I have wandered the wilderness for as long as memory serves. It is a place of great mystery and wonderment. This Blog will help me to share some of the many lessons I have learned while wandering and paddling the forests and lakes I call home.
The temperature outside was - 25 degrees Celsius as I trudged toward my little 256cc sled.
I needed to pack in the trails for future firewood gathering but I was unsure if the little Bravo would fire up.
One pull on the cord and the little Yamaha started. The game was on and away we went to pack in the trails and collect a few pieces of firewood I had previously cut.
It's amazing how fast the wildlife catch onto the trails and use them to their advantage. Instead of pushing through deep snow, they can traverse the land and conserve energy.
In the coming days, my little Bravo will be put to heavy work hauling out the cord wood needed to keep the homestead warm.
Winter is harsh on wildlife. Food sources are limited and therefore the animals energy levels are not optimal.
All winter wildlife have adaptions which allow them to survive during the lean months.
White Tailed Deer for example, enter a state where their metabolism reduces to the point where they can subsist on buds from trees.
Never feed deer in the winter unless you can sustain it over the entire duration of the cold weather. The food you feed them will increase their metabolism to the point where they will become dependent on you for survival.
You will help them much more by simply creating trails in the deep snow with snowshoes, skis or snowmobile. This allows the wild ones to move through their home territories with very little expenditure of valuable energy.
Of course, the wild ones do not need us; but since we live in their homelands, it suffices to say that helping them out by simply packing down a few trails goes a long way to making our transgressions feel less intrusive.
A forest does not need humans to manage it. The forest will evolve and change as dictated by nature.
When people move into the area, the forest comes under immense pressure. Vehicle traffic and firewood cutting are high on the list of culprits.
Heating a home with firewood takes a lot of effort. if you gather the wood from your own woodlot, managing your forest for sustainability becomes an absolute must.
In this video, I showcase a multi-stalked Maple tree being culled for firewood. Rot was developing between the trunks thereby threatening the entire tree.
These multi-trunked trees are perfect for harvesting. Keep the straightest trunk and cull the rest. The remaining trunk will then have access to the entire root system and it will flourish.
Felling trees is dangerous and should not be attempted by untrained or inexperienced people.
Many people are maimed or killed every year because they attempted to put a tree on the ground.
The method shown in this video is the safest method I know. It relies on a hinge of wood and well placed wedges. There are many videos on social media which will show you how to attain the proper cuts.
