Back to the chainsaws

We can't coppice at the moment because the deer browse pressure is too high.  Looks like we are going to have to save our pennies and get some fencing.  But we still have a large amount of felling and windfall to process to firewood so we got busy.  Also it was an excuse for an alfresco lunch - fallow venison steak sandwiches served with whole meal bread, fried onions and mustard

Deer damage

Year before lasts coup showing excessive predation. 

Fire wood processing

Gun dog training

To Willow, our new GWP down to the wood for the first time yesterday. Introducing her to gunfire went well and she was very pleased with the rabbit that I shot. 

This winters deer cull

Finally got started on the deer cull - they do so much damage and although most people don't notice them there are about 20 using the wood on a regular basis.

This winters total is 

Fallow bucks 2

Fallow does 1

Muntjac bucks 1

Not nearly enough but a start.

End of the coppicing season

We must have made about ten visits during the winter, and made a small start on the first coupe.  Today we dropped as much as we could as the sap is starting to rise and the birds are beginning to breed.  We can tidy up the felled trunks later in the year.  Still a huge amount of work to do; moving the 2 metre lengths across the wood and splitting it into firewood sized pieces and stacking it for drying.  Then we have to get it to market or home.

Starting Coppicing

 Some of us were not so keen to help...

 but the chainsaw soon took care of this hazel

Which we protected with a brash pile.