The magic of winter

[Kitsu]

today, was walking through the woods, taking a shortcut to see my girlfriend, and i noticed some wonderful things you dont normally notice

first i noticed a treasure trove of straight mulberries *two were cut down already, i noticed the beautiful dark contrasting heartwood*
next, a few honey locusts, pretty straight but damn, if i cut that *censored* down, im getting someone else to haul it heh, some nasty thorns on it
after about a half mile, the black locusts shine through, their rose like thorns smile at me as i approach them.
and the best for last, something i do not think i am going to really attempt as much as treasure, i noticed some hedgeapples in the snow... and waddya know, some very VERY snakey crazy looking osage surrounds me, (was about 100 yards from the exit of the trail, so... was prolly planted years and years ago,

ah, when you can see past the "green" many things can become much clearer , to me, tree ID is much easier with the leaves out of the picture

 my question would be, when to cut and ring chase these lovely bow woods,

ironic eh, i get some good whitewoods on my property, yet when i leave it and look around, i am surrounded by amazing woods

[aero86]

sounds like you live in texas!  same exact trees we have here! lol.  except, idk about the mulberry

[Kitsu]

sounds like you live in texas!  same exact trees we have here! lol.  except, idk about the mulberry

heh, surprisingly, no, i am in NY, locust isnt native here but it spreads around fast for some reason,

pretty sure mulberry does grow in texas though, not sure though, just think it does

btw, off topic, but since you live in texas i got a question, ever find a straight enough piece of mesquite, and ever try it for a bow? it is the hardest north american wood, so i was just curious is all

[cowboy]

I hear ya on seeing lots of straight trunks in the winter, course I do the same thing  . We have plenty of mulberry here. Matter of fact I have a very clean roughed out piece of it curing in the house for about hmm three years or so now . I haven't personally tried mesquite but jackcrafty has with lots of sinew and good results. I have cut cords of it for firewood though .

[Stoker]

Winter is a great tome for this.I flag tape the ones that look good and keep a list in a book with their location via gps cordinates
Sounds a little anal but when you want or need something you have it on file.I can't remember what I had for lunch somedays
let alone where I saw a stave.Sounds like you found a honey hole good luck on your quest
Thanks Leroy

[hedgeapple]

Hawkeyes, you write like a poet.  While reading your journey through the woods, Robert Frost came to mind.  A bowyers hand and poets soul.

[Kitsu]

Winter is a great tome for this.I flag tape the ones that look good and keep a list in a book with their location via gps cordinates
Sounds a little anal but when you want or need something you have it on file.I can't remember what I had for lunch somedays
let alone where I saw a stave.Sounds like you found a honey hole good luck on your quest
Thanks Leroy

the cool thing is, these are right next to a trail, so, if i dont get to em, when the people go by the trail again, they get cut down when they make it wider... i have noticed it, there is a pile about 20 feet high of trees laid on top of eachother at the "end" of one trail, it is a dead end, and it has a wall of trees piled on all sides.

Hawkeyes, you write like a poet.  While reading your journey through the woods, Robert Frost came to mind.  A bowyers hand and poets soul.

thanks heh, i have been told i can be very descriptive and somewhat poetic on occasion, i have written lyrics time to time for some songs, but for the most part they are meant for me and no one else




tomorrow, i am going to give most of the trees a good mark and hope noone takes em before i do for spite

[bcbull]

HEY J D THINK THIS BOY S ON THE SAUCE ??  MAN HE S GETTIN ME EXCITED  TELL  YA WHAT HAWKEYE  YA CUT SOME OF THAT OSAGE AND IT S SNAKEY ILL PERSONALLY MAKE IT WORTH UR TIME HAHA  I CANT RESIST A GOOD SNAKEY OSAGE STAVE  AND  YA GOTTA BLAME DEAN  MARLOW  HE CUT SOME LAST WEEK THAT HAS ME DROOLIN  BROCK

[Kitsu]

HEY J D THINK THIS BOY S ON THE SAUCE ??  MAN HE S GETTIN ME EXCITED  TELL  YA WHAT HAWKEYE  YA CUT SOME OF THAT OSAGE AND IT S SNAKEY ILL PERSONALLY MAKE IT WORTH UR TIME HAHA  I CANT RESIST A GOOD SNAKEY OSAGE STAVE  AND  YA GOTTA BLAME DEAN  MARLOW  HE CUT SOME LAST WEEK THAT HAS ME DROOLIN  BROCK

if i cut the stuff, i need to get something to haul them, they are pretty thick, more importantly, i need to get a better tool than a handsaw and/or an axe, i need a chainsaw or a good bottle of tylenol for afterwords

if i find some pieces with somewhat of a character, ill let ya know, but unless you want another "mspink" style, EXTREME character bow, let me look more, and dont worry, now that i know where they are, i am going to have ALOT of fun with my axe, and my saw, oh, and maybe a sled, who knows, might decide to take em down this winter and chase em now, the longer they season the better eh?

if i am ring chasing anyway, i do not really think it matters if they are in growing season or not, right?

btw, the mulberries and the locust are more of a gift to me than the osage, mostly because they are near perfectly straight and the mulberry i saw cut down had decent sized rings. if i can find some decent osage i will take it, i might take some of the "apples" and plant em over on my property, and pray i can enjoy em when i am 40 years old

[George Tsoukalas]

Well, sounds like you have a veritable treasure. Enjoy. Jawge

[crooketarrow]

     I know what you mean.Every time I walk to a stand I catch myself looking at all the straight arrow shoots.

[Kitsu]

     I know what you mean.Every time I walk to a stand I catch myself looking at all the straight arrow shoots.

Heh, wish i had a camera, the trails are beautiful this tme of year,

btw, will honey locust make a bow, i dont know if half those thorns are just giant knots... i know with black locust the thorns are part of the bark... but i think on honey, they are dead branches and clusters of dead branches, from one point. just unsure. i am pretty sure you treat honey locust like the others i listed, but how far will some of those knots go down to?

[bcbull]

hawkeye  the honey locust heart wood will make a great bow brett landon made a couple i shot at mojam  so  i had to make one and i like it    i think the bark and throns are  a pain in the ass  heartwood is the way to go i just  used the heart wood and the stuff finishes butiful 

[Kitsu]

hawkeye  the honey locust heart wood will make a great bow brett landon made a couple i shot at mojam  so  i had to make one and i like it    i think the bark and throns are  a pain in the ass  heartwood is the way to go i just  used the heart wood and the stuff finishes butiful 

one would assume, just wanted to make sure,

so, the "thorns" are actually branches on honey locust; that should prove itself a challenge.

i wish i had a few hands down here to help me gather the stuff, i do almost all of my work alone, whether it be gathreing wood, hauling wood, splitting, stacking, etc, it is al done by hand and alone, i do not have a truck so whatever i cut i haul, up to a half mile by foot. i want to cut the stuff now and bring it over so i can drag it , then again, all of these woods get ring chased, so, a little mud on the corner wont hurt, but its frozen now, and i could easily get away with dragging, without mud...

another question is how thick do i have to cut for a reasonable amount of staves?

[hedgeapple]

Hawkeyes, if I were you, I would fashion some type of sled to put the logs on, something like a toboggan, maybe with tin framed with wood.  I'd think a bow saw would make cutting the logs easier than using an ax.