Milling and finally getting the forester out

First of all, I finally scheduled a date with the state forester. It kind of fell between the tracks between me being patient and them forgetting all about it. April 1st is the day I will finally get some professional help. In the mean time, I have been moving ahead with my plans. I need to get back out there and mill enough bois d'arc for someone. I also have quite a few dead cedar to get milled. I am going to start cutting culls once i have milled these other items. The forest is divided into 5 segments along natural changes or geographic features. I tried to size each to make work easier to plan. Each area has a similar tree density, species types, and problems within it. Each covers an area I should be able to work each year. I will basically have a rotating 5 year work schedule. The first step I am taking is cutting the junk out. The forester will tell me if this is right or wrong, hopefully. I am sure he is going to suggest a clearcut and replant it with pine, but I am not sure I want that. Maybe a small area where the soil is best for pine. I can't wait to see what he can tell me!

Cutting some cull trees

I managed to make it out during the wonderful weather we were having, but is changing in a couple of days to cold and wet. The main purpose was to cut a couple of culls. One was a bois d'arc I was going to use for some duck calls for a fellow. I was not able to tackle the big one I have because of windy weather so I took down a smaller stump sprout attached to a funky, gnarly one I like to look at and will keep. This one served no purpose, was a leaner, and was not healthy. It made a few nice yellow boards, but was not clear enough for many blanks. The area it shaded had some hickory saplings that I would prefer in it's place. The whole area around this bois d'arc is a hickory grove. The other tree I took down was a small crooked cedar elm with a busted up top. Nobody could tell me what the wood looked like and all I have seen is some sapwood boards I made out of a large limb. I decided to sample some for myself. The pic at the top shows the grain and color well. I love the coloration. This log was only 12" on the biggest end. It should make some really nice turning blanks. I sawed the boards thick to straighten them out after drying since elm moves a lot during drying.