Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Backcountry Hunting => Topic started by: banishd on March 22, 2018, 12:04:26 PM

Title: Old hunting grounds
Post by: banishd on March 22, 2018, 12:04:26 PM: Found this carved into the trees along a meadow. Assuming this used to be these guy's camp. Its off trail and quite the hike to get to. Probably were packing in on horses. I think the dates are 1922 and 1934. Someone on here may have some info on this. Anyone else find anything like this a long ways in from any road?
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: 2MANY on March 22, 2018, 12:34:35 PM: Not a fan of people carving the trees in the Rockies.
To much of it in my opinion.

Knives kill.
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: headshot5 on March 22, 2018, 01:31:05 PM: Upper part of that one looks like he carved a brand.
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: solomtnhunter on March 22, 2018, 01:42:18 PM: I would think if it was as old as 1924 or 1933 that the tree growth and bark would have expanded such that it would not be legible if not disappeared completely. But then again who knows :dunno:
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: lord grizzly on March 22, 2018, 01:45:44 PM: used to camp up in an old trappers cabin for elk. dates carved all over that thing including form me. oldest one was 1924 I believe. pretty cool
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: Shawn Ryan on March 22, 2018, 04:10:51 PM: Lots of tree carvings in certain places. The Basque used it a lot in SE OR and ID where they tended sheep. Especially in aspens. https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/aspen/carvings.shtml.
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: kellama2001 on March 22, 2018, 04:43:40 PM: Quote from: headshot5 on March 22, 2018, 01:31:05 PM
Upper part of that one looks like he carved a brand.

:yeah: That's pretty cool history. I've seen carvings on aspens in Wyoming before...
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: jdb on March 22, 2018, 05:04:23 PM: Quote from: 2MANY on March 22, 2018, 12:34:35 PM
Not a fan of people carving the trees in the Rockies.
To much of it in my opinion.

Knives kill.
im truly not trying to be argumentative but what makes you think it’s in the Rockies? And where have you seen all this carving? Again no disrespect intended really just curious
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: elkchaser54 on March 24, 2018, 09:05:53 AM: Finding old things in the woods even if its a beer can from 30 years ago is like my #8 favorite reason to go hunting and exploring national forests off trail
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: j_h_nimrod on March 24, 2018, 09:56:32 AM: Quote from: elkchaser54 on March 24, 2018, 09:05:53 AM
Finding old things in the woods even if its a beer can from 30 years ago is like my #8 favorite reason to go hunting and exploring national forests off trail
:yeah:

Vandalism and litter are one thing, but I have always found it interesting what relics I stumble across in the mountains. There have been times where I was pretty sure I was in virgin territory, only to find a can in a crevasse, a nail in a tree, or a cut stump. Guess I will need to try harder. It has never disturbed me to find these things though.

I have marked aspen in the past and within 10-15 years the marks are typically illegible as writing and look like any other scar.
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: banishd on March 29, 2018, 08:55:00 PM: This is in east side of central cascades at 5k' in a thicket of alpine trees. Would probably not have seen it if I wasn't trying to escape a downpour. I thought it looked like a brand or something of those sorts too.
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on March 30, 2018, 08:14:01 AM: I used to find lots of marked up Aspens in NW Colorado. Dates would be from the 40's and 50's sometimes and still legible. I always thought it was pretty neat. There were lots of Hispanic sounding names on the trees, which (per a rancher in the area) was from the herders that came up from central America around that time to work the sheep on range.

Its a cool piece of history, I think Bugle (RMEF) had an article on that topic a few years ago, I can try to dig it up
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: baldopepper on March 30, 2018, 09:25:19 AM: Ive seen many, many of them in the quakie groves in Utah. Some very intricate and always wondered how they got so high up in the tree, then realized it was the sheep herders sitting up on their horse that did it. Lot of those sheep camps were way back in and the herders had plenty of time on their hands to kill. Cant blame them for using those white barked quakies as canvas for their art.
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: Oh Mah on March 30, 2018, 02:21:22 PM: I might be wrong but i don't think they are dates at all.A slow growth tree would get at least 10 inches a year given the 1922 1934 that would be 96 years and 84 years looking at the pic i would say it is close to 6 foot at the highest carve from the ground,since the total carve is around 2 foot top to bottom and most likely was all done in the same time period that makes it 4 foot,taking that into consideration i would say that the carver most likely did not start the carve at ground level so I will say 2 feet from the ground leaving us 2 foot of tree growth in 84-96 years.A growth rate of .02 inches per year.

It's a property marker most likely for range cattle. :twocents:

I realize trees mainly grow from the top up but this tree would most likely be a sapling 84 years ago.not even big enough to mark.
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: hunter399 on March 30, 2018, 03:43:55 PM: Grave marker? :dunno:
Title: Re: Old hunting grounds
Post by: paultanninen on June 15, 2018, 09:04:02 AM: that is cool, i've never seen it but i want to