Deer hunting this week. Been no luck except for bad luck for me. After almost 4 inches of rain last weekend all the small little timber patches that I still hunt in are under water. All the deer are out in the open where one guy alone cant sneak to well. So today I had a backup plan. Cant seem to pull the trigger on my old 870, But I did get to pull the trigger on my saw. Man, that elm is still dripping wet at this time of year. That was about all I wanted to throw in that half ton I just bought.
Yep. Got plenty I can cut but Cant hardly get at none though what with the wet and the ground aint froze yet. Nice crust on the top but it wouldn't take much to slip on thru in spots so I had to lug it some distance. When a guy is far from any help I tend to side on the side of caution. I am wishin I woulda unloaded it as soon as I got home right now though. Front moved in here in the last hour and we got an almost complete white out going on. Oh well.
Thats still my favorite deer gun with the short deer slayer barrel on it. That did put the squat on the new/old ford.
Elm is kinda an enquired taste like drinking fine wine. You just need to know how to deal with it. I usually let it sit till the bark falls off then I wait for it to freeze up the rounds solid. It pops open just fine then. But then there is a deference between the red elm like I cut and the white elm. White elm is like splitting a bowl full of noodles no matter what a guy does.
My old 870 is a 1966 vintage model with a 30 inch full choke BBL and a small gold bead on the shootin end of it. Shoots slugs like a rifle. Killed more critters than can be counted. Never has failed me when several of my newer guns couldn't cut the mustard in a harsh hunting situation. It is a bit heavy to sneak around with but at least I don't worry bout it letting me down. Kinda the same as why I like a wheel gun over a SA for those uhoh situations.
Sorry but in a year or two my back wont be able to even pick up a saw let alone throw 80 pound rounds of wet elm on a truck after I carried them through 6 inches of mud to the truck. It's just a truck and I will beat it like a stolen mule but there is only so much I can do as a mere mortal.
I hunted deer here with a Mossberg 30 inch barrel just like that for many years until pump action brkt broke on me, went to pull back to eject and only the wood came. I since rewelded it but I bought an 1187 with a slug barrel before I fixed it. I really do at times miss that 30 inch as I know what you mean about shooting like a rifle, that thing would reach out and touch somebody. I made some nice long shots on deer with that thing. That F150 runnin a 6 or 8 cyl. ?
Elms way better burning wood than many give it credit for. There's some old stupid incorrect saying how elm will not keep you warm. Cough BS Cough. I burn elm every year. I don't see that changing any time soon. Dead standing elm is just waiting to be turned into firewood.
Never cut much American Elm here until I got hydraulics but now I don't shy away from it and I really like the way it burns.
