Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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Thank you! King fishing in Alaska is on my bucket list.
Funny story about that. My wife and I went with her parents on a cruise/land tour of Alaska. It was fun but not my kind of vacation. I was about 35 years too young at the time!🤣
Anyways, we had a stop in Ketchikan and we did a shore excursion salmon fishing trip. My wife and I meet the "guide" at the dock. We shove off and go salmon fishing. We're trolling for about 15 minutes and there's this commotion from the back of the boat. The kicker bracket broke off and the kicker was hanging by the control cables and was spinning around whacking the transom until it sucked water in and quit! Now I'm a little nervous about this guy's maintenance procedures on his boat. We ended up bottom fishing for halibut and I caught a 15" long flounder on an 80 lb standup rig. Could barely feel the fish. It was an interesting trip to say the least. I always research and pick my own guides now. Paid way too much for a sh**** experience.
Definitely coming back on a proper fishing trip sometime in the next 10 years. Love it up there!
That's a reel bummer man! 👎 Sorry to hear about charter! On the outdoor chanel you see all the top line charter guys and the good days of fishing! Never the sh***y charter captains and their imbarceing unprofessional work. Hope your next trip is better. If I'm Stihl around and Stihl on this forum. You'll have to get in touch with me. If you make it to Kodiak (highly☝️recommend) on your next Alaskan Vaca! As far as fresh and saltwater sport fish goes around here? I'll point you in the right direction twords some great guides charter Capitan's plus hook you up with some good local fishing knowledge bud! 👍🇺🇸
 
Went to leave today and this piece of cedar was laying in the road right at the edge of the driveway. Now the scrounge comes to me!
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LOL, like the old paperboy route. Check tomorrow too, maybe someone renewed your subscription.
 
So I got the call to go to work and I'm leaving in a few days. Ive been doing honey do's and putting my cut'n gear and equipment and other stuff together when I can until I get caught and told to go back to honey do's by the Mrs. Besides my work equipment and clothing. It's mostly recreational gear for sport fishing and hunting as well. What else is there for a guy to do on his o e day off a week in a remote Alaskan logging camp? 😉
Im a little short on wedges at the moment. I have Four good twelve's, but only two eights and ten's in ruff shape because I had to bail a neighbor out from a 24" snag that set back on him from way to deep of a sloppy face cut with a full face dutchman. Leaving little room to work wedge and just that much more dangerous. Between me having to stack and move wedges around going back and fourth across the back cut shifting stacks hear moving stacks there! Trying to beat burried singles out to marry with another single to stack for more lift! Then pulling a different stack to split up into singles again! So on and so on!!! Oh god what a nightmare! 😓 😫 On top of it! This is all taking forever, due to the fact that I've got to put my head up every single time I smack a wedge, because the Snag has loose sectional bark slab's up the trunk and a not so good stage of decomposition near the top!!! Oh it gets better!!! My 67 year old drunk neighbor that has absolutly no business and knows nothing about felling DEAD TIMBER let alone live timber!!! is just getting in my way and telling me how to do it!!! After he came to get me to bail him out again☝️ (Just one more time of a few other mind you) in the first place!!! He's drunk, I'm sober, he's stumbling, I'm screaming at him,😫 he has no hard hat, I'm pour'n sweat 🥵and cussing!!! 😣 Finally I told him if he doesn't get his drunk ass out of my way a couple tree lengths. That I was going to cut him in half with my saw before he got us both killed!!! After mumbling under his breath and stumbling away in to the safe zone. I finally finessed the heavy leaning snag over without killing my self or my neighbor. Boy was I pissed!!!😡All my buddies that know me and know my drunk neighbor Were laughing there butts off when I told them that story I'll tell ya! Even though it was not to long ago. I look back and laugh now myself, but I sure wasn't laughing then! 😂😉

Long story short! I think I completely destroyed five wedges and cut into four others to the point that they will barley fit Into a kerf! All on that one snag that took over an hour to lift over and fall!
Ive got some more already on the way, but until they get here. I had to re tune some of the tens and eights I have. View attachment 995027View attachment 995028View attachment 995029


See That Chipper?!?! Even my rasp throws ribbons! Small ribbons,☝️ but ribbons none the less.🤣😉

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Man!!! Is that look'n good or what?!?! The wedge looks good too! 😉View attachment 995034Cut safe, stay sharp, be aware!
Better save that for one of those Dutchmans
 
Hooked this 40 pound Soaker at about 11:40 pm and landed him at a little after midnight on 17lb test a half hour before sunset! A solo evening of King trolling. With the exception of my fishing partner Angus on the bow. A 45 minute King salmon fight, and one of two of the best King fights of my life! 💪 The tide alone pushed me the entire fight over a nautical mile and a half off station from where I first hooked up!👍View attachment 995192View attachment 995191
That's a beauty!👍
Any king is a nice king, but anything over twenty pounds is a reel treat! 👍Pun intended! 😂 And a 30 -35 plus is a Soaker of a hog!
I love king's! They are the hardest fighting fish here in the Great Lakes. Vicious strikes and ridiculous endurance. A twenty pound king makes a 30 lb musky look weak. The musky may strike harder but it will never fight as long.
Another couple good days on the water! 👍 A 100 lb halibut on 25lb test. I was actually trolling close to the bottom and targeting kings I was marking on the sounder when I hooked this Butt!View attachment 995206View attachment 995207I didn't catch these two small silvers and 28lb king on the little red Kayak. 😉 I just use the kayak to get to and from Jader's mooring. You can see it in the back ground in the halibut pics. 👍View attachment 995208
I so want to catch a halibut. I hear it's pretty nuts how hard they can pin you to the rail when fighting one.
That's a reel bummer man! 👎 Sorry to hear about charter! On the outdoor chanel you see all the top line charter guys and the good days of fishing! Never the sh***y charter captains and their imbarceing unprofessional work. Hope your next trip is better. If I'm Stihl around and Stihl on this forum. You'll have to get in touch with me. If you make it to Kodiak (highly☝️recommend) on your next Alaskan Vaca! As far as fresh and saltwater sport fish goes around here? I'll point you in the right direction twords some great guides charter Capitan's plus hook you up with some good local fishing knowledge bud! 👍🇺🇸
I'm going to try to get up there when my youngest is 10. That's in 7 years so I better start planning. Thank you for the offer! I will definitely get in touch with you if and when it happens. If you're ever in Wisconsin I'd be happy to take you out for some freshwater kings or some walleyes or perch.
 
Swung two snags to day for my 67 year old Neighbor that likes to start celebrating early. I put this old mans timber on the ground for him for firewood. So he dosent kill himself! He's like an Uncle to me really!! He dose the ground work.

I Uploaded two videos on "YouTube". One of a look and narrated critique of the face cuts and dutchman cuts. In the big Snag The second video is a Stihl. with the camera set on a stump from a distance. Recording the swing of the snag.

First Video is Titled: "Kodiak Kid Cutting, Swinging Dutchman". if interested? Check them out! I don't know how to download them on to here.

The stump of the snag in the video.
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I wish I would have recorded this swing cut!! It was leaning back further than the Snag in the "You Tube" clip. Keep in mind this snag and the snag in the video are extremely light. They were both dry and broke off about 2/3 to 3/4 up the tree. IMG_20220612_170551986_HDR.jpgIt swung very nicely, but notice the very small Hard Dutchman. In front of the hinge! 👎 Cut Safe, stay sharp, be aware!
 
Currently burning pine I harvested 2 years ago. It was split and noodled large and long. With 2 splits placed across the front (east west) I’m getting over night burns 👌, it is quite ashy though. But my wife and I just tested positive to COVID 😡 so will switch to Eucalyptus so we can stay home with the fire on for an entire week without having to empty any ashes.
 
Have not had time to catch up on all the posts but had a good W/E with family and some scout members.

We rode ATVs, shot guns and bows and arrows, hiked, cut and split wood and ate well! Weather was great and everyone had a good time. The cabin accommodated 9 for sleep over! We saw several woodpeckers, a bat, 3 deer and a bald eagle.

Used the ATV trailer I got last year for some serious wood hauling (for the first time). It works very well, So glad my ATV has engine braking! You don't need to touch the brakes even going down steep hills with a fully loaded trailer!

We made a good amount of fire wood, both Ash and Black Cherry. Some of it was dead and blocking our trails, others were dead and standing and had to be dropped. I did the felling and cutting, but is was nice to have so much help moving, splitting and stacking the wood.

FYI, the big kid (former scout) is now 20 - 6'4" and 270 lbs!
 

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