Has anyone ever shot down a tree?

[carpettbaggerr]

So what's the best caliber to use on mutant-ninja-trees

They're called TRIFFIDS

 

[sendec]

I hate to be a spoilsport.....

....but the comment about public lands is right on. What people do on their own land is their business, but a lot of resources, goodwill and money can get lost by shooting up trees. Target stands are easy to build: nailing a target to a tree is right up their with sticking it on a metal sign, Ralphie. And hitting bullets with saws and milling tools is no fun.

Now I have to confess that I've done it to trees on our range that were already so bullet ridden I did not want to damage a chain or blade. I also knew a dendrologist who collected samples of nuts and cones with a shotgun.

I am also not adverse to cutting up 4x4s and such that serve as targets. It makes for a good race between relays to see who can cut their post first, and I dont have to inventory a lot of excess ammo afterwards.

 

[Nightfall]

I remember an article in some gun magazine years back where they stress tested a Colt HBAR. They decided it would be fun to see how many rounds of .223 it took to cut through a tree stump in between accuracy groups. I forget how many... anyway, seems like a good way to spend some time and rounds.

 

[Rockrivr1]

I am also guilty of this. I wanted to see how far an actual 50 BMG round would go through a tree. I have family who ownes a lot of land and I took the rifle into the woods to see. Needless to say, the round when right through a tree that was probably 5-6 inches in diameter. Two rounds and it was down for the count.

It was an interesting experiment, but I enjoy taking out small metal targets instead. They are more reactive.

 

[TallPine]

Having cut down many many thousands of trees with a chainsaw, it has never occurred to me to shoot one down.

But I read in a book about some handloggers in Alaska, when a "falling" tree hung up on a limb of another tree. The logger's wife came along about then with her rifle, and shot off the offending limb, thus bringing down the tree that had previously been cut off at the stump with a crosscut saw.

 

[sturmruger]

My favorite gun to shoot down trees is mt Moss 500 loaded with Buckshot!! It is amazing how powerful that load is.

 

[Cosmoline]

I've shot down many spruce trees and snags. I use them for target stands at the compound. I also found that the only way to get rid of a snag when it's well below zero is a firearm. The dead wood is frozen, and there's no way that chainsaw will start.

I found the best spruce blasters to be 12 ga. slugs and SP's in the .308 power range. The bigger magnums (ie my .375 H&H) tend not to expand enough in the small trees. .308 and 7.62x54R SP rounds just blow the things to bits. Likewise slugs do enormous damage, but also hurt the shoulder more.

 

[Ryder]

The government doesn't care around here as long as they can still sell those trees off for $6 an acre to the commercial loggers who clearcut all my favorite hunting spots.

I've never shot down a tree, filled plenty of them with lead though and have sawn many in the lumbermill that were filled with it.

I used to get more of a thrill from tipping them in the swamps. Amazing how large of a tree you can push over if it's rotten enough. Too many close calls with those widowmakers cured me of that though.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

The wife and I were both shooting at the same target on our place down in Oklahoma once when a 3" sapling about 10 yds back came down.Seems that we had a point where our rounds were intersecting...That was a fun day

 

[106rr]

I would never shoot a tree down on public land except in time of war. I shot down many of them in RVN with a 106 Recoilless Rifle. The HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) rounds often zip right through without detonating. The HEP-T (High Explosive Plastic - Tracer) rounds work best when aimed at the base of the tree. Most of these arboricide incidents were an attempt to get the the BG behind the tree. It does stop the firefight when trees start falling on them.
You should not underestimate the tree lovers. We had a lady in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, CA claim that the trees were almost weeping from the pain of having nails driven into them. The nails were holding up the Christmas decorations. Ahhhh California!

 

[entropy]

First time: 17 years old, ROTC. M60. Lately, I'v been helping my boss trim the trees on his farm with our Mosin Nagants.

 

[Dionysusigma]

Y'all remind me of when Homer Simpson joins the NRA... using a gun to open a beer, turn off the lights, etc.

 

[Mute]

No. Never been attacked by one and they don't taste as good as venison or elk meat.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Stand still Mute. There's one growing beneath your feet right now.

 

[Quartus]

Yeah, just hold still......


.... for a year or two.







Seriously, there's one variety of tree I'd shoot without hesitation - the ailanthus. Miserable weed tree. Grows fast, stinks, and propagates by seeds AND runners.

Yech. Brittle wood, too, so if it gets big, it's dangerous.

 

[dgoad]

Well, my personal favorite tool for whacking southern pine at 1,000 meters is a mixture of 20mm AP and tracers from a Vulcan

-dave

 

[Warren]

My Granddad had to once...he was stationed at Pearl Arbor.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Well, yes - - -

Southern Oklahoma, some years back - - -

Old scrub oak, I believe it was, about three inches in diameter. Took a full Thompson SMG drum plus nearly two 30 orund mags to fell it.

Best,
Johnny

PS: I was NOT present when Oleg had to subdue that tree with an Uzi. I DID see the aftermath a couple of days later. Nasty-looking customer, that tree. I accept the self defense story.

JPG

 

[sm]

Paging Oleg Volk...Page For Mr. Volk...please

*ahem* seems as if there is a story about a Uzi and tree that needs to be shared...got pics?

 

[DonNikmare]

Didn't cut down a tree but have a tree story... As some of you may already know I grew up in a Communist country where even BB guns were illegal and only accessible at fairs and amusement parks.

I came to the US and lived with a host family the father in which had been the Director of the Dallas Garden Center at Fair Park. He was retired but took great care of his trees and other plants. He gave lectures to different garden clubs monthly and often had their members tour his yard which he was extreemly proud to show off. He had a total of seven or eight 30+ year old live oak trees in his yard.

I and a fellow international student found two old BB rifles in the attic which had belonged to our host family's sons when they were kids. We promptly set up a card board target on one of the live oaks in the back yard and had us a two hour competition . We meticulously initialed our shots after each 10 so that in the end we could count who had the most closest to the bullseye.

After two hours and many many BB's we decided to call it a day and went to take the target off the tree. As soon as we did I'm sure some neighbors heard some choice Bulgarian curse words. The 12'' to 15'' shiny circle made up of bb's imbeded in the tree bark gave us both a very bad stomach feeling, which translated itself into a mad dash to the kitchen where we acquired some knives.
All is well that ends well but let's just say it takes a while to dig out hundreds of bb's out of tree bark.

Nik

 

[0007]

No, but I used a Ruger .22 Bearcat to open a # 10 can of GI M&M in Alaska one time. Couldn't find the damn can opener and we were hungry.

 

[Nick_90]

Shooting down a tree is one of my best remembrances of my officer training in the Swiss Army. I shot down a 20 cm young oak tree with a 12.7 mm machine gun. It did take quite a few rounds but it was fun. Certainly worth being told off by the instructor!

 

[natedog]

The number of replies to this thread scare me

 

[Tamara]

I will categorically deny ever having shot a tree in half with a No.4Mk1.

Okay, well, it was blocking the road...

 

[Majic]

I used to shoot at a old range that a tree had grown in front of the berm. When the rifle targets were moved one was directly in front of the tree. That tree had a hole about 6" in diameter completely thru it.