Where do you forage for sticks?

[MoroCreek]

I was out yesterday for an hour or so, and took a couple of pictures with my phone of my Stick "Factory". This is on a forty acre tract of bottom land along Moro Creek in south Arkansas...... about a 1/4 mile from my house. At 57 years old, I'll never live long enough to investigate it thoroughly!

[Donna_T]

WOw, that looks like a great place to start looking for sticks. Such character in their shapes and sizes. I usually look in the woods, creek, pond, river, lake areas everywhere I go. Almosts always bring a twig back from any trip. One can never have too big of a "stash" of wood of all shapes.

Donna_T

[Waitpinga Whittler]

Fantastic find! Looks like that place needs some judicial 'pruning'!

[idigjars]

Wow! What a great find. Paul

[Marvin Little]

Never discount even the smallest plot of woods for sticks. Some of the best twisties that I have found were in long narrowe strips of woods.

Marvin

[AL...]

I go down to the local park here Plenty dead fall down there after the recent storms we had here a couple of weeks ago . or just walking the dog . I take home more sticks than he does

Cheers
AL

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

the second picture has a good looking "twisty" standing there! "drool"

[MoroCreek]

Thanks folks.... it is going to be a wonderful hunting ground. I have driven by this piece of land for 14 years going to and from work. But it wasn't until I became interested in the Twisties, that I started taking better notice of it. I was finally able to ask the owner for permission a couple of weeks ago.... explaining what I was wishing to do..... harvest some of the twisted sticks. He explained that they rarely made good timber, and that I could have all I wanted. So for a couple of weeks..... whenever I have had the time..... I've been driving the 1/4 mile or so from the house and I walk around trying to find the sticks that meet the "Quality Control" criteria! LOL There are literally thousands of sticks that have some kind of Twisted look to them! I wish some of you folks were close enough, because there are plenty to share!

[Buffalo Bif]

I'm pretty urban, but manage to find sticks along fence lines- lots of folks let the trees grow up between the garage and the fence, or behind the garage (surprising how many people never visit the back of their back yard). I have a couple Poplar volunteers that srpung up last year, spared them from the mower to watch them grow. I end up with a lot of elm, ash, hard maple.

[Waitpinga Whittler]

Trees tend to grow a lot slower in Oz because there is less rain. The resultant native wood is hard and often quite twisted in its growth. I've seen a single branch grown 320 degrees of a circle, for no apparent reason. Its often hard to find a branch that is stright enough for stick purposes, even if one uses strightening techniques. I prefer to use branches already dead, either on the tree or the ground for the colour they produce when sanded and polished. You don't get the rich reds and burgundys if you cut them green and dry them. Don't know why but its so. Most of my canes are made of recycled building materials... Jarrah, Kiri and Stringy Bark mostly... the choice of builders a century ago. The staves are usually made from woods not native to Australia like Cypress, Silver Birch and Poplar which I harvest when and where ever I can find them. We have a bit of land ourselves and our neighbours are also willing to let me 'forage'. Another great source is the local 'tip' or garbage dump. People from all over the district bring all their tree loppings and prunings to one spot. These are collected for a huge mulching machine which comes about one a quarter. In the mean time the council staff don't mind me foraging through the piles of wood for whatever I can use. Its a bit like a 'lucky dip'.. you never know what you'll find.