# Went deer hunting and came home with some White Oak.



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

So I've been doing a little deer hunting on my normal haunts. I came across a HUGE white oak that blew over. I talked to the land owner and we struck a deal. I get all the wood suitable for lumber, he gets all the firewood. He'll be warm next winter and I'll have plenty of lumber for the shop.




























I'm gonna need to split that for my mill!!


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Nice haul and great time of year to do the work.


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

What sized rifle did you use to bring that down?  All I can picture right now is it tied to the hood of your vehicle.

Great haul, just amused right now with the pictures running through my head.


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## BTKS (Nov 30, 2008)

Enough board feet for a couple huge projects! This looks like some of the deals I get into, which reminds me, I need to call my sawyer.
Excellent haul.


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## redryder (Nov 28, 2009)

When I get side tracked hunting it usually involves a couple of beers…..................


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## AnthonyReed (Sep 20, 2011)

Good for you Don. Be careful getting it out of there.


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## Druid (Sep 30, 2010)

Ok. I'm jealous. But I am interested in seeing what you get from it.


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## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

Nice one Don. How do you plan on splitting it?


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Brandon, I'll split it with the Husky 395.


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

Nice find. I'm trying to work with a few farmers and land owners over some blowovers around here.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I wonder what my wife would say if I came home with a skidder? I better put some plumbing in the shop first.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Oh, Man! This is gonna turn out real good!!!!!


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

My wife rides me all over this valley on horseys..she's looking at ferns, flowers views, varmits…I'm looking at trees to see how many board feet I think I can get out of them.

You did good on that white oak. I cut and split a standing dead white oak today for firewood and have several more just like it to take down.


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## bluekingfisher (Mar 30, 2010)

Good luck with hauling it out, personally I would just enjoy cutting it up with the chainsaw.

Always nice to have a good supply of free timber


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Ill vote for the skidder. Hell, you come up with one and ill help you install the plumbing. Thats gonna be a lot of QSWO knobs n totes!

EDIT - How do you tell a red and a white oak apart Don?


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## Fishinbo (Jun 11, 2012)

It's a win-win situation! Great for you


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

EDIT - How do you tell a red and a white oak apart Don?

The bark.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

Do you take the mill to the tree or vicey versa? Take pics of the process please…


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

That's like going to the store for milk and coming home with McCallan scotch.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Mid day report. I got the butt split. A few pics later.

One thing I want to say. It sucks getting old. After 3-4 hours I am beat.


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

All the more reason to buy more automated machinery and heavy equipment *Don*. LOL


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Back when we could still use wood stoves here, I hauled a lot of trees out of the woods with a heavy duty
snatch block and a 1/2"cable with a 3/4 ton Dodge crew cab as the power source. My son in law is still
using the same equipment, but the trees are not as big anymore. And except for cottonwood, there was
no hardwood available. You have a beautiful tree there, and that Walker Turner will probably get a little use
on some of it. Thanks for giving us another reason to drool.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ok, my back is killing me. You call this a vacation?

I don't have a lot of pictures. I can't keep my phone in my pocket (well I could, but it wouldn't do me much good after a while) so here is what I've got from today.

I intentionally moved my truck before rolling this off the bank, thinking it would stop on the pile of firewood. Didn't it go over the firewood, turn, and luckily stopped about 3' from my truck. Man, am I glad my wife doesn't read these. I tried to save 1/2 of this. I'm not sure its going to amount to much other than winter heat.










The butt


















And of course I forgot a sludge hammer, so these were driven in with a 2' piece of hardhack.









After









And a rock (mountain) oak that was in the way of the white oak when it came down.



























So to answer the question Do you take the mill to the tree or vicey versa? 
My plan was to bring the tree to the Mill, but I have no idea how I'm gettin them home, so it may wind up the other way around.

And Chris, white oak has a completely different bark than Red, and the wood is lighter and grayer.


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

The leaves of the red oak and white oak are also different. The white oak leaves are rounded at the ends, while the red oak leaves are pointed. That is how I have always been able to tell the apart in the wild. Seems like near me, 85-90% are red oak : (

Don, I figured you would have had that all cut up, dried, and half a project done by now. C'mon man, pick up the pace!

Look forward to seeing some pics of the QSWO.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Looks like it's time to check CL for a trailer.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Is a red oak also called pin oak?


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

I am no expert Russ, but I think the pin oaks, are in the red oak variety.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I've never heard of pin oak, so I don't know what it is.

Sorry Shane, read the getting older part. 

I used to be able to do that kind of work 10-12 hours a day, 5-7-7 days straight. Believe me, after 3 hours today, I took a break!!


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## Mip (Sep 16, 2012)

chrisstef, to tell red oak from white oak, cut a piece about 3/4" square by about five or so inches long and blow through it in water, like you're blowing through a straw. If you get bubbles, you got red oak. If not, you got white. There's a lot of tannins in white to prevent the air from getting through, and also that's the reason white oak is good for outside projects. Learned this one from Popular Mechanics, of all places.


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## Mip (Sep 16, 2012)

Seeing a tree like that in that condition just gets me all fired up to get a chain saw and to look in the yellow pages for a lumber mill to saw the wood into planks. Great haul.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I've lived here all my life, and hunted this farm since I was old enough to hunt. You see the second half of the tree was hollow. I've had more than one ******************** who found safe haven in that tree, and I haven't ******************** hunted in 20 years.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Here ya go Don, this is a pin oak with some of your favorite things in it.


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## blackcherry (Dec 7, 2007)

I love me some QSWO, great day hunting!!!!!


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Damn that looks like a lot of work Don. I think its time for an apprentice that will work for wood. I'm sure you can find a LJ up there that will help you out. Isn't that what Stumpy did?

I've been working with QSWO lately and I got to say I'm liking it a lot. So much nicer than Red Oak.

You've gotten a lot done so far. The reward for all your labor will be sweet!


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I decide to bring the logs to the mill. I wasn't sure the old trailer made from an old camper would cut it, but it passed with flying colors.

Roll 'em up


















Roll 'em down


















There are about 6 logs left that I pulled out just before dark. I hope to get them back some time tomorrow.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Are you going to have it mounted as a table or desk?


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## Hautions (Nov 18, 2012)

One of the few things the Alaskan is good at. Cut it where it falls.



















Nice looking white oak. Good haul.


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## superdav721 (Aug 16, 2010)

There is no way I could attack that in the summer. Nice find Don, good luck.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)




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## markswoodcraft (Aug 5, 2012)

nice score, anything else you brought home?


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I was lucky enough to put some venison in the freezer and spent some quality time with my oldest son. All in all, we'll call it a successful season.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Backstrap and QSWO …. Don's livin the dream fellas.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)




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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)




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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Nice! Did you get much quartersawn wood out of it?


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

the butt was big enough to quarter saw. The rest was flat sawn.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Stacked and stickered


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## AnthonyReed (Sep 20, 2011)

Ya don't sleep much i am guessing…


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## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

Being white oak, it is going to take a while to dry - 12 to 18 months. White oak is all but water proof, making drying a long process - unlike red oak that you can suck air through it like a straw.


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## DaddyZ (Jan 28, 2010)

Nice Stack There !!!

Course by now surely you are using some of it….


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## palaswood (Aug 9, 2013)

Don! Amazing! Please post some pics or links to previous posts from anything you've made using this harvested white oak lumber.

This is sort of how I got started in woodworking (just this past spring). Check out my new blog post


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

The oak is still drying. Its probably going to become a wide plank floor in my kitchen/dining room/livingroom.

You can take a look at my saw mil blog

and before I got the Hudson.

almost all of my projects are made from self made air dried lumber.


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## UpstateNYdude (Dec 20, 2012)

Don you feel free to give me a call if you ever need help…hell I'd help just to watch you cut that stuff up on the mill I'm all of maybe 45 minutes away.


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## UpstateNYdude (Dec 20, 2012)

Well that and a chance to walk around in your shop…


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ahhh, free work for a shop tour. You may be on to something.

anyone in the area is welcome to stop by. No labor required.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Its planed and moved upstairs to dry a bit more.



















Bottom half of this pile is ash.


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## lateralus819 (Mar 24, 2013)

It's worth the 45 minute drive JUST to see his hand planes. Wow. Lol.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

You and James Krenov have the right idea, always keep good wood on hand to build with, and even more
good wood getting ready, and you both have this thing about planes. Thank you for sharing.


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## palaswood (Aug 9, 2013)

Hey Don, is that white oak you sent me when I got that #3 plane from you from this same tree?

Check out the spalting and sweet figure on this short board. Gonna make a killer box top for the Boxswap


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

it probably was from that tree. I don't think its spalting. It looks like the tannins in the white oak are reacting to something. Have you been using some kind of acid to derust some planes close by?


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