Steve, two sugar pines.............

Dave Parks

Dave Parks

Well-known member
but they are pretty small, less than 20" at the base. But still doable if we want to take 'em. Both are just off the road on the down hill side. I could drop the one on the road, that would make it easier to buzz up. The second one is about 15 yards downhill from the quarry road maybe 75 yards from the other one. We can take a look at them when you come down.

Remember these from a few years ago when we went here the first time?


zzzSageHunt-2.jpg

zzzSageHunt-3.jpg

I really like that hard to get to area, well worth the long drive to hunt in an unspoiled enviroment.

Dave
 
to get square stock without any heartwood....I'll have to check on that...

I sure missed getting to do the Sage Grouse hunt last year.....that was 2003 if I'm not mistaken...we missed getting to hunt together there in 2004 and we didn't get drawn in 2005. We gotta do that this year. Figure out how the heck we can be sure to get drawn again this year....

Steve
 
I don't know about what year it was, but I know that Bob Houk and I was there shortly after I had that stroke in July of 2005 and you did not make it down until a few days later and I hid your tag in that spot. And in 2006 none of us got drawn and Judy and I went to Montana near the end of September.

It's tough because you have to put in just 10 days or so before the season opens. Then sweat out getting drawn. But like you, I can't wait to get back into that area and hunt it again, that is an incredable chunk of property and it reminds me of some of the spots we hunted in Montana.

BTHW, you remember that stretch of highway that you dibbed so scenic? Well, at the west end of it is where Judy and I pulled off to call a coyote (nothing came in) and when we started back to the highway we ran into a huge covey of chukar. They acted like they had never been hunted before, so I guess nobody wants to go there, haha.

Boy that sure is a nice bird strap and 1897 12 ga. you have there, wish I could find another one in that condition (and price!). You din't mention, are you coming down to shoot turkeys on the C-2 with Mike this year?
Dave
97SageGrouse.jpg
 
Thats the first year we went....my eye problem started October of that same year.

I got held up the following year and was going to meet you and Bob there. You found the little flat between the two ridges that produced the "driven" shoot for me after you had gone home...

We missed last year. We need to go this year.

I answered the Turkey question in one of the other posts....I'll be there for sure the last week of May but I'm thinking seriously about coming sometime in April just to see the place a month earlier than I normally do.

Find where the Turkeys go once they leave your yard and maybe we can chase em up on the hil behind the house. I'll bring the desk when I come.

Steve
 
I guess I missed the other post. April 15th is good here as the birds are hot. We won't even hunt here on the place for turkey, I have some spots around that are good if you want to do some hiking & calling.

I have 2 LOP bear tags too if you want to use one anytime after April 1st. Ketcham will be up for turkey and bear around the 18th of April after his sales meeting in Reno.

Yes, I hope we get drawn for "driven grouse shooting" too. I'm shopping for a Cannon digital movie camera and I would like to get that shoot on video, what a hoot that would be.

Ahhhh! Judy just gave me a big bowl of her killer home made Chili & beans made with big chunks of moose meat that Johney gave us....I gotta eat!

Best,

Dave
 
befroe I make it down but I do want to make an early trip down this season to see the difference in the birds and the ground that a month makes....I'll keep you posted on the schedule so we can make a plan...

Steve
 
Steve, a 20" dia. tree should yeild some nice blocks from the sap wood. An easy way to find out about diameter and what it will yeild is simple. Draw a cirlce the diameter of the tree, in this case 20". Cut out some paper rectangles the dimensions of what you want and place them around the perimiter of the circle, allowing for squaring of the log. This will give you a good idea of how to avoid heartwood, board foot and linear foot yeild. A small portable mill should be able to get some nice blocks out of the trees.
 
on this...I'd hate to cut down a tree only to find out it was going to produce more waste than useable wood. I'm excited now cause I've always wanted to use Sugar Pine but didn't want to pay what it cost from the places that cater to carvers....

Keep the bugs off of that tree Dave.....

Steve
 
Any hunk of wood used to make a decoy is gonna end up predominantly "waste".I think the best way for cutting a 20" dia log would be to split it down the center, lay the flat on the bed and rip it to 2" thickness..then glue up the pieces for your blocks. Trying to cut up into thick lumber will be pretty wasteful.
 
Steve..........you just wait til you see my prices for BUG FREE Sugar Pine :^)

Also remember that you can deduct 2 inches of a 20" trees diameter due to the inch thick bark. You's be dealing with about a true 18" diameter.

Too bad you can't use Madrone, I'm dropping a huge dead one tomorrow for firewood. It's about 40 foot tall and has branches that are 24" in diameter. My wood cutter buddy and his wife just left, they have been here since this morning thinning out dead Madrones for fire wood. I made them a deal lasr fall. They cut me a full pick-up load and stack it in my wood shed here at the house and then they can cut themselves a truck load to take home. They do good work and it's well worth it to me. You'll see all the Madrone I have on the place when you get here.

Dave
 
and my Roll Top Desk dleivery rate are pert near the same......

I love Madrone for fire wood. Nothing, except Manzanita, burns hotter and with less ash than that stuff, and its so much bigger than Manzanita you actually get something when you cut it...

Gotcha Lee, on the waste thing...I know that "most" of the wood when doen for decoys is going to be "waste" what I meant was I didn't want to see the tree cut to find that I couldn't get blocks out of the sap wood that weren't decoy size. I like the idea of slabbing it off in two inch thincknesses though. Makes sense given the fact that it would be hollowed anyway....cutit in 2" thicknesses to begin with and that saves having to cut it in half to hollow it...

Steve
 
Yep, plus when you glue it up opposing the growth rigs you take a lot of stress off the block. Hollowing a solid block does too but not as well as 2 equal thicknesses...a solid block still has the frontal area that will check and split. I'd love to get a find of SugarPine...I have a sugar MAPLE in my side yard that is a filthy thing...just hate to cut down a live tree.
 
good to know....

I bet if this thing works out we can figure out a way to get something to you......we'll work on that as well.....

Fresh dead standing...my favorite kind of wood....

Steve
 
Steve,

Today I cut up a Doug fir that had blown over in a Spring wind storm over two years ago. The tree was about 24" at the base and 60 feet long. It had lodged in a couple of madrones which kept it off the gound & dry. If I had a porta-mill I would have save dit for a little good lumber, it was nice looking wood.

I have a big white oak that went over last Spring that it about 30" in diameter. I have cut out a 4 foot section of it and I will cut in half down the middle as I want to make two coffee tables out of it. I cut two 6" slices of the tree which I will cut in half to use as the legs by cutting a 6" wide slot out of the table tops bottom. I saw one in a Cabela's catalog and liked the ruugged looks of it......heavy, but nice looking.

I told Judy I was going to build them for her as they would help keep her in shape when she has to move them to vacum. hehehe.

Judy said there may be more Sugar Pines on the back side of the mountain between the rock quarry and the north property line. It's a bit of a climp at first, but it runs north along the property line for over 800 yards. It's been years since I was back in there and all I can remenber is that it was pretty heavily forested.....I was not looking for Sugar Pines at the time. I know that there is a lot of rolls of new barbed wire up there because Judy's dad had intensions of fencing the back property line off so he could run cattle up there, but he never did. Maybe we'll cruise that area when you get down here and see what we find. I know that there are bear trails there as they come off the BLM land through there.

I have more standing dead pines and firs than I know what to do with. That beetle kill we had a few years back has sort of slowed down now. Most of the older ones are full of woodpecker holes, so I leave them standing. Makes for great 20 ga. Starling shoots in the Springtime, like shooting mini-bandtails, except there is more of them, yo'll see when you get here :^)

Dave
 
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