TOPIC: Poachers

My dad and I started hunting sang in 2000, We wanted to transplant some of the bigger 4 prongs near his and moms house. At first we just brought them back and let them sit overnight on the porch untill the next mourning. Those didn't regrow. One day we came back with some very big roots, I was going to sell them so I put them in a bucket of water over night to get the dirt off. The next mourning my dad planted those roots and every one regrew the next year.After that I always gave him my biggest roots to plant. He loved to look at them. So if you want to dig roots from one spot and grow them in another, make sure to put them in water overnight and plant them the next mourning. Make sure you plant in the same type of woods you took them out of. North or Northeast facing hillsides with plenty of shade. Prepare each spot where you want to put a root by digging up the dirt and breaking it up. Take some of the dirt out and set the root in the hole with the neck pointing upwards. Cover the root with the rest of the dirt keeping the top of the neck about an inch or two under the dirt and press the dirt down firmly with your hands. That's it. They should grow back next year. Good luck. I hope this helps you and everyone else.

hilljack#1 wrote:

My dad and I started hunting sang in 2000, We wanted to transplant some of the bigger 4 prongs near his and moms house. At first we just brought them back and let them sit overnight on the porch untill the next mourning. Those didn't regrow. One day we came back with some very big roots, I was going to sell them so I put them in a bucket of water over night to get the dirt off. The next mourning my dad planted those roots and every one regrew the next year.After that I always gave him my biggest roots to plant. He loved to look at them. So if you want to dig roots from one spot and grow them in another, make sure to put them in water overnight and plant them the next mourning. Make sure you plant in the same type of woods you took them out of. North or Northeast facing hillsides with plenty of shade. Prepare each spot where you want to put a root by digging up the dirt and breaking it up. Take some of the dirt out and set the root in the hole with the neck pointing upwards. Cover the root with the rest of the dirt keeping the top of the neck about an inch or two under the dirt and press the dirt down firmly with your hands. That's it. They should grow back next year. Good luck. I hope this helps you and everyone else.

Hilljack,

Great advice and welcome to the Wildgrown forums! We hope you will tarry with us and share some Ginseng hunting, digging, growing and stewarding stories and advice!


Frank

Replanting to a different area may introduce a soil borne pathogen that the root isn't used to in its native soil. It may be a good idea to soak the roots in willow water before replanting to give the root a little immunity boost.

Good luck

I started my seed beds in a patch of woods that I can see from my porch and is surrounded by my pasture fields. I felt pretty safe about no one poaching it but, between lighting strikes on my older shade trees and a tornado knocking down the rest my sang was burning up so I moved them. My other location can't be seen from my house but, it can be seen by two trusted family members who are retired and don't have much to do other than watch what everyone else is doing. It wouldn't be impossible for someone to sneak in but, to a \"sang digger\" this location just doesn't look like it would be a \"hot spot\" and not worth the risk.

I had a problem with wild hogs eating my sang but, this should work for poachers as well. This would also make it such a pain in the butt to dig that poachers that do find your patch would simply give up or have to extend a tremendous amount of effort to get it. I thought about putting layers of chain link fence over my seed beds in winter and then letting the vines and roots do the job of holding it in place. The sang will grow up through the chain link but, it would be all but impossible to dig unless someone had bolt cutters.

When I dig roots that I plan to transplant...

As I put each root in my pouch, I put some moist leaf mulch in there with it. Keep them nice and moist as I am hunting that day (a little creek water in the bag occasionally to keep them moist)... and then plant them in a new location the same day (if possible)... or if not possible, I keep them in the basement or cool location in a bucket with moist leaf mulch around them until I can plant them.

I transplanted 44 roots to a seed bed a few years ago and handled them like that, and 43 of them sent up tops the next year.

Soaking over night in water sounds like it worked well for you, but I would say that is not absolutely necessary. I think the main thing is that you keep them moist (from harvest to replanting), and replant them asap.

TNhunter

yellowscarf wrote:

Appalachian Outlaws is as phony as it gets and will only give outlaws more ideas about becoming rich

With poaching already on the rise before this scripted lying crapfest I fear its all downhill from here. I got turned away from two properties today that I've hunted and planted on for years cuz their kids or grandkids saw this dumbass show and are now gonna try it..really pisses a guy off

Exactly what I was afraid I would be hearing this year. Next thing that will make me cringe is all the states deciding that stricter laws for hunters, maybe having to buy a diggers license every year, maybe a 25 root maximum dig per year, or the plant being shown as extremely fragile endangered species, and no digging/selling/buying until further notice.

It sounds far fetched. But in my nightmare, I can picture it happening. My family has made maple syrup for 200 years on the same family lands, and federal regulations are slowing putting this hobby out of business to all except those with enough money to upgrade equipment every year.

I think I would try posting the land, motion sensors (if close to your home) and trail cameras are another option I haven't seen recommended yet. These work great even in the dark and if someone poaches on your land then just one picture of them can go a looong way. You may want to talk to wildlife enforcement officials and tell them your problem. In Tennesse they will sometime hang out on the property and watch for poachers, they love to prosecute poachers. Good luck.

I got a perfect face shot of a poacher on Mon and know who the guy is. I'm not surehow Or if I'm going to deal with it.The old feller is mid 70's and I almost hate to say anything. He was digging woods that I had worked over pretty good a couple weeks before. I always breakoff the little stuff and keep the tops.

That is excellent advice. You catch more flies with honey that with vinegar