So you might want to mark the tree where you start or remember that tree where you start. Then all the way round until you reach that tree.
Now, there is a debate on the trees that are as wide, or just as wide as the dime. I generally count them all. Some leave out every third tree and do not count them. Count them all. If there is that many, those wont matter anyway.
Another rule..what does the landowner want? Does he want cover/browse for wildlife? If so, then the thinning should be heavier-like a BSA of 50 or so. This is for hardwood woods-like maple etc. Oak wants a heavy cut as they regenerate with near full sunlight. I always like to see Oak logged and pole skidded. That simulates burn and works the ground up. We got problems up here now because they have skidded with forward skidders for years because they didnt want the ground disturbed. Now the fescue grass has taken over and prevents regeneration in a lot of places. That and the dam deer eat the seedlings off as fast as they come up.
Thanks. My family has property at about 10,500 feet in Colorado. Lodgepoles, bristlecones and silver barked pines. Of course a lot of Aspen.
The National Forest Service land above us looks scary populated with trees. If I were going to thin up there (and of course I would never do that), I would not know how to start because none of the trees would fall over when cut they are so tightly packed.
The pine beetles found us a few years ago, although they haven’t wiped us out the way they have across the hill in Breckenridge.