Our land in Maine needs the border markers "refreshed", as recommended by my forester. This was previously done over 10 years ago by slashing each tree and putting red paint in the gash. He suggests making new gashes immediately above or below the old ones, then painting them (he thinks paint from a can works better than spray paint), using a hatchet that's 2 or 3 inches wide. This is kind of a big deal because it's going to be lots of very difficult bush whacking, and the length of all borders requiring this are 2.5 miles (the borders along logging roads do not require anything). I have walked all borders before, but it was 7 or 8 years ago and very difficult and spread over many separate trips. And, parts of it are under water (knee high muck boots were sufficient for getting through that section).
Any tips on something like this from someone who has done it? What hatchet would be good to buy? What I currently have is a big thing for splitting logs, so that's no good. I'll also need to figure out what "technique" is good for making slashes, having never done that before. I'll also have to figure out a "system", to somehow carry the paint without spilling it everywhere, a paint brush, my hatchet, and a pistol. All while bush whacking over very rough terrain and worrying about ticks. If the weather cooperates, I would try to do this in March to reduce vegetation and ticks, plus a frozen ground is easier to walk on. Although, that's not always possible to get there in March because there could very well be 3 feet of snow in the logging road preventing me from getting there. And once mud season (April-ish) hits, access is also impossible for a while because I can't drive up the road. And once the bugs come out, that's not too fun either.
Any tips on something like this from someone who has done it? What hatchet would be good to buy? What I currently have is a big thing for splitting logs, so that's no good. I'll also need to figure out what "technique" is good for making slashes, having never done that before. I'll also have to figure out a "system", to somehow carry the paint without spilling it everywhere, a paint brush, my hatchet, and a pistol. All while bush whacking over very rough terrain and worrying about ticks. If the weather cooperates, I would try to do this in March to reduce vegetation and ticks, plus a frozen ground is easier to walk on. Although, that's not always possible to get there in March because there could very well be 3 feet of snow in the logging road preventing me from getting there. And once mud season (April-ish) hits, access is also impossible for a while because I can't drive up the road. And once the bugs come out, that's not too fun either.