A few habitat pics I thought you might enjoy

[BrushyPines]

Looks like your trapping is paying off! A nice flock you've got there!

 

[Bill]

three months into retirement and you'll be wondering how the heck you ever worked....

 

[Native Hunter]

three months into retirement and you'll be wondering how the heck you ever worked....

I think you are right Bill. I already know a few things that will be keeping me busy.

 

[g squared 23]

I ran the chainsaw today and it was so awesome. Soon you’re going to be able to do so whenever the heck you want.


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[Neahawg]

Congratulations on retirement I've got a ways to go still.

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[Native Hunter]

3-12-22 Update:
I've been spending quite a bit of time recently doing the following things:

• Cutting some firewood for my mom
• Transplanting a bunch of different shrubs to various locations (mostly red osier dogwood, arrowwood viburnum, hazelnuts and a few other miscellaneous)
• Planting some sandbar willow sticks at the edge of a swampy place where I want some screening
• Continuing to work a little on repairing property line fences
• Direct seeding chinkapin nuts

I've hauled her two big loads and have two more stacked and ready to haul

When you get a root ball like this and plant when dormant, your shrubs will live.

I'm getting some good sized chinkapins now:

I got my scions cut this year just in time. It's already too late to gather pear scions. They have already broken buds here.

This is my first attempt at willow growing. We will see how it works. I need some screening at this spot, but it's too wet for most other stuff to grow.

I can now plant a lot of bigger shrubs without protecting them, because they have become so numerous on my land. Many will be browsed, but it won't be enough to hurt them.

At the places where I mowed down the native grass strips earlier this year, I now have turkeys coming in. I plan on doing some hunting if all goes as planned.

My 87 year old dad gave me a gift the other day. He said he bought a used vehicle when he was a teenager, and this hatchet was under the seat. It's a Montgomery Ward. Cool old piece.

That's about it for now guys. I will be part time working by the end of April and gradually retiring soon after that. Take Care.

 

[buckdeer1]

Looking good,cool story about the hatchet

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Congrats on the retirement, Native!!! Nice pics too. Sounds like you'll be busy.
Question on the firewood. I saw sycamore in that one pile. How does that burn for firewood? Does it last a long time in a stove?
God Bless your retirement years!!

 

[Native Hunter]

Congrats on the retirement, Native!!! Nice pics too. Sounds like you'll be busy.
Question on the firewood. I saw sycamore in that one pile. How does that burn for firewood? Does it last a long time in a stove?
God Bless your retirement years!!

Thanks Bows. Sycamore is a medium density wood. I rate it much better firewood than soft maple but not the quality of oak. The best thing to do is burn the sycamore when you need a hot fire more quickly but save the oak to hold fire through the night.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

A genuine thank-you, Native. Nice of you to respond. I've never burned sycamore, so had no idea of its value as firewood. I've been burning mostly white, red, and chestnut oak, red maple, some ash, and a bit of hickory over the years. A local firewood dealer right down the road has a mixed bag of wood, but I saw he has sycamore in his piles too. I wondered how it burned.

Thanks for the info!!

 

[Knehrke]

You are living the dream! This is one of the best times of year for management-minded folks...I know I have big lists, little time, and loving it every time I can break away. Working in the woods sans mosquitoes is very, very nice. And everything still has mad potential.

 

[Native Hunter]

I've not posted in this thread for a while, but I have been very busy with habitat work - planting lots of shrubs and doing some screening.

Below are some of the willow cuttings planted this spring coming to life:

The red osier dogwoods I planted have come to life as well:

Had to take a break and screw down my son's barn roof

Starting turkey hunting tomorrow:

A late holder:

It looks like I'm headed for an incredible fruit set this year:

Enjoying the e-bike:

Thanks for looking. Will check back in soon - hopefully with a turkey.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Good luck with the tbirds.

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[Tree Spud]

Enjoying the e-bike:

Thanks for looking. Will check back in soon - hopefully with a turkey.

Looking good Easy rider

 

[Native Hunter]

My 100 acre place got hit by a tornado last night. I have a terrible mess but still feel blessed. Also, I haven't heard of any neighbors hurt or any that lost their homes, so that is a relief. My fields are laying full of trees and I have bad damage in one area of the woods. However, my tower blind is just fine and most of my best trees are not hurt. I'm looking at weeks of cleanup but still very grateful. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

 

[SWIFFY]

Oh that's awful! Extreme weather all over these days. Glad you are ok and it looks like you'll have some more good firewood for a while now!

God bless

 

[BenA]

Hate to hear that Steve. Very thankful y'all are safe though.

 

[blueKYstream]

Wow, I'm glad that noone was hurt in the tornado! Sorry to hear about the damage. I hope the cleanup goes well.

We had one go through my property several years back and take out a barn roof with some equipment and took out a shooting house. A couple weeks later another twister came and took another barn roof off the adjacent property we own. Fortunately, it was also just property damage in the area.

 

[Bill]

That s..ks.
But maybe someone else decided they had a better bedding area to create.

Tell us the fruit and nut trees all made it just fine.

 

[Native Hunter]

That s..ks.
But maybe someone else decided they had a better bedding area to create.

Tell us the fruit and nut trees all made it just fine.

Thanks Bill. Most of the fruit and nut trees are just fine, but a big part of the white pines near the road are a twisted mess. I will open up passage ways through them and just let them rot where they lay. As vegetation grows back, I will manage it and maybe even set tall shrubs to replace the pines in some spots. At other spots I will just kill the trees that sprout up and have some nice blackberry patches. I’m very thankful that the areas with the best trees and shrubs was spared.