did a firewood survey today

[bigtall]

Walked around my woods today scouting for potential firewood trees. I have several already chosen in some easily accesible areas, but I went way down in the back looking for areas that would be easy to clear some trails for my tractor or four wheeler so I could haul some out.

Came across this maple that was a storm victim.

I was on the back property line and came across this monster. It is 32" diameter dead maple. Looks like a lot of punkiness in places, but I would bet there is 3/4 cord of firewood in it. I have only had my property for 2 years now, and have been back here before, but I dont know how I have missed this guy. My biggest problem now is that it is nowhere near any of the old logging roads. I could clear enough of a trail to get my tractor to it, but there are springs everywhere down in the bottom and I may not get the tractor out. So it is gonna be a lot of trips with the four wheeler, once I find a small trailer. Wish that I had quads set up, and all his trails too.

Another dead maple. This time right next to an old logging road. Can drag it out with the tractor and boom.

I find these nests all the time. They are always 6'-8' off the ground. It was 26 degrees and light snow, so nothing swarming.

And I never go out into the woods without my friend. We have lots of coyotes, and it is still deer season until Jan 1.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

So it's always coyote season?

 

[bigtall]

Yes. They wreak havoc around here on newborn calfs and pets. Although I dont think that they get a deer to often, they do run them off. When I say we have a lot, it is a very conservative statement.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

So you've lost newborn calves to them?

 

[bigtall]

Yes. When a cow is calving they will sit inside the tree line and as soon as the calf drops they will run out and attack it. The mother cow will always try to protect it, but at that point she can't do much. I have seen a coyote trying to get at a two week old calf and the mother was "dancing" between them keeping the coyote from getting it and eventually ran off when it saw me. I have also lost a pet cat to a coyote, and have recently seen them in my backyard. With three old dogs and a three year old daughter running around, I prefer not to have predators near them.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I have lost a cat to a car.

 

[Freeheat]

Nice side arm , what caliber 357??

 

[bigtall]

Redhawk .41 magnum

 

[cptoneleg]

So you've lost newborn calves to them?

I dought it just a reason for Wyatt Earp to tote : is your chicken O K ??

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I dought it just a reason for Wyatt Earp to tote : is your chicken O K ??

I can't really decipher your meaning, but I have or have had livestock, pets, and kids. I have spent hundreds of nights alone in coyote dense forests. I know an extensive amount about their biology and their predatory habits. I also have a freezer full of venison. I'm not the naive kitten about this issue that you might think I am. Keep your stock better guarded. Keep your cats indoors. There's plenty of deer for everyone. There are also plenty of rodents to eat up to 25% of cultivated grains and pass on disease. Rodents happen to the favorite food of coyotes.

 

[bigtall]

I understand and respect your thougts and ideas on this Kathleen, and I am pretty well educated on Wiley. I was looking at some coyote scat today, and as is usual, it was largely composed of rodent hair. It was also about 15 yards behind my daughters playset. 99% of the time when they see a human, they will run away. But I have walked out my back door to see one in the cattle pen, and when the screen door slammed shut, he looked up at me for a minute then continued to mingle amongst the cows looking for??? Whatever it was, he never found it. I am not one to kill something for the sake of killing. They are a pretty serious problem here. 20 years ago they were not even found in these parts. A few years back the local US Forest Service representative came out to look at some old long leaf pines as a part of a study that they were doing. He shared a story with me of being in the woods with several of them following about 35 yards behind him. All he had was a cell phone. He called the landowner who luckily was on site with a four wheeler and hauled butt to where he was.

As for my cat, he stays outside. The dogs have it made. I sold the last head of cattle in 05'.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I am not one to kill something for the sake of killing.

That's all I need to hear. I understand keeping watch over your own and taking care of business. ftr, when I said "your" I meant that collectively.

 

[cptoneleg]

Yes 10-4 on the coyote, great guys like the buzzard, mostly scavengers, Gew up on cattle ranch , just belive they don't do all that much attack kill. When I was a kid my dad hunted coyotes with greyhound dogs (1950's) and a goverment man would come by and purchase the ears as bounty. He would usually bait by dragging a cow calf etc. that had died to the middle of a weat
field, load dogs up run up with spotlight , dogs jump out chase kill coyote.

I was just commenting on the reason to show off a beautiful pistol, and that you had changed your avatar. While thowing logs on my stove and having a totty and chatting with friends here at hearth .com stay warm.

.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I was just commenting on the reason to show off a beautiful pistol, and that you had changed your avatar. While thowing logs on my stove and having a totty and chatting with friends here at hearth .com stay warm.

.

aha! see I totally misread your comment and got cranky. Chicken met snow today and she didn't like it.

 

[bigtall]

I do know of several farmers that use some very nasty tactics for catching coyotes, including large treble hooks with chunks of meat. I don't have the soul, or lack of, to go to those extremes.

Anyway, the reason for my post and my pics was to share a great day in the woods, with the cold air and snow blowing.

 

[cptoneleg]

I enjoyed your pictures wern't you tempted to pop that hornets nest with that .41 ????????????

 

[bigtall]

Nah man. Those nests are like paper, all it would do is poke a hole in it. I just make a mental note of where it is and dont disturb it. I have two giant ones in my barn that my wife and her mother (both teachers) use for lessons in their classrooms. If I want to have fun with the .41, or any other weapon for that matter, I fill milk and coke bottles with water, or even better, jello, and shoot at them on my range. A milk jug with gelatin in it will split in two when hit dead center with the .41.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

What's really great is a beer bottle filled with water. It EXPLODES. Very cool.

~Rose

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I once saw the effect of filling an old milk can with water and shooting it. That was in my youth and I was just learning how to shoot. It was a lesson on the damage that a bullet can cause and a lesson that has stayed with me to this day.

On those maples, do be very careful in cutting them. Especially when you see punk. Those things can do some very unpredictable things and one can get into trouble fast. Also, the dead limbs pose a big problem that one has to contend with. Sometimes it is still best to let Mother Nature do the felling when they get so far along.

On the coyotes, we too have recently got the coyotes. I never saw them here until about 10-15 years ago. Now they are thick. I've heard this year, as the last two that they have mange pretty bad.