The 2024 Yamadori/Collecting Thread

[Joe Dupre']

Deciduous holly. It still had a couple of berries holding on........showing that it's mature enough. Gave up counting the rings as they were so small and blended into each other. Guessing about 30 years old. There's a bit more flair under the soil.

 

[Cajunrider]

Believe it or not I have worn out my bimetal demolition blades that I use with my recip saw for collection. I know I can sharpen them with diamond files but I am too lazy.
Meet my new weapon.
PS: I chose the 5 tpi demolition blade instead of the 3 tpi pruning blade. The 3 tpi teeth are ideal but the pruning blade is too narrow and not stout enough to be jabbed into the ground and saw through soil and roots.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Believe it or not I have worn out my bimetal demolition blades that I use with my recip saw for collection. I know I can sharpen them with diamond files but I am too lazy.
Meet my new weapon.
PS: I chose the 5 tpi demolition blade instead of the 3 tpi pruning blade. The 3 tpi teeth are ideal but the pruning blade is too narrow and not stout enough to be jabbed into the ground and saw through soil and roots.

View attachment 529658

I just bought one the other day, can’t wait to use it this weekend.

 

[Cajunrider]

Believe it or not I have worn out my bimetal demolition blades that I use with my recip saw for collection. I know I can sharpen them with diamond files but I am too lazy.
Meet my new weapon.
PS: I chose the 5 tpi demolition blade instead of the 3 tpi pruning blade. The 3 tpi teeth are ideal but the pruning blade is too narrow and not stout enough to be jabbed into the ground and saw through soil and roots.

View attachment 529658

Instead of this blade, I wound up with the 12" Wrecker Carbide 5 TPI blade. The teeth pattern has better clearance and the blade is a tiny bit stronger. The blade tested very well in my yard.
PS: My neighbors think I am crazy sawing my front yard

 

[Joe Dupre']

Believe it or not I have worn out my bimetal demolition blades that I use with my recip saw for collection. I know I can sharpen them with diamond files but I am too lazy.
Meet my new weapon.
PS: I chose the 5 tpi demolition blade instead of the 3 tpi pruning blade. The 3 tpi teeth are ideal but the pruning blade is too narrow and not stout enough to be jabbed into the ground and saw through soil and roots.

View attachment 529658

I guess I'm old school (see my signature) . An old-fashioned manual pruning saw is all I use. Yes, it's more work, but that's part of the charm. Cutting a 5" cypress tap root under a foot of water is indeed CHARMING .

 

[The Barber]

I guess I'm old school (see my signature) . An old-fashioned manual pruning saw is all I use. Yes, it's more work, but that's part of the charm. Cutting a 5" cypress tap root under a foot of water is indeed CHARMING

Most people don't have to deal with water moccasins, gators, snapping turtles, and alligator gar either, your collecting charm is far more impressive

 

[Cajunrider]

Most people don't have to deal with water moccasins, gators, snapping turtles, and alligator gar either, your collecting charm is far more impressive

Gators, snapping turtles, and gars are all good eating so I don’t mind. Water moccasins are nasty. If I see them they better get away quick. I am merciless if they attack me.

 

[The Barber]

Forgot, I went out before I left for vacation to the Bahamas and did some scouting. Here's some potential collects.

Thickest hibiscus trunk I've ever seen, has to be 50 years old.
This American beech in a rock pocket is pretty gnarly.

Curvy little birch



Hornbeam

Not sure about collecting this one, but looks like nature has pruned this guy back repeatedly.

Biggest dogwood I may have ever found. Has small internodes and fine branching though! Left main branch for new leader, cut off the trunk above that perhaps?


I'm gonna be covered in poison ivy if I collect this one...

 

[Joe Dupre']

Most people don't have to deal with water moccasins, gators, snapping turtles, and alligator gar either, your collecting charm is far more impressive

I've been kicking around these swamps for right at 70 years and these critters are very wary of humans. Just today I moved in to about 75 yards to take a pic of a 10-12 gator sunning on the bank. He saw my movement and instantly hit the water. Cottonmouths won't bother you either. Number one rule around here......... never put your hand or your foot where you can't see.

 

[The Barber]

I've been kicking around these swamps for right at 70 years and these critters are very wary of humans. Just today I moved in to about 75 yards to take a pic of a 10-12 gator sunning on the bank. He saw my movement and instantly hit the water. Cottonmouths won't bother you either. Number one rule around here......... never put your hand or your foot where you can't see.

It's all copperheads and timber rattlesnakes here, generally 5 or 6 copperheads die in our yard every year. I dug a baby one up in the grass while planting trees back in the fall...found it moving dirt with my hand..... Copperheads have a distinct musky smell they release when agitated....pretty unnerving when you're in the woods and smell them lol. Even if you can see where you are placing your hand or foot they are so well camouflaged you may miss them. Makes yamadori hunting a bit more scary.

Both of our dogs got bit by the same one back in September. Stella our Great Dane after being bit, she got the worst of it, wasn't sure if she was going to pull through.
And Bruno our Pitt mastiff mix...looked like a nut sack hanging off his neck.

 

[snowman04]

They are nasty...

 

[Kanorin]

White oak

 

[Kanorin]

One of the native maples. A beast of a clump!
Central trunk is long dead and carved by termites - I discovered a few poking at the deadwood.

 

[ShadyStump]

A demonstration of why collecting in the Rocky Mountains is so tricky.

Also found a truly sweet bunjin semi cascade piñon in the same area. Didn't bother bother with a pick because it would just piss everyone off that it's stuck in the rocks.

Anyways, I verified that it's about that damn time around here.

 

[Cajunrider]

So I went to my friend’s land looking for a good live oak. Once I got there, I wound up helping my buddies fix a dozer instead. Perhaps another day. Perhaps..

 

[Joe Dupre']

So I went to my friend’s land looking for a good live oak. Once I got there, I wound up helping my buddies fix a dozer instead. Perhaps another day. Perhaps..

A little advice. Plant a few live oak acorns TODAY. Some very wise man on the internet once said "The next five years will pass no matter what you do." In five years, you could have a really nice shohin live oak.

 

[namnhi]

A little advice. Plant a few live oak acorns TODAY. Some very wise man on the internet once said "The next five years will pass no matter what you do." In five years, you could have a really nice shohin live oak.

Wrong about really nice shohin oak in 5 years from an Acorn. Right about 5 years will pass. Am tagging @rockm

 

[Joe Dupre']

Wrong about really nice shohin oak in 5 years from an Acorn. Right about 5 years will pass. Am tagging @rockm

"Really nice.... " might be stretching it a bit. He could definitely have "A" shohin in 5 years. Of course, this is South Louisiana and we have essentially an almost 11 month growing season for live oaks.

 

[Cajunrider]

I've been kicking around these swamps for right at 70 years and these critters are very wary of humans. Just today I moved in to about 75 yards to take a pic of a 10-12 gator sunning on the bank. He saw my movement and instantly hit the water. Cottonmouths won't bother you either. Number one rule around here......... never put your hand or your foot where you can't see.

Like you said, the cottonmouths usually run away but every now and then they do get ornery. I had one chasing my wife one time. Things did not end well for that snake.
I believe that gators under 8 ft will nearly always get away from human. However, once they get to be 10+ ft, they may hit the water but will hang around and will attack when they think they have a chance at a meal.
Me - I eye all gators as potential meal. I will take them if I can do so legally.

Wish me luck today, I am heading out there to check on the BCs we planted on the levees. Hopefully I will find something nice.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

So I made the mistake of wearing my mud-boots right on top of a neoprene wader.

Duuuude! I spent 10 minutes in vain trying to pull the boots off. The neoprene sealed in tight. Trying to pull the boots off created a vacuum that I could not break.

I wound up putting a water nozzle in between the wader and the boot. The water under pressure filled the void created by my pulling off the boots. Thank goodness they came off.

Clark Griswold comes to mind