Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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I'm with you guys. I don't like to cut, split, or stack firewood in the summer. About the earliest I start cutting is late October. Usually it's more like around Thanksgiving. And then I'll continue to cut through February.
Now, I don't know about you guys, but I always cut and split my firewood at least a year in advance. My wood shed is big enough that it can hold wood for a few years. So, I stack it based on the year it was split. For example, right now I'm using white oak that I cut in the fall 2021/winter 2022.
And by the way, I never cut live trees. Always hardwoods that have been downed several years.
 
Saw this on Facebook, thought you guys might get a good laugh from it View attachment 1236027
My one hunting buddy got screwed up with his work scheduled this year and didn't have a lot of time for rifle season this year. I talked to him right after season and he said he's going to schedule all 2 weeks off next year. Other than being busier than when I was working retirement is great for hunting. :rock2:
 
We've been chewing through wood the past 2 weeks too. Almost double the normal rate so far this week. Took enough wood into the house Saturday for this week, and I'm gonna have to bring more in today after work. I got plenty, so no worries for this year but I'll definatly be dipping into next year's reserve if it stays this cold. Think I may break down and get my logging buddy to drop a load of logs off this spring since I haven't had the time to scrounge like I usually do.
Same here on burning a lot of wood. I'm halfway thru what I had planned on burning. I always have plenty for backup if needed. Stay safe and keep warm. This morning the temperature was a mild 14 degrees compared to "0" the last two mornings.
 
I’m thinking it’s time to replace my windows. My house is at 65* in the morning when I wake up to feed the stove so I’m not freezing. But when I sit on the couch, I definitely feel the cold from the old windows…

Couch is surrounded by windows 🤷🏻‍♂️View attachment 1236008View attachment 1236008
Yup, drafty windows make it uncomfortable. The suction air flow of your stove could be causing some of that draft. I would love to drill two holes in my fireplace to the outside to supply air for my insert. The problem is that I have 3 flues in my chimney. I do not want to screw up the other flues. I also have a fireplace in my basement underneath the fireplace in our living room.
 
My one hunting buddy got screwed up with his work scheduled this year and didn't have a lot of time for rifle season this year. I talked to him right after season and he said he's going to schedule all 2 weeks off next year. Other than being busier than when I was working retirement is great for hunting. :rock2:
Absolutely correct. I remember sitting at my desk at work looking out the window and saying to myself 'man this would be a great duck day'. Now I hunt as much as I physically can. Too bad the ducks don't cooperate. Seems they like the Northern climate more these days.
 
Absolutely correct. I remember sitting at my desk at work looking out the window and saying to myself 'man this would be a great duck day'. Now I hunt as much as I physically can. Too bad the ducks don't cooperate. Seems they like the Northern climate more these days.
I'm still seeing mallards and canadas here. They'll stay as long as Lake Michigan is open and there's no snow cover. There were guys beating up the mallards around here in November. Unfortunately it's become a pay to play sport here. There's lots of fields leased for waterfowl hunting.
 
I’m thinking it’s time to replace my windows. My house is at 65* in the morning when I wake up to feed the stove so I’m not freezing. But when I sit on the couch, I definitely feel the cold from the old windows…

Couch is surrounded by windows 🤷🏻‍♂️View attachment 1236008View attachment 1236008
We have a huge pop out bay window in the living room, goes floor to ceiling, 8 feet wide, and bows out of the house nearly 3 feet. It's a massive heat suck. My wife and I argue about it all the time. I want it gone, but she like how much light it let's in the living room. Soon as I find a big double or triple hung window for a reasonable price, that bay window Is gone.
I prefer cutting wood if there's snow on the ground and it's 20° and sunny. It was about 5° last weekend and I was just fine. I rarely cut wood in summer because I don't like to suffer.
before I had a heat stroke I would have rather processed wood in summer. Anymore I do it all in fall/winter. I can put more clothes on to stay warm once I'm hot I'm done.
 
Yeah, it's much nicer cutting in the winter than the summer, plus the sled makes it easier to get the rounds to the truck. Summer is for fishing.
Couldn't agree more. Well... on second thought winter, spring, summer and fall are for fishing but the only time I want to cut in the summer is if the scrounge is too good to pass up. Like hardwood already on the ground and I can get my truck or trailer right to it.
 
Absolutely correct. I remember sitting at my desk at work looking out the window and saying to myself 'man this would be a great duck day'. Now I hunt as much as I physically can. Too bad the ducks don't cooperate. Seems they like the Northern climate more these days.

I'm still seeing mallards and canadas here. They'll stay as long as Lake Michigan is open and there's no snow cover. There were guys beating up the mallards around here in November. Unfortunately it's become a pay to play sport here. There's lots of fields leased for waterfowl hunting.
I had a couple good waterfowl days this fall but I was expecting to see better numbers overall. Was hoping that the dry spring we had would lead to a better hatch. At least the grouse numbers seemed to be up. The best success I had with ducks was looking for them in places that are hard to get to and get overlooked by most. It's been a few years since we've had good numbers out on the main river where anyone can set up on one of the islands and have a good crack at them.
 
Same here on burning a lot of wood. I'm halfway thru what I had planned on burning. I always have plenty for backup if needed. Stay safe and keep warm. This morning the temperature was a mild 14 degrees compared to "0" the last two mornings.
Yeah 5 on the plus side felt soooo much better than the negatives we’ve been having
 
It's been hovering around -20 F overnight the last couple days here and the heat pump is struggling with it. Had to fire up the incredibly inefficient electric boiler we have as a secondary heat source for the house, the power bill next month will be fun... Man I cannot wait to install a wood stove in this house whether it can vent through the existing chimney or it has to go through the roof.
 
I had a couple good waterfowl days this fall but I was expecting to see better numbers overall. Was hoping that the dry spring we had would lead to a better hatch. At least the grouse numbers seemed to be up. The best success I had with ducks was looking for them in places that are hard to get to and get overlooked by most. It's been a few years since we've had good numbers out on the main river where anyone can set up on one of the islands and have a good crack at them.
I hunt on public lands that the COE plants and then floods the fields. Hard to hunt the last 20 yrs because the ducks just don't come down until everything up North freezes out. We got our cold snap the last two weeks of the season and everything froze up. I don't break ice anymore like the young ones do. Any migration that happened was maybe a stop overnight and then they continued on South.
 
It's been hovering around -20 F overnight the last couple days here and the heat pump is struggling with it. Had to fire up the incredibly inefficient electric boiler we have as a secondary heat source for the house, the power bill next month will be fun... Man I cannot wait to install a wood stove in this house whether it can vent through the existing chimney or it has to go through the roof.
Heat pumps are great until it gets cold. Sucks that the powers that be are trying to push us that way. I'll burn wood til I die. We had the house at 74 when it was -11 the other night. Sure I burned a bunch of wood but I'll go cut more.
 
Yeah, it sucks what they are trying to force us into, but I'm not going for it.
Although, I was once told by a stove manufacturer (Hitzer Inc) that all you needed to do was install a coal stove. Then if you were caught burning wood all you needed to do was say you are in the process of switching to burning coal.
This makes sense, at least to me, because I know the EPA does have less restrictions on anthracite coal.
 
Heat pumps are great until it gets cold. Sucks that the powers that be are trying to push us that way. I'll burn wood til I die. We had the house at 74 when it was -11 the other night. Sure I burned a bunch of wood but I'll go cut more.
Good on you. Burn baby burn! It seems backwards to me that they are even talking about stopping people from heating their homes with a renewable resource like firewood when there are still people with oil furnaces. I'm going through more wood in my little shop these last few days too. An armload usually lasts me the evening keeping it around 60-70 and I've been stepping out to grab a second load.
 
even talking about stopping people from heating their homes with a renewable resource like firewood
That is what never makes sense to me out of it either. I guess it's like hunting: People that don't understand it think it's cruel, forgetting the DNR slogan, "Hunting is conservation."
 
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