Wood Gloat.....as if

[Ken Hill]

I really dont need more wood but who can pass up 20+ inch cherry LOL. This was taken this morning from way up in bear country here as i'm bear huntin. They are logging and I secured permission to take all i wanted from their "scrap" piles. There were sections 8 ft long of 20 inch cherry, cherry crotches so big 3 of us couldnt lift them and all sorts of wood there for the taking. I ran 200 miles home tonight so I could get my saws and sealer and will be heading back in to hunt and load the truck!

http://kenhill.smugmug.com/Other/Private-Gallery-2/i-qxKkW2r/0/O/DSC1537.jpg

[David E Keller]

Nice find, Ken! Be sure and ask those loggers about those lumpy little tree tumors they tend to run across as well... I've heard horror stories about burls being stacked and burned!

[Marty Eargle]

I see a thread full of jealousy in your future...

[Ken Hill]

Daivd, I saw plenty on trees but none in any of the piles. I would yell..."BBBBUUURRRLLLL!!!!" and our convoy would slide to a stop. I reckon it sounded close to bear LOL!

[Dan Hintz]

Anyone in your party want to share a GPS address? :D DAMP will be in Keedysville this weekend... I'm sure I could convince them to make an extra trip :p

[Ken Hill]

Its 17 miles in on logging roads.....no city trucks would stand a chance hahahahaha! These guys all run beaters because you find the ditch every day! I can say that 65 mph on a muddy logging road and meeting a loaded logging truck is more exciting then confronting a 500 pound bear in a creek that is trying to kill dogs!

[Baxter Smith]

Sounds and looks like a great place to find a few pieces of wood! I know all about the excitement of meeting a logging truck.;) I spent a couple summers marking timber in Northern Maine. 65 miles out on a dirt road. We didn't get out much.:rolleyes:

[Ken Hill]

4 am monday morning, they tell me "Steve" is my driver.

"Steve" starts off our conversation by telling whats wrong or broken with his truck. It would have been easier and made me feel better if he had told what worked! I drove it a few times, not one mirror pointed at an area that was useful(backing up or turning around with a 3 or 400 ft drop off) I would think mirrors could be useful! The brakes were ok, steering was horrid and had so much play you just kind of pointed in the direction you wanted to go, and started turning about 30 feet before you could feel the truck turn! 3rd gear was iffy, and the parking brake didnt work.....which we both found out about as he got out and walked away while I scrambled to reach the brake while the truck started making its own way off the mountain!

We followed a chase and the dogs showed "tree'd. After a 15 minute assualt in some serious briars, tangle foot, insane inclines and decents you just kind of "butt-skied" down we found 15 dogs all "tree'd" ....at a female who had come in to heat! It was easier to walk out through a field where we met 20 or so cows and one big...really big...bull. 20 dogs on chains, 6 or 7 guys in blaze orange and that bull. Thankfully he just ate hay, watched us and went on our way. We did manage to kill 2 bears with a big 500 pounder down this morning but i have yet to get in on one in time. Hopefully the fresh snow due in here thursday will change that. I am concerned, just a wee bit, about loading Steves truck with blanks and adding snow on those roads. If the worst happens I reckon yall can come split up my turning gear haha!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ken that is quite a haul. That is some nice looking cherry.

[Roger Chandler]

Ken,

I don't think I would over load that truck....:eek:.....I might go back with my own, however! Pretty country there in the picture....what part of WVa are you in for the hunt? [general area]

[Ken Hill]

Roger, not sure if my truck can get in there haha! We hunt near Elkins, kind of plum middle of the state. I'm going to do my best to haul out a ton of that cherry, I just cant find it that big anywhere around here locally

[Roger Chandler]

Bears and wood.........just doesn't get much better!!! Elkins is about 80 miles from me here..........I know there are a lot of bear in our part of the country .........here in our county, we have the estimated largest bear population in the state of Virginia.

That cherry ought to make some really nice stuff!

[Richard Jones]

.......... I ran 200 miles home tonight so I could get my saws and sealer and will be heading back in to hunt and load the truck!

A man after my own heart......................Load the truck first, then hunt................

R

[Ken Hill]

Richard, they will hollar on the radio if they have a bear running. We chased one for 6 hours on Monday....plenty of time to cut and sealer and run him down haha!

[Dan Hintz]

Out of curiosity, what's the logger's criteria for refusing a piece and throwing it in the scrap pile?

[Ken Hill]

Anything that shows a defect as the majority of this wood is heading to be used for dimensional lumber...we can actually see the mill from the top. There was some turn in some pieces (bit crooked), crotch pieces are a no go, wind shake etc. They told me they had cut some cherry on the other mountain that was even bigger so I will be looking for that scrap pile as well. I was to leave this evening, be back down there tomorrow but the tires on my truck wont handle that mountain with snow so I have to try and get a set on it and maybe leave thursday evening and hunt friday and saturday. I think I want the wood more then a bear haha!

[Dick Wilson]

Ken, I can see it now. The dogs are hunting, your buddies are chasing after them, and you are sawing wood. Watch it my friend. Greed loading up the truck to the axles will get you buried to the axles on the loggers roads. There might be a small few creekers who might say "serves him right" out of jealousy but not I......not me......nope......not I *(^**&%:D:D:D Looking forward to seeing your hawl back at your shop. Be careful with the bear!!!

[charlie knighton]

v-er-y i-n-ter-e-st-ing

[Ken Hill]

I will avoid any road blocks I find on the way home this weekend haha. Im going to try and atleast get a few sections loaded without cutting them. Once I get them home, any of you locals are more then welcome to swing by and hack yourself off some blanks. I say locals because i dont think far away folks will make the drive but your welcome to do it!

[Dan Hintz]

No "serves you right" here... I'd be up there helping him put boards and rocks under the drive tires :p

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looking forward to seeing what you manage to rescue from the woods!

Hope the bear hunting was as productive as your wood hunting!!

[Roger Chandler]

Just make sure you don't get any ash........the emerald ash borer issues are rampant in the northeast and ohio, WVa, etc....some states have put on a quarantine for transporting firewood, etc............just be careful.

[Ken Hill]

215085

No worries on the borer bettle. Now thats a friend, after battling briars in a clear cut for over an hour trying to run up a bear, he managed to swing around to check on this log for me before coming out to the road. How them boys get through that stuff with dogs chained to them amazes me, its hard enough to get through it with a rifle! Might be worth the battle if the bear is big enough or an undiscovered treasure is found lurking in them hillsides!

[Donny Lawson]

Excellent looking Cherry. Looking foward to seeing pics of what you haul home.

[Baxter Smith]

Between the roads, the slopes and the briars, that looks like a tough place to get around!

[Ken Hill]

Baxter, I have no doubt you would be right in there with them haha! You need anything in particuliar? I plan on making several runs in there before it gets so bad you cant get in there (might have trouble tonight). This is where I wish I had a boom on my truck to lift heavy things, it would be so easy to get a load and store it in log form, but for a case of beer, I think some of those boys would carry a log off the mountain for me!

It was a good thing I did come home, I ended up having to package bowls and calls as I all but sold out of every single item I had ready. Very grateful for the sales as this tire bill will smart a bit. I reckon the DAMP crew will have to get involved so that I can get some of this cored out. If I could get just a tad ahead I would upgrade the lathe a might bit sooner!

Here is a story I wrote in 2010 about our trip. There are some better pictures of the region for those who like such things.
http://www.atvriders.com/articles/hunting-fishing-2010-atv-utv-black-bear-wv.html

[Dan Hintz]

I reckon the DAMP crew will have to get involved so that I can get some of this cored out. If I could get just a tad ahead I would upgrade the lathe a might bit sooner!
Just say the word, Ken, and we'll set something up. We've been shooting for meets once a month, and so far we've stayed pretty close to that schedule.

[Dale Bright]

Baxter, I have no doubt you would be right in there with them haha! You need anything in particuliar? I plan on making several runs in there before it gets so bad you cant get in there (might have trouble tonight). This is where I wish I had a boom on my truck to lift heavy things, it would be so easy to get a load and store it in log form, but for a case of beer, I think some of those boys would carry a log off the mountain for me!

It was a good thing I did come home, I ended up having to package bowls and calls as I all but sold out of every single item I had ready. Very grateful for the sales as this tire bill will smart a bit. I reckon the DAMP crew will have to get involved so that I can get some of this cored out. If I could get just a tad ahead I would upgrade the lathe a might bit sooner!

Here is a story I wrote in 2010 about our trip. There are some better pictures of the region for those who like such things.
http://www.atvriders.com/articles/hunting-fishing-2010-atv-utv-black-bear-wv.html

Ken,

If you want, you are welcome to come over to Purcellville and core on my 2436. It will swing 24" and is 3 HP. I have the 2 largest knives for the Oneway Coring system and the complete standard McNaughton system. I think you are about a an hour or a little less from me.

Dale