Terry Madewell/Clarendon Citizen - Caitlyn Reeser with a few sticks with lots of character that she found recently.
On the hunt in the woods for some character
In the deep South Carolina woods, Mother Nature does what she does best by growing things. One of the often-overlooked products from Mother Nature is character. Our great outdoor world is perhaps the best place in the world to find it.
Of course, the term “character” can take many forms and shapes. Typically, outdoorsmen think of it as an inner growth, of building ones self-esteem and internal fortitude while adding to the deep appreciation we have for the outdoors.
But for one recent trip to the woods, character was discovered in the form of oddly shaped trees, or really portions of tree with weird shapes. These unique shapes are caused by a variety of natural occurrences in nature. This was a reason that enabled me to get into the woods with my wife and granddaughter for yet a totally different outdoors adventure. We were in search of something that most woodsmen walk right by every time they are in the woods.
And no, it was not an excuse to scout for turkeys. Some may say there’s no limit to how many different methods a turkey hunter will use as an excuse to get into the woods at this time of the year. But really, that was not my reason for going. I admit, I am quite prone to getting in the woods for one of many stated reasons but then focus my attention on turkey tracks in the mud and sand around creeks, droppings and scratching on ridges and, on a very good day, actually see a few turkeys.
But this recent trip to the woods was actually for a different reason, it was truly for weird wood. It just worked out that I saw a lot of turkey sign. Well, I saw a lot of deer sign and pig sign too.
But it was weird wood we were after.
My wife is a woodcarver and of course, she needs wood to carve her wood art. I told her I would relish a walk in the woods hunting for wood.
But it got even better. We happened to have our granddaughter Caitlyn over that weekend and she is planning on turkey hunting with me on Youth Turkey Hunting day this spring. I admit, there could be an appearance of turkey tomfoolerly here, but we had free run of a friend’s 200-acre tract of land to go hunting … for wood. Finding wood on 200-acres of mixed hardwood and pine is not really an issue. But our focus was on a particular type of wood called “curly sticks,” also known as “twisty sticks.” These are the unique pieces of wood, actually small parts of small trees less than three inches in diameter that have unique features on them. Sometimes a big burl or knot gives the wood some unusual character. Sometimes the habitat the tree may grow gives it an unusual, twisted character.
As a wood turner on a lathe, the big burls and unusual big patterns are what I focus on. But Jacki the woodcarver prefers a different type of tree shape. Our primary targets on this day were the curly trees. These trees have a feature of twisting and curling along the trunk of the tree. These unique features are often the result of vines wrapping around the tree trunk at an early age and as the tree grows, the vines grow into the tree giving the wood a spiraled curly appearance, or as my friend who owns the property said, a “twisty” appearance. He is a lifelong woodsman, hunter, trapper and outdoorsman and said he never paid attention to these trees with unique features until we showed him some a couple months ago. Now he said he sees them all the time, every place he goes in the woods. It is indeed a marvel of nature. And it is one that an artist can use as a natural canvas to begin a woodcarving journey from a simple stick to a work of art.
Jacki calls them trees with “character.” So Jacki, Caitlyn and I went hunting for trees with character.
And we did it right. We didn’t just go to the woods to find and cut a dozen or so curly sticks, we took our rubber boots, snacks and a full-blown lunch so we could have a deep-woods picnic. It was an exploratory effort to look for these unique tree features, but it was also just a chance to get outdoors and have some fun.
The turkey, deer and pig sign were all just side benefits to the real hunt. And while I showed all these other signs of the wild to Caitlyn, she was focused on curly sticks. She is a quick learner and she immediately picked up on what we were looking for.
Ah, what I would give for the eyes of youth. Caitlyn began to spot potential curly trees from a distance that was still fuzzy to my eyes and often she was right on target. We were selective in our cutting, not wanting to take too many considering the generosity of my friend. We took a few, left several to grow into even better shapes in another year or two, and had a wonderful journey thought the creek bottoms and along ridges that day. After a big picnic lunch, Caitlyn all but went to sleep lying prone on the opened tailgate of the truck; a better tailgate party was never had. Jacki and I were tired from walking the hills and dragging curly sticks.
It was a unique adventure and a wood-hunt we would all cherish.
And perchance by sheer luck, we left one perfect curly tree adjacent to a big oak in a creek bottom adjacent to tons of turkey sign. I just may have to go check that “curly” for “character improvement” again this April.
