so I had a good excuse not to be up there. I'll be back at it tomorrow.
At the top of that ditch I have about an acre of maples that I killed with garlon 2 years ago. Sunlight can get to the ground but in the absence of fire, not much has changed up there.
G
3 days ago I started up the ditch on the southwest end of the unit.
With colder day time temperatures, the sap has stopped flowing so I am back to hack and squirt on the steeper slopes.
Yesterday I worked my way up to the top of the ditch while feeling crud starting in my chest and fevering. Covid was one of the gifts that my Loved One in Michigan gave me for Christmas. Today started out a rain day so I had a good excuse not to be up there. I'll be back at it tomorrow.
At the top of that ditch I have about an acre of maples that I killed with garlon 2 years ago. Sunlight can get to the ground but in the absence of fire, not much has changed up there.
G
George
Well-Known Member
Yesterday, covid be damn.
Today,
bringing sunlight to the ground for my timber rattlers.
Up top back into the oaks, the maples are running sap, lots of maples to kill with fire and saw to make a maple food plot.
I'm going to cut the maples up and down the face of the ditch.
G
Today,
bringing sunlight to the ground for my timber rattlers.
Up top back into the oaks, the maples are running sap, lots of maples to kill with fire and saw to make a maple food plot.
I'm going to cut the maples up and down the face of the ditch.
G
George
Well-Known Member
I did do some sawing on the mid-slope,
but with cooler temperatures this weekend, maples were again sucking up the special sauce.
I'll be finishing up unit E in a day or two and getting ready for fire. I called forester Bill this morning but he is out celebrating MLK day.
G
George
Well-Known Member
This was my hill scramble yesterday, about the last 3 acres of unit E left to do.
I really like this spot up here, I killed some big red maples like one behind Spike.
In the absence of fire there aren't many places where pitch pine can regenerate in these hills. I was looking around for a buck bed
and there it was 10 foot over to my right.
I made it to about 80 yards from the top before my spray bottle froze up.
G
I really like this spot up here, I killed some big red maples like one behind Spike.
In the absence of fire there aren't many places where pitch pine can regenerate in these hills. I was looking around for a buck bed
and there it was 10 foot over to my right.
I made it to about 80 yards from the top before my spray bottle froze up.
G
dogghr
Well-Known Member
You dealing w mostly soft or hard maple George? Certainly have a bunch. I leave them go or hinge cut them as deer really like the leaves and browse. But unlike you mine are quite random. I’m anxious to see regrowth of my logging. So far it’s mainly been hard mast sprouts which is probably helped by my leaving 1-2 mature oak trees/ ac. Keep up the good work
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George
Well-Known Member
Thanks dogghr, probably 6 to 1, red to sugar maple. I like maple for browse also, hinge, and cut mineral stumps. I made 6 acre of maple food plot in the adjoining unit. In this unit while the maples were sucking juice I was feeding it to them. There will be a lot of small maples left to resprout after fire.
G
George
Well-Known Member
I had a guy on youtube, Purpose-Filled Habitat, yesterday morning, tell me his second biggest reason that I have poor winter habitat is because I kill trees hack and squirt and run fire through. A huge mistake that I have made especially over a large scale. I should be hinge cutting everything. He is obviously a Jeff Sturgis fan/customer as Sturgis is known for bad mouthing the use of fire. This guys says oh sure people show summer pictures with all of the great herbaceous growth but they don't show wintertime pictures with poor woody browse. They don't?
Okay, they don't. the guy is completely wrong in promoting the idea that fire doesn't create the best woody browse.
Here is a 2 acre area that I originally turned into a hinge cut. Now I know that the experts will say that I don't know how to do hinge cutting correctly, but I was disappointed in the lack of deer usage that this 2 acre hinge cut received from deer within. Deer mostly browsed the maple around the perimeter of the cut. This past spring I went in and cut off most of the hinge cut maples and ran fire through it and now I have a 2 acre winter food plot. I see a lot of experts on youtube that have a lot to learn about deer habitat.
Another thing that I did this past spring was finish up making deer habitat along the east edge of my property and ridge line, then I closed my east access road off to traffic and gave it to the deer.
Now I have a cluster of rubs for the first time all along the closed road up on the ridge top.
G
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