All projects.....

[growalot]

are on hold at least until next week.....That is if we get the thaw expected.....I've been out trudging through knee high snow making easier trails for critters and shoveling 18 inches of snow off the blind roofs and decking...So very surprised the card board tarp roof hasn't caved in....knock knock knock....lol...it had two inches of ice under the snow....just way too deep to do any tree work or fire wood cutting as planned....though I did mark trees to cut and unfortunately discovered more good timber trees with the tops blown out of them...I say blown out because a couple of tops were a good 30ft from the base of the tree they tore from...I'm talking 60+ ft. high limbless maples ....

Oh well that's ma nature ...I did discover that we either have a couple of big buck still on the property or that young 6pt I passed all season is a tad bigger than I thought...for I crossed a couple of single tracks that were huge ...also some multiple track paths of doe and fawn...not much else save a fox track...even the squirrels are laying low....They have stayed off the main plot...figures they'd taken it down to dirt by gun season but while I was down hill trying not to give myself a heart attack they had gone into the radish plot and dug through to greens and bulbs...I really need to get the cams out...They have also concentrated around the apple trees eating the tips of the branches and they have hit the mature wht pine.....Wht pine are the ones that give off the most heat of any pine...the wide canopy and thick branches couple with heat makes them Great trees for the deer I have one mature one on each bigger plot.....When planted on the north west side they don't shade the plots and the deer keep the lower branches cleared....making it possible to plant right up and under them...in snows like this there is just a few inches of snow under the pine and the deer eat and sleep there...Good for we got anther 1 1/12 of snow last night....

[wooly]

I've been out trudging through knee high snow making easier trails for critters

Funny- I thought I was the only fool who does this!

I've been going out of my way lately to cut trails through this mess to the dinner tables.

Sure doesn't take long for deer to start using and maintaining them on their own.

[wdswtr]

You lost me at the white pines give off the most heat. LOL you setting them on fire? Never heard a tree that gives off heat unless its on fire. I think I will plant a bunch in my house and I wont have to cut wood ever again.

[growalot]

You lost me at the white pines give off the most heat. LOL you setting them on fire?

I made a New years resolution....I'm not getting out the dictionary for some of you and done doing the proving thing....So believe what I say or not ...you look it up....but I will suggest dong so before the ....not so smart comments...just a thought...no offense....

[growalot]

Wooly ...I've done this for years....but not just for the critters...as I'm sure you know...it's a heck of a work out...lol...one I need after sitting in trees for hours on end ...not to mention the holiday foods...lol

Your right they use the trails a lot...gives me a good idea of whats still out there and how stressed they are...I start to worry when the urine/droppings on trails turn brown and I find trees getting girdled by the rabbits. chucks and those nasty voles...most of my tree dropping starts then...usually late Jan-March....

[landtracdeerhunter]

If the weather is right next week, hope to get some plowing done. Turn the snow under, right with the ground.

[growalot]

That certainly would help keep the "poor mans fertilizer" from running off...