Tapped a couple of maple trees.

[Blacktail135]

 Just got home from a drive and checked my taps. Put them in around noon. 3 jugs are 1 gallon each and 1 jug is 96 ounces. One gallon jug is about 1/3rd full and the 96 ounce jug is about half full. The other tree jugs (both 1 gallon each). One jug has about a quart and the other about a pint.

[Blacktail135]

 I tapped this old tree 2 years ago but only got about 4-6 ounces of sap. The sap had a slight tinge of brown to it so I dumped it. Older ones don’t put out like younger ones I suppose. 😂

[carpsniperg2]

cool stuff

[Blacktail135]

 I also tapped this one 2 years ago but it had a big dead spot in the middle and didn’t give any sap. A wind storm came up late last summer when it was still loaded with leaves. It’s destined for the woodshed now.

[Angry Perch]

Awesome stuff! Keep posting with progress. Making food is about as cool as it gets.

[Blacktail135]

 Will do! I read once (I read a lot of books...usually early US of America exploration and hunting) that one of Daniel Boones favorite things to do was hunting bears and making maple syrup. I got my bear during elk season and now another stab at maple syrup! 😁

[Angry Perch]

A bear ham with maple glaze sounds pretty darn tasty!

[Blacktail135]

 👍 Got 2 hindquarters in the freezer that I plan to ham and share with the guys that helped me pack it out. Had not thought about maple glazing them. I will now! Thanks. Got 1 gallon of sap today. I think sap will really run tomorrow. I have to work a 12 tomorrow (and Sat and Sun) so I’ll not be able to watch it for a couple of days. If I get 5 gallons of sap this season I’ll be content. We don’t eat many pancakes and I gave away half of the syrup I made 2 years ago to family and friends.

[Brushcrawler]

Thanks for sharing this. Did you buy or make the taps yourself?

[Bigshooter]

https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/washington/washington-dc/article/features/big-leaf-maple-syrup-ingredient#:~:text=Every%20ounce%20of%20real%20maple%20syrup%20you%27ve%20ever,British%20Columbia.%20This%20is%20not%20your%20standard%20syrup.

[Blacktail135]

Thanks for sharing this. Did you buy or make the taps yourself?

I bought a 12 pack of maple tapping spiles and tubing 2 years ago. They were all plastic. I’m down to 9 now because we had some eastern gray squirrels here for a while and they chewed up 3 of them going after the sap. Just got home from work and checked the jugs....not much sap today. Maybe 8 ounces at most. My wife checked them this morning and there was just a little bit. Must of stayed cold throughout the day here. With the forecast I saw last night I was sure that the sap would run today. Didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow.

[jackelope]

So these big leaf maples will produce liquid to make syrup just like back East? Is that so... What about a maple in the yard?

Not even close to just like back east.

[carpsniperg2]

A idea. " NOTE I AM NOT THE SHARPEST STICK IN THE WOODS" would making the tube only go into the catch jar like 2-3" or so help it drip better then the hose being under the fluid? I have a buddy from Maine and saw pictures of his familys setup and they are all drippers into catch buckets. So just a thought

[Blacktail135]

 Liquid will seek its own level. It won’t make a difference. My notes from tapping my big leaf maples here is that I was able to get about a 44/1 ratio. So about 3 ounces of syrup per gallon of sap. My taste tests revealed (to me) that the eastern sugar maples are a bit more “buttery” and these bigleaf maples are just a bit more “stronger” in flavor. They’re both sweet enough for me and I’m just tapping what I got available and just sharing for others that may want to try.

[LDennis24]

So these big leaf maples will produce liquid to make syrup just like back East? Is that so... What about a maple in the yard?

Not even close to just like back east.

Not talking about quantity, I meant flavor and sweetness of sap