Take A Look At My Web page

[skyhammer]

Thanks in part to Kenny Blankenship I have attempted to build a web page.
It is mainly about Salmon and Steelhead fishing on my home rivers, as well as my float trips in Alaska.
I also have several pages on logging in the Redwoods. Most people have probably never seen pictures of this.
The site is nothing fancy and is rather crude, but I am still learning.
Dial up users may have a tough time. Scroll down the opening page to find the logging links. I don't know how the links got that far down, and haven't figured out how to move them up.Most of the logging pictures were taken on my ranch, which the Redwood state park has confiscated for there own use, or at least part of it. The page to the ranch as it is today is empty for now.
I used to have my email address on the site, but took it down after a couple of hours. The environmentalist wackos went postal on me.
Here is the address http://hooktender.googlepages.com
If you feel like it, let me know what you think or ask questions.

[SOCALTITANKC4X4LE]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

[LANDMAN]

Looks good man. Those pictures of you cutting down those huge trees were amazing!

[Sniper]

I bet those things make one heck of a sound when they fall......ttiiimmmbbbeeerrr!!

[37L1]

Nice job Sky! I could relate to the logging pics, worked a summer in my youth as a choke setter/bucker, lumberjacks are crazy-brave. Dangerous occupation.

The fish and trees posted are awesome and well worth memorializing, thanks for sharing!

[SmokenMini]

Pretty neat...You're catchin' some nice fish there. Ever been to Erie?

[skyhammer]

I have been to Erie, but never fished it. I am a river fisherman, I try to stay away from big water.
Sniper- The big Redwood do make a lot of noise, but the timber faller usually doesn't notice the noise. You are so focused on what you are doing that you actually don't hear much. When the tree starts to fall you try to get as far away from the stump as fast as possible.
Most Redwoods have rotten tops that may be 50' long. When the tree starts to fall, the top snaps off and usually lands near the stump. You also have to watch for falling limbs(widow makers"), the limbs can be 100' long and weigh a 1000 lbs.

[Helinut1970]

I might need some educating here but I thought the redwood were protected. I am not a treehugger but I dont think that a grand redwood should but down! Some of those trees to my knowledge have been around since Christ walked the earth! They dont cut the sequias do they?

BTW I hope Adam (adavise) dont see this thread this could set him off on a TF Rage!!!!!

[skyhammer]

The Redwoods in the parks are protected, most of the old growth or as we call them virgin Redwoods that are left are in the parks.
there are two species of Redwoods in the U.S. The Giant Sequoia, located in the South western Sierras (Yosemite etc.) Are the largest in diameter but shorter and more brittle.
Where I live the we have the Coastal Redwood. These are the tallest trees in the world, and the kind that is most often used for lumber.
Most people feel as you do about cutting down virgin trees. I look at it a bit differently. Trees are a crop, just like corn, only the rotation period is a bit longer. Most of the virgin trees are dying of old age, the are over ripe and becoming rotten.
I have no problem with the parks, I do have a problem with how they are expanding into previously logged areas. I live next to a 45,000 acre park full of virgin trees. There are about 125,000 acres of virgin Redwood parks, where no trees will be cut. The pictures on my site are of a by gone era. there hasn't been a logging like that since the late 80's.We still fall a few big trees every couple of years for personal use. 99% of all Redwoods logged now are 2nd or 3rd growth trees 60-125 years old.
for the most part, virgin Redwoods on private land are more valuable left standing.
Politicians indirectly caused the wholesale destruction of most of our Redwood forests. In the 50's, Calif. passed what is called the ad valor em yield tax. The ranchers were taxed on the value of their timber whether they logged it or not. Most of the ranchers had to cut down their timber as fast as they could or go broke leaving their land to the state. While this law lasted less than 10 years it caused irreparable damage to the land and the forests.

[Helinut1970]

Interesting read Skyhammer!

[DaFridge]

GREAT PICS!!!!!

i wanna try fishing some day.

[konigfritz]

Good pics, I need to fish more!!

[skyhammer]

If anybody is interested in going to Alaska fishing let me know. Like most things in life, all it takes is time and money.
It will take about 3 weeks to do a 2 week float. Depending upon what equipment you already have, it will cost between $5-7k. Whether you go for a week or a month the cost is just about the same. Transportation is what cost $.

[skyhammer]

This is a picture of "gun sticks" used to aim a tree. It is just a triangle with equal sides, I have forgotten the proper trig. term.
You just site down the point to the triangle and that is where the tree should land if everything goes right.
If you have the room, you can use a 100' tape to make a triangle. This puts the aiming point further from the tree, thus giving you more accuracy.
In the picture it looks like the ends of the sticks are inside the edge of the undercut. You have to take into consideration that the bark of the Redwood can be over 12"thick, so the sticks must be placed inside the bark.

[shawnwat4]

nice web page sky, you have some pretty amazing pics on there