Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Kodiak Kid]

I've been looking at a lot of different commercial splitters with conveyors and also skid steers with possessor implements. I haven't really looked into a tractor implement that splits wood. From what I understand. There is not enough oil volume in tractor hydraulics to support a good commercial splitter, but I'm not sure. I can fall and buck firewood like a mad man! The heavier log lifting/skidding equipment like tractors and skid steers. Along with firewood processing implements. Is all new to me!

 

[GrizG]

I took this one two years ago . I was sitting at my kitchen table having a warm beverage ,saw three doe and this guy behind the wood pile grabbed the gun off the deck walked about 200 ft and took the shot . First day rifle hunting and in twenty minutes I was done View attachment 1033091View attachment 1033092

My easiest hunt was the time I was slipping into the woods on my way to my ground stand. I was maybe 75 yards from the road and was scanning ahead as I still hunted my way in. Low and behold I found a buck bedded down close by. It didn't have much of a rack but I decided if it gave me a shot I'd shoot it with my 3" S&W .44 magnum rather than my circa 1964 Ruger .44 carbine. I got the Smith out of the holster and made a bleating noise that got the buck on it's feet... I shot it directly in the front of the chest. When I butchered the deer I found the bullet all the way in the back end of the hindquarter... some 3+ feet of penetration. I doubt it was more than 10 minutes between parking my vehicle and having the buck down... That included the time to get my gear out and still hunt to the spot where I shot the buck. I'm not sure anymore but that also might have been the year my oldest son was born... his birthdate was written on all the packages of meat in the freezer. Didn't let a little thing like a due baby get in the way.

 

[farmer steve]

I honestly don't know. If so I would probably need a doctors handicap letter to do that. I'm not handicapped and don't consider myself to be. I just quit archery because I couldn't pull my bow string back.

I was ready to give up Archery when 8 fell and messed up my shoulder. Crossbows became legal here almost 7 years ago. I wasn't a fan of them till I shot my buddies. I've gotten 2 buck with it. I don't consider myself handicapped 'cause I can stihl lift 12 oz with either hand.

 

[GrizG]

Some of the best riding is on game trails. Let them pick the route.

I've ridden bicycles right up on big bucks quite a number of times... both in the woods and on the road. I've seen 4 bears from the seat of a bicycle as well as elk, coyotes, fox, bobcat, etc. Coming in quiet and relatively quick has it's advantages!.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Some of the best riding is on game trails. Let them pick the route.

Im good on that where I hunt. Its a national wildlife refuge that I have to skiff or seaplane into that supports the best Sitka Blacktail hunting in the world. No motorized vehicles allowed on land. I'd like to see it stay that way.

These are just a few of my top ten trophy Blacktial.

Compared to Whitetail and Mule deer, they aren't that big, but they aren't Whitetail or Mule deer. Fir Sitka Blacktial. These are very exceptional bucks. If motorized vehicles were allowed in the area I harvested these animals. Every beer drinking lazy fat a** on a fourwheeler would be in there every weekend during hunting season running deer down on quads fir a shot at one. Then take it home and brag about it as if it was "Fair Chase"

Besides, I have miles and miles and miles if single track right out my garage door. That I've been cutting, breaking, and ridding fir thirty years!

And don't get me wrong. I have nothing against drinking beer!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

I've ridden bicycles right up on big bucks quite a number of times... both in the woods and on the road. I've seen 4 bears from the seat of a bicycle as well as elk, coyotes, fox, bobcat, etc. Coming in quiet and relatively quick has it's advantages!.

Most definitely! I as well.

 

[farmer steve]

My easiest buck was a couple of years ago. I headed to the stand and halfway there realized I forgot my binoculars. Turned around and came back and got them. By this time it was 7:30. 50 yards to the stand and a little spike buck stepped out of the woods and into the cornfield. Didn't want to spook him so I waited. Heard the corn rustling and thought it was him. Turned out to be this guy. He was 6 rows away (180") when I shot him at 7:45.

 

[farmer steve]

The one this morning was a bit more lucky. I was in the cornfield trying to call in a buck I saw that was in one or the erosion control grass strips. It was windy and the corn was rustling pretty good. I heard a stalk snap behind me and at about 10 feet was a big 8 point.

 

[sean donato]

Decades ago I used something else in tires... I have no recollection of what it was but it was a similar product in the tubeless tire sealer category. When it came time to change the tubeless tires I cut a hole in the sidewall and dumped out as much of the liquid as I could and hosed it out before dismounting the tires with hand tools. That made things a lot less slippery to handle.

Slime is water soluble and contains rust and corrosion inhibitors so I don't worry about it, itself, hurting the rims. I had more problems with tube tires that apparently had moisture between the tube, tire and rim... I recall wire brushing rust off the "inside" of rims and also having several rim failures on outdoor power equipment and utility trailers when I was a kid...
https://slime.com/pages/5-tire-sealant-myths-busted

Slime has a 2 year use life, then it's supposed to be drained and replaced. I can tell you from many first hand accounts, people don't change it and it rots the rim from the inside. Water based stuff is only as good ad it's corrosion package which runs out eventually. I don't use slime long term because of that in tubeless tires. Its a need to get air in it to get it moved, or milk it till winter sealant for me.

 

[svk]

I see some of the hunters locally...a lotta road hunters. They get pissed off when they see us out dirt bike riding...if anything, we get the deer up and moving. Besides, the deer around here are very accustomed to people and aren't really skittish.

I also find it funny, that they drive way up into the mountains to go hunting. All the locals know that you'll find all the deer near where people are living...they get plentiful food and water at 4k' feet, why are they going to go hang out in the granite at 7k'+? Go into the timberlands across the street from my house and you'll probably find something shootable pretty quickly.

Yup with the proliferation of wolves the remote areas are extinct of deer as the survivors are all holed up near homes and cabins!

 

[sean donato]

My easiest buck was a couple of years ago. I headed to the stand and halfway there realized I forgot my binoculars. Turned around and came back and got them. By this time it was 7:30. 50 yards to the stand and a little spike buck stepped out of the woods and into the cornfield. Didn't want to spook him so I waited. Heard the corn rustling and thought it was him. Turned out to be this guy. He was 6 rows away (180") when I shot him at 7:45.View attachment 1033123

That's a pretty nice buck for PA.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Same. Got many miles of bootleg singletrack right out the door. No need to truck a bike anywhere unless you want legal trails on FS land. Prefer the gnarlier stuff.

Great isn't it?! I've got a lot of go pro footage of me opening my garage door, firing up my 300 and riding out across my property onto trails through the woods then out over clear cuts then woods again over and over. One woods section then clear cut to the next. Three hour loops. Some longer than that. Then eventually making it back to my property and in the garage. Its an awesome lifestyle to say the least.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Yup with the proliferation of wolves the remote areas are extinct of deer as the survivors are all holed up near homes and cabins!

Definitely not where I live. The animals around human development are way more skittish than the animals in the refuge that have never seen or been hunted by people and don't know what a human is. At least thats my experience. However, the number of game and area's of remote wilderness far out number people and human development in the Sate of Alaska!

 

[djg james]

I was ready to give up Archery when 8 fell and messed up my shoulder. Crossbows became legal here almost 7 years ago. I wasn't a fan of them till I shot my buddies. I've gotten 2 buck with it. I don't consider myself handicapped 'cause I can stihl lift 12 oz with either hand.

They're legal now in IL. I wish my Brother would get one. He's got a messed up shoulder and has had trouble drawing a bow. Missed a nice buck one year because he made noise attempting to draw. He's since tuned down his bow to 40-45#? I think. Shoulder still gives him a little trouble but he manages if he consciously does it a certain way. And he's a purist too.

 

[sean donato]

I've been looking at a lot of different commercial splitters with conveyors and also skid steers with possessor implements. I haven't really looked into a tractor implement that splits wood. From what I understand. There is not enough oil volume in tractor hydraulics to support a good commercial splitter, but I'm not sure. I can fall and buck firewood like a mad man! The heavier log lifting/skidding equipment like tractors and skid steers. Along with firewood processing implements. Is all new to me!

If your just doing it for yourself and a few others any mini processor or heavy duty splitter will work well, and I think many of them have options for a conveyor, or run a small engine powered one.
Most tractors don't have the oil flow to run high demand equipment like hydraulic splitters to their full potential. Your actually better off with a pto pump in many cases. There are several manufacturers that make 3 point processors and I'm 80% sure they all have pto driven pumps that I was looking at. Honestly it's just easier to use the pto or a small engine imo.

 

[svk]

A few random thoughts in response to the last 4 pages.

I’ve never peed in a scrape but I’ve peed out of a deer stand with deer 15 yards away. The didn’t care about the smell or the noise. Go figure cause if your boot scraped the floor of your stand they bolt at 300 yards lol.

My friend was hunting in a duck blind on public land and the “owner” of the blind rolled up and pointed a shotgun at him and demanded that he vacate “their” blind immediately. He left unhappily. A few days later the blind suffered an unfortunate fire and was a total loss. The “owner” should consider himself lucky that’s all he lost after pulling a gun on a fellow hunter.

IMO the .30-06 is the best all around cartridge for North American game. You can load 125 grain loads for varmints up to 220 grain plus for the big stuff (although if memory serves you can load 200 grain loads with more muzzle energy than 220 grain due to powder capacity). I have three in the stable currently, owned 4 others in the past and wouldn’t hesitate to add more if I found the right gun.

 

[djg james]

Im good on that where I hunt. Its a national wildlife refuge that I have to skiff or seaplane into that supports the best Sitka Blacktail hunting in the world. No motorized vehicles allowed on land. I'd like to see it stay that way.

These are just a few of my top ten trophy Blacktial.
View attachment 1033120View attachment 1033119View attachment 1033121
Compared to Whitetail and Mule deer, they aren't that big, but they aren't Whitetail or Mule deer. Fir Sitka Blacktial. These are very exceptional bucks. If motorized vehicles were allowed in the area I harvested these animals. Every beer drinking lazy fat a** on a fourwheeler would be in there every weekend during hunting season running deer down on quads fir a shot at one. Then take it home and brag about it as if it was "Fair Chase"

Besides, I have miles and miles and miles if single track right out my garage door. That I've been cutting, breaking, and ridding fir thirty years!

And don't get me wrong. I have nothing against drinking beer!

I like how you mounted that first one on a natural edge slab.
My easiest "Rack Hunt" was the one I found while mushroom hunting . I needed a hat rack so I mounted like yours on a piece of Ash.

And the hunter you described could be my BIL.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

A few random thoughts in response to the last 4 pages.

I’ve never peed in a scrape but I’ve peed out of a deer stand with deer 15 yards away. The didn’t care about the smell or the noise. Go figure cause if your boot scraped the floor of your stand they bolt at 300 yards lol.

My friend was hunting in a duck blind on public land and the “owner” of the blind rolled up and pointed a shotgun at him and demanded that he vacate “their” blind immediately. He left unhappily. A few days later the blind suffered an unfortunate fire and was a total loss.

IMO the .30-06 is the best all around cartridge for North American game. You can load 125 grain loads for varmints up to 220 grain plus for the big stuff (although if memory serves you can load 200 grain loads with more muzzle energy than 220 grain due to powder capacity). I have three in the stable currently, owned 4 others in the past and wouldn’t hesitate to add more if I found the right gun.

30-06 loaded with a well constructed 200gr .308 caliber hunting projectile is definitely my favorite 06 load fir bigger game animals!

 

[farmer steve]

That's a pretty nice buck for PA.

Thanks.

 

[djg james]

A few random thoughts in response to the last 4 pages
My friend was hunting in a duck blind on public land and the “owner” of the blind rolled up and pointed a shotgun at him and demanded that he vacate “their” blind immediately. He left unhappily. A few days later the blind suffered an unfortunate fire and was a total loss.

Didn't know you could put up permanent blinds on public lands. In IL state parks you're allowed to keep a stand up "overnight". No saying how many. My Brother, who uses a climber, would scout for signs only to look up and see a deer stand. He stopped trying to hunt public land for fear of running into the A$$hole claiming that to be his spot.