Right next to my cut today. Its definitely hickory but not sure of the variety. Bark too "flaky" for pignut.
I wont be going back there. The leaves werent too close to the ground...zoomed pic. I honestly didnt count either.
I’d like to have some pignut, mockernut and shag rounds to see if there is any difference in splitting difficulty.
I split a few of the shag with the two bit ax when i got home and not too bad. IME if fresh cut and not a lot of tiny "knot scars" they pop pretty good. Hand splitting of course. I had a half cord+ of older hickory rounds that had been sitting and stringy even on the hydro.
Crack a nut open. If the shell is really thick it's shellbark if it's thin it's mockernut. Barks looks more like mocker but it's hard to tell sometimes.