Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[muddstopper]

Always hearing of a black Panther, according to DNR there has never been a confirmed sighting of a black panther in North America. Lots of stories of them tho. Only big black cats in either north or south America are the Jaguars, which wont be completely black. A quote from another website about Mountain lions, in my area no less.
AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 6:44 AM
I live in Cherokee Co NC, its the farthest west you can go in NC. the reason I am searching the internet for Black Panthers is several recently have been spotted in our area. One was spotted by a neighbor who I do believe. Another neighbor said she saw a large black dog go through her yard and her dog went crazy. I'm wondering if it was a dog.
I often wonder how many folks might have really seen a big dog and their mind tells them its a cat.

 

[svk]

I agree. I hunted in between Crane Lake and Orr for many years. Never saw a cat but plenty of wolves. My uncles swears there are cats around that live in the area not just migrate.

Don't doubt that one bit.

Cats have a pretty large individual range so folks won't see them everyday but they definitely are around. Although they will stick close to food sources.

There was a "cat lady" who lived north of Virginia in the early 90's and one winter there were many cougar sightings near her house. And not surprisingly her number of "pet" cats also decreased significantly.

 

[MustangMike]

Unfortunately, in NY, you can not carry a firearm (even with a full permit) while you are bow hunting.

My local tree guy has a Mtn Lion on a trail cam right near here, and my youngest brother spotted one with kits while he was surveying in CT.

One was even killed on Rte 84 near here a few years back, and DEC came up with this wonderful story of how it was the same cat that had been spotted in so many places hundreds of miles away. I think that cat must have accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles!

They are out there, but very stealth, and rare. Conversely, Bears are all over the place, but also usually very stealth. If a Bear can be that hard to find, imagine how hard to find a big cat can be. Fortunately, Mtn Lions are more closely related to smaller cats than larger cats, so it is very rare that they attack humans. Funny how animals can be "wired" like that.

 

[muddstopper]

There have been confirmed sighting of Mountian lions within a couple hundred miles of where I live. So I think it wouldnot be out of the question that there are least a few either living here or passing thru. Momma cats will kick their young males out of the den when they start becoming breeding age. I suspect those young males are going to travel in search of a mate. If A mate cant be found close by, then it makes sense, at least to me, that they will keep looking and keep traveling until they find a female. I wonder if its possible for a mountain lion to breed with a bobcat. Wolves mix with dogs all the time, and grizzly bears will breed with polar bears and black bears. I guess when the urge strikes, males probably aint to choosey.

 

[PA Dan]

I have noticed a lot of dead trees in a park near where I grew up. Drove through today and see this! Man there is a lot of wood and more coming! Looks like a gtg could break out there!

 

[JustJeff]

Mountain lion no match for square file!

 

[chucker]

Mountain lion no match for square file!

! remember to always use a clean an sharp chain when spaying or nuttering you friendly forested feline neighbors ! staying or migrating? "PETA WILL LOVE YOU " !! LOL

 

[CaseyForrest]

Had some elm like that at a GTG. A big hydro could not split it; and, a Super Split SE could not split it. Had to noodle every single piece.

Looks like that's what I'm going to have to do as well. The SS doesn't like whole rounds. Which is OK, Ive got a saw to break in...

 

[svk]

Unfortunately, in NY, you can not carry a firearm (even with a full permit) while you are bow hunting.

My local tree guy has a Mtn Lion on a trail cam right near here, and my youngest brother spotted one with kits while he was surveying in CT.

One was even killed on Rte 84 near here a few years back, and DEC came up with this wonderful story of how it was the same cat that had been spotted in so many places hundreds of miles away. I think that cat must have accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles!

They are out there, but very stealth, and rare. Conversely, Bears are all over the place, but also usually very stealth. If a Bear can be that hard to find, imagine how hard to find a big cat can be. Fortunately, Mtn Lions are more closely related to smaller cats than larger cats, so it is very rare that they attack humans. Funny how animals can be "wired" like that.

Predators are usually much more stealthy than prey.

Deer, especially young bucks are pretty stupid unless they've been educated i.e. the wily old buck that is never seen until someone shoots him. Otoh you can be overrun with wolves yet never see them. In my hunting area where I've been hunting for 25 years I've never seen a wolf. I've heard them hundreds of times, have found dozens of wolf killed deer, and cut their tracks weekly. Other areas where I've hunted you can see wolves all the time (my wolf hunt a couple years back lasted less than a minute-they were that close to me when I started calling.)

I have friends who have trapped bobcat, Lynx, and even a bobcat/lynx cross. You will never see these animals, ever but if you know where they like to run along river bottoms you can trap them every year.

Same with bear. Without bait you are lucky to see one a year and that's usually seeing one cross a road at great distance. But they are there.

 

[nomad_archer]

I have seen bobcat's once in 16-17ish years of hunting. I have seen a few bears only a handful of coyotes. What its amazing to me is how quite bears are. I had a bear two years ago come blasting out of a thicket on a nearly full tilt run and he/she didnt make a sound. We are talking a several hundred pound adult. I couldn't believe it something that big and not a sound. If I tried to sneak through the same woods I would sound like a freight train.

 

[svk]

I have seen bobcat's once in 16-17ish years of hunting. I have seen a few bears only a handful of coyotes. What its amazing to me is how quite bears are. I had a bear two years ago come blasting out of a thicket on a nearly full tilt run and he/she didnt make a sound. We are talking a several hundred pound adult. I couldn't believe it something that big and not a sound. If I tried to sneak through the same woods I would sound like a freight train.

Bears are silent until startled. Then they sound like a bowling ball rolling through the woods lol.

 

[nomad_archer]

Bears are silent until startled. Then they sound like a bowling ball rolling through the woods lol.

Something had this one startled. The only thing I heard was a branch break a hundred years or more away. Which should tell you about the size of the branch. Then a lot of nothing then a flash of black and boom there was a bear exploding from the thicket and he stopped about 40 yards out and checked his back trail and then did a 90 degree turn and was off again. They are all pretty awesome critters.

 

[MustangMike]

My brother said the Bear that almost joined him in the tree stand (before daylight) came in slow and noisy, but as soon as he clicked the safety off the Mdl 70, it went away fast & quiet. (This was several years ago now).

I have never seen a Bear while hunting. I have heard them, close, but not seen them. I have seen one when going into the property when I was in the car, and once when we were on the road bike riding down here.

I have seen bobcats 3 times when hunting, and I took one. Did not shoot at the other two. Have seen coyote about a half dozen times while hunting, took one and missed 2. I have also seen several from the car while on the road. Even stopped and blew my horn at one that was approaching cattle. He started to go away, then turned to come back. I had to go to work.

 

[svk]

I just bought some 125gr loads for my 30-06. Going to try and bust some yotes this winter on my buddy's property.

 

[Haywire]

Bears be always tryin' to steal my firewood! haha

 

[MustangMike]

I just bought some 125gr loads for my 30-06. Going to try and bust some yotes this winter on my buddy's property.

Be careful where they shoot. I used to download the 100 gr loads in the 30-30 and the 110 gr loads in the 270 to shoot like the hunting bullets. Resulted in low recoil and very pleasant to shoot, and more accurate then when loaded to velocities the rifling was not designed to handle.

 

[svk]

Be careful where they shoot. I used to download the 100 gr loads in the 30-30 and the 110 gr loads in the 270 to shoot like the hunting bullets. Resulted in low recoil and very pleasant to shoot, and more accurate then when loaded to velocities the rifling was not designed to handle.

I recently ordered a new composite stock and forend for my BAR. I'll probably havevthe gunsmith disassemble the whole gun and completely clean it as it's been several years since that was last done.

Then I'll sight in with the light loads. They are factory so not too hot at all.

Here is the new stock/forend pattern to replace the original wood stock that has varnish worn off and is starting to crack.

 

[Cowboy254]

Sorry for the thread derail fellas, I thought I'd put up a post about firewood. Here's a pic of the ridge from near the lady farmer's house. The big bluegum is centre top, now half hidden by thigh high grass. It doesn't stand out as much as it used to now that his limbs are in my shed. In line with the trunk you can see a pale strip where I have stomped the grass down while taking care of the limbs.



Toss a few bits in the back...



Then it's time to pull out the workhorse.



A few hundred pages back I saw a good looking timber jack so I thought I'd get one and see how it went. Certainly looks good for the 15-20 inch log range, probably not so much for the smaller stuff but it did make my life marginally easier for this one. A more level surface would probably also help.



I'm starting to get into the bigger wood here now and the 460 is still going ok but this blue gum is hard as buggery and it's not doing it easily. I'm starting to feel the need for the 661. Among other things, this branch fork was 39 inches across and the 460 has a 20 inch bar so it only just made it cutting from both sides.



The BTUs are strong with this one...

 

[Cowboy254]

Mountain lion no match for square file!

Confucius say?

 

[tpence2177]

I just bought some 125gr loads for my 30-06. Going to try and bust some yotes this winter on my buddy's property.

Got me a .223 this year specifically for coyote hunting. I reload, so I'm thinking about tailoring a load for my .270 for if I ever get to go hunting long distances like some of the videos I've seen of 3-400 yards. I almost bought a 22-250, but one good day of prairie dog hunting (which I hope to use this gun for as well) will require a new barrel (just a super hot loaded .223 round basically and will shoot your barrel out.) Oh Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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