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Dead Ash Trees

B

Bloodhound

New Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2020
Messages
28
What's your take on hunting out of dead Ash Trees? A couple of the trees I hang from were killed by the ash bore. They just recently died. How long are they safe to hunt out of?
 
About 5 years the roots rot off and they start tipping over in the wet areas. I stay away from them around home. They have been dead for awhile. If it is windy I won't be within tree fall of them. Too many dead branches falling and trees coming down. On the land we own I have cut everyone of them down so I don't have to deal with them.
 
Micneador said:
I wouldn't ever climb a dead tree period no matter how long its been dead
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Pretty much my thoughts. I have three in my yard that are infested currently, two of them were just getting big enough to practice climbing in, now they are all starting to lose bark and started losing leaves early this summer, around July. I won't climb in any of them, not worth the risk to me and I know they are still technically not dead yet, a completely dead one can be deceptive even if you think you know exactly when it was healthy last

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Doesn’t take long. 2016 an area I was hunting in Iowa was primarily ash trees. Everything was lush and perfectly healthy. Went back in 2020 and it was immediately obvious the emerald ash borer hit the area extremely hard. Almost every single ash tree in a huge area was dead and the bark was falling off. I hunted the best trees I could find and eventually ended up hunting on a very windy day. I had large trees crashing down all around me that day. Really woke me up how dangerous they are. If they have no leaves early in the season and the bark is falling off obviously don’t hunt in them but also stay as far away from them as you can. It’s too bad the damage that was done. I’m expecting large areas to be nothing but wide open and blowdowns when I hunt there again in a few years. Around home the ash trees are pretty much all gone too. Really lost a lot of great trees I hunted in over the years.
 
Sad situation, one species after another. 20 acres where I hunt was primarily an ash stand and now there’s no canopy and it’s so thick you need to chop a tunnel through it with a chainsaw and metal weedwhacker if you want to enter. I’d like to make a small clearing and stand set on a few trees of other species but it’s tricky to find a spot that’s safe from the remaining dead standing trees. I’d never climb any dead tree.
 
Many in my woods break off between 10 and 20 feet off the ground first then molder away from there. That would be a shock if the tree broke off right in front of your face while tethered in!
 
Phopkins said:
Many in my woods break off between 10 and 20 feet off the ground first then molder away from there. That would be a shock if the tree broke off right in front of your face while tethered in!
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A lot of them will snap in two part way up when you cut them down. Be very careful around them, and climbing one is asking for trouble. The answer to the O.P. is NEVER.......
 
Honestly the biggest issue is they don't die evenly. The tree will sacrifice limbs in an attempt to stay alive, so you could have half or 3/4 of the tree die and dry out or begin to rot for years before the tree actually dies. There's no way to tell really when it died or how "green" the trunk and ropt system is.
You're going to assume your own acceptable risk levels, but IMHO a deer is not worth hunting from a dead tree, ever. What can go wrong will.....
 
Yeah it’s way too risky. I’ve cut down several for firewood and each has a differing degree of decay. The amount, or lack thereof any tree canopy can be misleading as well. It is extremely unfortunate for the species. Hopefully they can find a way to survive but it’s not looking hopefull. Saplings seem good to about 7 years and then you begin to see the devastation. In my area tulip seems to be taking over as ash is typically one of the early successional species in any forest regeneration timeline. We’re having a beech blight as well in my area. Sunlight getting into areas that hadn’t been for years. Beech nots are favored foods for turkeys.
 
Bloodhound said:
What's your take on hunting out of dead Ash Trees? A couple of the trees I hang from were killed by the ash bore. They just recently died. How long are they safe to hunt out of?
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That's super iffy. One of my stands is 10 ft up in a dead ash. It goes against every good sense of mine BUT it's the only tree in a prime bedding area. It's been dead 3 yrs. I agree with the others, the degree of decay varies.

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retired arborist chiming in, many tree companies have a no climb policy when it comes to EAB ash, they get really brittle really quickly, so theres the risk of limb failure if you are using SRT/DRT and theres the risk of being struck by failing limbs.

I dont care if its a perfect tree with perfect wind for a chance at a record buck, its a hard no from me, ive seen too many of them shatter.

The only dead tree i would climb is white oak...

As an aside, we once did an ash removal on this guys front lawn (before EAB), because it was hollow and unsafe, and when we asked the guy if he wanted the stump ground out he said "nah leave it, that way when the neighbors come over I can say to them: look at that ash-hole on my lawn"
 
The brittle factor is the fear for me, it seems to me that most of them don't pull roots or break off at the ground, they always seem to snap off between 5 and 15 feet up. They might feel solid but I wouldn't trust them.
 
I took this pic several years ago.
That dead ash barely missed crashing down on this stand. Luckily, I was not in it at the time it fell.
And the only reason the the tree missed destroying the stand is because, as it fell, the upper tree contacted 2nd tree (also a dead ash) and the 2nd tree steered the falling tree away from the stand by only inches.
Had I been in that stand at the time, I would still be cleaning crap from my shorts.
It seems like our region is thru the worst of the ash falling, most are already on the ground. But there are still a few standing and they are definitely something to be aware of.

Another issue with the ash dying is they have allowed more light into the forest floor which has created an explosion of stiltgrass. The grass hides the tangle of fallen logs and branches creating a severe tripping hazard. Our woods are a disaster.

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