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Post by firstwd on Sept 27, 2015 20:19:05 GMT -5
I have used antenna towers for treestand ladders for several years. Once I find a great location I don't often move so the towers stay on the tree from year to year. I remove stands and ratchet straps and the towers are held up by a single cam lock strap ar the very top. This also deters theft because they can't remove the top strap unless they bring their own straps to run up the tower to get back down.
With limited days off work I took advantage of today to hang stands. After I got tethered in to go up my 30 foot tower I realized I had forgotten Mt "T" screw on the atv. While my brother went back to the field edge to retrieve it, I noticed a sizable limb on the ground Clos to the tree. I made my way around it to see where it had fallen from. After striking out with just about every tree around, I finally found the broken came from the top of my tower tree. While following the trunk down to the ground I found about a 15 foot section that the bark had fallen off. I would have never seen this if I had just gone up the tower and hung my stand. I got 3 or 4 years out of that huge ash tree before the beetles got to it, but I had to move today.
I'm on a big poplar now, but I'm in the bottom of the valley. It's backwards from how I've been accustomed to hunting this area and I can't see back into the oak flat bedding area any more, but hopefully they can't bust me from in there either.
CHECK YOUR TREES! With the crazy weather we've been having and the bugs abd diseases our forests face it is well worth taking the extra time to make sure the tree you are in and the ones close are safe.
Right now I'm trying to decide if I drop it now to try to redirect deer traffic or wait until January and just use it for next year's firewood.
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Post by parrothead on Sept 28, 2015 5:15:22 GMT -5
Can't beat the TV antennas I have been using them for 15 years.
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Post by windingwinds on Sept 28, 2015 17:19:09 GMT -5
We've lost all our Ash trees. The ones left standing are very unsafe, no tree stands on them even if they appear intact. I only hope that the Emerald Ash Borer doesn't gain a appetite for my other trees when the last Ash tree is dust.
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Sept 28, 2015 17:47:33 GMT -5
We've lost all our Ash trees. The ones left standing are very unsafe, no tree stands on them even if they appear intact. I only hope that the Emerald Ash Borer doesn't gain a appetite for my other trees when the last Ash tree is dust. B Lost all my ash trees on the property this year from the ash boarer.
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Post by bullseye69 on Sept 28, 2015 18:31:54 GMT -5
Same here! Ash are gone. The wood peckers are loving it though. They have been pecking the hell out of them.
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Post by firstwd on Sept 28, 2015 18:43:43 GMT -5
I started cutting the ash trees on the farm 5 tears ago. I had been selectively taking the dead or dying trees and prolonging the inevitable. After the damage the storm this summer created and finding this we've decided to eliminate all of them this winter. I have a feeling I won't need to cut firewood for a couple years after this.
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Post by bartiks on Oct 3, 2015 11:44:37 GMT -5
Just curious where does everyone live who has been affected by the ash borer? I haven't seen any signs of it near Vincennes.
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Post by bullseye69 on Oct 3, 2015 16:49:35 GMT -5
La Porte IN
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Post by muscrat on Oct 3, 2015 19:03:10 GMT -5
Bluffton
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Post by firstwd on Oct 3, 2015 19:37:53 GMT -5
I'm in Decatur, but I know most of the entire north east, east central, and obviously south eastern counties have them. The problem is the State is slow to update their confirmed map. According to the map, Decatur County doesn't have them.
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Post by throbak on Oct 3, 2015 20:18:46 GMT -5
Switzerland and Jefferson Co.,s are bad
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Post by antiwheeze on Oct 3, 2015 20:19:45 GMT -5
Just curious where does everyone live who has been affected by the ash borer? I haven't seen any signs of it near Vincennes. Indianapolis Two in my back yard.
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Post by duff on Oct 3, 2015 20:40:44 GMT -5
Lawrence, Orange, Greene, Monroe
I would be surprised if it is not in all 92 counties. Maybe not Tipton, because it doesn't have any trees!!! Just kidding, but it is pretty common and once you see a few dozen they are easy to pick out as you drive down the road, even without leaves on them you can tell.
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Post by firstwd on Oct 3, 2015 21:09:56 GMT -5
Lawrence, Orange, Greene, Monroe I would be surprised if it is not in all 92 counties. Maybe not Tipton, because it doesn't have any trees!!! Just kidding, but it is pretty common and once you see a few dozen they are easy to pick out as you drive down the road, even without leaves on them you can tell. ^^^^^^^ I'm a firm believer that the entire Midwest is effected/infected. Does anyone know if a pesticide has been found that works on these things and can be used effectively?
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Post by duff on Oct 4, 2015 3:11:07 GMT -5
Yes, there's a few that can be used with success. I was told they are expensive but good for homeowners that want to protect a few trees. Not realistic in a forrest management situation.
If I remember correctly one is injected into the tree and the other is applied to the ground surrounding the tree and uptake via roots. I could be wrong.
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Post by bartiks on Oct 4, 2015 6:18:41 GMT -5
You both are right, and if I'm not mistaken the pesticide is called clomidoprid. It has been a couple of years since I was in the forestry industry. The insecticide they used does keep the EAB at bay, however you have to treat the tree you want protected every year by pouring the insecticide mixed in a solution that will affect the entire drip line of the tree. That is the farthest branch tips out from the tree and you make that your radius.
So by protecting that one tree year after year it does become quite cost prohibitive since you could have easily paid someone ex. $1,000 to take down the tree versus a cumulative amount that will continue to climb.
Right before I left my previous job there was talk within the DNR that they were thinking of introducing some type of wasp. That would prey upon the EAB, but where it has gone from there I don't really know.
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Post by throbak on Oct 4, 2015 8:09:55 GMT -5
Every Wk shop I have been to and I have been to a lot say the same thing In the long run you will loose the tree regardless if you treat or not better off planting another tree and plan on loosing it at some point
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Post by firstwd on Oct 4, 2015 11:55:50 GMT -5
With the overall health of the woods I'm working in, we aren't planting diddly. I am going to start a massive thinning operation instead of selectively harvest as soon as deer season closes.
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