Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

Black bears are not as big, strong, or mean as Brown Bears, but they are big and strong and you sure as heck do not want to be attacked by one (and it does occasionally happen).

A Black Bear can run 30 MPH and can climb. If you are in real good shape, and you track a deer (pushing hard) in the snow all day long, you can run it down, I have done it, but you will not catch up to a Black Bear, they just keep going.

Black Bears get much larger and stronger than a human. You do not want to get between Mom and her cubs or encounter a bad-tempered large male.

 

[MustangMike]

After weeks of seeing nothing but does on the trail cams at my Upstate Property, we set up a second one at a different location.

I think we have a shooter! (He is on the right side of the pic).

 

[svk]

Just the opposite, they have opened the season where no-one thought they lived, but most hunters don't want to bother taking one.

On the one hand, you likely should take them as they take out a lot of deer, on the other hand I'd rather spend my time deer hunting, much better to eat.

I guess the thing to do is get your deer early, then hunt for the bear over the gut pile, they will often come to it, and baiting is not allowed in NY.

No baiting. Go figure, that way they’ll guarantee not many get harvested.

 

[svk]

45-70 the only GVT i trust
View attachment 1026293

Love it

 

[svk]

A few thoughts on bears:

Black bears can get huge but rarely do you see one that will be more than 200 lbs in the wild.

I wouldn’t want to mess with a bear of any size.

Black bears are scared shitless of you unless you get between mom and cubs or you get a “campsite bear” that has lost fear of humans and know that your arrival is the dinner bell. Those animals unfortunately need to be destroyed. I’ve been bluffed charged by a campsite bear. Wasn’t a particularly fun experience even with a .357 in my hand.

If I was in grizzly bear country I’d never leave the car with less than a .44 mag in my hip. Outdoor Life loves to pimp the 10 mm these days for bear medicine. They can keep those. I’ll stick to my roller gun.

Grizzlies in areas where they are protected are much more bold than where they are game animals. They’ve become a problem out west.

 

[MustangMike]

Any bear, male or female, can be "food aggressive", and if you get between them and what they were eating you could be in trouble.

Black Bears can go 600+ and I'm sure I have had some 300+ to 400+ lb ones on my property.

You are more likely to see the little ones, but the prints tell you the big ones are also there.

Like my Uncle used to say, when you stop hunting animals, they start to view you as being similar to sheep!

I have heard of coyotes eating something in someone's yard refuse to be chased away and snarling at the owner. Unfortunately, you cannot discharge a firearm in the neighborhood, they will arrest you.

 

[Logger nate]

My new winter falling saw, XS 572 xpgw.
Deer know where their safe, lol

 

[svk]

Any bear, male or female, can be "food aggressive", and if you get between them and what they were eating you could be in trouble.

Black Bears can go 600+ and I'm sure I have had some 300+ to 400+ lb ones on my property.

You are more likely to see the little ones, but the prints tell you the big ones are also there.

Like my Uncle used to say, when you stop hunting animals, they start to view you as being similar to sheep!

I have heard of coyotes eating something in someone's yard refuse to be chased away and snarling at the owner. Unfortunately, you cannot discharge a firearm in the neighborhood, they will arrest you.

Crossbow should solve in town coyote problems nicely

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

I have a 629 Back Packer... 3" barrel. I've taken whitetail with it. 1911 is for social work.

I carried a Ruger LWC in 45 from the time they came out, until about a year ago when my company said no more guns on job sites. I moved to a more compact 10mm because it’s easier to conceal.

 

[cat10ken]

A black bear was shot this fall in Wisconsin that had a live weight of 775#; dressed out at 676#. He'd been spending a lot of time in the farmers corn field.

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

A black bear was shot this fall in Wisconsin that had a live weight of 775#; dressed out at 676#. He'd been spending a lot of time in the farmers corn field.

I remember when I was about 14 my dad took me up into one of his favorite bear hunting spots. We were glassing this valley, and there was a black bead out there in the blueberries every bit at big as the grizzlies in the valley, and he didn’t give a crap about them.

 

[svk]

Here’s a couple from the bear sanctuary. This started off as an old man feeding the bears and was turned into a nonprofit after he ended up in the nursing home. It’s been going as a nonprofit now for about 25 years.

One very big bear and the other one is a smaller bear that is extremely fat thanks to unlimited food. The bears that visit here get much bigger than normal because they have unlimited food.

 

[MustangMike]

I may have to cut some big wood next week, so I got this baby ready today. Have not run it in about a year and a half. Smoked a bit at first, then cleared right up (with the fuel that was in it).

It was built for someone else who decided they did not want it, so I kinda got a deal on it. For the price of a new one, it is mildly ported, has a 32" light bar (with two loops of 404 chain ... it is wearing the full chisel one square filed), a wrap handle and the Max-Flow foam filter.

It is slightly nose heavy but feels well balanced when you use it. It should get er done!

 

[captjack]

Im getting old and spoiled ...... the wood fairies just drop logs at the farm for me now.. Tree service truck of standing dead oak .....

 

[LondonNeil]

Well with the 4300 running again and a dry day, just, I managed two tanks through it blocking up my ugly unsplitables. The pile was bigger then I thought, I've got at least as much to do still. I've mixed the appropriate amount of redex in with my new batch of mix, so after 2 tanks I think the carb should be clean again and should stay that way. I think adjusting the metering lever had an affect as I ended up leaning the saw out an eighth of a turn. Still four stroking a little but I don't want to go too lean. Chain sharpened and saw dusted down and put away for now.

 

[MustangMike]

The Mustang had an occasional miss, and I was thinking (old school thinking) that the plugs were relatively new and should be working fine.

Then I get an engine code and realize it is the Ignition coils. So, I order a set made by TRQ that are supposed to have a hotter spark that will provide better performance and fuel mileage. Gotta say, they made a heck of a difference from the old coils, the car runs smooth but feels like an animal!

For those who don't know my 2006 Mustang GT has Eagle Crank, Rods and Pistons (strokes it from 4.6 to 4.9 Ltr), a Whipple Twin Screw Intercooled SC, Magnaflow Cats, JBA Mufflers, etc., etc, so she puts out north of 550 Hp. Ford Performance did the tune for the Whipples back then, so they are 50 State emissions legal! The 4.6 liter was the first V-8 in the Mustang to have 3 valves and variable cam timing, so it makes the most of its small size.

The big concern in 1st and 2nd is traction, so it wears Nitto 555 G-2s size 295-45-18 on the back. I also have a Griggs Racing Torque Arm and Lower Control Arms to go with my Steeda Suspension. Going from 40 series to 45 series tires in the back (which they said would not fit, but they do) made a huge difference in straight line traction. I run 275-40-18s in the front to keep the handling crisp. (Any wider would rub when turning)

She is a lot of fun to drive! Feels a lot like an old fashion built big block but gets much better mileage and starts easily in the winter. And as my nephew Mechanic Matt likes to tease me, "Uncle Mike, it has power windows and air conditioning!"

I bought it new at the end of 2005 and just kept installing upgrades every year (engine, suspension, brakes, radiator, shifter). By now, she is pretty well all done up.

 

[svk]

I may have to cut some big wood next week, so I got this baby ready today. Have not run it in about a year and a half. Smoked a bit at first, then cleared right up (with the fuel that was in it).

It was built for someone else who decided they did not want it, so I kinda got a deal on it. For the price of a new one, it is mildly ported, has a 32" light bar (with two loops of 404 chain ... it is wearing the full chisel one square filed), a wrap handle and the Max-Flow foam filter.

It is slightly nose heavy but feels well balanced when you use it. It should get er done!

Who the heck would order that saw and not want it?!! Maybe the guy ran out of funds between order and delivery?

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

Wood scrounging season is probably over for me this year. We had a good run, but snows finally on the ground and it’s supposed to get cold next week. In the 30s today so I decided to go work on cutting off the 10 cord stock pile and get it split and put it in the wood shed.

Of course side tracks always happen, and I just got done adding some sides to my wood cart. I’ve had that thing several years now and never noticed that it had stale pockets on it. We build a bed frame for the cabin the other day, so I had some wood scrap laying around that worked out quite nicely.

Time for lunch, and then I’ll go out and fire up the 372xp. Or maybe the ported MS361, but now that I think of it that saw was making a racket last time I ran it so maybe I better investigate that, which means I need to clear off the saw bench, so I better put that poulan 295 back together first.

 

[LondonNeil]

I feel like getting an air rifle to pop at a free squirrels. ... The ****ING bushy tailed rats have been Chewing holes in my high quality tarps and continually chewing the paracord I'm tieing it on to my stacks with! I've a4' wide stack along my garden fence, with a good slope to the top so once tarped the rain runs off well. Small clips hold the tarp and paracord ties it to the fence posts.... Except twice in as many weeks I've found the tarp on the ground and all my ties neatly severed.... Little ****ers.

 

[GoldField]

My new winter falling saw, XS 572 xpgw.
View attachment 1026386Deer know where their safe, lolView attachment 1026387

Have you used the 572 yet? If so, any thoughts?
Is that a 32" bar? Any thoughts?

I was thinking about that very same set up for some upcoming work I need to do, though maybe with a 28" bar. A few months ago, the Tsumura bars were difficult to find.

Just curious.