Stone Branch, build it, they will come.

Trees are still leafing out, oaks lower on the slopes are slower, but it still looks like I killed some trees, with imazapyr not fire. I don't a single dead tree where the fire escaped on to my neighbor's property.

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This year's burn, 3 different locations.

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From the air, lower center of the picture.

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On the ground looking north and up the slope. The majority of the green trees left are white oaks. I have been killing trees in this location for 5 years and now, finally fire, and now I have a white oak food plot.

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This was a hot head fire that burned up through here, leaf litter was over a foot deep. At first it looked like I burned my white oak to death now it just looks like I burned the moss that grew on it to death.

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G
The results are very impressive.
 
Sorry for your loss of Tank - but new pup looks great.
Your woods look good after the burns and imazapyr treatments. Nice green regen there. Pa. DCNR did similar TSI cutting & burns on some state land near where I hunt. Oaks were the species they wanted to preserve - and the burns did a nice job. New growth is crazy in the burned areas because they fenced it to keep deer out for a few years.
 
Thanks gutpile, Menman.

Sorry for your loss of Tank - but new pup looks great.
Your woods look good after the burns and imazapyr treatments. Nice green regen there. Pa. DCNR did similar TSI cutting & burns on some state land near where I hunt. Oaks were the species they wanted to preserve - and the burns did a nice job. New growth is crazy in the burned areas because they fenced it to keep deer out for a few years.

Thanks Flatiron, I benefit from low deer numbers.

G
 
Thanks gutpile, Menman.



Thanks Flatiron, I benefit from low deer numbers.

G
I fully agree about your benefit, low deer numbers are easier to manage than high deer numbers. As a deer manager I can increase deer numbers easier than I can lower them, and having numbers that are too high makes everything else in deer management more difficult.
 
Terribly sorry about Tank, G. He was a damn goodun. Always love the habitat work you’ve got going on. You are quite the efficient one man team. I’m envious.
 
Terribly sorry about Tank, G. He was a damn goodun. Always love the habitat work you’ve got going on. You are quite the efficient one man team. I’m envious.

Thanks Cedar, Tank was a noble beast, little Rip is poised to take his place. Rip is 58lbs, 19wks.

I gotta know, what do you use for tick spray?

I have been buying gallon jugs of insectguard, it is .5% permethrin. It works pretty well for keeping ticks off of me, I have pulled 5 or so this year. I would like to add some concentrate permethrin to the jug to make it more like 2%. The stuff works well for keeping carpenter bees and powder post beetles off of my wood.

The south end of my property. The final tally- Trees/acre started at 164 and is now 114, basil area started at 85 and is now 70.

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That puts me about 60% stocked. No government funds available for this but now comes crop tree release, which I have already begun. I have now, at least, differentiated my 164 acres from the surrounding 55,000 acres of woods in Lewis county.

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G
 
I had some special guests that came by and found me down in the ditch Friday morning, Mennoniteman and the Mrs. They were/are wonderful folks to meet and visit with. Menman saw some value in my timber and was impressed with the fire effect on the landscape.

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G
All you two need is one of those old two men crosscut saws!
 
I had some special guests that came by and found me down in the ditch Friday morning, Mennoniteman and the Mrs. They were/are wonderful folks to meet and visit with. Menman saw some value in my timber and was impressed with the fire effect on the landscape.

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G
Thanks for showing us around, Liz and I had a wonderful time getting to meet you in person and you picked a very tasty place for supper. It was a very special part of a great 4 day trip and we are back home again in PA all safe and sound in one piece.
We were under two different tornado warnings in Christian County on Friday evening and one of my distant relatives lost his house and four chicken barns east of Hopkinsville, so we were fortunate indeed.
By stopping in there at your place I was able to confirm what I've been suspicious of for a while already, that you are truly living the dream! I'm still enslaved to the daily workforce while you have somehow been able to kick that habit. Living back in the woods, in the middle of 160 acres of your own land, and having time and opportunity to pursue nature is to me one of the best possible lifestyle opportunities for sure. Also do say hi to Rip and the boys for me. I forgot to ask to see the place where you laid Tank to rest.
I loved the character and implied history of the old cabin built out of the two sided chestnut logs although I doubt that it's financially feasible to fix it up, but the building that I call the sawmill is in pretty good shape with the work you've done, and has much better possibilities, I like your plan to add a lean-to to the south? gable end. I do admit that I was somewhat directionally challenged down there in the ditch.
The best part of the tour was seeing the fruits of your labor up on the ridges and saddles, I think my favorite spot was where the rattlesnakes were fighting, the undergrowth is just phenomenal across the ridgetop out through there. Your land seems to want to grow oak and cherry trees if given a good chance, and you sure have a very good stock of quality hardwoods and other vegetation there just waiting to be managed.
When I saw the draw where you dropped the tulip logs into I thought to myself, he's going to invest some sweat to get those out. And you can't wait very long, because tulip poplar starts decaying very quickly after it's cut down and laying on the ground. Plus the wood would come in handy for your building project. We've even used that poplar wood (sorry, I forgot the Latin name, but you didn't) for vertical 1" board and batten siding on barns sometimes.
I could see firsthand and appreciate that hunting those ridges has tremendous possibilities but also some challenges with access, so now in the future when you describe about the detours you need to take to get to a certain hunting spot I'll be able to visualize what you're talking about. The nice thing is about anywhere you harvest a deer it's all downhill to get it out, and your road system is pretty impressive.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about your escapades there in the ditch in the future now that I can visualize exactly how it looks. Thanks again for taking a few hours out of your day to give me a tour. Allen

P.S. You almost had me there when you suggested that I split a piece of wood, I swing a pretty mean ax, and I almost put my hand to it, then I thought, wait a minute, that sure looks like "black gum" :)20250518_125122.jpg
 
I had some special guests that came by and found me down in the ditch Friday morning, Mennoniteman and the Mrs. They were/are wonderful folks to meet and visit with. Menman saw some value in my timber and was impressed with the fire effect on the landscape.

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G

I didn’t know visits were optional! We should hold an annual habit forum show and tell. New property each year.


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