I have pulled osage logs out of a huge brush pile while they were lighting the other end on fire. The land owner was standing at the pile when I happened by. I had seen the osage in the pile for a few weeks but didn't know who owned the land so I left it alone.
Because of my honesty, after I explained to the land owner that I saw the wood but wouldn't touch it without permission he pointed across the road to about 100 more acres of standing trees and said" cut all you want over there, we are going to clear it off in the future".
Another time I was walking in a patch of woods near my house and ran into an old man. I asked if he knew who owned the land because I had seen a couple of osage trees I would like to cut. He said" why don't you just cut it, no one will know". I told him if I didn't have permission I wouldn't cut any trees on the place, it was just the way I operate. Next he said" I own this land cut all you want". This is where I cut my very first osage tree and 20 years later I still have a stave from it under my house.
The thing about some people is they tell themselves a lie to justify their criminal behavior(stealing wood) such as "no one will miss a little bit of wood", buy into their lie and proceed.
With a little leg work, research and phone calls you can have more wood than you know what to do with. Although I have given a bunch of it away, I have had three lifetimes worth of osage cut and stored in the past, all cut with permission.
Because of age and back surgery my osage cutting days are over but I still have at least a lifetime worth of osage cut and stored.
