Glad you got it down without great difficulty. For next time consider this:
At my club we've done the string on a rock approach with limited success (we have really tall trees here in middle GA)
We've also cut down trees on a number of occasions and usually we've not incurred much damage to the airframe.
I've seen the shotgun approach with success, but I have a hard time shooting my own planes.
The best approach I've found -assuming you are far enough away from populated areas to be safe, and requiring some amount of marksmanship- I've used a .22 rifle with a scope to "trim" away branches supporting the plane. If you try this, remember that a .22 round can travel over a mile, so this approach is only viable if you are out in the middle of nowhere as is our club.