No Thing is a Sure Thing

[sledge&wedge]

Bad news last weekend. My cousin's 70 acre property was my honey hole for firewood, hunting, and fourwheeling. I found out a week ago that he has decided to lease the place out, and we were told to pull all of our treestands and gear immediately since the lease would take over on June 1st. That's no big deal, I hunt several thousand acres of public ground as well, and have plenty of wood in reserve to cover me 'til I find a new spot. Unfortunately the 2-3 giant pin oaks and 2 Beech trees I cut down and bucked last winter are still laying there and I can't go get them. The place is usually a swamp in the springtime, so we were waiting until mid-summer to go load them up. Moral of the story... When you leave little caches here and there for picking up later on, make sure you consider who else might get to take them home. That loss equates to about 2 full days of work, several tanks of 2-stroke mix, a tank of gas in my truck, and a whole lot of BTUs. On the flip side, I did get to spend a couple days in the woods with my dad and we WEREN'T fighting over who gets to hunt which treestand.

Hope you guys are starting out this season better than I am!

 

[USMC615]

...that sux. Your cousin sure didn't give you folks much leeway or forewarning of the upcoming lease. Sounds like a lotta good wood left behind. Maybe you can get back over there and get some or all of it prior to early fall bowhunting/muzzleloading season kicking in, much less before rifle season cranks up.

 

[sledge&wedge]

I've got a plan in the works to try and pull some of the wood out, but it all depends on whether or not the new guy has taken our lock off the gate yet. I'm not sure my cousin could have told us any sooner. Someone from a hunting outfitter type business approached him about advertising his land, and he agreed just to see what kind of money he could get out of the deal. It only took a few hours of advertising to have someone call and offer him money to lease and it was enough to make him say yes. His next phone call was to let us know about the whole ordeal. Ironically, the place really isn't much for hunting. We have taken somewhere between 10 and 15 does off of it in the past 10 years, but only one good buck. It gets hunted by several trespassers in the area that we had finally gotten under control in the last couple years. New guy might be in for an ugly surprise when he shows up for the first time. Oh well, off to the next woodlot...

 

[farmer steve]

had the same thing happen to me on the property i cut wood and hunt sometimes. tell your cuz to have a lawyer look at the lease as i know it can get ugly.the guy's that leased my neighbors land gave him 2 bad checks. on the other hand talk to the guy that leased the land and see if he has a problem with you cutting wood after hunting season. unfortunatley some"bone" hunters can be a$$holes.

 

[sledge&wedge]

Well boys, I managed to swoop in under the radar and pull some wood out last weekend. About 90% pin oak, and the rest is beech. For scale, the rounds laying around the perimeter of the pile are roughly 28" in diameter. Good amount of wood, but only got about half of what I had cut due to mudholes. Got the trailer stuck for 2 hours as it was, took a lot of work to get everything out of there. Should make for some warn evenings this winter.

 

[Deleted member 135597]

Sucks losing turf even if it wasn't that good. At least you got some of the wood out so all that work/time/money isn't lost.

 

[USMC615]

Well boys, I managed to swoop in under the radar and pull some wood out last weekend. About 90% pin oak, and the rest is beech. For scale, the rounds laying around the perimeter of the pile are roughly 28" in diameter. Good amount of wood, but only got about half of what I had cut due to mudholes. Got the trailer stuck for 2 hours as it was, took a lot of work to get everything out of there. Should make for some warn evenings this winter.View attachment 431120 View attachment 431121

Sledge, at least you were able to ease in there and get some of it. What's in the pic was certainly well worth going after, even though you encountered some aggravation doing so. The 'ol sayin I suppose...half a pie better than no pie. Good that ya went after it.

 

[unclemoustache]

Gimme 1/2 cord of the oak and I promise I won't tell.....

 

[svk]

Glad you got some out.

 

[sledge&wedge]

Gimme 1/2 cord of the oak and I promise I won't tell.....

You don't want any of this... Standing dead about a year, straight grained and splits real nice, no dog piss smell... just awful firewood

Thanks guys.

 

[Tree Feller]

Did your cuz not give you first option to lease?? Seems good land is getting harder and harder to come by. Thats why i say if you have any then keep it! And if you can find some and afford it then buy it!

 

[svk]

Did your cuz not give you first option to lease?? Seems good land is getting harder and harder to come by. Thats why i say if you have any then keep it! And if you can find some and afford it then buy it!

You've got that right. The "me" generation doesn't share public land as well as our fathers and grandfathers did.

 

[sledge&wedge]

Did your cuz not give you first option to lease?? Seems good land is getting harder and harder to come by. Thats why i say if you have any then keep it! And if you can find some and afford it then buy it!

Nope. No contact ahead of time. Just the "hey, get your stuff and get out" phone call. Honestly, I wouldn't have taken him up on the offer anyway. There are tons of trespassers in the area and the local kids use it as a mudbog. We have had several treestands stolen over the years, no matter how they are set up or locked up.

I have several hunting options within 20-30 minutes drive time, but that was my only true woodlot to cut in.

 

[USMC615]

Well boys, I managed to swoop in under the radar and pull some wood out last weekend. About 90% pin oak, and the rest is beech. For scale, the rounds laying around the perimeter of the pile are roughly 28" in diameter. Good amount of wood, but only got about half of what I had cut due to mudholes. Got the trailer stuck for 2 hours as it was, took a lot of work to get everything out of there. Should make for some warn evenings this winter.View attachment 431120 View attachment 431121

Sledge, at least you were able to ease in there and get some of it. What's in the pics was certainly well worth going after, even though you encountered some aggravation doing so. The 'ol sayin I suppose...half a pie better than no pie. Good that ya went after it.

You've got that right. The "me" generation doesn't share public land as well as our fathers and grandfathers did.

...ain't that the truth!!