Waste not, want not.


Bigbangtheory

Bigbangtheory

Scout
Joined
Dec 20, 2011
Messages
207
Likes
4
While out for a short hike today I came across a pine stump located near some "primitive" camp sites. The stump had seen quite a few licks as from campers needing a little bit of fat wood. The wasteful part was the fact that there was enough pieces left laying around that one could have started several fires with. I wasn't planning on collecting any any as I have plenty at home but I didn't want it to go to waste.

I might be wrong but when I collect my fatwood from a source I collect all pieces and try to leave some intact for others or myself in the future. I definitely don't leave a bunch of "scrap" pieces laying around. What are some of the things you guys have come across that you thought was wasteful in the woods. I'm just curious because it might be something I've done and not thought twice about.

What say you?
 
if find good fat-wood...i'll take it all... antler, flint , nice burls ,tinder fungus,GOLD NUGGETS ...i take it all i can carry ,then trade it an the forums
 
Last edited:
I don't see where the waste comes in. It was there. Pick up the pieces and use them.

Or chop new pieces.

But I don't understand where the waste part comes in.

The stuff laying on the ground wasn't waste. It was just unused.
 
One of my pet peeves is wasted fish and game. ducks with the breasts pulled out of them and then thrown on the water to float around in a big feather pile. Found a deer yesterday with only the legs and the backstrap removed. Probably 10 pounds of meat went to waste. Fish caught and then thrown up on the bank to rot, even invasive species like asian carp can be eaten or fed to the kitties.
 
My thing is that why keep whacking away at it if you got enough laying on the ground to begin with... I picked up several handfuls... Like i said above it's just a pet peeve of mine.

To the post about the deer... That's a common thing nowadays it seems. Pretty sad. :/ bout as sad as coming across someones "dump site" which also happens to be a creek. That's not a sight you'd want to walk up on in the woods is a bunch of carcasses rotting in a creek. Especially when one might have his little ones tagging along.
 
And gaga, I'm not above finding and keeping things. Just going about doing it responsibly.
 
I'll bet that it wasn't even hacked up for fatwood. Most knowing what fatwood is would have picked up most of the pieces and put them in their fire kit or stored/passed it on to someone else.
 
I went to a Provincial Park here in Alberta with my Dad ( R.I.P.) quite a few years ago. We where in the overflow campsite and it was in the winter. As we drove around the loop we stopped and came across a college van and talked to the lady who was the supervisor.

She was looking after some forestry students ( about 5-6) who where camped nearby. We stayed on the other side of the park as not to bother them.

They left a day before us , so I went and checked on the students campsite. I saw a mess of litter , garbage in the firepit , 3 mature 10" trees that where almost cut in half by a dull axe. I was extremely P O .

When I got back to the city , I called the dean of the forestry dept. and explained what I had seen and expressed my dissapointment , especially at the fact these where forestry students. Not only is cutting mature trees for no purpose morally wrong, Imo , it is forbidden in Provincial, Federal and public parks.

I never heard any more about it and am not sure if these students where disciplined , but it really left me with a bad impression of these people , and my Dad thought it was a real shame also. :mad:
 
Those forestry students, with that attitude, are probably selling shoes at Walmart now.
With big student loans...


ezra
 
I only wish I could find some darn Fatwood...I keep looking but still haven't found any...so bummed and I am not about to pay for overpriced fatwood at the store.
I'm a leave it as you found it kind of person in regards to camping. I do like to bring home fallen wood and have been harvesting little chunks of oak that a beaver downed across a trail and the land owner cut it up and threw it to the side of the trail. I don't have a keen eye for finding much in the woods, mostly looking out for giant banana spiders that like to weave their webs in between trees where I happen to be walking... oh and snakes, so my attention is more toward avoiding the creepy crawlies.
 
Haha! I know what you mean about those spiders! Lol.

Pm me Layton... I prob got a little fatwood I can spare.
 
Up in the piney woods of GA I would think fatwood would be everywhere. My parents live in MS and it takes about ten minutes behind their house to get all I can carry. Stumps of cut down trees, dead standing wood and tree "skeletons" all usually have fatwood.
 
the forestry students i see as waste, and horrible. the waste of meat i see as poor practice and irresponsible, but in my area anyways scavengers will take care of it, so its not really wasted. and the fatwood, the way i see it is if no one came along, EVENTUALLY it would all return to nature, the chips left on the ground will return faster is all. they will turn to fertilizer to help new plants grow.

the poop near the water is real gross.
 
Not to push any buttons but... Eventually anything returns to the "earth"... Some things longer than others... I.e, glass vs. paper.

I mean... Don't get me wrong... I did'nt mind collecting those fat wood chips as it saved me from having to exert any energy. I guess my opinion differs on woods etiquette than most. I really shouldn't be surprised being the throw away society we live in now a days.
 
Perhaps they didn't even know it was fatwood. I've camped and backpacked all of my adult life and didn't know about it until I came to this forum. Based on personal experience, I can easily picture a bunch of guys just hacking at a stump or log for the fun of it. It wasn't wasted- they knew you would be along sooner or later.
 
We have an endangered mojave desert tortoise up here... and people steal them from their homes and keep them as pets!!!! these guys breed real slow and people are destroying the breeding population.... I have seen them at several peoples homes up here and its Illegal to keep them...... jerks!!!!.... to me this is a waste of a very much needed resource in our environment... We need the desert tortoise
 
Last edited:
Here in Iowa I've been seeing a LOT of deer carcasses. More than usual. And TONS of ammo litter. Shells, boxes, casings, targets (if they aren't shooting trees) a few weeks ago i took my 5 year old daughter out and directly at the entrance of some public land were 2 domestic hog carcasses, one decapitated deer, and a ton of litter. No respect for nature....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top