The Rules of Engagement Do not peel bark from trees you have in your yard, your neighbours yard, a park in the city or any other private or protected area. Peeling bark from a birch tree will scar the tree and can seriously harm it. Paper (White) birch trees Paper Birch is the Provincial Tree of Saskatchewan. Paper Birch is a winter staple food for moose. Paper Birch bark is favoured for making crafts such as moose calls. Peeling Bark The best time to peel birch bark is mid May to mid July. Sap is running in the tree and the bark comes off easily during this time of year. As already said, peeling bark off a birch tree can seriously harm the tree. Peeling the bark, but leaving the dark brown inner bark on the tree will give the tree its best chance for survival. If you are felling birch trees for firewood, this would be the ideal time to make use of the bark, which you plan to burn anyway. Select a tree where you can see that there is a relatively smooth area of bark for roughly 24 inches in length. At the top end of the harvest area, cut completely around the tree with a knife and then cut vertically down to the point where you will cut completely around the tree again. Use the knife blade to pry the bark loose until you can get your fingers in behind the bark. Work your fingers up and down the entire length as you work the bark off around the tree. After a few inches have been gained, the bark should start to come off easily. After removing the bark, you want to keep it flat and prevent it from drying out. Place a weight on top and keep it out of the sun. As the bark dries, it becomes harder to work with; ideally, you want to harvest the bark and start your project as soon as possible.
Crafting the moose call Use a piece of construction paper as a template for making your call. Trace the template onto your bark and cut with an exacto-knife and/or scissors. The arc at the base of the cut-out will create a cone shape that will stand up on a table top, flat and plumb. Cut out the bark and mark holes in the overlap area where you will be lacing the seam. Roll up into a cone shape with the edges overlapping by 1.5”. If you are going to use a leather punch to make the holes for lacing up the seam, punch the holes before rolling the bark into a cone. If you are going to use an awl to make the holes, you can do this after rolling the bark into a cone. After rolling the bark into a cone, secure it in place with heavy tape (masking or duct tape) and lace the seam with wicker, reed, spruce root, leather, sinew or whatever you may happen to use. Additional strips of bark can be applied to the base and/or the apex as you like. I used a 1/8 inch hole punch to make the holes for this call and I stitched up the seams with leather lace. |
