Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Backyard Lumberjack]

to get back 'on topic'... at least close... there is a nice curbside pile of tree cuttings couple blocks from me. ez gettings. some nice fireplace sized bits. 2,3-4' long. all oak. if i can muster the drive and energy to do some cold weather saw work... put chain back on my Echo... think it would be an ez scrounge.

well, u get the idea...

 

[svk]

Im
I don't intend to boast, but I help out three different elder couples out here. Their children have all left the community and gone now with children of their own. I grew up with these folks. Went to school with them. So it only feels right that I help out their parents as much as can. Although, I won't take money for bringing them fire wood. The love I give comes back to me ten fold. One way or another. From all these good folks. Both the elders and their sons and daughters I grew up with. So it all works out. Its a pretty tight community out here in the sticks on Kodiak Island. We definitely take care of our own!

Very nice of you and I agree with that sentiment, you literally do get 10 times your return when you give things to people in need.

 

[svk]

Put about an hour and a half out in the woods before lunch. Didn’t see any deer but did see some beds from last night. I’m sure it’s the same three does my son has been seeing. Ran into my neighbor who is also hunting, had a nice chat with him. Back home making chicken noodle soup to bring to a gal who is under the weather.

 

[Sierra_rider]

So here's the thing. I don't condone dogs running deer. Some folks that own a dog or dogs feel that if their dog doesn't s**t on the floor and is potty trained? Well then thats a "good well trained and mannered dog"! Regardless if the dog won't listen to or obey any simple command. I'm a dog person and understand them and their behavior and I WILL NOT have a dog that runs deer!!! Deer have enough natural predators to worry about let alone the harsh cold winters they try to survive. I've had conversations with folks about their dogs and some of these folks are absolutely oblivious to our dog laws in this State. They will make comments like "he's a real good dog! He even catches deer sometimes"! It just sticks to my craw deep under my skin! The Alaska Department of Fish and game encourages the termination of a dog in the act of running wild game.
Your situation is different because you're dog was obviously contained but broke loose and your neighbors were idiots for trying to contain a wild animal and then consider it to be their "live stock"! What really gets me is when folks have dogs and let them run loose knowing good and well they run deer, but make no attempt to correct or discipline the dog for doing so! I just don't get it!

Yeah, I've never encouraged nor condoned dogs doing that sort of thing. That particular dog wasn't allowed to leave the fence without being on leash, just because her prey drive was so high...even though we lived in a rural area, it wasn't cool to just let the dogs roam.

I don't have dogs anymore, but my last dog (different dog,GSD/border collie mix) was well trained. I could walk her off leash anywhere...you could see that she wanted to chase animals, but wouldn't do anything without permission. The few times she did start to run, she could be recalled easily. In her case, I think it was more of a herding thing rather than trying to kill animals.

I did have one incident where a doe jumped inside the fence that I didn't know about. My dog would basically corner it into this fence/woodshed area...when the deer would try to leave that spot, my dog would push it back into it...she never did do anything to intentionally harm it. Once I came down to where the deer was, she basically backed off as to say it was my problem now. It was quite bizarre, as I never formally trained her to herd, just the genes in those particular dogs. She did that to a barn cat I had as well, she'd occupy herself with making sure the cat didn't wander too far from the shop.

The whole wild animal thing is kinda outta wack here. There are quite a few people who feed the deer, so the deer have no fear of anything...it seems as if they don't even care about natural predators. Along with the abundance of deer, we also now have an abundance of mountain lions. Now people are bitching about how common lion sightings are and think we should be out hunting lions.

I'm not a lefty greenie type guy by any means, but IMO this is just nature trying to correct an imbalance caused by us. If people would stop providing an unnatural amount of food and water, maybe the deer population would migrate back out into the backcountry...and bring the lions with them? Hunters would actually benefit as well, as the deer would actually be out in the public land.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

I've got one of them too...2019 Yamaha mt09. I'm debating on doing suspension work to it, or just buying a dedicated sport bike. The motor is a crossplane triple and the throttle is addicting on it...suspension though, not so much.

Do you scrounge any of that forest burn in the background?

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

Any of you buy tires online? I still need tires (car) for my trailer. I google my size and come up with some great prices from companies I've never heard of. Anyone know of reputable online companies?

I’ve bought a lot from Tire rack, discount tire direct and of course good old Amazon.

 

[svk]

I should add-I’ve also bought some tires from eBay.

 

[jolj]

I went to clean seeds & ground weeds off my Kubota L4701 radiator & found a removable screen that I can wash off.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Yeah, I've never encouraged nor condoned dogs doing that sort of thing. That particular dog wasn't allowed to leave the fence without being on leash, just because her prey drive was so high...even though we lived in a rural area, it wasn't cool to just let the dogs roam.

I don't have dogs anymore, but my last dog (different dog,GSD/border collie mix) was well trained. I could walk her off leash anywhere...you could see that she wanted to chase animals, but wouldn't do anything without permission. The few times she did start to run, she could be recalled easily. In her case, I think it was more of a herding thing rather than trying to kill animals.

I did have one incident where a doe jumped inside the fence that I didn't know about. My dog would basically corner it into this fence/woodshed area...when the deer would try to leave that spot, my dog would push it back into it...she never did do anything to intentionally harm it. Once I came down to where the deer was, she basically backed off as to say it was my problem now. It was quite bizarre, as I never formally trained her to herd, just the genes in those particular dogs. She did that to a barn cat I had as well, she'd occupy herself with making sure the cat didn't wander too far from the shop.

The whole wild animal thing is kinda outta wack here. There are quite a few people who feed the deer, so the deer have no fear of anything...it seems as if they don't even care about natural predators. Along with the abundance of deer, we also now have an abundance of mountain lions. Now people are bitching about how common lion sightings are and think we should be out hunting lions.

I'm not a lefty greenie type guy by any means, but IMO this is just nature trying to correct an imbalance caused by us. If people would stop providing an unnatural amount of food and water, maybe the deer population would migrate back out into the backcountry...and bring the lions with them? Hunters would actually benefit as well, as the deer would actually be out in the public land.

I most definitely agree! On all of it!

 

[Sierra_rider]

Do you scrounge any of that forest burn in the background?

Nope, I get enough softwoods from my own property. Any of the hardwoods I get from doing tree work on the side.

I think even you'd be impressed by the amount of salvage logging they did this year in that burn(Caldor fire, 200k+ acres.) It helps that they mostly went after stuff near the roads with bunchers, but I was impressed by the amount of hand falling that they were doing on the less favorable terrain. That road I took the picture on is 25 miles long and they have cleared both sides 200'+ for almost the entirety of the whole road...all by early summer. They then were working off some of the forest service roads off of it.

It's now my favorite street riding road. With the trees gone, the sight lines are incredible...you can "safely" do stupid speeds on that road as you can see around turns and for any deer, cattle, etc that may be on the sides of the road. Wide sweepers that you can take at nearly triple digit speeds on a sport bike, along with tighter turns that you can drag a knee in if you feel adventurous lol.

 

[Sierra_rider]

This street bike talk has jonesin' to take the 09 out for a ride...maybe later. High today of mid-50's and clear skies...not not exactly my preferred temp for a street ride, but it'll do...and not windy like yesterday. This is perfect dirt riding conditions right now, so I'm going to do some prep on the Beta in anticipation of a trip out to the dez tomorrow.

 

[mountainguyed67]

There are quite a few people who feed the deer, so the deer have no fear of anything...it seems as if they don't even care about natural predators. Along with the abundance of deer, we also now have an abundance of mountain lions. Now people are bitching about how common lion sightings are and think we should be out hunting lions.

I immediately thought that when I read your earlier post about the deer being where the people are. I know that where there are deer, there are mountain lions.

 

[svk]

Used tires is the way to roll. People change vehicles so much these days, there's always good deals to be had on craigslist. Let someone else take the hit.

I’ve picked up nice take offs before in this manner.

Except for mud tires. Every 17-22 year old kid wanting 90 percent prices for 15 percent rubber lol.

 

[mountainguyed67]

Do you scrounge any of that forest burn in the background?

I also don’t scrounge the burnt stuff. For one thing it’s messy work, everything ends up black. I have done it in the past. And I also have more than enough wood on my own property. Most log trucks coming down the highway are still hauling blackened logs, from the Creek Fire in the fall of 2020. It has been that way for two years. That fire burned 380,000 acres.

 

[old CB]

Good luck with the knee replacement. I love mine.

Am home this afternoon, learning how to get around. My wife is a retired RN, so I have the best caregiver possible.

The ice machine is gold. It features a pad that surrounds my knee, held in place with velcro. Water passages inside the pad hold cold water that is pumped from a cooler on the floor with a mixture of ice and cold water to supply the pump. Only downside is the ice melts and has to be refreshed about every 3-4 hrs. Had an on-duty nurse to handle that last night. Not sure if I'll feel right about asking my home nurse to get up, drain water, and fetch ice 2--3 times tonight.

Amazing the technology we have these days. A new knee! When they wheeled me into the operating room yesterday morning, the array of equipment, and the numerous attendants scurrying around were astounding. Purdy damn cool stuff.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Anyway, one of our German Shepherds was quite the hunter and broke out of our fence and into their fence once. I guess she ran one of the deer down and started eating it, all in front of these people.

You are lucky you wasn't around here, your dog would have been shot ASAP, no DNR or cop needed for that to happen here.

Folks here won't put up with stray dogs coming over and killing animals on their property, ANY animals!

I guess we are all weirdos too. lol

SR

 

[Sierra_rider]

You are lucky you wasn't around here, your dog would have been shot ASAP, no DNR or cop needed for that to happen here.

Folks here won't put up with stray dogs coming over and killing animals on their property, ANY animals!

I guess we are all weirdos too. lol

SR

You evidently didn't read the whole story, but not a stray dog...a normally fenced dog that got out. Neighbors were breaking the law by feeding wildlife as well as attempting to domesticate them.

We'll disagree on this, but I have problems with people that feed deer. Not only do they attract predators, but they are borderline a nuisance with how many of them are out on the roads. I can go out into the backcountry and never see deer...meanwhile I see a dozen or so every day at my house. Also see quite a few of them dead on the side of the road. The same people that feed the deer bitch on that Nextdoor app about people to drive unreasonably slow to avoid their "deer babies." It doesn't matter, I've had one jump out of the darkness before and actually run into the side of my pickup. They're causing the problem, but like to blame it on others.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

DO NOT FEED THE WILD LIFE!!!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Well its Northeast 30 out here on the Cape and rain.


So I decided to finally Split the quartered wood in my yard


and get it stacked in the arctic entrance.


Although I don't use kindling that often. I try to pick up any small kindling size pieces in the area's on my property where I just happen to be splitting wood.


Not much goes to waste or gets thrown away in rural or remote Alaska. So I save my used motor oil from all my equipment and vehicles and mix it into saw waste fir fire starter.

It works quit well! Thats why I don't use kindling. If my wood is seasoned properly? I don't need it, but my Squaw likes to use kindling because she says my firestarter stinks!

How do you deal with your squaw, I mean scrounge?

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

You evidently didn't read the whole story, but not a stray dog...a normally fenced dog that got out. Neighbors were breaking the law by feeding wildlife as well as attempting to domesticate them.

We'll disagree on this, but I have problems with people that feed deer. Not only do they attract predators, but they are borderline a nuisance with how many of them are out on the roads. I can go out into the backcountry and never see deer...meanwhile I see a dozen or so every day at my house. Also see quite a few of them dead on the side of the road. The same people that feed the deer ***** on that Nextdoor app about people to drive unreasonably slow to avoid their "deer babies." It doesn't matter, I've had one jump out of the darkness before and actually run into the side of my pickup. They're causing the problem, but like to blame it on others.

Yes I read the whole story, and I never said the neighbors were right in having the deer, but any dog that isn't home, has strayed, and around here if it's hunting/killing it's shot. You don't have to agree, but that's the way it is.

Keep them home....problem solved!

SR