A forest officer appointed to take care of the
king's woods; a forester. [Eng.] [1913 Webster]
A sportsman; a hunter. [1913 Webster] [The duke]
is a better woodman than thou takest him for. --Shak. [1913
Webster]
One who cuts down trees; a woodcutter. [1913
Webster] Woodman, spare that tree. --G. P. Morris. [1913
Webster]
One who dwells in the woods or forest; a bushman.
[1913 Webster]
Woodsman \Woods"man\, n.; pl. Woodsmen. A woodman;
especially, one who lives in the forest. [1913 Webster]
Word Net
woodsmanNoun
1 someone who lives in the woods [syn: woodman]
2 makes things out of wood [syn: woodworker, woodman]
Moby Thesaurus
arboriculturist, backwoodsman, briar-hopper, brush ape, bushman, clam digger, conservationist, cracker, desert rat, forest ranger, forester, frontiersman, hillbilly, hinterlander, logger, lumberjack, lumberman, mountain man, mountaineer, piny, ranger, redneck, ridge runner, silviculturist, timberman, tree farmer, wood chopper, woodcraftsman, woodcutter, woodlander, woodmanThe word woodsman, meaning man of the woods, can
be applied to any person coming from or living in a wooded area. Woodsmen is the
plural form.
Woodsmen are stereotypically nature-wise
persons who hunt for their food and live simply. They are often
portrayed as male, bearded, knowledgeable about plants and animals,
and possessing highly developed tracking and survival skills.
Characterized by their log cabin
homes, woodsmen are also sometimes stereotyped as old fashioned,
and possibly eccentric.
Woodsmen and hunters were placed in special
military units in many armies up until modern times. In many cases,
the names of these units are still used today.
The image of the woodsman, with his full, thick
beard, flintlock
musket, and hatchet, is often romanticized in movies and
books. The 1980s movie Continental
Divide made fun of these stereotypes in the context of a love
story.
Today a number of "Woodsmen Teams" can be found
at both the intercollegiate and professional level. Timbersport
events are often featured on popular sports networks such as ESPN
and ESPN2. Collegiate timbersport is heavily concentrated in the
Eastern United States and Canada. Schools such as Colby College
(Maine), Dartmouth College (New Hampshire),University of Maine and
the University of Toronto are among the first and most dominant
schools.
Events include chopping, sawing, pole climb, fire
build, axe throw and log roll.
A typical Woodsmen Meet is described below by a
member of the elite Unity College's women's woodsmen team.
Teams from many colleges gather at the host
college's wood-shed or wood-field. The most recent one was held
November 3, 2007, at the University of New Hampshire. The entrance
fee for each team into this competition was $175. Most schools have
2-4 teams. Each team has 6 men or women. If team is part guys and
at least 1 girl, they are labeled as 'Jack and Jill' and must
compete under the men's rules. Most events, with one or two
exceptions, rely on time to determine the winner. Logs used in each
event vary greatly in size and can be circular or square. I will
use 'she' throughout this.
The day started off at about 8 a.m. with a
captain's meeting and a drawing of wood numbers. These numbers
determined the order in which each team would compete through-out
the day. The events were staggered slightly so that something was
always going on but also so that members of the team had ample time
to prepare for the next events.
The first set of events was 'singles'- all
members of the team must complete a separate task by themselves.
These are the basic ones, but each meet varies slightly in rules
and events in every category. There are only 6 events at each meet,
but more are listed below because the actual events vary.
Single events:
Axe throw: The thrower stands a marked distance
away from a target (which is made of the typical concentric
circles) and must stay behind the line as she throws and aims for
the bullseye. The points increase as you go in towards the center,
1 down to 5. You get from 1-3 practice throws, and then you have 3
consecutive throws that count for points. There are no redos, and
if you miss, you get 0 points. Double-sticks (where both edges of
the double-headed axe are embedded in the wood) usually don't
count, but when they do, you must tap the handle to see if it is
secure. The handle must be facing towards the ground.
Bowsaw: The person stands on one side of a log
chained to a stancheon, and uses a bowsaw to cut a set number of
'cookies' (wood slices). The fastest wins.
Singlebuck: The person stands on one side of a
log chained to a stancheon and uses a cross-saw to cut cookies.
This is considered harder than the bowsaw because the saw is longer
and heavier, and the log is sometimes 3 times larger.
Quarter Split: The person has a log set upright
on the ground (sometimes it is set in a tire for control), and they
must chop it into at least 4 full-length pieces as quickly as
possible. Sometimes, there is a painted circle on top, and that
color must appear on each piece of split wood to count. This event
is sometimes modified to 'wood' split' where the wood must be split
into pieces that must fit through a hole (typically 6-8
inches).
Chainsaw: Each person (donning appropriate safety
gear) starts their chainsaw and warms it up. They then set it on
the ground and put their hands on the woods. On 'Go!' they must
pick up the chainsaw and cut a cookie as quickly as possible.
Disc-stack: Also uses a chainsaw. There is a log
set upright on a stancheon and the person must cut the wood so that
there is a stack of discs- this is done vertically. The person with
the most discs set before it topples wins.
Obstacle Course: The one at UNH consisted of 3
parts, each one immediately after the other. First was a 2/3 pulp
toss event. Then she had to run over to where a thin, marked,
square cookie was laying; she had to grab the axe and split it (a
bonus for this was that if you hit the red dot, you got 15 seconds
deducted from your time). Last was upright bowsawing. She had to
run up a diagonal log and saw a cookie off. This required balance.
A person stood a bit away to catch the saw if the girl fell.
Pole Climb: Self-explanatory. A harnessed person
wears special spikes to scale a wooden pole and ring the bell at
the top to signify completion.
There were 3 doubles events that included the 3
pairs of girls from each team:
Crosscut: Each girl stood on either side of a
suspended, stancheoned and chained log and had to cut 3 cookies.
This was timed.
Pulp toss: There are 2 sets of stakes directly
opposite from each other- the distance in between varies. The girls
usually have to throw lighter logs a shorter distance. Each girl
stand behind a set of the stakes. The logs are sitting on the
fround to start with. The beginning girl throws the 4 logs one by
one, attempting to make the logs straddle the line created by the
other stakes. Each time she does, it counts as one point. Logs and
points can be knocked in and out. The team who gets a set number of
points (usually 16-20) first wins.
Vertical chop: There is a log set upright on a
stancheon. At some meets, each girl must chop a single log, but in
some, such as UNH, they share one, each doing a side. They follow a
set, marked, pattern to topple the log by chopping it in half.
Timed.
In triples events, there are 2 groups of 3 people
from each team:
Horizontal Chop: A log is set a horizontal
stancheon and the chopper stands on the log. The same thing is done
as in Vertical Chop, except that each chopper almost always has her
own block.
Log Relay: The one at UNH consisted of three
parts. The men's teams could only have one person complete each
task, but all three women on each team could assist in each task.
Each event started at one pair of stakes and had to get clear past
the other set that was set up about away. First up was tire flip.
This one was a tractor tire, and the most effective tactic, as
found by the Unity team, was for one girl to stand in the middle
and help pull it that way as the other two pushed it up. The girl
in the middle would then slip out, assist in finishing that flip,
and then get back in the middle. This was repeated until done.
Second was chain pull- we had to pull a massive tire skidder chain
until it crossed the line. It was mightily heavy. Last was log
pull. You had to wrap a chain around a log and pull it.
Team events included every person on the team:
Log roll: You had to go back and forth between 2 sets of stakes 3
times, 2 people at a time. Each person uses a peavey to push their
end of the log. The log must hit both stakes. If one side falls
shorts, a method called crosshaul is used. During this, the 2 girls
are on opposite sides of the log and use the clamps on other side
of their peaveys to haul it.
Crosscut: This is similar to the singles events,
except that after every 2 cookies, you pass the saw off to another
member of your team
Mystery Event: This is usually horseshoes or
canoeing, but can be anything
The events are very unset, and the host school
can make arbitrary decisions such as: making horizontal a doubles
event (most events can be switched around like this) or anything
else. This is relatively incomplete.
Television
shows that featured woodsmen include the 1970s show Grizzly
Adams and the 1960s Gunsmoke.