...a stick isn't just a stick.

I had finished up my Spring turkey hunt, having not heard or seen any birds. My time this year was cut short by work and family obligations, so my entire season was compressed into a single 4 hour sit on a property that I would classify as marginal, but improving in terms of quality for turkey hunting.

Now, I have been familiar with this property for the better part of 15 years, working there for probably 6 of those years and trapping/hunting extensively for all the rest and I am good friends with the owner. I have gotten into the habit of cutting hiking stick blanks where the opportunity arises... usually from the proliferation of mulberry trees that seem to pop up in the most inconvenient and unwanted locations. The owner appreciates this as the war against the mulberries has been ongoing for many years. I probably personally pulled five hundred or more using a Kubota tractor bucket and a logging chain over the years.

There happens to be a large stand of yew, left over from when the property operated as a landscaping nursery, so I thought maybe I'd selectively cut a few sticks (because who doesn't want to cut and sand poisonous wood). This yew stand is dense, nearly impenetrable, so the cutting is limited to the outer perimeter, but I spied a rare prize in the thick of it... a mulberry tree, about twelve feet tall was growing up out of the center of the tangle. Arrow straight, with no branches below the canopy of yew, tapering uniformly, perfect diameter. Into the coniferous jungle I pressed, folding saw in hand, prepared for what I hoped was a pretty straightforward removal.

I glanced up once at the small mass of green leaves atop the tree to confirm there was nothing there that would fall on my head and most importantly, no bald-faced hornet's nest and grabbed hold of the trunk to sever the invading weed tree from its trunk. To my surprise, I nearly tumbled over as the mulberry tree simply tipped forward and fell to the ground, despite the fact that I had not touched it with the saw. Puzzled, I picked it up and realized that this tree had been cut the previous year and left to dry out and die. I supposed it had been left in place because the top was hung up in a mass of wild grape vines which were now quite dead but probably had been green and alive not too long ago.

This tree, against all odds was sustaining its life only through direct contact between the ground and the saw cut end of the trunk. The strangest part was the clean cut end which had been barely in contact with the ground... it had not rotted, but it also hadn't rooted, it just continued to drive nutrients up towards the portions which were in sunlight, prompting a flush of green leaves. This tree was a survivor, it had willed its own survival... it deserved to be made into something real and lasting rather than left to rot on the ground.

Some months later, I have begun the process of final sanding before oil and wax, end-caps and paracord wrap. Hopefully the final product will honor the resilience and determination of this "stick", which I plan to gift to someone (yet to be determined) who needs a reminder that they demonstrate those same qualities...

I'll add some hardware made from 12 ga. brass and set this aside until I'm led to gift it to someone. I know this might not really be a Pen & Quill post, but it has gotten so quiet in here I just wanted to maybe get the ball rolling again.
Hope you enjoyed anyhow