Finally ! ! !

We were able to make it down to the farm, chainsaws in hand, one final time a couple of weekends ago before my dad went under the knife for a long overdue knee replacement surgery.  We knew of several clusters of marked trees left in the 20+ acre patch of timber that we hadn’t hit yet, but arrived at the farm as the sun was rising in hopes to knock them all out that day.  The progress was a little slower, as we had to walk longer distances between trees to find others that were marked, but some ~100 trees later, we could no longer find any that were left in the area…FINISHED!!!

There’s still a lot of work yet to be done, as we want to clean up the area we will be duck hunting so we’re not tripping over submerged debris as we wade through the timber in the early morning darkness or chasing after cripples.  Probably the best way to classify this area for the time being is “enter at your own risk”.  We became quite proficient at dropping trees using our chainsaws and wedges throughout this ongoing project, but there are several instances where there is just nowhere for the tree to go without getting hung up on its way down.  Other times, the tree just didn’t go exactly where we wanted!  Either way, there are plenty of “widow makers” strategically placed throughout the timber as a means to keep our local trespassers/thieves wary about entering…okay not really, but it almost seems that way.  I’m sure as soon as my dad’s doctor gives him the go-ahead to get out of the house, he’ll be back at the farm “supervising” Jason and I from atop his mobile throne (aka 4-wheeler) as we attempt to bring down most of the “widow makers” where practical.

We girdled some of the trees, mainly the larger ones, that we knew we couldn’t get to the ground.  For those that don’t know, this basically entails cutting two rings  around the base of the tree a few inches apart, while ensuring that the saw cuts through the cambium layer of the tree.  This prevents the leaves from transporting nutrients to the roots and effectively kills the tree, allowing sunlight to reach the forest floor since there is no longer a dense canopy from the tree’s leaves.  These trees will slowly rot out over many years and will eventually fall to the ground, but will provide great habitat in the meantime for woodpeckers, birds, and other den animals.  Who knows, wood ducks may even use these as nesting trees some time down the road.   (that’s my biology lesson for the day!)

Again, no pictures this time around as we were short on time and focusing on completing the project, but rest assured there will be plenty in the future.

As for the next items on the agenda:

• Get our permit filed and approved for the dirt work and levee improvements we are planning for our duck fields/marshes and get the work started (will probably have to wait until after the annual spring floods)
•  Run a fire through one of our fields to burn off the thick/tall vegetation…this should be FUN but not sure it’s going to happen this year with the spring rains coming soon.
• Replenish mineral licks for deer.
• Scout for turkey!
• Shoot turkey!!! (I plan on leaving the shotgun at home this year and toting the Bowtech Destroyer 350 so things may get interesting)