hinge cutting anyone tried it..

[jonsey]

I was wondering if anyone has done any hinge cutting for bedding area's or to just thicken up the woods?  I was thinking about doing some to improve the brows and just the habitat it could do for a little thickening up where I hunt its mainly all oaks and maples,  but we just had a select cut done I am not really concerned about future $ from the wood.  just trying to keep more deer on the property we only have 24 acre's but its a wide open 24 acre's we have a lot of night time movement but nothing during the day.  Has anyone had any luck this year I planned on hinge cutting all the pulp wood on the property and adding a little more space to my food plot

[Dutch]

I have seen it done, and it's effective.

Do the cuts about 3-4 ft off the ground, not ground level. This give more horizontal cover.

Don't do the entire area at once. Concentrate on one area that you want to thicken up, for bedding cover.

While you are at it, you might want to try to create beds for deer. By that, I mean, rake up some soft areas, free of sticks, rocks, etc. Make sure these beds have a way in, and a way out. Clear the limbs so a deer can go in one way, and out the other.

I'd do the maples. Deer love maple browse, so, you will be creating bedding and feeding.

Do an acre, maybe more. Then, next year, create another one. Deer will move from one to the other, and that is where you should set up. Think of a travel corridor you might already have on your property, and anchor parts of it with cover.

[cspot]

Dutch gave some great advice. If you have just had a select cut done then it will thicken up a good bit on it's own. Definately don't do the whole property. You want various "edges" of cover. Don't hinge cut any food sources such as oaks or apples. I would mainly try to hinge cut the maples.

[jonsey]

I have about a 1 acre food plot planned not sure what yet, thinking some clover if I can get the ph up high enough ( mountain ground) there is a maple sapling thicket that starts about 50 yards from the food plot and runs right into it there is also some beechnut tree's in it. I was thinking about hinging all the maples and beechnuts up threw that but the downside is my trail I walk in on is also there so I would have to thinking the one side up a lot to hide my movement on the way in. I was just wandering what everyones thoughts are I was also thinking of getting 3-4 american chestnut hybrids for around the food plot.. its all just thinking at this point we will have to see how everything works out this year. I wanted to do it all last year but work didn't let me.. lol  Thanks for the advice:)

[cspot]

I would keep the beechnut trees. Lots of critters like them.

[redarrow]

I would not cut any that are growing poker-straight. Let them grow for future timber.
Cut any with crooks, crotches, multiple leaders, scars from rubs or other damage. The buds will be just as good to the deer and it will likely improve the wood lot.

Thinning beech bush will help keep it from making a solid stand of a single specie tree, leave the biggest, if they are healthy, for the mast they produce-everything likes beech nuts.

[Dutch]

Crabapples and standard apples are always good.

[bowbum]

I hinge cut about 1/4 - 1/3 acres in two areas some years ago, (probably 6 or 7), that quickly became a "thicket". Deer were already attracted to that area but it had been growing into larger trees and I wanted to keep it as a secure area for them. I was hunting near one of those areas yesterday and noticed it is still quite thick with lots of deer activity.

 

[Muab Dib]

So will you fine folks help educate the ignorant...(me) What exactly is "hinge cutting" and what are the pros and cons. We're in the process of slowly cutting down unwanted birch regen following an eight year old cut and maybe this is something we should consider. Thanks

Muab

[Dutch]

Hinge cutting is where you cut most of the way thru a tree, but leave the bark attached. The tree falls, bark still attached, and the tree sorta grows horizontal. Leafs out and creates a thick mess, with easy food.

Not sure it will work with birch, and not sure you want birch. I would think you'd simply want to kill the birch. That could also be done with hack and squirt, using Roundup.

[dougell]

Jan 5, 2015 20:59:00 GMT -5 cspot said:

I would keep the beechnut trees. Lots of critters like them.

I would try to eliminate the beech for several reasons.First,beech will root sprout and quickly take over an area because deer won't browse on it.Second,it's worthless as browse.Third,the chance of it ever maturing to the height where it will drop mast is slim to none these days because of the beech blight.Beech has taken over many areas around here and I feel it's responsible for making the habitat worthless in many places.I hate beech and I get a sickening feeling every time I see it taking over.

[dougell]

Jan 6, 2015 9:37:11 GMT -5 Dutch said:

Hinge cutting is where you cut most of the way thru a tree, but leave the bark attached. The tree falls, bark still attached, and the tree sorta grows horizontal. Leafs out and creates a thick mess, with easy food.

Not sure it will work with birch, and not sure you want birch. I would think you'd simply want to kill the birch. That could also be done with hack and squirt, using Roundup.

yep,get rid of the birch.

[bake545]

I've tried hinge cutting and find it to be time consuming and more dangerous. It probably wouldn't be bad on a small scale but I just don't think it's worth it. I'd rather get more acres cut then fine tune a small area.

[Dutch]

iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15487

[Muab Dib]

Thanks Dutch. Yep, we're trying to kill the birch so we'll keep cut'n all the way through.

Muab

[Dutch]

When are you cutting the birch? Didn't they say if it's done in August, the tree dies?

[bowbum]

My efforts were not about selecting survivors or designating one species over another... but more about keeping the native growth and as the link states:
"to create screens, encourage new browse, create bedding areas, block off runways and funnel deer." 

[Muab Dib]

We started about August of last summer. Doing it by hand, a little at a time with hand saws and cutters. We'll pick it up again in the spring and then late summer again.

Muab

[cspot]

I guess I was wrong about beech. I always thought it was desirable species. I have never really seen it take over an area.

[dougell]

Beech is terrible.It root sprouts like grass and the deer don't touch it.It shades out desirable species and in a matter of a few years,it can ruin an area.There's a bad beech blight right now and most of them will never reach maturity anyway.A big beech tree that drops mast is good but they usually drop early and the animals have it cleaned up by the time archery season rolls around.

DCNR actually uses beech as an indicator species when doing browse impact surveys.If the deer are hitting it,they have nothing else to eat.

[redarrow]

I cut beech brush(the suckers from the parent tree), but the larger trees are let grow. The deer, turkeys, bears, squirrel,-just about everything, loves beech nuts and they seem to drop a more reliable crop than the white oaks that make up the majority of my woodlot.
I do a lot of thinning, as they will take over areas when allowed to.

Many local beech shows signs of, or have been killed by, the blight.

[timberdoodle]

Habitat

Forest
Mixed-age groves of aspen, spruce, and birch make ideal habitat for Ruffed Grouse in the northern part of their range. Farther south, grouse inhabit deciduous forests of oaks, hickories, and pines, while in the Pacific Northwest you can find them in riparian habitats. Because young stands of trees are important for both cover and food, grouse populations are higher in areas where logging, burning, and other disturbance create early-successional forests. Populations of Ruffed Grouse are lower in mature forests and in small patches of woods surrounded by agricultural lands.

Back to Top
.

Food

Omnivore
Ruffed Grouse feed almost exclusively on vegetation, including leaves, buds, and fruits of ferns, shrubs, and woody plants. In fall, soft fruits and acorns become an important part of the diet. Ruffed Grouse’s ability to digest foods high in cellulose make it possible for them to survive harsh winter conditions in the northern part of their range, where they feed on buds and twigs of aspen, birch, and willow. In winter, birds in the south forage on leaves and fruit of greenbrier, mountain laurel, Christmas fern, and other green plants. Although insects and other invertebrates make up only a small part of the adult grouse’s diet, chicks 2 to 4 weeks old depend on this protein-rich prey


It's not ALWAYS about deer

[bowbum]

I have a couple of pictures from my hinge-cutting and habitat improvement efforts in stages from 2007 - 2008 - 2009. It takes very little effort to create some terrific security-bedding and browsing zones. The areas I cut were not good timber areas otherwise I would not have cut them. They also were south and southeast facing areas that grew up into brush very quickly.

[dougell]

Very nice job bowbum.

[Dutch]

Jan 6, 2015 20:59:45 GMT -5 timberdoodle said:

Habitat

Forest
Mixed-age groves of aspen, spruce, and birch make ideal habitat for Ruffed Grouse in the northern part of their range. Farther south, grouse inhabit deciduous forests of oaks, hickories, and pines, while in the Pacific Northwest you can find them in riparian habitats. Because young stands of trees are important for both cover and food, grouse populations are higher in areas where logging, burning, and other disturbance create early-successional forests. Populations of Ruffed Grouse are lower in mature forests and in small patches of woods surrounded by agricultural lands.

Back to Top
.

Food

Omnivore
Ruffed Grouse feed almost exclusively on vegetation, including leaves, buds, and fruits of ferns, shrubs, and woody plants. In fall, soft fruits and acorns become an important part of the diet. Ruffed Grouse’s ability to digest foods high in cellulose make it possible for them to survive harsh winter conditions in the northern part of their range, where they feed on buds and twigs of aspen, birch, and willow. In winter, birds in the south forage on leaves and fruit of greenbrier, mountain laurel, Christmas fern, and other green plants. Although insects and other invertebrates make up only a small part of the adult grouse’s diet, chicks 2 to 4 weeks old depend on this protein-rich prey


It's not ALWAYS about deer

In the case of Dibs area, the birch has taken over many of their timber cuts. It creates a monoculture, similar to striped maple upstate, and you end up with a wildlife "desert". Not good for much of anything.

I watched a number of grouse this fall head into the pin cherry and black birch to get buds. Helped me realize diversity is key. Kept flushing those danged grouse out of a small clump of beech brush as well.

But, as Doug said, a lot of it ain't good.