Collecting Winged elm at this time of year?

Near my parents house is about 300 acres of untouched land (which I have permission to collect on). There is a small grove of winged elms that are varying ages. I know it is way past winter at my folks house but can I collect one or two at this point in the year? They live outside of Atlanta, GA and I will be transporting them to my house in Tampa if it is an okay time to collect. I will be up there in about 2 weeks.

Also there is a Japanese maple that was damaged in a storm, it probably won't make it another year or so as is. My folks said I can have it, could I possibly collect this too? It has a wonderful trunk that has an old wound up it that new wood is curling over, but I have read that they don't like the conditions in central Florida. I'm not sure of the cultiver on it though.

Thanks
Kurt

Elms in general are pretty rugged. Personally I'd roll the dice and dig one or two and see how they did. Others opinions my vary but I would probably have more organic soil in the mix for the first year and wouldn't put it in full sun for a month or so. They like their feet a little more damp than most trees as long as it drains good.

I collected one a year ago and was pretty brutal getting it out of the ground. It was in a low area which had bunch of rocks about the size of a U.S. quarter. The rocks prevent the road from washing out in heavy rains but I couldn't get a shovel into them so I ended up digging it with my hands for the most part. I think I collected it in February. It has recovered very well and I've been happy with its progress so far. I don't have any pictures of it though.

No clue on the maple though. If it's on the way out already I'd say it's probably not worth the effort to dig it. You've got a lot of potential problems with that tree: South Florida, not the right season to collect, not in the best of health. Maybe once you get there you can get a shot of the leaves and someone with more experience can ID the cultivar.