Edge Feathering and bedding areas

[dbltree]

This thread is about the practice of hinge cutting or falling trees in a variety of places to create screens, encourage new browse, create bedding areas, block off runways and funnel deer.

Before embarking on a hinging project it is imperative that you consult with your area forester and discuss what your goals are for your timber. They can help you identify cull species and discuss timber managment however they do not understand hinging nor advocate it so you will also need to do some research and goal setting of your own

Please read the TSI thread for more help in identifying cull trees and understanding timber management.

The following proffesionals are people I frequently consult regarding anything to do with my timber so some advice given is based on their experience and advice having walked my farms with me.

<table style="border-collapse: collapse;" class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr style=""><td style="border: medium none rgb(236, 233, 216); padding: 2.25pt 0.75pt 0.75pt 9pt; background-color: transparent;" valign="top">Aaron Lumley, forestry supervisor for the Iowa DNR aaron.lumley@dnr.iowa.gov (aaron.lumley@dnr.iowa.gov)


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Ray Lehn District Forester ray.lehn@dnr.iowa.gov (ray.lehn@dnr.iowa.gov)
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Paul Tauke, Bureau Chief and State Forester paul.tauke@dnr.iowa.gov (paul.tauke@dnr.iowa.gov)
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Gregg Pattison
USFWS - Iowa Private Lands Office Gregg_Pattison@fws.gov (Gregg_Pattison@fws.gov)

Cost share options


Iowa only....REAP Practices must be approved by IDNR Forester and paid once inspected by the IDNR Forester and bill submitted.

TSI - Timber Stand Improvement 5 acre minimum - allowed $160 an acre X 75% =$120

Tree Planting - 3 acre minimum $600 allowed per acre X 75% = $450

Tree Planting/Weed Tree Removal - $160/$600 x 75% (weed tree removal may be less acres then total planted)

Federal Programs...these two have identical practices but EQIP practices allowed are different by county/state while WHIP is nationwide.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP)
Check by State (http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/EQIP_signup/index.html)

The following is just a brief list of a few of the options available...check this link for the complete list and the payment rates.

2011 Iowa EQIP Practices and Payments (http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/intranet/Directives/FY2011%20Iowa%20EQIP%20Practice%20Descriptions%20a nd%20Payment%20Rates.pdf)

314 Brush Management (weed tree removal)

647 Early Successional Habitat Development/Management (Timber Edge Feathering)

490 Forest Site Preparation

666 Forest Stand Improvement (TSI or Weed Tree removal)

422 Hedgerow Planting

338 Prescribed Burning

391 Riparian Forest Buffer

612 Tree and Shrub Establishment

380 Windbreak or Shelterbelt Establishment

In all cases either the forester or NRCS Tech will need to inspect the finished practice before the operator/landowner can be paid. Usually a simple bill will suffice (10 acres TSI X $160 for example) but in some cases they will want an itemized (seedlings, herbicides, fuel, labor etc) that add up to the total cost share.

The federal programs are not cost share, just a payment per acre so slightly different then the state programs.

Talk with NRCS and your local forester/private land biologist for more details but even they get confused, so look over the links and be informed yourself!

The term "hinge cut" refers to cutting partially through a small tree so that it can be tipped over but yet remain alive. Doing so can create hiding places where deer will bed, feeding places via browse from the downed tree top and shoots sent up from the stump. These downed trees also can be strategically cut to funnel deer past a stand.

This is an example of a hinge cut tree

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding6.jpg

Smaller trees generally are most conducive to hinging and some tree species more then others but attempting to hinge larger trees can be dangerous and it usually best to just tip them over leaving a 2-3 foot stump. Threes should be cut at this height to keep the tree off the ground to provide cover for bedded deer and other wildlife.

I would caution landowners to first contact your local forester, put together a Forest Stewardship program, and initiate a Timber Stand Improvement program first. Once crop trees are identified and marked (these will generally be white and red oak species) then cull trees can be girdled or tipped over via hinging without worry of killing valuable trees.

Bedding

Creating safe secure bedding for whitetails involves hinging a large area of trees (if possible) where deer and more importantly, mature whitetail bucks will bed safety and solitude. This does not involve creating one bed but I whole area where "bigger is better" is applicable.

Hinging trees often leaves an area looking like a tornado went through it and depending on the soil type will eventually grow back thick and wild. Some soils will take longer to respond with new growth in which case adding some fertilizer and pel lime can help encourage browse and cover.

Birds tend to roost in brushy downed tops and in turn drop seeds that sprout new blackberries and grapevines to add to the tanglement and help diversify wildlife cover in general.

These are hickory hinge cuttings on a ridge where re-growth has been slow

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding13.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding4.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding5.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding8.jpg

Deer immediately responded to the cover the tops provided and began to bed in it within days after cutting

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding7.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding2.jpg

The area was full of tracks as deer fed on the downed tops

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding12.jpg

Note that deer prefer to be on a ridge or slope where they can lay behind the hinge trees and see danger from below and escape over the ridge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedding11.jpg

They also love south facing slopes with conifers as a backdrop and hinging trees around those areas is also helpful

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CedarBeddingarea.jpg

So use care to not damage young conifers or even plant them in the tree tops for additional thermal cover and screening

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Cedarrelease.jpg

Most timber tends to look open or park like which tends to be pleasing to the eye of the landowner but it is the opposite to whitetails seeking safe secure bedding.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Edgefeathering7open.jpg

Using care to leave good mast producing trees one can dramatically increase cover by hinging and girdling trees to allow sunlight to the forest floor.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Edgefeathering6.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Edgefeathering5.jpg

Larger trees often break off rather then hinge but they must be tipped over to open up the canopy and by cutting them high on the stump, create more cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Openings.jpg

Observing the natural bedding habits of deer is a great way to learn what they like and how to improve your habitat. Late winter is a great time to go for a walk and notice natural beds and then get down on their level to see why they chose that spot.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/NaturalBed.jpg

These natural fallen tops provide some clues

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Naturalwindfall.jpg

Deer lay behind them and are able to see approaching danger yet use them as cover should the need to flee arise

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/NaturalHiding.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/NaturalBeddingSpot.jpg

Every landowner may have different species to work with, but for me it is often shagbark hickories that have little to offer for whitetail habitat

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hickorytrees.jpg

Tipping them over helps create bedding and browse and allows shade intolerant oak seedlings to emerge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingedtoplant.jpg

Browse
Many landowners spend an inordinate amount of time on foodplots while ignoring the fact that whitetails are browsers and must have natural browse available at all times. Hinging is a a great way to provide browse and bedding at the same time.

Browse comes in two forms...first from the hinged tree itself and secondly from the new shoots and forage that springs up once sunlight is allowed in. Blackberries are a preferred source of browse and they almost immediately spring up when sunlight reaches the soil.

These are pictures of hinge cuttings that are 4 years old and have grown up to blackberries and other new growth in a low area

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/3yrregrowth.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/AffectsonTrailUse.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blackberrygrowth-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blackberries.jpg

In summer months, those areas look like this!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/BlackberryGrowth.jpg

Note the shoots sprouting from these stumps while the tree itself also remains alive

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0197.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF2.jpg

Thick cover and browse summer

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatherRegrowth.jpg

and winter

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF1.jpg

The tender sprouts that shoot up from cut stumps provide a source of food and thick cover

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Lastyearscuts.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Jungle.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Locust.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/S5000833.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/S5000832.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/S5000834.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/S5000836.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/S5000835.jpg

Some species such as this honey locust tend to die when hinged but the thorny mass does provide cover

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/HingeCutLocust.jpg

Others such as this shingle oak are more inclined to remain alive and though not a valuable food source do provide dense bedding cover, as the leaves tend to remain on all winter.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/HingeCutShingleOak.jpg

The following is a list of deer browse in order of importance or preference from this link:

Winter Deer Foods (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7195.html)

Preferred or Best Liked

Cedar, white or arborvitae Yew Apple
Sassafras Mountain maple Maples*
Wintergreen Witch hobble Flowering dogwood
Alternate leaved dogwood Basswood Staghorn sumac

Second Choice

Elderberry Red berried elder Mountain ash
Highbush cranberry Highbush blueberry Willow*
Silky dogwood Red osier dogwood Honeysuckle
Nannyberry Cucumber tree Hemlock
Wild raisin Arbutus

Readily Eaten

White ash Sugar maple Oaks*
Black birch Yellow birch Hickory
American chestnut Black cherry Witch hazel
Spicebush Choke cherry Elm
Black walnut Shadbush, Winterberry Lowbush blueberry
Butternut Black ash Hazelnut
Wild grape Bush honeysuckle Leatherwood

Starvation or Poor Food

Scotch pine** Pitch pine** White pine**
Red pine** Beech Aspen or poplar
Mountain laurel** Rhododendron** Gray birch
Paper birch Musclewood (Blue beech) Ironwood (Hop hornbeam)
Spruces Alder Black locust
Grey-stemmed dogwood Red cedar Balsam**
Raspberry and blackberry Sweet fern Pin cherry
Sheep laurel Tamarack Gooseberry (current)*
Buckthorn Hawthorn

*There is considerable difference in palatability and preference of the different species of this genus.

**This species is often browsed heavily enough to appear to be second choice food in areas where winter food is inadequate.

More links to favored deer browse

MO Deer Browse (http://www.mdc.mo.gov/landown/wild/deermgmt/deer/)

Cutting Browse for Deer Feeding (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7205.html)

Openings allow all kinds of new lush thick growth to come up such as this elderberry bush

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/ElderberryBush.jpg

Plants like this are often referred to as soft mast

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Elderberries.jpg

and creating openings creates a whole new world of cover and feed

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatherRegrowth.jpg

Edge feathering is often used to provide screening, browse and funneling affects and is simply a matter of hinging or falling non-mast producing trees along a forest edge. This creates excellent small game cover as well and is a favored method of enhancing quail habitat.

Personally I use it to help block off multiple runways entering a field and to create screening at the same time.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly5.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly1.jpg

I often fall the trees into the field and then swing them around to create a blocking effect and create a giant brush pile of cover and browse.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly6.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly7.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly8.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EdgeFeatheringJuly9.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EFmess.jpg

Edge feathering often brings up the subject of scrapes and I always leave a small tree with overhanging licking branch at the edge of any runways I do not block off. I do not hunt scrapes because I hunt mature animals that rarely use scrapes in daylight hours but these spots are excellent trail cam sites.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Buck5-8.jpg

There is nothing more frustrating then seeing deer traveling multiple runways and tipping over trees along the edge is a great way to funnel them through a couple main field entrances.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC12177.jpg

Deer will also follow these thick edges feeding on the succulent browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC12178.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC12179.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC12181.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC12182.jpg

All of this also serves as a screen along the timbers edge to allow for daylight approach to a stand and provides a sense of security for bedded deer. These edges are generally to thick for bedding so no worries about deer bedding to close.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC12185.jpg

Bottlenecks

Bottlenecks and funnels are essential to consistently harvesting mature whitetails, especially with a bow. Most hunters seek out natural funnels for stand sites to increase the odds of success and landowners have the luxury of enhancing or creating bottlenecks using hinge cut trees.

As with bedding, observation is the key and this is usually accomplished while hunting key spots and observing natural travel not just by deer but mature bucks. Trail cams can help narrow down natural travel routes, which are often different for does and fawns and mature bucks.

Archers need to keep deer moving within 30 yards or less and sometimes that can be a difficult proposition during the rut when mature animals tend to cut "cross lots" in search of a hot doe.

Hinging trees parallel to natural runways and then crossways not unlike the vanes of a feather can help keep deer traveling by your stand.

Usually it amounts to making an impenetrable mess!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC13412.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC13413.jpg

In the woods

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC13414.jpg

or along the edge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC13415.jpg

but doing so will dramatically increase traffic down specific runways

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/SDC13410.jpg

The downed tops create a natural blocking or funneling effect

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%
20Cutting/Tops.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/TSI1-2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/TSI2.jpg

and while does may step into it to feed on the new browse traveling bucks will avoid wasting their time trying to get thru it

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/TSI2.jpg

Extra runways can easily be blocked

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/BlockRunway7.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/BlockRunway6.jpg

and deer will quickly develop new travel habits

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/BlockRunway5.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/BlockRunway4.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/BlockRunway3.jpg

Often it does not take much to discourage deer from using a "short cut" and keeping them headed out a main runway

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blockinrunway.jpg

Funneling deer allows me to keep better tabs on mature deer using my property by using trail cams at strategic funnel sites.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/DSC00663.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/DSC08394.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Dec28buck.jpg

Of all the habitat improvements a landowner can make, hinging cull trees is perhaps the single most effective improvement. It requires virtually no expense other then a chainsaw and some effort on a late winters day.
Late winter and early spring are usually the most effective time to work on hinging when sap is rising. If you have invasive trees such as locusts add some Tordon RTU to the stump to keep it from coming back. Others such as maples however usually provide browse and cover and should be left alive.

In areas that have few oak trees I hand plant them each spring into the downed tops. It is important NOT to hinge your entire property in one season, so it in portions so that one has different stages of new browse coming on over a period of years.

Eventually one can start over in the fist cutover area tipping the trees over once again.

As I mentioned in the beginning, always start by walking your property with your forester to learn to identify good mast trees. Cost share for TSI is usually available through a variety of programs and your NRCS office can be helpful in that area.

TSI is NOT hinge cutting, it is culling competitive trees around crop trees however in many cases the trees can be culled via hinging and two birds killed with one stone.

Get started on improving your whitetail bedding and browse just by firing up the chainsaw! ;)

[dbltree]

Angle of hinge cuts

I angle the cut to help tip the tree and encourage bark to "peel" allowing the tree to stay alive after being tipped over.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0356.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0446.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0445.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0440.jpg

Larger trees are more likely to break off and can be dangerous because of the weight and size so often I cut them nearly thru and allow the wind to topple them.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0439.jpg

Interplanting mast trees in hinge cuts

If the area you hinge cut is lacking in mast trees such as oaks and chestnuts, hand planting seedlings in the downed tops is a great way to get then started.

The tops help protect the seedlings from traveling bucks and foraging deer.
These are Swamp White Oaks planted last spring into hinge tree tops, marked with flags and sprayed with an Oust/Surflan mix.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/SwampWhiteOak3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/SwampWhiteOak2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/SwampWhiteOak1.jpg

You can see the flagged trees in the downed tanglement of hinged trees

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0411.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0413.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0405.jpg

Big Timber

Some landowners are going to encounter different challenges with large acreages of big timber that often looks like this:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0394.jpg

You can see nearly a 1/4 mile through timber like this and with the exception of mast semi mature stands of timber are like a "desert" for wildlife offering almost nothing in the way of browse and beding cover.

As mentioned at the beginning of this thread every landowners should start with a walk with their forester to create a Forest Stewardship program and then Timber Stand Improvement to cull competing trees away from crop trees. Your forester and can help you mark crop trees so that none are killed because of misidentification and the best tress saved for mast production.

I urge you to read through the threads on doing TSI before starting hinge cutting: Timber Stand Improvement (http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=428&start=0)

Landowners will need to know what to do when they encounter stands of white oaks such as this one, which to kill and to leave.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0393.jpg

You need to be able to identify white and red oaks and kill competing cull trees such as these shagbark hickories near several oaks.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0396.jpg

Perhaps your stand is ready to be logged which can rocket your habitat forward by removing some crop trees and opening up canopy while leaving giant tops behind for cover.

In time logged areas will begin to re-grow due to sunlight and nutrients becoming available where once giant trees stood.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0395.jpg

Soon the re-growth becomes a jungle of whitetail browse and bedding cover

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0397.jpg

Shade tolerant trees such as hickory, maple, ironwood and other such trees are of no use to whitetails unles they are utilized for browse and cover. It takes only a few "released" oaks per acre to provide a tremendous amount of high quality mast to hold whitetails and you forester can help recomend the proper rate for your land.

In my case 50 crop trees per acre was the maximum rate and in some areas is much less.

In the background here you can see a 250 year old Savanna White Oak that has low timber value due to it's sprawling low limbs but it produces a tremdous amount of mast and a parent tree to produce new oak seedlings

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0443.jpg

Hinge cutting low value shingle oak and hickory trees around it lowers competition, allows whitetails to feed and bed nearby in relative safety and new oak seedlings can survive among the downed trees.

Understanding Deer Beds

There is often "much to do" about creating beds for whitetails but one can learn a great deal about a whitetails habitats by simply going for a walk and observing their natural beds in late winter.

Looking over the terrain and getting down on their level helps one understand what and why they choose certain bedding spots. These areas may be slightly different in late winter then summer because sunlight on south facing slopes will be favored while cool shaded areas preferred on hot summer days.

Notice the wind blown tops in this stand of white pines as I stand at the bottom of a ridge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0374.jpg

It's a sure bet I will find a lone bed against one of these tops

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0375.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0376.jpg

Note the downed top behind the bed

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0377.jpg

and the ability of the deer to see danger coming from a long ways off looking down the slope

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0377.jpg

I literally laid on the ground to get a view from a bedded deers point of view

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0381.jpg

This slope while semi open is filled with morning sun, welcome relief from bitter cold winter weather yet provides protection. The downed top is the backdrop that allows the deer to blend in and a means of quickly putting cover between him and danger within seconds of being approached.
Hinged trees need not always create a "jungle" because even a few scattered along a ridge will encourage deer to bed there.

Blocking

When we create funnels or do edge feathering we are in essence 'blocking" deer movement or diverting runways from their previous helter skelter pathways to one or two main runs.

In small natural funnel areas blocking can be done in the interior of the wooded area but when dealing with large timbered areas, it's often more feasbable to use the edge feathering approach. In cases where the landowner is hunting the timbers edge then extrior blocking can help funnel deer and lower frustrating movement down little used pathways 50-60 yards away.

The term "edge feathering" came about as a means of improving quail habitat and then I just adapted that concept as a means of improving edge browse and then trail blocking.

These are some pictures looking out towards a field where I di edge feathering along the edge and more hinge cutting on the interior to create a blocking effect, improve browse, lower competition from low quality cull trees and re-establish oak seedlings through hand planting.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0414.jpg

The whole area looks like a tornado when thru it! :shock: :D

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0413.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0412.jpg

and deer skirt the edge of this mess until they reach the main runway leading to the field

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0411.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0415.jpg

If you leave even the slighest small opening...they will use it, as I noticed here

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0421.jpg

I stuffed a few thorny locust branches into the hole and I have a few cull trees left to tip over such as this shingle oak

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0418.jpg

This maple...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0417.jpg

While using care not to kill trees such as the burr oak in the center here

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0416.jpg

This is an example of "interior blocking" to create a funnling affect in a natural travel corridor roughly a 80-100 yards wide.

Deer have several fence crossings along this stretch...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0438.jpg

which meant that it was impossible to cover them all with one stand and deer could easily get down wind of me. I set up over the most used natural runway following a small ravine in natural cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0433.jpg

and then hinged trees along that trail to encourage them to use it. I then "blocked" runways parallel with the fence to funnel deer towards the natural runway

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0436.jpg

This mess is not meant to be a bedding area but simply to create a blocking effect

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0435.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0437.jpg

In the first post I covered the value of the browse that hinging trees creates because many landowners get caught up in the "food plot" frenzy and completely overlook the fact that deer are browsers, creatures of the "edge"...the place where forest meets field.

They are also adaptable however and are quick to take advantage of other high quality food sources and while doing so are highly visable creating the illusion that they do not need or require browse. Deer however must have browse and the obersvant hunter will notice deer returning to the timber at daylight will almost always stop to feed on blackberry leaves or tender buds and twigs of small trees and brush.

Don't overlook the value of browse that hinging trees creates nor the need whitetails have for it.

Every hinged tree will send up new sprouts from the stump and new growth upwards from the downed trunk

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0402.jpg

Note the sprouts here:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0422.jpg

and the growth from the body of the tree, all within easy reach of browsing deer

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0423.jpg

while at the same time being utilized to create small game habitat and trail blocking along a field edge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0424.jpg

These areas are nearly 4 years old and thick with blackberry brambles and new growth

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0401.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0399.jpg

Compared to this open area I have yet to do

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG0400.jpg

Hinge cutting is just another tool in our overall habitat program and only part of our Timber Stand Improvment projects. Stands of screening Native Warm Season Grass will help protect deer and enhance their safety and security and give mature bucks areas where they can bed in solitiude.
Releasing mast producing trees and planting early producing hybrid oaks will insure deer don't need to travel for natural feed. Planting a combination of crops that provide year around food sources will help round out your habitat program.

Consider planting fenced (protected) fruit trees for soft mast and small conifer plantings in your hinge cut areas depending on your habitat needs. Diversity is very important in holding whitetails on your property and improving it for wildlife of all kinds.

This thread is only one of many here on Iowawhitetail so I urge you to look through the others and ask questions that in turn will help others with the same concerns... ;)

[FarmlandQDM]

Great time of year to work on edge feathering, TSI and creating openings to encourage browse and new bedding areas.



Great bunch of photos Paul ... I also like to fall the "junk " trees and leave the cedar to grow up between them.

It is a great time of the year for TSI but I would also suggest holding off on edge feathering if your objective is quail habitat and you have an established stand of cool season grass.

It is very important to kill off any cool-season grass with herbicide before you edge feather. Edge feathering for quail is much more effective if you have bare ground, a few weeds, or clumps of native grass under the edge feathered area. A thick mat of sod grass under an edge feathering will be impossible for young quail to negotiate and difficult for adult quail to run through. The benefit of edge feathering for quail is providing overhead cover that they can survive the night in and quickly escape through if needed. Dropping trees on established cool-season grass that has not been killed with herbicide first will only provide marginal quail habitat.

I agree it is a great time of the year for TSI but, unless you have sprayed the cool-season grasses last fall along your timber edge, I would hold off on edge feathering and wait for spring green-up and an opportunity to kill the grass ... if your timber edge is free of cool-season grass, I would grab the saw and go have fun ... :)


Is it German Millet you plant after you EF?




Yes, I broadcast alot of German Millet in May, June and July for quail, deer eat some if it too but it provides great habitat and food for quail. I broadcast it after a burn, where I have applied Round-Up along field edges, and almost anywhere I have done edge feathering. It grows with minumal sight prep, a shot of herbicide or prescribed fire is usually all the disturbance that is needed and then throw it on the ground and watch it grow. It should be broadcasted the day of your burn after a prescribed fire so it gets started before any competition. Millet does like warmer soil temps though so don't plant it before May and it needs about 60 days to mature before any frost.


would it not be equally acceptable to edge feather now and spray the adjacent areas in late March, early April to kill the brome off?



The only problem with spraying after the trees are down is being able to get good contact with the grass. If you have made good cover with your edge feathering, you will not be able to spray all of the grass and likely have pockets that will survive.

I often fall spray areas I intend to edge feather this time of the year.

Like I said before, if you are edge feathering where there is no sod, the spray is not an issue.

[dbltree]

I started work on creating a new opening along a ridge for new bedding/browse area.

The shagbarks are pretty easy to identify:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hickorytrees.jpg

After it looks like "nuclear or tornado" logging as Ghost and Farmland call it /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Openings.jpg

The trees that fall into the field I'll push around with the tractor and loader.

Makes cover for small game and can help with making funnels or diverting deer away from or to ones stand or blind areas.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tippinover.jpg

Again, I want to emphasise that this is not TSI but just creating openings by tipping over trees of poor timber or mast value.

I would advise that if your not able to easily identify your timber species that you walk it with your district forester first.

It would be a shame to kill good red or white oaks for bedding areas.

Iowa DNR Districts and District Foresters (http://www.iowadnr.com/forestry/district.html)

Private Lands Management Assistance (http://www.iowadnr.com/forestry/private.html)

You can learn to identify oaks thru this ISUE link:

The Oaks (http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pages/tree/oak-grp.html)

ISUE links (http://www.ag.iastate.edu/departments/forestry/ext/ext.html)

Creating cover, feed and bedding areas will certainly have a positive influence in holding deer on your property...but have a plan and some knowledge before you crank up the saw!

[Ghost]

Are hickorys considered trash trees? I must have missed this one. Aren't hickory nuts utilized by wildlife? I know they are great trees for fire wood.



Large hickories, depending on trunk shape and form may be considered a crop tree for lumber value. Although, it would not take preference in a timber over Oak or Walnut as far as timber value.

As far as wildlife value, if you like squirrels chewing up your sheds, then by all means save your Hickory.

Seriously, deer and turkeys rarely, if ever utilize Hickory nuts as a food source and are of little wildlife value.

There greatest wildlife value is when they are hinged and on the ground for cover. :)

[dbltree]

It's getting that time of year again...time to start thinking about edge feathering and creating openings for bedding areas.

Either with a dozer or "poormans" machinery (AKA chainsaw) ;)

This is some of last years work so I need to take some new pics and see what it looks like after a "growing season"

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Openings.jpg

Bedding/cover areas and feeding areas are two of the most important factors in a deers life which in turn makes them priorty to us as landowners managing for whitetails.

In southern Iowa pastures that over time have been taken over by red cedar, locust and MFR become deer cover meccas. In cases where farmers no longer graze cattle in the pastures they quickly become bedding areas "supreme".

That's the case with much of my own ground, very little has valuable timber so I can "open up" areas to allow it to thicken even more without hesitation.

If you have more mature open understory timber however, creating openings can be a difficult decision. Often these areas do not hold deer as it is simply to open and while deer wander thru timber feeding on mast, they may be difficult to hunt or pattern.

We often discuss TSI (Timber Stand Improvement) which is meant to enhance valuable timber by killing competition around the best specimens. Contact your local IDNR forestor for help in this area but TSI does little IMO to create the type of "hell hole" bedding areas that will hold deer let alone mature bucks.

Deer like brush...thick escape cover that they can feel comfortable bedding in and they prefer it in large enough areas that they can feel safe in. I find that a 1-2 acre thick hillside is one which will draw deer like a magnet. They love to be able to "see" danger from a vantage point but have thick cover to bed and use as an escape avenue. 40 acres they like even better!

If you have these type of areas already you may need only to "enhance" them by tipping over trees that begin to cause the area under them to "open up". A little work every few years with a chainsaw perhaps is all that will be needed.

If you have a large stand of mature timber you have a bit more of a challenge. A bull dozer can tip over an area in short order but they can be pricey. Doing the work by hand can be a daunting task but sometimes is the only option.

Start by deciding where your bedding area should be in relation to where there is feed, travel corridors etc. Mature bucks will be checking these bedding areas during the rut...don't put your bedding area where they need only check it from the neighbors property...

I would reccomend marking the area with flagging tape or spray paint and then begin tipping trees or 1/2 cutting in a manner that is safe. Looking at some of my pictures you can see that it would be easy to get "trapped"! Trees twist and turn as they fall and one could be easily hurt or worse...

If trees are to big to cut safely, girdle them with two saw cuts at least several inches deep around the circumference of the tree. As soon as these trees no longer shade out understory..."stuff" will begin to grow and fill in.



An alternative to felling trees is deep girdling. Deep girdling is performed by using a chainsaw to make 2 parallel cuts 1" or more deep all the way around the tree at 3-4 feet height. Girdling severs the water and nutrient conducting tissue and kills the top of the trees, although the effects of girdling may be immediate or may take several years depending on the species. Some species such as red maple are very difficult to kill by girdling alone. Trees girdled correctly rot slowly on the stump providing habitat benefits for wildlife which use dead snags. Girdled trees have a high risk of snapping off at the girdled point - so girdling should be avoided near hazards or along high traffic trails.





You can further enhance these spots by spreading fertilizer to encourage blackberries and other growth. In the right areas planting red cedars can make for an excellent long term bedding area.

These are just some of my own thoughts...if you have created bedding areas or are interested in doing so...please add to this thread. Pictures are always helpful as well. :)


Timber Stand Improvement (http://www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/timber.asp)

Girdling (http://ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0045.html)

Improving Hradwood Timber Stands (http://forestry.msu.edu/testmsaf/PDF/E1578_ImprHdwd.PDF)

Crop Tree Release (http://srdc.msstate.edu/02value/production/wood/tn/croptreerelease.pdf)

[dbltree]

Originally Posted By: iowaqdm
dbltree, I've been thinking about doing this to a couple areas on my place. I was thinking about doing a timber burn in March after shed hunting and then cutting down some of the junk trees. I was thinking that the timber burn may help to thicken up the areas faster by getting rid of the ground cover. I am also planning on fertilizing the areas. What would you recommend for fertilizer? Have you ever burned prior to doing the cutting?




I think burning first would be an excellent idea! It should encourage things like blackberries for natural forage.

I use triple 19 fertilizer because nitrogen really makes it lush...use it later in the spring though just as things are greening up (abot the time you would fertilize your lawn)

I have burned early and it did bring on a flush of undergrowth.

Prescribed Fire (http://www.iowawhitetail.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=193006#Post193006)

Timber Stand Improvement (http://www.iowawhitetail.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=184265&fpart=1)

We did a 2 acre feathering on a hillside about 2 years ago. Its a bedding magnet and I killed my buck heading out of it this year


That pretty much says it all right there! ;)

[dbltree]

I have a small piece (1.5 acre) woodlot that is pretty much open (this is common where I'm from and deer actually use these small woodlots). There are a few oaks, but mostly cherry, ash and maple and lots of trash trees (cottonwood and dead standing elm). I would love to somehow thicken up 1/4 acre- 1/2 acre for a bedding area. The area that surrounds the woodlot is surrounded by more open small woodlots.
I'm thinking if I create a thick spot, it might attract deer in the area and hold does for the rut. Would it be better to hinge cut or cut down completely? What trees would you take out? Keep in mind that I don't want to cut everything because it's my only spot to hunt (behind my house). I guess what I'm asking is if you HAD to do something with this spot, what would be your plan of attack? Thanks for listening guys!
BC




These questions are perhaps better off in this thread since TSI is not really about creating bedding areas but about managing for marketable timber.

Each landowner has to decide what their own goals are and which areas/trees to kill to bring enough sunlight in and open up the area for thick new growth.

My thoughts are...if your going to cut bigger trees they are most likely going to "snap" so hinge cutting might not be feasible. The tops from fallen trees however create "brushpiles" which birds roost in and deposit seeds. It's not long and blackberries and other shrubby growth pops up just by giving it light.

If you have maple in the area...that stuff can spread pretty easy so you may have a problem unless you burn at the right times.

I just look at it this way...if it's not producing acorns...it's fair game. That is my own personal thoughts however and I don't just start "whacking" trees down helter skelter. I pick an area that is conducive to good bedding and then I start tipping trees over.
A look back at some of the pics shows a big difference between hinge cutting for bedding and Timber Stand Improvement via girdling. It's not a right or wrong thing...just two very different management options.

In your case I would pick and area with the least valuable trees, mark it out and open it up. think about where deer will travel to and from it and how can you hunt those runways.
Remember you can "create" runways or travel areas as you cut. I fall trees across some runways and open one or two main ones that will be hunt-able.

I hinge cut everything I can but often they break off as they fall, but I hope for some live trees at least for awhile.

Hopefully that answers a few of your questions. :)

[dbltree]

Thanks dbltree! You're always kind enough to take a few minutes and go into detail, and I appreciate it. I'm guessing the only trees really good for hinge cutting are the smaller diameter trees (6" diameter and smaller?). I see in your edge feathering it looks like you just made a straight cut halfway through the tree. Did you just let the wind do the work from that point on or did you 'help' it fall somehow? Would it be better to make 45 degree cut to keep it from falling where you don't want to? Not sure if you can control the fall like you could with a normal felling of a tree. has anyone put before/after pics of their hinge cutting on here? just curious.

Junk trees are definitely 'getting the ax' this winter. It is going to be tough for me to cut the maples and hickory- I ablsoultely love these trees in the fall. For some reason, a big old shagbark is one of my favorites. Thanks again




I not an expert sawyer so that advice might be better left to someone who knows what they are talking about:)

I try to cut them on an angle and I do try to use the wind if possible but...it's also dangerous! I've been pinned, had the wind knocked out of me, my brains "rattled" (no wise cracks please... ) so do be careful!

Cutting to fall a tree is one thing but attempting to hinge it is a little trickier...at least it seems so for me.

The edge feathering I used the tractor and loader to push them where I want them but in an opening I just hope they fall somewhere other then...on me!

[dbltree]

Funny there would be a thread about Killing Locust Trees (http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=253539#Post253539) and I just happen to be working on that very thing... :)

No such thing as eradicating locust trees around these parts...just a matter of trying to keep them under control so my son and I went to work on cleaning some out of an old pasture so it can be converted to prairie grass.

Not easily accessable so we loaded up the sled with supplies:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/SupplySled.jpg

Don't forget tools to work on your chainsaw and plenty of water and snacks (the saw isn't the only thing that needs fuel! ;) )

Locust trees are miserable things to cut...nothing but thorns top to bottom:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/LocustTree.jpg

Some are worse then others...if that's possible.. http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/LocustMess.jpg

Just a little personal testimony...last summer when my wife was in the hospital I sat there and promised God all kinds of things if he would just make her whole again...not the least of which was to give up cussin and drinking... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif

All I can say is that God invented locust trees to "test" my promise....cause when one of those things flips around and lands on your back...well...let's just say I gritted my teeth and kept my promise...

The only thing worse then a locust tree...is one that has a nasty ole MFR growing around it...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/NastyMess.jpg

Some were smaller:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/KillinLocust.jpg

Some were bigger:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bigone.jpg

but all had nasty thorns top to bottom and branches all the way to the ground that make it nearly impossible to reach into without inflicting pain on ones self...

Those thorns are like 16 penny nails I swear!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/KillerThorns.jpg

Draggin' em off wasn't easy either so I had to use "child labor" ;) One of the few times Jess said "Dad...I really need to get back and work on my Algebra"...

Hyaa mule!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/HyaaMule.jpg

Pretty much wore out a brand new saw blade by then end of the day but the "little green saw" worked just fine:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/CheapoChainsaw.jpg

The only thing worse then one locust tree is...a whole bunch growing together...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/LocustBrush-1.jpg

Just a few thoughts...

Wear a hard hat and safety glasses because no matter how careful you are...you ARE going to get whacked in the back of the head with a mess of thorns (no such thing as one thorn... )

Those trees drop and flip and while I got good at doing the "twist and roll"...there is no escaping some "bloodshed" even with the thickest leather.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bloodbath.jpg

One of those in your eye wouldn't be so very funny...

Keeping them cut down with a brush cutter and/or herbicides once cleared will keep us from having to go thru the hassle in the future but it is a never ending task.

Deer love locust pods so the seed is going to end up wherever they travel, just no way around it. Cut em, spray em, cuss em all you want...they will just keep sprouting up in places we don't want them.

The do make great "bunny" brush piles and also work well to block off runways when your doing edge feathering or creating openings for bedding areas.

[bjkpharmd]

Paul- You wear me out just reading.

[petherss]

Thanks for the pics Dbltree. Hey, did you take any 'after' pics of the area on the ridge that you openened up? I think there were some hickories in the picture. Just curious to see what kind of growth you ended up getting in one year. I'm in the process of opening up my woodlot. I think it will do wonders, but I have to admit it makes me a bit nervous thinking I am doing irreversible damage. I already have little ash and hickory in the understory though. Again, thanks for the pics. I'll try to post some before/after pics when I'm done.

BC

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hey, did you take any 'after' pics of the area on the ridge that you openened up? </div></div>

Does a wild bear go in the woods? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

I just took up a bunch of pics the other day so I'll get them posted when I have time. It's amazing how much the deer are using that area to bed only one year later! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

[Windwalker]

Hmmm child labor laws ? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif Wow those are just nasty. If you have a nice grassy area deer bed you aloways have them. Seems the thorns have a waxy coating . It must contain some sort if toxic chem. They just cause a nasty redness. Ever been pinned to the ground yet /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif ??? Must be a better man than me ,I aloways say a word or two cutting them /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hey, did you take any 'after' pics of the area on the ridge that you openened up? I think there were some hickories in the picture. Just curious to see what kind of growth you ended up getting in one year </div></div>

Here are pics of the hickory ridge I opened up a year later and they are bedding in it like crazy and feeding on the blackberries etc popping up now.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding1.jpg

The tops/trees on the ridge give them a place to hide behind yet see down the ridge.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding2.jpg

Blackberries...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding3.jpg

Thick "mess"...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding4.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding5.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding6.jpg

Notice this bed location...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding7.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding8.jpg

The area is all tracked up from feeding and bedding deer and this area will only thicken and improve over the next few years.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding9.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding10.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding11.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding12.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding13.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Bedding14.jpg

BTW...no "child labor" was used in the establishment of this bedding area...only a tired Old Man... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Perhaps some "muttering" now and then to Windwalker... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

[petherss]

Dbltree- great pics, that area is looking great. In the one picture, you say 'notice the location of the bed'. I'm guessing it has something to do with being in front of the two vertical stumps from the hinge cuts, as well as being elevated to be able to see? I am thinking about creating this type of situation with trees that I tried to hinge cut but the trees snapped off. I am going to prop them up on top of the stump to make a vertical and somewhat horizontal barrier they can lay next to to feel somewhat 'hidden'. What do you think?

Also, did you end up hinging any of your hickory? Did they grow ok? I have some smaller hickory (1"-4"). Also, I haven't had much luck with hinging ash over 3" or so. I'm going to try the safety/tie down strap idea to hold the bark on while hinging. I'll let ya know how it works. Thanks again!

BC

[hayseed]

This is a great thread; very informative.
My project this winter is to wage war on sycamore trees in my hunting areas. Worthless tree for a wildlife manager, if you ask me. (Then again, I ain't that smart.)
The area I hunt has been growing up in the last 25 years with the canopy limiting the undergrowth in the last few years. Resulting in fewer deer sightings and usage due to the lack of browse and cover. The last 3-4 years it has been even more noticeable. I have been hitting all the sycamores I can as well as a lot of cedars. I love the cedars but a lot are clumped together with stunted growth. I have been hitting those too. Still leaving a lot for bedding cover but cutting the less desireable ones to thicken the bedding areas and allow browse to grow.
I too, have been trying to hinge cut and have also found that a lot of the trees just snap. Its amazing how quickly the deer come back and start using these areas for bedding cover.

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BUCKCRACK</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Dbltree- great pics, that area is looking great. In the one picture, you say 'notice the location of the bed'. I'm guessing it has something to do with being in front of the two vertical stumps from the hinge cuts, as well as being elevated to be able to see? I am thinking about creating this type of situation with trees that I tried to hinge cut but the trees snapped off. I am going to prop them up on top of the stump to make a vertical and somewhat horizontal barrier they can lay next to to feel somewhat 'hidden'. What do you think?

Also, did you end up hinging any of your hickory? Did they grow ok? I have some smaller hickory (1"-4"). Also, I haven't had much luck with hinging ash over 3" or so. I'm going to try the safety/tie down strap idea to hold the bark on while hinging. I'll let ya know how it works. Thanks again!

BC </div></div>

I wanted everyone to notice how deer use the tops to bed behind while being able to see down the ridge. Even though it's not thick yet, they take advantage of it right away. Like being able to see thru the brushy tops while using it for "camo"...and dinner is right beside them!

Most of the feeding is on browse that comes up by allowing sunlight in.

The bigger trees are difficult to "hinge" because they tend to break off. I don't lose any sleep over it...if they stay hinged...great, if not, no biggie (that's just me...)

Some trees send up sprouts better then others and hickories don't seem to one that does. Smaller trees can be hinged much easier for sure. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

[Bighole]

Looks awesome Paul!!

[dbltree]

Here are some pics of a "bedding area" I opened up two years ago by hinging and compeletly opening up an area.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/S5000830.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/S5000833.jpg

I opened it up pretty good in perhaps about an acre of lowland

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/S5000832.jpg

Makes some good bedding..

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/S5000835.jpg

and browsing on the new shoots sprouting off the cut stumps

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/S5000834.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/S5000836.jpg

I also managed to block off multiple runways and create a funnel runway that they use almost exclusively now. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/S5000831.jpg

Notice the blackberry browse that has taken advantage of the sunlight... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

[Casper16k]

Looks great. Thanks for all of the pics and info.

[dbltree]

Summertime now and the results of edgefeathering some areas the past few years are starting to show with plenty of browse, berries and cover for small wildlife as well.

Lots of blackberries...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/BlackberryGrowth.jpg

I didn't eat any... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Blackberries-1.jpg

You can see the mass of undergrowth that flourished when the trees were toppled.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/EdgeFeatherRegrowth.jpg

Multifora Rose are dying but being quickly replaced by other species such as this blackberry

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/DeadMultiflowerRose.jpg

Elderberry shrubs pop up

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/ElderberryBush.jpg

Holding a plethora of fruits

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Elderberries.jpg

Sumac fills in some spots

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Sumac.jpg

All of these pics show browse, fruit and cover that is available to deer and other wildlife that was not there before. Adult trees that were not mast producing offer nothing to deer.

We are frantically searching for the "ultimate" food plot that surely will produce monster bucks and lure them within range however we would be sadly mistaken if we put to much weight to such thinking.

Deer need natural forage, they need cover and escape areas and the larger and more abundundant those areas the more likely we can hold mature bucks.

Your foodplots will help hold does and hence bucks during the rut but mature bucks don't survive because of some "Mega" Clover or "Monster Brassica" mix. They survive because they have safe bedding and browse areas that keep them alive when the slugs start flying.

Always keep in mind the importance of timbered areas and use a chainsaw and burning as tools to enhance those areas for deer and other wildlife /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

[BOWSTRING]

Does multifora rose serve any good purpose? I got a 15 acre timber that was logged about 3 years ago and it was thick then now there are places that would make a rabbit cringe. I'm wanting to kill it and plant some big bluestem in some areas. I know I'll never get rid of it all but would be nice to keep it down some. I've necer seen a deer bed down in it maybe by it but there are plenty of tree tops they seem to enjoy allot more. Have noticed some blackberries to which I don't mind but they're surounded by multifora rose so not doing much good a bird might be able to get to them. This sound like a good idea?

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does multifora rose serve any good purpose? </div></div>

Sure...if your a rabbit! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

MFR is on it's way out as disease moves in and there are better plants for sure. You can spray it and/or burn it and start replacing it with native grass or native shrubs.

I know much of it is dying at a rapid pace around my area /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

[BOWSTRING]

That stuffs taking over in the timber. No sign of it dying anytime soon. Stuffs probably over 4 feet. Does burning it work good sounds allot cheaper than the spray? Thanks for the info.

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does burning it work good sounds allot cheaper than the spray </div></div>

it might take several years of burning it at the right stage in the spring if you have enough fuel to get to burn well.

Spray will be deadlier and quicker no doubt but you can cover a lot of ground in a short time with fire.

The disease is slowly spreading northward so it hasn't hit every area yet.

[Skully]

Does Sumac have much nutritional value for deer? I have a back field that is over-run with those volunteer trees. They are at a mowable height now but can really sprout if you let them go a couple years. I know they make dense bedding cover but are they worth leaving if they keep trying to take over my CRP acres?

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know they make dense bedding cover but are they worth leaving if they keep trying to take over my CRP acres? </div></div>

No...I would keep them mowed back and out of your CRP. They serve a purpose in their place but that place is not in our CRP fields! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

[dbltree]

I didn't go "crashing" around in the cut over/hinge cut bedding areas but I did slip up to the edge and snap a few pics for a bit of an update.

This one is in low ground and boy has it gotten thick!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering1.jpg

The rich, moist soil and types of trees growing there are conducive to making a thick bedding/browsing area.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering2.jpg

That spot is right adjacent to a feeding area and deer pop put of there like crazy every evening! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

These pics are from the hardwood/shagbark hickory cuttings on a dry ridge. It is slower to re-grow but deer love this spot that used to look like this...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering3.jpg

Now...standing on the "outside looking in" you can see it's looking different..

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering4.jpg

The jumble of tops and trees along with new growth make a jungle that combined with the ridge make an awesome bedding spot!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering5.jpg

The hickories do not get the stump regrowth that some trees do, but the blackberries and other shrubs that come up provide great browse and cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering6.jpg

This picture again shows how open and devoid of food or cover that this ridge had been.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering7open.jpg

This picture, again taken from far back, shows how I cut a series of -V- shaped openings into the timbered ridge. Eventually I will hinge cut the "inverted -V-'s" to have a succession of different aged cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Edgefeathering8.jpg

You can take a hand seeder and spread fertilizer in the new opening when spring comes, just to speed growth and make the new growth even more attractive.

Many people don't know just how attractive blackberries are to deer as they will almost always stop and feed on them after a night of foraging in the food plots.

Then they bed down and spend hours in these bedding areas. As I approached these a large group of deer bounded away. This is the whole idea, create safe secure bedding/browsing areas that will hold our deer at home.

Remember...deer are ruminants and need to forage every 4 hours, so they will prefer to bed where they can browse right in their bedroom as needed.

Long about Feb and March I'll start on a new spot, using caution not to kill good mast producing trees such as oaks. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

[dbltree]

Hunting season is all but over and many landowners will be thinking about improving their property by creating bedding areas and openings that will increase browse.

It's important to really think and plan through what you plan to do and why before firing up the chainsaw.

First, if you hope to create areas where mature bucks might bed, we need to think like the "hunted" rather then the "hunter". /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Suppose you were in a paintball game only...without a gun! Where would you hide? Would you want to be someplace where you could see danger coming? Would you want an escape route?

Remember...your only protection is your survival instincts...your ability to hide and flee!

I won't pretend to know exactly what goes on in mature whitetail bucks mind but based on some common sense principals and years of observation there are a couple things to consider.

1)Sight A buck is generally going to want to see danger approaching which means what? Think in terms of a hill, ridge or slope where he will feel safe in his ability to survey his surroundings for approaching danger.

2) Cover A mature buck is going to want some type of cover and this we can provide in the form of hinge cut trees and their tops. Ever walk into a recently logged woodlot? You'll find lone beds tucked up next to those oak tops overlooking a valley or draw.

The tree top and tree log itself provides cover not only as he lies in his bed but he can keep that top between him and danger should he need to flee. (Imagine paintballs splatting against tree limbs as you haul outta there as your "pursuer" approaches /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif )

3) Safety and Solitude Mature bucks, unlike one and two year olds, seem to prefer solitude, in otherwords they want to stay away from the crowd. Think about this aspect when working on a "buck bed" versus a larger "bedding area" for doe groups.

Think about a buck bed in terms of an individual situation. Think about yourself, one person...hiding from a group of guys with paintball guns. You know that your "survival" depends on yourself and not being distracted by others.

Any noise, movement or smell...you want to know for positive what those mean and a "group" all around you distracts from that.

You don't want to be by a road, a house or any commotion that will distract you from your only job...<span style='font-size: 11pt'>surviving</span>

Using arial pics and our own observations we can find a quiet, safe place on a ridge or slope that has some cull or junk trees on it. Now hinge them 2-4 ft above the ground if possible in a -V- shape or slight curve so to create a shield on the up hill side and a view of the slope away from him.

Trees hinged slightly down the slope that he can see over or thru but that will not impede his escape make it even more attractive.

I have found that the principle is much the same in my switchgrass, bucks bed on a hill where they can see through the switchgrass but yet if I jump him...he's gone in a flash in the thick prairiegrass. Me being the surprised one... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

So you made a spot that a mature buck can't resist...how are going to harvest that buck this fall??? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif

Patience grasshopper...my two fingers are plum wore out... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

[dbltree]

I posted pics in the tree planting thread but I wanted to add a couple here for reference.

If I want to keep from getting shot...I want to be hidden but also be able to see danger. This pic is from ground level under some red cedars

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Groundlevel.jpg

Standing up however, this is my view...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Noview.jpg

So we use this princple when working on both buck and doe bedding areas. They need cover, but cover they can see thru laying down and that will "cover their back" as the flee.

Once we have established bedding areas however...what then? What can we do to better our odds of harvesting a mature buck that might choose the bedding areas we have so cleverly crafted for them. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Notice the hinged trees in this pic...notice that by hinging we left the "log" up off the ground verus laying them down flat.

Would you want to walk thru that mess???

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Openings.jpg

I use that principal to create funnels to make easy pathways that deer will follow and other then to bed, they won't veer from.

A mature buck traveling searching for does or venturing out to check a scrape line isn't interested in feeding...only traveling from point A to point B.

He's not going to waste energy and time so he cuts cross lots, often when things heat up, across open fields. Early on however he stays close to cover before dark or right after daylight slipping back to his bed.

Hard to kill that buck if he can go anywhere!

First obeserve, watch and learn, use TC's to locate sometimes little used runways along with potential stand sites. Then tip trees over in the same manner as for bedding only with no purpose other then to "guide" deer past stand sites.

Several things happen, not only will the "junk" force deer down the easy pathway but new browse will spring up, blackberries will emerge and all of that encourages deer to feed as they move back and forth to night time food sources.

We can make scrape lines along edges leading to plots where bucks will circle looking for does. Funnels leading to an exit from the woodlot or timber can be a great stand site.

Using edgefeathering we can make it difficult for deer to pop into a field just anywhere and also create great browse and small game cover along the field edge.

Deer are no different from us in that respect, we don't walk thru peoples yards, crawl over fences and shrubs and swim through someones pool...

We walk down the sidewalk...so make em a sidewalk so to speak. A safe travel corridor where they can travel quietly and feed as they go.

More then one, and stands with quiet easy access that will not disturb deer coming or going... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

Hinging trees isn't just "making a mess"...think about it from an old bucks perspective. Make him an easy chair with an easy route to the kitchen and "girlfriends".... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

[dbltree]

A friend wonderd why I mentioned earlier that I made cuts into the timber, from the edge inward in -V- shapes.

I do this (cutting in the formation of a saw cut) so as to have a constant succession of bedding/browse growth.

I don't want to cut the whole place down, nor do I want to cut just one spot that will soon mature and no longer be attractive to deer.

So the "shape" perhaps isn't that important except that -V-'s tend to become funnels and help me get deer moving in or out in narrow areas.

What is more important to me is that as I move down a timber/field line over a period of years I'm creating a constant succession of new browse, new openings, new bedding areas, while previous cuts begin to mature and change.

In time I will cut the inverted -V-s let standing when I made the orginal cuts.

This video is of a young buck I filmed while hunting this last fall in an area that I hinge cut and created a funnel runway. Shortly after another larger buck came thru but it was to dark and didn't show up well on video.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/th_Buckvideo.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/?action=view&current=Buckvideo.flv)

You can easily see the "mess" hinging leaves and why it should never be misconstrued as "Timber Stand Improvment"... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Just remember to pic areas that have trees of little or poor timber value before you start your "chainsaw massacre"... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif

[dbltree]

Some pics of how we can create bedding spots and also manipulate runways to funnel deer through certain areas.

This a natural windfall that deer have been using as a screen on a hillside to safely bed and while natural, we can create the same situation.

You can see the deer bed behind this windfall

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/NaturalBed.jpg

A second bed in the same spot

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Naturalwindfall.jpg

I got down in this spot as if I were the deer...hidden but able to see approaching danger...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/NaturalHiding.jpg

Another bed on the outer edge of the windfall

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/NaturalBeddingSpot.jpg

On bottom ground regrowth is faster and it thickens up sooner

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/3yrregrowth.jpg

Deer have to funnel around the fallen trees

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/AffectsonTrailUse.jpg

Blackberries abound in the opened up area

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Blackberrygrowth-1.jpg

More edgefeathering that blocked up runways coming thru that area

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/EdgeFeathering.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Stoparunway.jpg

Lot's of regrowth now on this 3 yr old stump

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Sprouts.jpg

A little time and effor with a chainsaw can do all kinds of great things in your habitat program but I suggest doing Timber Stand Improvment first so that you don't kill any valuable crop trees! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

Here's a great article on cutting to provide deer browse:

Cutting Browse for Deer Feeding (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7205.html)

Below is a list from this link on Winter Deer Foods (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7195.html)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Preferred or Best Liked


Cedar, white or arborvitae Yew Apple

Sassafras Mountain maple Striped maple*

Red maple Witch hobble Flowering dogwood

Alternate leaved dogwood Basswood Staghorn sumac

Wintergreen

Second Choice


Elderberry Red berried elder Mountain ash

Highbush cranberry Highbush blueberry Willow*

Silky dogwood Red osier dogwood Honeysuckle

Nannyberry Cucumber tree Hemlock

Wild raisin Arbutus

Readily Eaten


White ash Sugar maple Oaks*

Black birch Yellow birch Hickory

American chestnut Black cherry Witch hazel

Spicebush Choke cherry Elm

Black walnut Shadbush, Winterberry Lowbush blueberry

Butternut Black ash Hazelnut

Wild grape Bush honeysuckle Leatherwood


Starvation or Poor Food


Scotch pine** Pitch pine** White pine**

Red pine** Beech Aspen or poplar

Mountain laurel** Rhododendron** Gray birch

Paper birch Musclewood (Blue beech) Ironwood (Hop hornbeam)

Spruces Alder Black locust

Grey-stemmed dogwood Red cedar Balsam**

Raspberry and blackberry Sweet fern Pin cherry

Sheep laurel Tamarack Gooseberry (current)*

Buckthorn Hawthorn
</div></div>

[letemgrow]

DT, I have noticed on my place that the deer really love the cedar trees during an ice storm to bed under them. I cut most cedars, but leave the ones where the deer can bed in them and get the south facing winter sun.

On my place at least, I have found far more beds in tops I cut down where they can sun than anywhere else. Out of one shingle oak top on a south facing slope it looked like a covey of quail coming out of there while I was shed hunting in Feburary a couple years ago.

I also noticed while shed hunting the cedars on the north facing slopes in winter made it feel colder since no sun penetrated those areas.

[letemgrow]

Cedars make great windblocks though and dang sure have a place in my habitat management!!!

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have found far more beds in tops I cut down where they can sun than anywhere else. Out of one shingle oak top on a south facing slope it looked like a covey of quail coming out of there while I was shed hunting in Feburary a couple years ago.
</div></div>

I agree, south or east seems to work good for me and red cedars in an "open" sitaution where there is some grass and on a south facing slope works for me in the same manner.

Red cedars can for sure be too thick as in some pics I have posted. In those cases it's not my land so nothing I can do about it.

The nice thing about "tops" or hinged trees is that they get the warmth from sun but still have a hiding spot and escape cover! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

[dbltree]

Here's a few pics of hinge cuts that show a couple trees that have remained alive, sprouting new browse from the stump as well as growth from the original tree.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/HingeCutShingleOak.jpg

You can see how this things can be used to block runways to funnel deer as well as creating browse and bedding cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/HingeCutLocust.jpg

In this pic you can see the outer edges blocking off runways to a field but creating a thick area of cover within.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/HingeCutTrees.jpg

One can see the sprouts on these three yr old stumps in this area I opened up.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/EF1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/EF2.jpg

I always choose areas of "junk" or invasive type trees that have little or no timber or hard mast value.

Honey locust, soft maple, hickories, elms, box elders, ironwood are just a few on my list.

[dbltree]

I fired up the chainsaw to work on a funnel and open up a single runway versus the multiple runways there when I started.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockRunway1.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockRunway2.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockRunway3.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockRunway4.jpg

Here you can see the "mess" on either side and the "open" runway leading right to...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockRunway5.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockRunway6.jpg

This shows the opened runway area

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockRunway7.jpg

All hinge cut to "encourage" deer from traveling certain places and taking easier routes that will be...shall we say beneficial when it comes to filling the freezer...

Lot's of options when we use the chainsaw and put to work on junk trees to change travel corridors...

[letemgrow]

Looks good Paul!!!!

[dbltree]

Some pics of more edgefeathering used in this case to "encourage" deer to use specific runways and increase browse along the field edge.


http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/EdgeFeathering09.jpg

Mostly honey locust and silver maples hinged and then pushed around like a "living fence" along the field edge.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/BlockedRunways.jpg

I also hinged every tree except the bur oaks in the low areas where I will hand plant white swamp oaks in the coming weeks

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Hingedtoplant.jpg

I just keep working on a transisition from maturing "cull" trees that offer nothing in the way of mast or bedding cover, to a situation that will offer bedding now and mast in the future.

Planting the swamp white oaks in the downed trees will help protect them from marauding bucks in the fall and in time replace trees with little or no value with those with high timber value.They will also provide a tremendous benefit to whitetails resulting from mast production in the future.

One can have a huge impact onyour habitat, literally in minutes just by using your chainsaw...carefully and wisely....;)

[letemgrow]

One can have a huge impact onyour habitat, literally in minutes just by using your chainsaw...carefully and wisely....;)


So true, one hour of chainsaw work can provide years of better quality habitat and hunting for lots of wildlife.

[TallTines]

I just got an accepted offer on a farm and can't do anything till I close in mid august but I want to do some things immediately once I do.

Mainly create bedding areas on all south facing slopes, ridge tops and then do edge feathering on other areas. i am going to hinge cut the trees at a 30 degree angle about 3-4 ft high. I am going to be cutting them about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through.

My question is if I do it here in mid august will i get much for regrowth for the next spring on the cut trees?

Obviously most of the growing season will be done by then so I don't expect much but i would like to see some thickening up this upcoming spring if possible.

[goatman]

I would wait til winter. The sap is about if not already starting down to the roots. You would probably harm the tree alot if not kill it. You will not see any growth doing it now. Congrats on your purchase. Once you open the canopy in winter you will see alot of new growth on the forest floor in the spring. Besides doing it now may run off a buck.

[dbltree]

I would wait til winter.

I agree...I know your anxious to get started and admire that but I would wait to late winter. You'll be surprised at the spring re-growth!

These pics are of this past winters EF work noting that some trees are not alive because they were to big and broke off when I tried to hinge cut them.

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/SDC12177.jpg

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/SDC12178.jpg

Regrowth still comes up from stumps however

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/SDC12181.jpg

and opening it up allows an explosion of growth and browse...can you see the live hinge cut maple ?

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/SDC12179.jpg

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/SDC12186.jpg

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/SDC12185.jpg

Remember that with a little work you can tip trees over to close off runways and force movement thru only a few trails.

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/SDC12182.jpg

No need to be in a rush, wait til March or early April to do your EF and you will have some beautiful habitat within months! :way:

[dbltree]

Couple more pics of some honey locusts in another edge feathered area

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/Edgefeathered.jpg

Those things are nasty mean and make animpenetrable "fence" that helps to funnel deer, creates small game cover and promotes new browse along travel corridors.

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz307/dbltree2000/TSI/EFmess.jpg

Birds find safety in the thorns of the locust trees and drop the seeds of all kinds of plants that then spring to life!

Not the best time of year to be cutting but a good time to be thinking and planning next winters projects...;)

[Sligh1]

TallTines, if it were me, I'd actually do a LITTLE BIT now. Basically, if you picked a few sections to do now, you could create some bedding areas for THIS YEAR'S rut. Like the guys above said, winter is much better, agreed. But- if it was ME, I'd want a few little areas that were hammered down right now. Could be going in and making a mess out of a little area OR cutting down a group of super undesirable trees.

If you can create some extra bedding NOW and keep those bucks on your land THIS SEASON, you'll help some extra bucks make it this year and make your hunting better this year. Save the bulk of the quality work for winter. Just what I would do :)

[letemgrow]

I doubt you get much regrowth on most species if they are cut in August, If the area has bedding already I would wait till after season to cut the trees down. The buds off the tree limbs can be a deer magnet in late winter. You should get just as good spring browse cutting now or in winter.

My vote is for a late winter cut. :D

[Sligh1]

To clarify, I am not recommending anything NOW to get the REGROWTH. The rest are correct, you won't. WHY I would cut a LITTLE BIT now is you will give some tree tops, cover, etc for deer to bed by. Especially if come Nov-Jan your woods becomes quite open.

[letemgrow]

Ur right Skip,

If more cover is needed for bedding, cutting some of the less desirable trees now shoudl increase bedding if that is needed.

[IQDM]

dbltree - if you had a an area of hickory or some kind of tree that doesnt regenerate quickly, have you ever considered frost seeding switchgrass in that area to create some thick cover quicker? I am thinking about doing that to a couple spots in my land in just a few smaller openings (small pockets no larger than a half acre)... what do you think?

[dbltree]

dbltree - if you had a an area of hickory or some kind of tree that doesnt regenerate quickly, have you ever considered frost seeding switchgrass in that area to create some thick cover quicker? I am thinking about doing that to a couple spots in my land in just a few smaller openings (small pockets no larger than a half acre)... what do you think?


Switchgrass needs to be maintained by burning every few years so it could work in small open fields you can reach with equipment to maintain burn lanes but otherwise it might not work too well in a timber setting.

Switch gets pretty thick and might prevent trees seedlings from growing if that was your intention?

If you have a stand of hickories that you intend to hinge to open it up and encourage new growth I think I would consider interplanting different tree or shrub species.

Adding some conifers might also be helpful if the area is slow to regenerate on it's own. I have attempted to start switch in an area that i tried to convert from brush and cull trees to prairie grass but blackberries and brush quickly took over and it was all for naught.

You might share some pictures with us when you can so we can get a better idea what your dealing with? ;)

[IQDM]

Thanks, yeah I dont have very many places on my property where I can put switch and from what I read and hear from everyone is that switch is pretty much the best of the best for keeping deer on your property. So I was trying to come up with ways to get some.... I'll post an aeral photo of our property so you can kinda see what is where and maybe you would have some ideas

[dgallow]

Just wanted to say threads on this site have been very informative and helped us a bunch...you guys have this down to an art...thanks for your time and efforts!

Have been musing through this bedding thread as we are simply wanting to increase security and sustainability of current bedding areas. I am confused a bit on the V concept.....just can't visualize it from the pics. The slope, top or ridge part I do understand. But not so much on the size of the V, how it relates to the slope, and where one would expect them to bed. If someone you has the time and creativity to maybe post a diagram or something like that it would be much appreciated. Understand it's 'showtime' huntin wise and the projects won't begin till late december. No hurries but if one has time over the next couple months it would be much appreciated!

Good luck to all...shoot straight and be safe! :drink2:

[dbltree]

Just wanted to say threads on this site have been very informative and helped us a bunch...you guys have this down to an art...thanks for your time and efforts!

Have been musing through this bedding thread as we are simply wanting to increase security and sustainability of current bedding areas. I am confused a bit on the V concept.....just can't visualize it from the pics. The slope, top or ridge part I do understand. But not so much on the size of the V, how it relates to the slope, and where one would expect them to bed. If someone you has the time and creativity to maybe post a diagram or something like that it would be much appreciated. Understand it's 'showtime' huntin wise and the projects won't begin till late december. No hurries but if one has time over the next couple months it would be much appreciated!

Good luck to all...shoot straight and be safe! :drink2:

The -V- shapes are pretty arbitrary depending on the topography and just a way of allowing for different stages of growth rather then cutting an entire slope and having it all regrow at the same rate.

I start at the top and work my way down and of course they are not "perfect" -V-'s...just a way of giving a rough description so that in time I will then cut the inverted -V- so that there is a "seesaw" shaped array of differing stages of growth and new/old bedding.

Hinge cut trees may eventually die and larger ones almost always break off anyway and rot away...so a "bed" is not going to last forever.

Here are some pics of hinge cuts and openings made last winter, some live

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/TSI5.jpg

some dead

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/TSI2.jpg

and some used to funnel deer...;)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/TSI1-2.jpg

and funneling or creating bottlenecks yielded my buck (http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1649&start=0) this year.

I'll post more pics on this subject but creating bottlenecks in conjunction with natural runways between bedding and feeding areas works very well.

This time of year is when we want to be observing natural deer movement and deciding which to block or interrupt and which to "open" up...:way:

[dgallow]

This time of year is when we want to be observing natural deer movement and deciding which to block or interrupt and which to "open" up...:way:

Right on!

Thanks for the added pics and discussion, much clearer now.

We (Lil Blonde) and I bowhunted a top area this weekend and deer activity was amazing....my rifle stand is 150 yds to the west and one would have missed most of the activity we saw. As we sat there I began to contemplate just why it is such a good spot while reflecting upon your writings in this post. Its a SUBTLE saddle bisected east/west by an old siesmic road which I turned a portion of into a plot. Trails across saddles generally form an 'X' as deer prefer to travel wide along the the slopes of east/west drainages...all one has to do is locate the X, hang some iron, and wait for predominant wind...Sunday eve was interesting as movement happened on all 4 trails at once within a minute of me climbing the tree. The south half of the saddle is predominant blackjack oak and very rocky, which after several droughts and ice-storms over the last decade has formed a nice thicket with food (acorn) every 2 yr. The north edge is predomimant post oak and more open with a field further north of that. Does spend much time in and round the thicket when they become intolerant of buck aggression. Bucks (7 Sat AM with one four yr old 8) often cruz the subtle downwind edge and often remain closeby to check moving does. The thicket to the north doesn't need much help but there are a few undesirables to hinge. The field creates a problem in that deer have a natural tendancy to skirt the edge and cross your down-wind ploom. This post oak portion needs a 'brush fence' or two to move the field skirting tighter to the X....there should be enough hickory and small post oak for me to get this done...any acorn enhancement by thinning will be an added plus.

I'm not the only one who likes saddles. If one looks close, my ladder steps are apparent in the background just across the fence...range would be 10 yds. I'm holding out for this guy...maybe...the eight is very tempting.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn30/dgallow/SUNP0116z.jpg

Another terrain feature I like is a switch-back...where say a north facing slope abutts directly a south facing slope...mature bucks seem to prefer that subtle transition too. This one is going to be tougher to firgure out as it's a mid-timber location.

Large tracts of timber can be frustrating to unravel but rewarding when one figures out some of the game! :D

[dbltree]

Large tracts of timber can be frustrating to unravel but rewarding when one figures out some of the game

Your on the right track with the key element...observation!

Every piece of property is different but there are always some factors that will allow one to manipulate habitat to both hold and influence movement.

Nice buck!:way:

[dgallow]

Made a call to the Noble foundation to ask a few questions about improving cross-timbers native habitat. The receptionist took my number and we chatted a bit about becoming a 'cooperator' with Noble. Cutting to the chase, the wildlife biologist I talked with told me that under the FREE cooperator program we would get a wildlife, crop/soils, agronomist and cattle consultant to do a walkthrough on the place and make recommendations. I guess they gather some data from all this and it's kept confidential. We don't have much marketable timber so a forester would be a mute point.

Application should be in the mail soon and I'm excited about getting the ball rolling.

Yep that buck is nice and the pic kinda gives him a majestic look. Haven't seen him since and passed up an 8 of comparable age/quality....and I feel like :thrwrck:for passin a PB bow buck! Good news is that we have a nanny that likes to go 'stand shoppin'...those are 'special' and easily 'tag-teamed'! :D

[dbltree]

10 years ago I sat and watched as huge bucks crossed helter skelter thru a myriad of trails 50-80 yards thru the trees beyond the main runway I was watching.
<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Back then it didn't occur to me to use hinge cutting to manipulate their movements so year after year I watched them and grew increasingly frustrated. It's hard enough to even see a mature buck but then to have the ones you see just out of bow range is hard to swallow.
<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Eventually I went to work along the field edge hinging trees that you see in the beginning of this thread. I pushed them around with the tractor and loader, cut tops and piled them in the runways until they gave up and were forced to use less runways.

<O:p
<O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/SDC13415.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p
Then I went to work on the interior area, using care not to kill any of the bur oaks but hinging virtually everything else...maples, locusts, a few shingle oaks, some elms and box elders.<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Some areas went from this <O:p</O:p
<O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/SDC13409.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p
to this and I planted white swamp oak seedlings in the downed tops which cannot even be seen in this pic because the undergrowth is 4 ft high!<O:p</O:p
<O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/SDC13408.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p
I created a literal "impenetrable mess" in places, completely blocking old runways
<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/SDC13412.jpg
<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/SDC13413.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p
but also encouraging new browse<O:p</O:p
<O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/SDC13414.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p
the sunlight and lack of competition will spur a faster rate of growth from the burr oaks and eventually increase mast production and that runway I had so fruitlessly watched in years past is now a beaten down highway!<O:p</O:p
<O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/SDC13410.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p</O:p

and deer movement through that path has been nothing short of phenomenal, keeping my trail cam busy day and night!
<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Bottleneckdoes.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p</O:p

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/11-26-09.jpg
<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/11-20-09.jpg
<O:p</O:p
<O:p
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/11-17-09.jpg
<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Hinging cull trees covers a wide array of possible habitat improvements from creating bedding, opening up areas for new browse, spurring growth of oak seedlings and if well thought out, creating funnels and bottlenecks that allowed me to take a mature buck and numerous does this year.<O:p</O:p
<O:p

Start with a walk with your forester, make a plan, mark crop trees via a TSI plan and then manipulate the hinge cuttings in away that affects deer movement to make harvesting them less frustrating...;)

[letemgrow]

Here is an example of how I used hinge cutting to funnel deer to my apple orchard in the coming years. The oaks were left, but all those dang shagbark hickory were cut down to create the funnel.

I blocked everything to the north and south of where I wanted the deer to come up so I would hunt either a northerly and southerly wind.

In this first pic, the runway is on the right side of the screen.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/TSIonHickories1.jpg

Here is what the other side looks like....the runway is just on the left side of the screen out of the pic.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/TSIonHickories2.jpg

[letemgrow]

Here is the overview of my farm: The deer can only come from the east and that whole timber east of the 2 stands is never touched. We hunt north and south of that timber, but that should hold the deer in there to come up to the orchard.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/AppleOrchard.jpg

[dbltree]

Sweet setup Phil! You could probably frost seed some clover inbetween the apple trees to boot! :way:

[letemgrow]

Sweet setup Phil! You could probably frost seed some clover inbetween the apple trees to boot! :way:

I am on that already, just trying to figure out which clover I was going to use. I thought about seeding the native purple and white prairie clover there that I have coming in. I already seeded all the remnant clover that i picked. If I can find a native perennial sunflower that stays short, I was going to put some of that inbetween also for added forage and attraction to lots of wildlife, or adding ground plum there may be the ticket!! It only gets about a foot tall, is a native legume and also called buffalo pea.

That away I can harvest clover seeds for other areas, pick me an apple to take to the stand and drag a deer out all in the same day. :drink2:

[Sligh1]

SWBUCKHNTR-
Your land is similar to mine and you have a lot to work with.
MOST INVOLVES BEDDING, HINGING, etc so I'll post here...
Personally, here's what I did (not for everyone)- took about 50 billion hours of work to complete!!!! I loved every minute (ok maybe not all of it) of the work.
-TSI'd the whole place. Made timber value increase over time MAJORLY, acorn production explode, tree growth much faster, etc, etc.
-Bedding areas every 200 yards or so. Strategically placed so I never walk past them and so I can hunt bucks cruising from one to other. All 10 square yards all the way to an acre in size. Mainly hinge cut ironwood, male locust, hickory, etc. Heavier amounts on south facing ridges, etc.
-wanted all my timber to be NASTY thick. TSI and bedding areas did it FAST- year or 2 AND my forest browse is excellent.
-TIMBER VALUE, BROWSE/FOOD, ACORN PRODUCTION, FAST GROWING TREES, NASTY COVER, THERMAL/WIND RESISTANCE FOR BEDDING DEER, etc, etc were all my goals. Bedding areas all over farm as well I believe helps me hold more mature bucks.
-I direct seeded 3 FULL GMC Short Box 1500 LOADS OF PREMIUM WALNUTS all over parts of the farm where there was no walnut trees in excellent locations for some odd reason. That was fun and walnut trees are everywhere. I even threw some in brome grass and they are doing amazing!
-Planted cedars and shrubs (I lacked shrubs on farm) all over AND I planted cedars on every bit of field edge or edge feathered.
-Took me 2 years to complete doing weekends here and there and getting funding.
-200 acres of timber, transformed, thick, nasty, food filled, timber value, etc. Plus tree plantings, 2 apple orchards, tons of native grasses, foodplots, and crops on the other 114 acres
-Funded and had foresters come out, NRCS private lands guy, etc. took me a while to "master" this stuff (still learning to some degree) BUT nothing anyone should go crazy with unless they have several professional opinions. Plus, each person's goals are different.
Good luck, have fun!
*One more thing, I did log some junky trees off the land when prices were very high- even for junk. I did this for a little money to put into land BUT more to open up floor to sunlight- growth/cover/food/browse + the tree tops made excellent bedding areas. I have some more to do BUT I am going to wait for a few years until the market comes back. I'm pretty restrictive with logging- I am generally there to over-see. They do leave me some trails in certain areas that deer will later follow. CORRECT logging (with trusted forester and wildlife biologist) will often make the deer habitat a ton better!!! Be careful on this one BUT it's a HUGE winner for bedding, income, browse, etc.

[dgallow]

Sent in the participant form to Noble, got a confirmation letter this week, and they should make initial contact after the holidays. They are big on specifying broad goals: A) quality of life - we want to provide sustainable wildlife and grazing enterprises for current and future generations, B) Production - balance native habitat and deer density....establish legumes in pasture to reduce N input and maintain the current stocking rate while minimizing supplemental feed, C) Financial - allow surface income to fund most improvements and create a property with maximum wildlife and grazing value, D) Landscape - create a standard of deer and turkey habitat by which similar sized and characterized properties are measured.

The last goal is the most important to us! I'll keep you posted as the wheel turns! :way:

[dbltree]

I took the muzzy out the other day and just sat in some of my hinge cuttings and snapped a couple pics from down closer to a deer's "point of view"...

You can see the vertical regrowth on this hinge cut tree while the tree itself remains alive, both offering browse that previously was unavailable.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/CIMG0197.jpg

You can see in the background the thick red cedars that offer thermal protection while the hinged and downed trees and resulting re-growth offer both food and bedding.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/CIMG0198.jpg

This pic shows a young white oak sapling that is now free to grow with most of the competition removed or culled. The parent tree in the background will yield more/better mast as well with less competing trees. In the far background you can also see an area that will be the focus of this winters TSI/Hinging efforts in what is now a fairly open area.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/CIMG0199.jpg

Severe winter weather is upon us now, snow is piling up, bitter winds howl with wind chills to minus 35 and the field and food plots already picked clean.

Still...the deer remain on my property in large part because of the readily available natural browse created by hinging cull trees and the ensuing safe bedding areas it creates.

Doe groups...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Jan2doegroup.jpg

and mature bucks choose to stay here during the toughest time of the year...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Dec28buck.jpg

It stands to reason that providing for their needs this time of year will keep them here year around as well.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Dec22Buck.jpg

Focusing solely on food plots and hunting season attractants is a mistake that many landowners make because attracting and holding mature whitetails is a year around venture that requires extensive natural habitat improvments.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Dec29buck.jpg

Make an effort to utilize every square inch of your property to the fullest and diversify your habitat by enhancing native browse and cover. Consider planting NWSG in open areas and encouraging both soft and hard mast producing trees and shrubs.

Make their home like yours...a feeding area, a bedding area and a living area all of which make them feel safe, secure and well fed...

[letemgrow]

Make their home like yours...a feeding area, a bedding area and a living area all of which make them feel safe, secure and well fed...

No doubt DT!! Food plots are great, but only one part of the puzzle. A couple winters ago, I was doing a lot of TSI work and about the second week of it I was cutting down a hickory when I turned to the next tree, a doe was standing 40 yards away watching me. I had rang the dinner bell for her. :way:

They always follow what I do and eat the buds off the downed trees.

[dbltree]

Since antlered seasons are over now and we'll be making some habitat enhancements via our chainsaws soon I'd like to keep this thread bumped up to encourage landowners to work on bottlenecks this winter.

This buck may not be a "monster" but he survived the seasons and hopefully will hang around. He's standing directly under my stand where I killed my buck this past fall...where deer after deer and a number of bucks have traveled through the bottleneck I created the winter before.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/DSC00663.jpg

In previous pics I have shown the hinged trees creating the funnel and this pic shows three runways that are all in the natural portion of the travel corridor. The middle one is 20 yards and the farthest is barely 30.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2009%20Season/CIMG0224.jpg

The bulk of the hinging is behind my stand and previously deer traveled across an 80 yard stretch and many down wind to make matters worse. An hour or so with a chainsaw corrected all that now and they travel thru there on a daily basis.

If you work on your funnels share some pics and thoughts to help others learn how to create their own bottlenecks and kep those deer within an easy 20 yard shot....;)

[letemgrow]

Great idea Paul!! I plan on doing more of that myself this winter and will make sure to add plenty of pics to the thread.

[dbltree]

What trees to hinge?

For most of us the trees we qould choose to hinge would be those with low timber and wildlife value. Each landowner may have different goals, a tree that I consider a cull tree may not be for someone else. Most of us however would prefer not to inadvertently kill mast producing trees such as white and red oak species, chestnuts and high value timber trees such as black walnut.

The Timber Stand Improvement thread has pictures and information about a wide array of oak species and I find it easier to learn to identify oaks then ALL the other species. The following is a list of trees that i consider low in value and hinging them offers more to improve my habitat then leaving them alive or upright.

Green ash

The Emerald Ash Borer is rapidly decimating ash trees across the country so killing them is something each landowner will have to decide for themselves.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/GreenAshBark.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/GreenAsh.jpg

White ash

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/WhiteAshBark.gif

American Elm

Elm trees rarely last long in my area so I usually hinge them to encourage mast trees

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/AmericanElmBark1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/AmericanElmBark.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/AmericanElmtwig.jpg

Slippery Elm

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SlipperyElmBark.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SlipperyElmTwig.jpg

Basswood

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/BasswoodBark.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/Basswoodtwig.jpg

Box elder

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/BoxElderBark2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/BoxElderBark.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/BoxElderTwig.jpg

Bitternut Hickory Hickories are the most common tree in my area to hinge, they are shade tolerant and somewhat invasive preventing oak seedlings from growing.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/BitternutHickoryBark.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/BitternutHickoryTwig.jpg

Mockernut Hickory

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/MockernutHickoryBark1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/MockernutHickoryBark.jpg

Shagbark Hickory

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShagbarkHickoryTwig.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShagbarkHickorybark2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShagbarkHickorybark.jpg

Shellbark Hickory

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShellbarkHickory2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShellbarkHickoryBark1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShellbarkHickoryTwig.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShellbarkHickory.jpg

Ironwood

Ironwood is extremely invasive and shade tolerant and should be killed whenever you come across it.

http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/ostvir_bark01.jpg

It keeps it's leaves nearly all winter so it very noticiable in most timbered areas.

http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/ostvir_leaves02gf600.jpg

Black Locust

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/BlackLocustBark.gif

Honey Locust

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/HoneyLocustBark.gif

Silver Maple Maples are an extremely invasive shade tolerant tree with little value to most landowners managing for whitetails.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SilverMapleBark1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SilverMapleBark.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SilverMapleTwig.jpg

Sugar Maple

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SugarMapleBark1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SugarMapleBark2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SugarMapleBark3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SugarMapleBark.gif

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/SugarMapleTwig.jpg

Shingle Oak Common and very invasive in my area, shingle oaks produce plentiful mast but have almost no value as timber. I don't attempt to eradicate them but do commnly hinge them to encourage better quality oaks and utilize the thick dense brushy tops for bedding and blocking.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShingleOakBark.jpg

The leaves look nothing like either white or red oak species and the upper branches are often covered with black galls not found in other oaks. Shingle oaks commonly hold their leaves nearly all winter making them easy to identify.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/ShingleOakLeaftwig.jpg

Osage Orange

These trees are commonly used for fence posts, bow making and other such uses so I hinge them only if necessary

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/OsageOrangeBark2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Cull%20Trees/OsageOrangeBark.gif

ISU Tree Index (http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pages/tree/index.html)

Using Anatomy and Habitat to Identify a Tree (http://forestry.about.com/od/thecompletetree/u/tree_anatomy.htm)

[dbltree]

There are several train's of thought on creating individual beds for deer that include "tying" trees down to create over head cover, attempting to create "buck" and "doe" beds. The controversy often leads to arguments and name bashing which is completely counterproductive to helping others learn how to enhance their habitat.


That being said I base what I share on factual observations back up by pictures that allow landowners to see how deer react to various habitat enhancements such as hinge cutting. I find first of all that large, thick sanctuaries where deer are unmolested tend to hold the most deer and mature whitetail bucks seek out that type of environment.
<O:p></O:p>
I am able, very easily to create "overhead" cover without tying, just by hinging trees that often come to rest on adjacent trees such as this situation.
<O:p></O:p>
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Oveheadhinging.jpg
<O:p></O:p>
Suffice it to say that after years of hinging trees I have inadvertently created all types of "overhead' cover from 3-4' to 10-15' above the ground but thus far I have not found deer using those types of situations.
<O:p></O:p>
What I do find is that deer prefer a slight rise or a ridge where they can lay "behind" a hinge cut tree and see danger approach from below. When that hinged area either grows up to some light brush or has some already, the area will quickly be covered with fresh beds.
<O:p></O:p>
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bed1-2.jpg
<O:p></O:p>
The following pics are recent hinging projects, some only days old and while a little hard to see, all have beds located a few feet to 20 yards behind the hinged trees.
<O:p></O:p>
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Beds2.jpg
<O:p></O:p>
I have found no beds using overhead cover as of yet with the exception of live cedar trees or large shrubs where they often lay in front of or barely under an overhanging branch using the tree as a backdrop.
<O:p></O:p>
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bed1-1.jpg
<O:p></O:p>
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bed1.jpg
<O:p></O:p>
In the hinged areas though, they tend to be bedded out in the open preferring to peer under the hinged trees for some distance back.
<O:p></O:p>
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bed4.jpg
<O:p></O:p>
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bed3-1.jpg
<O:p></O:p>
Each landowner should be willing to try different things but the focus should be on creating large, thick, safe areas of cover versus attempting to create and individual bed.
<O:p></O:p>
Observe whitetails habits in your area, don't place all the chips on any one persons advice, take lots of great ideas, do some experimenting and then find out what really works and what doesn't....then share it with others to help them enhance their own whitetail habitat.... ;)
<O:p></O:p>
<O:p></O:p>

[dgallow]

Thanks for adding more tree IDs. Never really pay much attention to elm other than looking up at one and saying 'there is wasted deer food' and hit the saw throttle. Winged elm is easy to spot. I'll take a closer look at slippery or american buds then compare to your pics. Thanks again those pics are a big help...very nice touch! ;)

Roughleaf and flowering dogwood trees resprout nicely to disturbance. They can get tall enough in our area to limit deer browsing. Rather than hinge one a guy could just lay a top on it and make it bend to browse level. The trees I want to take a pic of have resprouted immensly at the bend. I'd hate to take a chance on killing dogwood by girdling, not many of them around now....think the drought were hard on them.

Bois d Arc is one of my favorites. In falls with less than abundant hard mast, several doe groups will make vigils twice a day to the few scattered trees around my rifle stand. Must be like candy cuz they'll scarf up every leaf that falls! :way:

Just curious if you have black hickory or winged elm in your area? Both hinge nicely, but black hickory in bottom land could have timber value. Deer in our area will browse winged elm in winter if not much else is available...pretty low quality by then.

Here is a link with monthly CP values for some of the hinge candidates you mentioned. Thought I'd share! http://www.noble.org/WebApps/AgExchange/AssetQueries/ArticleTemplate_164_97255_83970.html

[letemgrow]

I have noticed on my farm that deer browse black locust readily....I literally have one seedling out of 10 mature trees and have never found another yet in 6 years!! Sure wish I had more black locust since they make great fence posts and I have a lot of fence to put in :D

I have not cut down any baswoods either as I had very few to start with and bees are highly fond of them. They are also great for making duck decoys.

Shingle oaks run rampant on my farm and they get cut out when other more desirable trees are close by (swamp white, bur, white, northern red etc). I do not treat the stumps as I encourage them to grow back since they send up lots of shoots and deer seem to like the browse. They also create great thickets from the downed tops and re-sprouts.

[dbltree]

Helped a friend hinge some trees last week...

Mostly bitternut and shagbark hickory, elm and ironwood

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingingonridge.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge4.jpg

There were sporadic red, burr and white oaks through out the area so hinging will not only encourage new browse but give seedling oaks a chance to survive in the now open canopy.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge5.jpg

We moved up on another ridge where there were plenty of natural beds, all using any type of downfall or smll bush for a backdrop and then facing south on the southern side of the ridge.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Bedagainstdownfall.jpg

Observing natural bedding helps us learn more about whitetail bedding habits and gives us clues on where to perpetuate new, better cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingenbed.jpg

You can see here how open the timber is and some of our hinge cuts around the current beds.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingenbeds2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingeonridgetop.jpg

We have a lot to do yet but we got a decent start at thickening up this ridge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingingonopenridge.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingedridge.jpg

TSI had already been done in this timber but while it release some crop trees, TSI alone did little to encourage new bedding.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingingandgirdlingreleasewhiteoak.jpg

We girdled some huge locust trees that were not safe to attempt to cut but otherwise hinged all smaller trees...gonna make a huge difference in helping him hold whitetails on his property... :)

[letemgrow]

Looks great Paul!! Those south facing slopes are great bedding areas where the sun can reach them and they have a backdrop to keep the wind off them from the north.


Here are some examples on my place. The deer love this spot because there is a thick cedar ridge up on the top and it slopes down from the north so hardly any wind gets into this area. The south facing portion is very open so the deer can soak up the sun while staying out of the wind. It's a win win for them.

This pic is me facing north so you can see why the deer like this spot. Open on the south and brush covered on the north side.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/100_1260.jpg

Here is another bed close by where you can see how they sun in wintertime.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/100_1261.jpg

Here is the south facing view from the spot. Very open so sunlight can penetrate.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/100_1263.jpg

The north facing view, you can see all those cedars and brush do not let the wind penetrate and they are in a bowl so to speak where any wind goes overtop them and they stay nice and toasty here.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/100_1264.jpg

[dbltree]

Thanks for sharing the pictures Phil! :way:

what height is optimal? (of hinge cut)


I'm not sure I have an answer to that and it's something we need to observe over the next few years and see if there is indeed and optimum height that deer seem to prefer ot if it really isn't important? So far I find deer tend to lay where they can see under the hinged tree or with it to their backs but with enough people sharing observations perhaps we'll have a better idea in the future.

Observation is how we learn and this is the time of year to be out there observing and learning about whitetail habitat. Where DO they bed and why? Individual beds may or may not have been used by a buck but overall hiking our land can yield clues and ideas to what they will and will not utilize for bedding.

Another thing to note is that if deer are unmolested then they may not require as thick of habitat as those that endure constant harassment and those type of things vary widely among landowners.

The following are more pictures of recent beds on my own land and many are in semi-open areas, all on south or east facing ridges. All with cover at their back, sun warming them and not necessarily an extremely thick type of habitat but rather they are infrequently bothered by anyone.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed8.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed7.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed6.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed5.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed4.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed2-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed1-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/Bed3-1.jpg

These deer did have thicker cover available and almost always chose some brushy type cover around them verus wide open timber but topography plays a huge part in where they choose to bed.

Screening cover around the timber, around the entire property then becomes extremely important so that deer feel safe and comfortable within the their "fortress" so to speak.

Enjoy a late winter hike on a sunny day and find out what habitat is being used or unused and why? If they are not bedding on your land are they coming there to feed and returning to a neighboring bedding area...is so what is different.

Use Google Earth or some such to "see" what the neighbors have that you don't and sometimes it may just be a larger more protective atmosphere with the same habitat.... ;)

[letemgrow]

Enjoy a late winter hike on a sunny day and find out what habitat is being used or unused and why?

I have learned a ton just by walking the farm after season when I am out doing TSI work about where deer like to bed and stay and why. Sure makes it easier to improve the rest of the property when you figure out what is working and why. :way:

[letemgrow]

Here is a lane I left on a south facing hillside, it should work great to thicken things up for bedding and also I was able to cut the trees to leave any easy path to intercept the deer on the way to the apple orchard that is up the hill. Killed many birds with one stone!! Released some quality oaks, more and better browse, made bedding cover and narrowed the travel lane to a predictable pattern.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/TrailCamPics002-1.jpg

[dbltree]

If your convinced that raking leaves out of deer beds and tying trees over has worked to help you both hold and harvest mature bucks, then you sure ought to keep doing it.

Too many folks have tried it an been deeply dissapointed however so I continue to share what has worked for us and that's a combination of hinging large areas and using conifer plantings to provide screens and safe bedding.

These trees have been hinged for several years now and reveal how much "brush" or cover they create in time!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge3-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge2-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge4-1.jpg

Eventually it all turns into a mass of brushy cover where deer feel safe

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge1-1.jpg

This pic shows the heavy browsing that also takes place...yet another advantage of hinging.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Browsedbrowse.jpg

The edge feathering not only funnels deer but eventually creates a thick screen of brush and browse.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hellhole.jpg

I've posted many TC pics of the kind of bucks that live in these "jungles" with no "leaf raking" required but they also leave other evidence...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Rub.jpg

Do what you feel is best in your situation to achieve your goals but most of you will find that spending more time with a chainsaw then a rake will yield better results...;)

[IQDM]

most of you will find that spending more time with a chainsaw then a rake will yield better results...;)

HA HA hopefully this doesn't turn into a TL discussion, but I would have to agree!

[IQDM]

Can a person hinge cut year round? or do the trees need to be dormant?

[letemgrow]

Can a person hinge cut year round? or do the trees need to be dormant?

Cut them whenever you want to, it is usually easier to cut when dormant since the weather is better then. I have done some hinge cuttings and TSI in July and it required a lot of water. :D

[dbltree]

Cut them whenever you want to, it is usually easier to cut when dormant since the weather is better then. I have done some hinge cuttings and TSI in July and it required a lot of water. :D

plus I hate chiggars! :thrwrck::D

[letemgrow]

plus I hate chiggars! :thrwrck::D

Those too!! :rolleyes:

[IQDM]

great! Hinge cutting is the one thing that I have never done... I have done food plots for years and learned alot about NWSG this winter. I planted a few acres of NWSG this early spring and now i'm on to hinge cutting! I am climbing the ladder one step at a time, each project is one step closer to 170 class glory! ;) or at least keeping a few more 120's out of harms way!

[dbltree]

Might be late spring but not to late to do some hingin'! :way:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinging.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinging2.jpg

Did some edge feathering to do some trail blocking and funneling, tipped em over into the field

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF1-1.jpg

The used the tractor and loader to swing them around

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF3.jpg

Creating a "fence like" effect

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF4.jpg

but a funneling effect at the desired opening

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF2-2.jpg

Blocked off some other runways and created screening at the same time by tipping over some large trees

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking.jpg

Interplanted oak seedlings amongst trees I hinged earlier in the winter

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Plantinginhingcut.jpg

Using the downed tops as a means of protecting the trees from marauding bucks in the fall

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Plantinginhingecutting.jpg

Easy to see the runways now blocked

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blockedrunway.jpg

The little hiding spots the hinged trees created

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hideabed.jpg

and the tangled mess of tops that now provide browse, bedding and screening cover

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Tangledmess.jpg

Spend a few minutes with the chainsaw every chance you get and vastly improve your chances of holding mature whitetails on your property... ;)

[letemgrow]

How many chains do you go through a year Paul? :D

[dgallow]

The little hiding spots the hinged trees created

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hideabed.jpg



You been hidin in there tryin to slay a tom? :D

[DE2IA]

That looks great!

[FarmlandQDM]

Can a person hinge cut year round? or do the trees need to be dormant?


I would try to avoid hinge cutting any oak after March 1 in southern Iowa. When you leave a large fresh wound like a hinge cut in a living tree you make that tree pretty susceptable to fungus, disease, or insects. Root rot kills plenty of oaks in Iowa and root rot spores disperse during the summer months. By making large opennings in the bark with a hinge cut you will increase the chance of infecting your timber stand. Oak wilt is a pretty serious problem already in Iowa for red oak species( red oak, black oak, shingle oak, pin oak, etc), because of this I try to avoid hinge cutting any red oak species and prefer to cut them off clean at the stump.

Edge feathering and hinge cutting are great tools, I do alot of it and I think it is hard to beat the quick fix benefits of slash and trash TSI as I call it. I also think it is important for people to realize by doing this you are stopping almost all oak regeneration in that area for likely the rest of your life .... so think about were you are going to manage this way ... it is probably not the best thing to do in some areas.

[letemgrow]

I also think it is important for people to realize by doing this you are stopping almost all oak regeneration in that area for likely the rest of your life .... so think about were you are going to manage this way ... it is probably not the best thing to do in some areas.

How does that affect oak regeneration? I get more young oaks by opening up the canopy and releasing oak trees by hinge cutting trees down. Obviously other than oaks trees, they are left standing. I am left with shagbark hickory since they are far more shade tolerant if trees are not hinge cut to release oaks.

Here is a pic of a spot where I used hinge cutting to get rid of hickory and leave the oaks I have. There are 8 young oaks coming back now from acorns off those few big trees from that area.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Trees%20on%20the%20Farm/Farm%20Trip%2006-06-09/FarmTrip06-06022.jpg

[dbltree]

I would try to avoid hinge cutting any oak after March 1 in southern Iowa.

Thanks for bringing that up Rob...I have some black oaks that have died from oak wilt so I am very careful not to do ANY cutting around any red oak species ths time of year.

Even tipping a tree over and scraping up an oak could leave an open wound that is an invitation for oak wilt.

Many of the pics posted were cut back in February but I do hinge a few "junk" trees that are in areas with no oaks nearby.

When the chiggars come out...I put the saw away...;)

In regards to oak regeneration...in the areas with "parent" oaks I find the same thing as letemgrow...oak seedlings popping up after hinging.

Where there are no oaks I interplant oak seedlings so for me it is working out well. I would also add that one can still burn even in hinged areas to promote oak regeneration and help setback invasives...:way:

[FarmlandQDM]

The whole point of hinge cutting trees is to keep those trees alive and create a living canopy of trees, brush, and vines between 2 to 15 feet off the ground .... which is fantastic for wildlife ... but does not let much light to the ground. Look at most of the photos in this post, you don't see alot of clear forest floor that oaks thrive in and there is a difference between having acorns germinate and providing and environment that oaks can outcompete maple, basswood, buckeyes and other shade tolerant species and grow into mature mast producers.

Paul, I think you know I am probably one of the biggest proponents of prescribed fire in timber in southeast Iowa ... but I am curious if you have ever actually burned through these slashed areas once invasives have become established and successfully promoted oak regeneration .... fire is an incredible tool but it is not a magic wand.

Once again I think this hinge cutting is great for wildlife and anyone walking my property will find lots of it, but if you have little or no experience with forest management I would suggest consulting a professional before starting up the saw and not base your forest management decisions by what you read on the internet.

[IQDM]

What is your experiences on hinge cutting poplar trees? Do they send up shoots off the trunk like a basswood or boxelder? Will a decent sized poplar survive a hinge cut?

http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/Picture1.jpg

[dgallow]

Paul, I think you know I am probably one of the biggest proponents of prescribed fire in timber in southeast Iowa ... but I am curious if you have ever actually burned through these slashed areas once invasives have become established and successfully promoted oak regeneration .... fire is an incredible tool but it is not a magic wand.

Trying to glean a bit from your experience in setting back invasives and and shade tolerants in oak stands. How many burns (or burn frequency) and how long to eliminate hickory and elm? What size of hickory or elm won't be affected by fire? The Noble consultants made the same sugestion to me and just curious of what to expect and the time frame.

Thanks for your time and input!

[letemgrow]

Once again I think this hinge cutting is great for wildlife and anyone walking my property will find lots of it, but if you have little or no experience with forest management I would suggest consulting a professional before starting up the saw and not base your forest management decisions by what you read on the internet.


Would you say this hinge cutting pic is a job well done or what would you improve upon? I hinge cut the hickory trees and most never sprouted back. I then planted some hybrid white oak acorns, american chestnuts, Northern Red oaks and downy serviceberry back in the spots.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Habitat%20Improvements%20on%20the%20farm/TSIonHickories.jpg

[dbltree]

What is your experiences on hinge cutting poplar trees? Do they send up shoots off the trunk like a basswood or boxelder? Will a decent sized poplar survive a hinge cut?

I have zero experience with those other then seeing what happens when they are clear cut but perhaps Farmland or others may be able to comment?

I would suggest consulting a professional before starting up the saw and not base your forest management decisions by what you read on the internet.

If you read through my threads you wil see I continually advise walking your woodlots of your forester first and learn to identify your tree species, howver I have never met a forester who was an advocate of hinging. Each landowner must also identify thier own goals and decide if timber or whitetails are a priority.

Reading the TSI thread first is highly advisable before firing up a chainsaw...:)

if you have ever actually burned through these slashed areas once invasives have become established and successfully promoted oak regeneration

That's not my primary reason for burning Rob...the oak seedlings are coming up and thriving in the hinge cut areas which in reality have shaded almost nothing. The invasives are culled via the hinging so they are really a non-factor in this and one reason for hinging in the first place and burning helps to keep them from returning.

Right now I am burning to promote native grasses and forbs and make some attempt to hold back invasives like hickories, maples and elms.

Regeneration is occuring without burning at my place and the hinge cut trees are helping to protect young oak saplings from traveling bucks. I have no idea how many trees i have hinged but obviously it's a pile! :D

None of those trees have created a shading problem and the oak seedlings I plant are all thriving.I don't pretend to have the experience you have so I can only comment on what I have seen on my farms over a number of years.

In regards to burning and oak regeneration I am passing on information gleaned from my USFWS contacts who specialize in doing so across southern Iowa. They have encouraged me to burn even in hinged areas because it has positive effects in reducing invasives and encouraging oak regeneration.

Having said all that...this thread is about utilizing hinging to create thick nasty, secure bedding areas, to increase native browse, to create funnels and bottlenecks by hinging cull trees. That process does have a very positive effect on increasing oak regeneration but if that is the primary goal...I would encourage one to read the Timber Stand Improvement and Oak Savanna threads where all cull trees are completely killed and even removed.

In the meantime I will continue to share how my own wild and planted oaks respond to hinging and burning to better help others decide what might work best for them and achieving thier goals....:)

[dbltree]

not base your forest management decisions by what you read on the internet. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

I wanted to respond to some of Farmland's concerns and rellieve any confusion that may have arisen because of them.

Reading "stuff" on the internet can be confusing and inaccurate at times but this forum is not "the internet" but rather my best efforts to provide accurate and truthful information.

God has placed a willingness and desire in my heart to help landowners improve their habitat for whitetails and wildlife and that in turn requires that I personally do a great deal of research before sharing many of the things I do.

If you return to the beginning of this thread you will see that I listed the professionals I turn to and rely on for timber management advice and that I encourage ALL landowners to walk their property with trusted professionals first.

Each and every one of these men have been on my farm and I continue to rely on them for information, especially when it is something I have not tried before.


<O:p</O:p
Aaron Lumley, forestry supervisor for the Iowa DNR aaron.lumley@dnr.iowa.gov <O:p</O:p
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Ray Lehn District Forester ray.lehn@dnr.iowa.gov<O:p</O:p
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Paul Tauke, Bureau Chief and State Forester paul.tauke@dnr.iowa.gov<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Gregg Pattison USFWS - Iowa Private Lands Office Gregg_Pattison@fws.gov

<O:p</O:p
<O:p
<O:pWith that in mind I would like to further address some concerns

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<O:p
<O:p
I also think it is important for people to realize by doing this you are stopping almost all oak regeneration in that area for likely the rest of your life<O:p</O:p


I mean no disrespect to Farmland but that statement I find to be false and misleading and I base that I my own experience and that of others who contribute to this forum.


I don't hinge trees to regenerate oaks but have found that it can be a positive side affect and you will not learn that from ANY professionals because they look upon hinging with disdain.
</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Is it possible to encourage oak regeneration by hinging trees?

<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Absolutely! I have been hinging trees for many years now and doing so has had a positive effect on oak regeneration!
<O:p</O:p

The following are recent pictures of white and black oak seedlings and saplings not only surviving but thriving in my hingecuts where before...none existed.

<O:p</O:p
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The young white oaks show up well this time of year with their reddish colored leaves


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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/Babywhiteoak.jpg<O:p></O:p>
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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/Whiteoak2.jpg<O:p></O:p>
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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/Babywo.jpg<O:p></O:p>
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Black oak seedling

<O:p</O:p
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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/Youngredoak.jpg<O:p></O:p>
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They exist in varying stages of growth because my hinge cutting efforts have been ongoing over a period of years.

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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/Whiteoak1.jpg<O:p></O:p>
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They quickly grow up thru the hinged tops, protected from marauding hormone charged bucks

<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/2whiteoaks.jpg<O:p></O:p>


I have been working on these projects in some cases for 15 years so I feel I can safely say that oak regeneration is indeed more then just possible but a highly probably result.


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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/WOinhingecuts.jpg<O:p></O:p>
<O:p
I would also urge everyone to bear in mind that ALL hinge cuts are not going to be the same, with different soils, trees and goals involved so oak regeneration may not happen in all cases. It can happen if you properly manage your timber by hinging cull trees and promoting the growth of oaks in ways we will continue to share.
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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/Youngwhites.jpg<O:p></O:p>
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Can fire have a positive influence on oak regeneration?


<O:p
Absoutely! I personally do not have years of experience burning in timber to verify this but the professionals I trust have. The Southern Iowa Oak Alliance, the USFWS and IDNR Forestry Dept. have been involved in doing timber burns for many years and they have found that there are few situations where fire would not have a positive effect on oak regeneration.


<O:p
Oaks tend to be fire tolerant while many other shade tolerant species are not so even in hinge cut areas these professionals have encouraged me to burn and to pass that information on through these forums.

<O:p</O:p
<O:pCommon sense tells us that if fire can discourage invasives and encourage oaks...then it does indeed have a positive influence even in hinged areas. </O:p

In my hinge cuts red cedars pop up everywhere and in some stituations that may be desired but if not fire can keep them from invading.

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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/Oak%20Regeneration/Redcedars.jpg<O:p></O:p>
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I personally do not advocate hinging oaks other then shingle oaks but it is important to remember that oak wilt is a problem in our area and cutting red oaks after March can encourage the spread of the disease.<O:p></O:p>

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Oak Wilt (http://www.iowadnr.gov/forestry/files/oakwilt.pdf)
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<O:p</O:p
<O:p
I personally eat, sleep and drink habitat, second only to God and my family, knowing and understanding how best to improve my habitat and then share that with others is a huge part of my life.

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<O:pI share that lest anyone think I take this lightly or that in any circumstance I would knowingly share poor information or incorrect information.

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<O:pIf oak regeneration is your priority then I strongly urge you to read the TSI and Oak Savanna threads but if you would like to take advantage of the positive influence hinging has on oak regeneration, then we will show you how to do that here in this thread.

It is unlikely you will find this information anywhere else except "on the internet" and each landowner can take from this information whatever is useful in meeting their own personal habitat goals.

</O:p
Hinging can be a valuable tool for landowners wishing to hold mature whitetails on their property but obtain as much knowledge as you can about the timber resources on your land before embarking on such a project... ;)<O:p</O:p

[letemgrow]

The more I looked over my hinge cut hickory area, I was floored by the number of baby white oaks that are popping back up from the few large ones I have left. It was more than I cared to count so I will go back through them in 5-10 years and select the most vigorous saplings to keep and cut the rest back for browse, cover and to allow more sunlight in.

[FarmlandQDM]

Paul the reason you find most professionals have a disdain for hinge cutting is because most foresters are focused on oak regeneration when they manage timber. They don’t care so much about creating fantastic wildlife habitat but they do care about insuring there will be oak forests in Iowa for many years to come.
<O:p</O:p
One problem the science of forest management has is the long term rotation of the crop you are trying to manage for. It is easy to see mistakes in managing a food plot because most food plot crop rotations are one year. If you see it doesn’t work you can do something different the next year until you get it right. Unfortunately, timber management mistakes sometimes take 30 years or more to understand the consequences of your decisions. Most foresters have the advantage of looking at many stages of past timber practices on various sites. This gives them an advantage at understanding what result a practice used today will have on a piece of timber 30, 40, 50 years down the road.
<O:p</O:p
Oak are fire species trees, mature oaks have thick bark that can usually resist short duration ground fires and oaks will often resprout from the stump if burned off. The idea behind a prescribed fire to rescue a stand of oak timber from invasives sounds great in theory and does work sometimes. In eastern <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://iowawhitetail.com/forum/ /><st1:State alt=</st1:State>Iowa what you will find most of the time is a challenge to get enough fuel and the right conditions to even carry a fire through a stand of invasives. If you are lucky enough to have adequate fuel in the right condition to generate the heat required to kill most of the invasives, it will also kill many of your young oak trees … and I know this from practice not theory. The advantage oak does have is that they usually will resprout again while invasives usually do not … they just reseed. Try to find a patch of “invasives” and burn through it this year …. I’ll bet anyone a case of beer that has a property east of I-35 they can’t kill off invasives tree species in a timber stand dominated by something other than oak with fire …. it just doesn’t work with fire alone in eastern <st1:State w:st="on">Iowa</st1:State> but western Iowa Loess Hills country does have a better chance at a rescue burn succeeding.
<O:p</O:p
Paul this spat reminds me of the online disagreement you and I had several years ago on QDMA about autumn olive. I wonder if you still think it is such a wonderful shrub to plant …. I do believe with your passion in time you will understand what I am saying with this subject too. You have a wealth of knowledge to share on here and I know your intentions are nothing but good and you simply want to help people … I don’t seem to have the time to even read all the information you provide let alone contribute as much as you and it is hard to understand how you can do so much for this site, I do applaud your efforts. Once again, I am a huge fan of hinge cutting, it has tremendous benefits for wildlife. What got my panties in a bundle is the idea that this is a way to regenerate oak. I fear many people will read that and try this thinking it is the thing to do for oak regeneration. I think with the energy, passion, and desire you have perhaps you can put enough effort into this practice to truly get oak regen, but most landowners probably can’t sustain that level of passion and succeed in regenerating an oak stand in areas where they hinge cut trees … and that is why you have professional foresters telling you the don’t like it.
<O:p</O:p

[dbltree]

I fear many people will read that and try this thinking it is the thing to do for oak regeneration

Rob I hope I have made that clear in this thread that if that is the goal then follow the advice given in the TSI and Oak savanna threads.

On the other hand there is nothing wrong with taking advantage of proper management in a hinged are to encourage oaks to grow and flourish.

People are learning, (including SE Iowa foresters) more about hinging and and how they can at the same time take advantage of the opportunity to advance oak regeneration.

I agree burning is very difficult but that is no reason not to make landowners aware of it's attributes. Burning is difficult at first but over time as fuel loads increase it becomes easier and then benefits greater.

I am greatful to you for inspiring me to begin timber burns and since then other professionals have also encouraged me and shared the results of burning over a period of years. To not share that would be a dis-service to my friends on this forum because their are too many positive benefits....even with out oak regeneration.

Here are a few examples of situations where oak regeneration and fire can work and one where it most likely would be difficult at best.

These hinged trees have very little canopy and there is plenty of light

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge1-2.jpg

These are hinged hickories and shingles around a black oak where again it has opened up canopy making both oak rengeration and fire a possibility.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge2-2.jpg

This is an example of very thick canopy and the type of "jungle" where it is very unlikely one could get a burn going and without some micro management it is highly doubtful and oak seedlings would survive.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge3-2.jpg

Looking back thru this thread however I hope everyone can see that I do some micro-management by planting oak seedlings and spraying around them. If canopy is a problem I use brush nippers and open the area up until the sapling can rise above.

These threads are long but they are chock full of great information shared by a number of knowlegable people, so I encourage everyone to take time to read the "book" rather then just a chapter before coming to any conclusion....:)

[tlambert]

What is your experiences on hinge cutting poplar trees? Do they send up shoots off the trunk like a basswood or boxelder? Will a decent sized poplar survive a hinge cut?




I'm originally from up in west central WI and have a lot of experience with Poplars. From what I've seen, they're going to just break off when you hinge cut them, but you'll get a million shoots that come up off the stump and they grow about 4' or more per year. It gets thick fast.

[letemgrow]

One problem the science of forest management has is the long term rotation of the crop you are trying to manage for. It is easy to see mistakes in managing a food plot because most food plot crop rotations are one year. If you see it doesn’t work you can do something different the next year until you get it right. Unfortunately, timber management mistakes sometimes take 30 years or more to understand the consequences of your decisions. Most foresters have the advantage of looking at many stages of past timber practices on various sites. This gives them an advantage at understanding what result a practice used today will have on a piece of timber 30, 40, 50 years down the road.

Good point farmland,

Since I have more young oaks coming up in the hinge cut areas than I would care to count, a fire will not be ran through there for sometime. My plan is to go back through there in a few years and keep cutting any competition (mainly hickory) around the young oaks, using remedy/diesel mix or tordon to keep the unwanted trees at bay.

After those babies take over and dominate that part of my woods again, I will run fire through there every so often. Before I do that, a forester will walk my woods again to get some ideas before I set the first match. Just like before I started cutting the trees. I had a forester from the MDC walk my woods, tell him what I was looking for and we came up with some pretty good ideas I think. :way:

[letemgrow]

This something else I have popping up all over in my hinge cut areas, I am guess they are black cherry seedlings. If not, sure looks like some kind of prunus species.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Trees%20on%20the%20Farm/TrailCamPics011-1.jpg

[letemgrow]

Here is a seedling white oak growing right next to a hinge cut hickory that never re-sprouted.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Trees%20on%20the%20Farm/SeedlingWhiteOak.jpg

[dbltree]

Could be BC Phil? Not something I have really looked for though?

I walked my hinge cuts and oak savanna with my forester on Monday morning and I have a mess of ash seedlings coming up! :eek: :D

I also have tons of oak seedlings in my hinge cuts and Ray agreed that fire will be helpful to control some of the fire intolerant species.

We also discussed herbicidal control and I may give that a try at this stage of the game in areas around oak seedlings. :way:

[letemgrow]

We also discussed herbicidal control and I may give that a try at this stage of the game in areas around oak seedlings. :way:

That is the route I am going to go in my hinge cut areas since I do not want to run fire through there for sometime. What I really like about the hinge cuts are they create areas where oak seedlings can flourish and not get touched by deer browse or bucks working on them. :way:

[Alpha Doe]

Hey Phil...is that poison ivy in that pic too? :confused:

I don't go anywhere without looking for poison ivy first. Drives my husband crazy...:thrwrck:

[letemgrow]

Hey Phil...is that poison ivy in that pic too? :confused:

I don't go anywhere without looking for poison ivy first. Drives my husband crazy...:thrwrck:

I am sure it is, I have a ton of poison ivy on the farm, luckily, I can walk through it in shorts or whatever without any problems so I dont look for it. Quail sure love it tho. :way:

[Alpha Doe]

It drives my husband crazy....but that is why he got it this past weekend and I didn't. :grin:

Either way it's not good for me...now I have to listen to the fussin'. :rolleyes:

[dbltree]

My wife’s friend Hattie killed this monster 200+ inch buck some time back not far from where we live during a drive in shotgun season.. I suspect if not for that he may have died of old age living in the oak ridges and red cedar thickets of southern Iowa.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/IW%20Album/HattiePeckBuck.jpg

No one picked up sticks or raked leaves out of beds to convince him to stay, but instead left him alone in a fairly large tract of cover not unlike other magnificent whitetail bucks across Iowa. Interesting and elusive creatures that few get to see and even fewer actually harvest, but they leave all of us hopeful for the chance.

How then can we realistically increase our chances of harvesting mature whitetails on our land? Food and secure cover meet their needs but if that were it then we would all have Booners on are wall.

I am blessed to be able to hunt deer for 2 months out of our 4 month season and observe them year around which has allowed me to learn a lot about whitetails and their habits in relationship to habitat. Even at that there is much I cannot know simply because of the nocturnal nature of a mature buck, we can however learn a great deal from telemetric studies done by Dr. Kroll, Dr. Mickey Hellickson, Dr. Mark Conners and others.

Much of it is common sense and anyone having spent much time pursuing mature whitetails can already relate to the following table showing that other then November….movement is between 70-100% nocturnal for mature whitetails..

Table 1. Percent of bucks that leave their home range for an extensive movement. These data are from 15 bucks, all over 2 ½ years of age.
% bucks that move
from their home range day time mvmt. night time mvmt.
Sep 24-Oct 14 13% 0% 100%
Oct 15-Nov 4 40% 30% 70%
Nov 5-Nov 25 58% 73% 27%
Nov 26-Dec 16 20% 30% 70%

That narrows the odds then to a certain time period but how much area does a mature buck use?

Home range sizes for those same bucks at 5.5 years of age was 450 acres

That is pretty typical of what I see in Iowa with larger animals typically living in larger areas of cover where they are completely unmolested. We may attract and hold a mature animal on smaller tracts but when they are most vulnerable they are also most likely to travel and sometimes 10-25 miles.

To complicate matters more it is common for bucks to have 2-3 core areas that may be 1-2 miles apart and again this correlates with my own observations. In spring bucks tend to move out into large fields of CRP grasses, in the heat of summer they may bed in the bottom of creeks on sand bars. Early fall brings about more movements as they prepare for breeding and feed heavily at night. The change between summer and fall is also noted in the QW article

Barn Bucks (http://www.robertsohiowhitetails.com/files/Barn_Bucks.pdf)

The rut has them on their feet and moving in a relentless search for a doe in estrus and little time is spent eating or sleeping as they probe doe bedding areas and quickly move to the next, using their noses rather then their eyes to search out their quarry. The late season finds them actively seeking food sources and traveling several miles if necessary to find it and those that plant only one food source may find themselves left holding the bag.

Once we have a true understanding of a mature whitetail bucks needs, habits and movements and how they change through out the year we can begin to improve our habitat to meet those needs. This same understanding also makes it clear why landowners find attempts at making individual beds ineffectual in actually harvesting mature animals.

So we only have an 80 or 120 acres, how then can we hope to compete when an animal has a 450 acre home range? We can make our property the best piece of that home range and manage our habitat in a way that greatly increase the odds of intercepting that animal during his most vulnerable time.

Here in Iowa large mature animals will often choose large areas of relatively open timber or CRP fields over small thick areas simply because that is where they find the greatest security. In these areas they live completely unmolested and because of their nocturnal nature are seldom seen.

Our mission then is to create that same sense of security starting with shrub and conifer screens around the perimeter of our property allowing deer to feed and move despite roads, vehicles and people. We insulate them even further by planting interior fields with tall native prairie grasses and surround timbered woodlots with conifer screening.

Our timber is thickened by hinging, oak mast increased by TSI practices and food sources are maintained year around by planting a variety of crops planted in safe well screened areas between bedding.

Exactly where a mature buck will bed is impossible to predict but one thing is certain, he will seek out the doe groups and travel during daylight hours in November. In addition other traveling bucks will also visit and all of these deer can be killed by using living tree fences to manipulate movement and vastly narrow and even the odds of success.

Hinging cull trees plays a huge part in all of this but it is only one element, one piece of the habitat pie required to meet the needs of mature whitetails and landowners should use care not to leave any piece missing.

The following Q/A is from Dr. Kroll and his telemetric studies:

Q: How much less active does a buck become during daylight hours as he ages?

A: Once a buck reaches maturity, he might as well be a different species. A mature buck is 90 to 95 percent nocturnal. At an advanced age, he tends to become more foolish, exposing himself to harvest

Q: How much more active do bucks become during the rut?

A: The rut is made up of several phases. What most hunters call the rut is the chasing period, when bucks are visibly pursuing does. The greatest movement increase actually occurs during the pre-rut, when bucks are positioning themselves for breeding. The next-most active period is the chasing phase. The least movement occurs during peak breeding when bucks are "nailed down" with does. The next slowest period for buck movement is the post-rut, when bucks restrict movement to conserve energy.

Q: Most hunters can identify a breeding scrape. Are scrapes an important tool for deer hunting?

A: I pay little attention to scrapes. Most scrapes are worked at night in staging areas. I spend my efforts on rubs, which bucks use year after year. If you map out rubs, you can identify the buck movement patterns on the property where you hunt.

Those answers only serve to further amplify the need to hunt during the rut and to hunt bottlenecks rather then waste time foolishly watching scrapes that mature animals will rarely if ever touch in daylight hours.
If you take nothing else from this at least remember this....during the time when a mature buck is most vulnerable he is least likely to bed at all let alone in the same place and daytime movment will most likely be in and through areas he feels most secure rather then open or edge areas.

Everyone has different goals but if yours is to consistently harvest mature bucks then it may be time to change not only your habitat but the way you hunt it as well…;)

[Sligh1]

Great post above folks should read! I also like the BARN BUCK link- I know guys in IA that find this also, especially in the winter. I have a friend who found 3 sets of sheds in his old barn. Maybe we should be building barns instead of timber work! :) Obviously the barns do a great deal for keeping out of elements/wind/snow, etc & hide deer. Cool stuff.
2 months out of 4 months for hunting? What are you doing with those other 2 months!?!?!? :)
I won't take away from post above, great stuff. I will add that in IA, I've found home ranges to be far less. They have all the cover & food they need + there's so many deer and so many does, I find many bucks have small home ranges. They do on my farm, I can follow a mature buck in a core area for years on my place- not saying he doesn't leave BUT I feel the home ranges are FAR LESS than the vast woods of Canada or where populations or food are much lower.

Another thing that is over-looked or forgotten or maybe folks don't realize- Bucks (deer in general) have personalities - some are aggressive, some are quiet/shy, some are dumb (the ones that never care if you walk by them or are down wind of you), some are crazed over females, some not as much. Some travel like maniacs during rut and others don't. I'll have two 4 or 5 year old bucks on my place and 1 of the bucks I see almost all the time I go out (one year I had a buck I swore followed me- no matter where I was, he showed up) & the other buck I rarely, occasionally never, see. Find his sheds and get nocturnal pics of him and that's it- GHOST. We don't put much pressure on my place- it's just deer have personalities somewhat like people as far as aggression, being shy, sex-drive, curious, smart/alert to danger, etc, etc. Of course some of these traits change with age BUT there's also major differences between different bucks of same age class.

I've pimped my land to have maybe 20-30 good bedding locations, 12 different areas for foodplots, 30 acres natives, year round food with different plots, forest browse. There's not 1 inch of land not doing something to benefit deer and farming or wildlife. I think that's another reason I've found such small home ranges. It also makes it easier to pass a big buck that isn't "quite there yet" which needs another year but is darn tempting. Much easier to help a buck survive, even on small parcels, if you can have the bedding and food during shotgun season when folks are blazing your neighbor's place BUT can't get into your "sanctuary" that gives the buck everything he needs late season to not move as much. Anyways, just my 2 cents. Great post-

[dbltree]

There's not 1 inch of land not doing something to benefit deer and farming or wildlife. I think that's another reason I've found such small home ranges.

Your place is a perfect example of "doin' it right" Skip but you also have a larger farm much closer in size to the "450 acre" home range figure then typical 80's might have.

Do it right though and even small properties will hold some great deer...:way:

[FarmlandQDM]

Here are a few examples of situations where oak regeneration and fire can work and one where it most likely would be difficult at best.

These hinged trees have very little canopy and there is plenty of light

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge1-2.jpg

These are hinged hickories and shingles around a black oak where again it has opened up canopy making both oak rengeration and fire a possibility.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge2-2.jpg


.......



Paul, if you could, re-shoot the above two photos you posted sometime this summer and post them here so we can see what these two spots look like during the summer. The areas I have hinge cut like you show in the above photos look pretty open before the leaves sprout too, but once things start to grow back they quickly choke out most of the light from getting to the ground. Maybe the timber you work with responds differently than what I have experienced.

[FarmlandQDM]

Trying to glean a bit from your experience in setting back invasives and and shade tolerants in oak stands. How many burns (or burn frequency) and how long to eliminate hickory and elm? What size of hickory or elm won't be affected by fire? The Noble consultants made the same sugestion to me and just curious of what to expect and the time frame.

Thanks for your time and input!


There are so many variables that affect fire behavoir that makes it pretty hard to answer those questions. Humidity, wind, fuels, fuel moisture all affect the results you will have with trying to kill hickory and elm.

I have one site with a stand consisting of oak, hickory and elm with an open enough canopy to allow ground cover of fescue(yuck!), some indian/ big bluestem/ switch. Tree dia. of 5" - 18" @ DBH. Seems like a great site to kill elm/hickory with fire but with 5 burns over a 9 year period not one elm or hickory has died ... but I see no elm hickory (or oak) regen so the seedlings outcompeting the grass are getting burned off.

I have another site consisting of oak/hickory, elm, and an understory component of hophornbeam. Heavy canopy with almost no ground cover other than leaf litter. Again tree dia. of 5" -24" @ DBH. Very low 1 hour fuel and an unlikely spot to kill mature trees with fire. I have burned this stand 3 times in 9 years and have killed a few of the larger hickory (16"-24") .... but the intent of that burn was to produce food not kill trees.

In general fire can be used successfully at killing most trees 1" in dia or less if you burn once they have broke bud and leafed out ... this means burning in May through Sept. in SE Iowa. Sufficient 1 hour fuels (grass/leaf litter) need to be present to generate enough heat with the duration to severely damage the bark around each sapling. Over 1" dia. trees are difficult to kill consistently with fire. Fire is great at killing individual trees in a stand (including oaks) but it is very difficult to actually remove entire species (like elm or hickory) from a stand with fire alone. Even repeated burning is marginally affective on most sites. The fuel available around each tree is more significant than the actual species you are trying to kill.

[dbltree]

re-shoot the above two photos you posted sometime this summer and post them here so we can see what these two spots look like during the summer.

Will do Rob...but I have some that are 5 years old and still open as you see in that pic, probably because of less fertile soils then you may have.

I walked all of mine with my forester the other day and he also noted that I do have great oak regeneration in my hinge cuts. I'm not just talking about recent cuts but some that are a number of years old and the oaks are in many cases 6-8' high...above the canopy now.

In all the years I have been doing this (hinging) I have never had canopy so severe that it might inhibit oak regeneration and there are plenty of older pics back thru this thread but I'll will keep everyone posted...:)

[dgallow]

There are so many variables that affect fire behavoir that makes it pretty hard to answer those questions. Humidity, wind, fuels, fuel moisture all affect the results you will have with trying to kill hickory and elm.

I have one site with a stand consisting of oak, hickory and elm with an open enough canopy to allow ground cover of fescue(yuck!), some indian/ big bluestem/ switch. Tree dia. of 5" - 18" @ DBH. Seems like a great site to kill elm/hickory with fire but with 5 burns over a 9 year period not one elm or hickory has died ... but I see no elm hickory (or oak) regen so the seedlings outcompeting the grass are getting burned off.

I have another site consisting of oak/hickory, elm, and an understory component of hophornbeam. Heavy canopy with almost no ground cover other than leaf litter. Again tree dia. of 5" -24" @ DBH. Very low 1 hour fuel and an unlikely spot to kill mature trees with fire. I have burned this stand 3 times in 9 years and have killed a few of the larger hickory (16"-24") .... but the intent of that burn was to produce food not kill trees.

In general fire can be used successfully at killing most trees 1" in dia or less if you burn once they have broke bud and leafed out ... this means burning in May through Sept. in SE Iowa. Sufficient 1 hour fuels (grass/leaf litter) need to be present to generate enough heat with the duration to severely damage the bark around each sapling. Over 1" dia. trees are difficult to kill consistently with fire. Fire is great at killing individual trees in a stand (including oaks) but it is very difficult to actually remove entire species (like elm or hickory) from a stand with fire alone. Even repeated burning is marginally affective on most sites. The fuel available around each tree is more significant than the actual species you are trying to kill.

Thanks for your reply. The fuel in most of our burn areas are leaves, some downed limbs from ice storms and the prdominant grasses are short panicums. So by your definition that would be less than 1 hour fuel load.

Do you have a table or some other descriptive which better describes the fire hour rating of fuel loads?

Anyway, for these burn areas I plan on girdling/remedy-mix or hack/squirt-straight remedy to kill standing elm and hickory to open the canopy before burning. Then before the next burn, we'll evaluate oak crowding and address that issue. Of couse I'll get a forester to walk through at that point as current consultants only provide a 'range management' viewpoint.

Thanks for your time! :)

[dbltree]

This past winter was pretty tough on unprotected oak seedlings with many being severely browsed or eaten to the ground like this one.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/BrowsedOak.jpg

Standing corn, brassicas and winter rye plots all literally surrounding that and other seedlings like it, yet they were not spared.

On the other hand...those oaks planted at the same time in and amongst hinge cut trees not only escaped un harmed but have thrived and are growing well this spring!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Burxgambel.jpg

I tubed some of these trees recently to compare growth to untubed and not one of them had been browsed. I took this pic early in the morning and the light was poor but it still shows how thick it is around these young oaks, yet they are thriving.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Tubedoak.jpg

Interplanting oaks in hinged areas may not be for everyone because it does require some management. I slip in and spray herbicide around the young trees each spring and will do so until they are above adjacent canopy and some may prefer to not enter the bedding areas at all.

The seedlings I plant are fast growing hybrid oaks or Dwarf Chinkapins that will produce low tannin, sweet acorns in as little as 7-10 years and even a dozen such trees dropping acorns in the middle of a bedding area will provide a combination of food and cover that...the neighbors won't have.... ;)

[FarmlandQDM]

Do you have a table or some other descriptive which better describes the fire hour rating of fuel loads?



If you do a search for fuel classification with the national interagency fire center you can probably find something on the different fuel types.

In general wildland fire fuels are broke down into four groups ...
1 hour fuels ... grass, leaves
10 hour fuels ... small twigs, sticks, small pieces of bark
100 hour fuels ... larger sticks to small logs
1000 hour fuels .... larger logs, snags, stumps

the fuel rating is based on the approximate time it takes the fuel to dry out enough to burn under "average" conditions as well as the time it takes to wet and become unburnable ... so in thoery it takes a blade of grass 1 hour to dry enough to burn under normal conditions ... rocket science

[dbltree]

My friend Cory sent me some pics of areas on his farm where he has not done any hinge cutting...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Corybefore1.jpg

Like many woodlots, it 's all open with no cover or browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Corybefore2.jpg

As compared to these pics of areas he did hinge cutting this past winter

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CoryAfter1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CoryAfter3.jpg

Hinge cutting cull trees can make a night and day difference in your deer habitat in months rather then years!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CoryAfter2.jpg

[dbltree]

This spring and early summer has been so wet that growth has been not unlike a rain forest here in SE Iowa! Probably as heavy as could ever be expected in my hinge cuts so I'd like to share some summer pics of hinging done last winter. I also want to address concerns about oak regeneration and how hinging might affect oak seedlings.

This pic is one where I have not done any work and shows the runway that my hinging has funneled deer down. There is little native browse or cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0044.jpg

These are some only yards away that show the tremendous amount of browse and cover that hinging can generate

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0011.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0008.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0010.jpg

Hinging can create a "jungle" like environment that radically changes timber from an open park like area devoid of food and cover to a haven for whitetails!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0016.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0017.jpg

Even if the tree does not remain alive (some will not) the stump sends up an explosion of growth!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0013.jpg

Despite the appearance of thick cover, hinging does create openings that then encourages native plants and grasses to emerge taking advantage of sunlight.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0012.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0022.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0014.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0020.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0021.jpg

Tree seedlings that previously could not survive in the completely shaded atmosphere now begin to grow and thrive. Some good, some bad and that requires some micro mangement to ensure that the species you want will survive and invasives are kept at bay.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0019.jpg

If there are no oaks nearby, regeneration is unlikely unless we introduce oak seedlings, something I have done very successfully. If on the other hand there are parent oaks in your hinged area, there are already oak seedlings attempting to grow.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0027.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0036.jpg

It is a simple task to locate them and hinge trees around them to further open up canopy.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0031.jpg

Growth of the seedlings will be rapid once canopy and competition is removed

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0026.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0032.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0033.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0034.jpg

Even in heavy cover the oak seedlings will surge towards the sunlight and soon rise above the downed canopy.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0039.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0041.jpg

Everything requires managment, every inch of our properties, without it everything from our CRP to woodlots will be over run with invasives. We don't plant a field of clover or corn and then ignore it, we manage it using herbicides, mowing, soil building and so on.

It is possible to use burns to help control invasives in our fields and timber but herbicides are also a safe way to control invasives. Basal bark treatment with Remedy and dsl fuel will smoke any invasives without killing nearby species and easily done with a backpack sprayer.

Even simply nipping off any competing trees as needed will also insure that the right tree species survive within your hinge cut areas. It is important to stay out of hinge areas as much as possible but it takes very little time to do some management versus leaving it alone for years and regretting doing so..... ;)

[dbltree]

I walked in to set up a cam for a friend of mine and couldn't help notice the open park like atmosphere

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1562.jpg

compared to a hinge cut area we had worked on last winter...I didn't want to get closer but you can see the sunlight shining in and simply the fact that one cannot see "forever" as you can in the areas not hinged.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1566.jpg

Many of the new cams nowdays will operate for a year on lithium batteries and hold thousands of pictures on 8G or larger cards. Makes it nice to slip in and set one to monitor and area but not have to be tramping around in there frequently.

I always prefer to set up cams in the same funnels were I will hunt because it allows me to stay away from bedding areas yet monitor deer traveling through the funnels. Since cams can be left for very long periods of time now they can become an accurate means of doing a survey without disturbing deer.

Checking trail cams can become addictive so one must use caution to keep them from interior areas that might hold mature bucks yet still be able to know with certainty what is living and using both your property and bedding areas.

Just like with hunting, use natural screening cover to travel to and from cam setups so that the liklehood of spooking deer will be minimized. Edge feathering along timbers edge can help provide such a natural screen and funnel deer right past a trail cam at the same time. Remember it is impossible to do accurate cam surveys if deer have dozens of runways traveling in and out of your bedding areas and hunting those runways will prove just as frustrating.

Hinging trees to create funnels makes both hunting and trail monitoring via cams much more successful, accurate and rewarding... ;)

[letemgrow]

HInge cuts are also great area to add trailing wild beans too so they can trail up and around the hinged trees to add further benefits. I noticed that on my property after some trees were cut down for a new fence and I sprayed the fescue for a shrub planting. No more spraying that area next year as I will promote the TWB :D

The twb was just starting to grow up this oak stump when I took the pic and had spread over a 4 foot area in a month!!! I expect to the stump engulfed when I go back the next few days.

You may also wanna check and see if the twb is already there, I was suprised to see it in more than a couple spots on the farm so it may be readily available on your property as well.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Wildflowers%20on%20the%20farm/TrailingWildBean.jpg

[dbltree]

Now that the hay is off I took a few pics of an edgefeathered field edge (hinging trees along the field edge). This edge was hinged nearly three years ago although I have done a little work on it each winter since.

The edge is clearly impenetrable and a 1/2 dozen runways were effectively closed off when I had finished working on it.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0014-1.jpg

Deer follow the edge right to one remaining runway, feeding on the browse along the field edge but deer on the other side cannot see into the field.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0013-1.jpg

The ensuing jungle that erupts along the edge creates a solid screen that makes deer feel secure in bedding areas on the other side and allows me to slip in and out unseen.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0011-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0012-1.jpg

I always leave a tree with overhanging branch at the entrance to the runway and they have kept this scrape active for years now. Note the trail cam that accurately monitors movement and gives a better idea what mature animals might be using my property.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0010-1.jpg

a few dollars worth of trace mineral salt tells me about the deer I have and then I monitor the funnels and bottlenecks I have created with hinging to see where they are actually traveling

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Buck16.jpg

Mature bucks are nocturnal and elusive creatures but hinging to "bottle" them up sure narrows the odds... ;)

[dbltree]

Hunting season is barely weeks away for many of us so habitat work will largely come to a screeching halt while we enjoy the fruits of our labors.

One thing that should never stop however is OBSERVATION

We hinge trees to help create thick areas that become safe secure bedding areas that will hold whitetails year around and for the most part we are not going to be invading those areas. Depending on how your land lays however you can use hinging to create travel corridors through narrow natural bottlenecks leading between bedding and/or feeding areas.

I have been lucky enough to harvest a buck or two that showed himself in the waning moments of daylight at a field edge but by and large mature animals are more likely to be killed inside the timber where they feel safe moving in daylight hours. In Iowa where draws and narrow ridges or fingers are common it's fairly easy to set up and not have to be anywhere near their actual bedding area.

Bill Winke and Don Higgins have both written great articles on the importance of creating safe sanctuaries that are by and large left alone especially on small properties and then using great care to hunt the edges or connecting points rather then be tramping in and out of the timber. I follow those same principles and hunt only narrow corridors or creek beds so I do not infringe on a bucks safe area.

Even at that however, a corridor may be 60-80 yards wide allowing an animal to easily pass by out of the range of the average bowhunter leaving one frustrated and dissappointed. I have learned to "cure" that by hinging trees with a plan that funnels deer to a natural narrow area that I can cover with my bow. Those same narrow areas are also easy to slip in and out of and rarely used by bedding deer and that brings me back to my thoughts about observation.

Regardless is you have begun working on creating funnels or not....hunting season is when you learn by observing. If you started work on creating a funnel there may be flaws in it and if your merely curious about starting a project this winter...fall is the time to observe buck movements and problems that you encounter.

I have a trail cam on a corridor that has been up all summer so I slipped in to check it, change the batteries and swap cards.

Standing in one spot I took a pic of the thick hinged area on one side....

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1723.jpg

and the open area that deer use for travel

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1724.jpg

and the well worn trail that is evidence of how heaily deer are using the runway

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1725.jpg

Now keep in mind that this is NOT a bedding area but a narrow area leading between two bedding areas. The thick hinged area provides screening cover and an impossible tangle that deer prefer not to walk thru and that is especially true during the rut when bucks only want to get from point A to B! They are not interested in stumbling around in the brush but instead follow a safe well screened path inside of enough heavy cover that they can feel safe during daylight hours.

I don't have dozens of stands but instead a few well placed stands (for different winds) in narrow areas. I often have only to walk a few feet into these travel corridors and that insures I don't leave a "mark", yet I am still able to hunt deer where they feel safe...in the timber and not on a field edge.

As your hunting this fall...think about how you can utilize hinging, screening and other habitat improvments to funnel deer by you without entering their sanctuary. This winter you can begin to make positive changes that will up your odds of harvesting a mature buck the following fall....:way:

[dbltree]

September 1st 2010

A year ago at this time you could see clear across this draw...now you can barely see more then a few yards in from the field edge! This hinged tree has sent up probably hundreds of shoots from the stump and entire length of the trunk providing both cover and browse!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0262.jpg

It's a little difficult to see through the shadows but there are a whole series of trees hinged here creating a plethora of screening cover and reachable browse.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0263.jpg

Those trees were hinged in very early April of 2010....there is very little a landowner can do to improve their property as quickly and inexpensively as one can by simply getting out the chainsaw... :way:

[dbltree]

I slipped in past an area that I had hinged heavily to create a bottleneck by a stand simply to clip some growth out of the way so I wouldn't be stumbling through it in the dark.

I stopped for a moment to snap a couple quick pictures including this one of two young oaks...a white on the left and a red on the back right.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1775.jpg

While oak regeneration is not my primary reason for hinging by any means, it can be accomplished with a little management by removing competing canopy where hinged tops impede growth of new seedlings.

The hinged area itself now is a dense screen of nearly impenetrable cover that funnels deer past my stand as they travel from bedding to feed.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1776.jpg

Hinged bottlenecks not only make hunting more successful but they also allow us to effectively use tail cam surveys by forcing deer in an out of a few runways instead of dozens. Habitat varies across the country of course but here in Iowa doe groups tend to use hinged sanctuaries heavily while mature bucks are more likely to prefer the solitude of large stands of tall native grasses.

Trail cams at a field edge where a hinged funnel moves deer in an out in larger numbers soon answers the question of what is using your hinged sanctuaries

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/b1-1.jpg

Often some hinged areas have not a single buck traveling through them during the summer months but as the rut approaches....they know where the girls bedroom is and things change in a hurry...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-4.jpg

Remember to keep observing deer as you hunt, look for problem areas that you can correct with a chainsaw this winter, then monitor your deer without invading sanctuaries on your property by using IR trail cams that can last for months without being checked.

Food plots are fun and important but your chainsaw you will find..is the most effective tool in your habitat program.... :way:

[dbltree]

Hinging cull trees is a great habitat improvement because it provides some of the most key and crucial elements that whitetails need...dense, thick, safe cover. In addition it provides browse even from the second a hinged tree hits the ground and with some common sense thought and planning it provides us with another important element...funneling.

Don, Tony, Bill and Jeff are just a few folks we often hear ideas from, some great...others we may disagree with but I think to a man they would agree that providing a safe secure sanctuary and then building into your program, travel corridors that allow us to efficiently harvest deer would be a "good thing".

There is plenty of bad or even worse, false information out there and quiet frankly much of it comes from well known "Deer Dr's" that hunters tend to trust. One tries to convince us that we have grave concerns about brassica toxicity while another tells people that if they double the planting and fertilizer rates in their corn...they will double their yield?!

If those were true then our deer would all be dead and farmers everywhere would simply double their inputs to double their yields! It is important then to be discerning and wise, making common sense choices in our habitat improvement and hunting choices.

Hinging then is a great tool and those in forested areas may need to rely largely on this tool but many of us who live in agricultural areas on farms with mixed timber and fields can utilize a multitude of options to provide those same key elements...safety and security year around.

Our properties should be insulated from roads and people as much as possible and tree and shrub plantings combined with NWSG's are two very effective ways to accomplish this. This is a picture of one of my own farms where I established a windbreak planting through the CRP program 15 years ago and established NWSG's in the same program at the same time.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/IMG_0002-1.jpg

Take note of the wide open fields on the opposite side...common sense tells us which place whitetails would feel safer on. Even if your property is vastly different or all timbered the same insulating effect can be accomplished using edge feathering and conifer planting around the perimeter.

One might argue with almost any consultant about a variety of things but screening and insulating your property and there by creating a safe sanctuary would be unlikely to bring about disagreement.

Travel corridors are a second subject that I also doubt would be cause for argument and the need for them is imperative because it allows us to harvest deer traveling to and from bedding and feeding without disturbing them in either. I've shared how we can create funnels and bottlenecks using hinging but there are also a variety of ways to accomplish the same thing.

A combination of Egyptian Wheat, shrubs and a high sugar ryegrass/clover planting provide an irresistible combination of safe, protective screening cover along with a tasty food source to further entice them. Bucks love this travel route as they circle property perimeters checking for hot doe crossings, they use the shrub limbs for licking branches/scrape sites and follow this right to a runway in a natural narrow corridor leading past a stand.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Egyptian%20Wheat/Funnel1.jpg

Creating travel corridors via chainsaw or plantings is a very simple common sense improvement that is IMO inarguable and a necessary element of your program.

Across the road from my home farm there are bonafide 180-200" deer that never set foot on my place. No one made them a bed, they have not yet seen a single hinge cut nor visited a tied down licking branch. They live there simply because there are hundreds of acres of solid timber combined with large hidden crop fields...the whole thing in itself a safe secure place to live.

There are things then that each landowner must discern for themselves the usefulness of some practices and it is not for me to say yeah or neigh as to the effectiveness. I can only say that while not 200" deer, mature animals do live on my farms and they make their own scrapes and beds.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Target2.jpg

There always exceptions to everything but suffice it to say that most mature bucks will not use scrapes in daylight hours. They rarely move in daylight except for two key times...the rut and late winter when hunger forces them out of hiding. They tend to bed in the thick, tall NWSG's making "bed building" or scrape making largely ineffective here.

If you have property enhanced to give them a safe secure place to live and well thought out travel corridors then bucks will live there and they will be far easier to kill using travel corridors. They will race down those corridors during the rut and feel safe staging in those areas in December when they need to feed and you can get in and out easily with some planning.

There is little need to visually see what animals are doing while hunting nor molest them in any way with the use of inexpensive IR cams. Used over a period of years at bottle necked points, they provide a wealth of information about what is living there, when they travel and which corridors we need to hunt when.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Scoutguard/IMG_0010.jpg

Handy, adjustable mounts allow us to mount cams up high where they have little effect on even the wariest mature whitetail and new models can last a year with lithium batteries and store thousands of pictures on 16G cards.

Common sense combined with factual knowledge gives each of us then, the information we need to manage our property and hunt it effectively. It also allows us to glean useful information from others and decide what elements may or may not be right for us in our situations.

When season is over we'll fire up the chainsaws and begin once again to utilize hinging as a habitat improvement but there is so much more, so many options in addition to hinging that you'll want to consider. Sitting in a tree stand is a great place to do some thinking and planning about some very common sense habitat and hunting improvements you can make in the coming year.... ;)

[letemgrow]

Sitting in a tree stand is a great place to do some thinking and planning about some very common sense habitat and hunting improvements you can make in the coming year.... ;)

That is what always gets me in trouble and I get the big eye with all my,"Thinking and planning" while on the stand. :thrwrck: :D

It really is a great time to see how things look and how the deer are using an area. I know it has taught me where to pinch deer, find invasives and trees to release while not going in more than is needed.

[huntdoc]

My landowner let me know that over next year or so the 2 main blocks of timber that I hunt will be logged. Several trees have rings painted on them. Guess at this point I just wait and see what kind of changes they create? They select cut and although I am not thrilled over the number of oaks that will be leaving, the islands of thick treetops make for good bedding. I hope to hinge entry/exit from these spots to help my opportunities. Nothing stays the same I guess!

[dbltree]

I had to walk along the field side of a hinge cut area to take some soil samples the other day and took a few pics as I did

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0037-1.jpg

This area was hinged in March 2010 and you can see all the new browse and screening cover that has sprouted vertically off the horizontal hinged trees.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0036-1.jpg

The leaves have largely fallen here in late October yet line of sight distance is pretty limited.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0035-1.jpg

We still have some work to do in here but compared to the open park like atmosphere previously the difference is great!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0034-1.jpg

Even though hinging has made a huge difference one can quickly see that if there were conifers such as red cedar or Norway spruce around the perimeter deer would feel even more secure....food for thought in your long term habitat plans....;)

[dbltree]

Someone asked about what the hinge cuts looked like so I took a few pics from my tree stand in hopes it would give a better idea as to the "mess" one can make.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0002.jpg

You can see in this area I left few trees standing

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0003.jpg

and the ground area is a literal tangle of hinged trees and new growth

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0008-1.jpg

These views are from my stand and you can see the -V- shaped cut or open area across from me...open from afar but a tangled mess of hinged trees at ground level.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0004.jpg

The corridor I'm in is between a crop field and my home

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0010-2.jpg

Looking down from stand there are some large trees that help form a fence like funnel that guide deer down the natural runway already there.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0013-2.jpg

You can see here where two runways are funneled together because of my "hinging with a purpose" to block off runways

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0005.jpg

I can zoom in with the camera and look in my garage window

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0009.jpg

The runway is beaten to bare dirt visible behind the tree slightly to the right

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/IMG_0006-3.jpg

Along the natural runway I have left the trees standing so it provides canopy for me above the runway and deer are underneath me before they could possible see me

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/IMG_0007.jpg

It's almost not fair...they don't have a chance...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/IMG_0014-3.jpg

and walk by only 15 yards away

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/IMG_0015.jpg

Now photographs of bucks on runways don't mean a thing but...there no pics of bucks traveling anywhere in this corridor but on THIS runway.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/IMG_0016-1.jpg

How many times have you been frustrated by bucks that are 40, 60 or more yards away running a doe or just cutting cross lots?

It just doesn't happen when one has created a hinged living fence to funnel deer by your stand

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/IMG_0024-1.jpg

I've already taken a buck so these bucks were only "killed" on camera...

This buck is standing exactly where I killed my buck earlier simply because it's the only possible place to come out for 100 yards or more due to my timber edge feathering (hinging alone the timber edge)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B6-2.jpg

In this case an old farm lane runs through a narrow opening between woodlots creating a natural crossing both ways and a ground blind tucked into the brush has allowed me to take several nice bucks with my bow from that spot.

In years prior to edge feathering bucks came out helter skelter all along the lane and small field making it a crap shoot to ever kill one but now...it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

Hinging trees is not only an effective means of creating safe sanctuaries but also an extremely deadly means of harvesting deer consistently.... :way:

[dbltree]

November 22nd, 2010

Fortunately gun seasons here in Iowa are still several weeks away and normal rut activity is still going on and it's a great time to really monitor how the hinged bottlenecks and funnels have been working. These are just a collage of pictures from my stands and trail cam showing some of the buck movement in daylight hours through these funnels

Funnel #1 in a 100 yard wide stretch of timber where hinging has reduced a dozen runways to one...

I've taken pics of them from my stand...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/IMG_0017.jpg

and the trail cam monitors the runway when I'm not there

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-19.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B2-16.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B4-10.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B3-10.jpg

Funnel #2 is a "cross hairs" comprised of edge feathered timber and an old farm lane and I have killed two bucks from a ground blind at this bottleneck.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-20.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B7-4.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B10.jpg

Same runway, different cam position ...(wrong date)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B4-12.jpg

Funnel #3 where I used a shrub and Egyptian Wheat funnel to "lead" deer to small narrow patch of timber and my stand

From my stand...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/11-17-2010Buck.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-17.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B2-13.jpg

Funnel # 4 is a natural funnel created by a field edge and a steep ravine utilizing some minimal hinging to narrow the bottleneck.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B5-6.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/b8-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B4-9.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B2-15.jpg

It is of course impossible to force every deer down any runway but you can significantly increase the odds that bucks will have to travel within 25 yards of your stand by creating funneled bottlenecks. Combine hinging trees with shrub and conifer plantings, annual screens and food sources to bring consistently bring deer by your stand.

I put the telephoto lens on and took more pictures from my stands to give more of a birds eye view of some of the hinge cutting.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0004-1.jpg

It's thick...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0002-1.jpg

but full of little pockets where deer bed

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0003-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0005-1.jpg

Tons of new sprouts and suckers that provide more screening cover

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0006.jpg

and new easily reached browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0009-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0007-2.jpg

When trees are hinged "with a plan" they can easily create the funnels and bottlenecks that bring deer past your stand like those in the beginning of this post.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0008-2.jpg

Hinging offers huge benefits in the way of habitat improvements and increased encounters with mature whitetails.... :way:

[huntyak]

Looks like amazing cover Paul! I hope to "touch up" some of my sanctuary this winter that was TSI'd in 2006 to create habitat as the pictures you have posted depict. Should only enhance the sanctuary as many areas of it now are still too open IMO.

Still, the TSI did wonders for my farm in a very short time.

[dbltree]

Cover

Hinging trees provides browse and creates bottlenecks but the most important aspect is COVER! Despite all that has been said on this subject I still see hundreds of landowners with wide open timber and fields that wouldn't hide a rabbit let alone a whitetail! Right now...everyone has either been hunting or are still and your timber or wooded areas and the lay of your property and amount of cover is fresh in your mind and a great time to discuss the topic in general.

how does one tell which information is useful to them and which is not

Good question because regardless of where information comes from we need to know it is not only truthful and helpful but really in our best interests if we hope to improve our properties for whitetails.

Why believe me...after all, I'm just an ordinary man with an extraordinary penchant for wildlife habitat. How can anyone, anywhere trust or believe that the information I share will actually help them if their goals are to consistently harvest mature whitetail bucks? I share hundreds of pictures of not only the habitat I create or help others with but the whitetails that utilize the habitat on a daily basis year around in hopes readers will see it's not just "talk"...I share.

Yet another way is when multiple people have consistent success utilizing the same habitat improvements that makes things not a coincidence but rather a set of proven principles that can work literally across the country. I have many good friends in the real estate business all of whom have great habitat programs and are very successful hunters but since my friend Rich Baugh ( A recreational land sales specialist for Whitetail Properties) recently wrote an excellent article for QDMA's "Quality Whitetails" magazine called "Cover is the Key" that parallels to a -T- my own thoughts on cover I wanted to highlight Rich and this years harvest.

168" 5 1/2 year old whopper buck taken with archery equipment on Rich's SE Iowa farm

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hunting/Baugh2010BowBuck.jpg

This isn't the first huge buck Rich has taken nor will it be the last simply because he has put together all the elements of great habitat and put COVER at the top of the list, rather then thinking a food plot was the answer. Some people are successful because of intense pressure on properties around them that forces deer onto their place but if you are looking for the very best advice....look to those who consistently whitetail bucks on their property from 2 1/2 to a mature harvest, because f the habitat they have created.

Rich has done that very thing by creating awesome cover through hinging, TSI, NWSG plantings, smart hunting strategies and the use of many trail cams to monitor his whitetails.

This picture is evidence that Rich was able to hold this deer on his farm from 2 1/2 to 5 1/2

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hunting/Lefty-2008-2010.jpg

and then successfully harvest this beautiful buck this fall

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hunting/RBBuck1.jpg

Some of you may have watched Rich take another beautiful 5 1/2 year old buck from his farm last fall, on Realtree TV so it's not an accident or a fluke. I asked Rich for permission to use his photographs and I urge you to read his article in Quality Whitetails, for great common sense information that you will find very helpful. You won't find anywhere that Rich made individual beds or tied trees down but instead hinged on south facing slopes, logged mature trees and hunts travel corridors....just as I do.

So...before I give my friend a big head....we'll move on to the subject of cover and the reasons it works for Rich and I and hundreds of other landowners...

Hinging cull trees and/or killing competition around crop trees (Oaks) via TSI in most cases is one of the most rapid means of improving cover but not a single inch of your property should be wasted. Recently I acted as cameraman for a friend of mine as he hunted his new farm near mine and we watched as more deer then we could count popped out of the thick red cedar/shingle oak bedding area into a corn stubble field. He has only owned the farm a few weeks and is still learning it and planning new habitat improvements.

We looked over an aerial map of the bedding area and he noted a 4-5 acre field of cool season grass (once pasture) that deer skirted and rarely used (observations from his tree stands) so I encouraged him to consider converting the field to NWSG to not only add to his overall cover but create a place where a mature buck, intent on solitude would be inclined to bed. Nothing to do with hinging per se but everything to do with adding as much cover to his property as possible and that means turning otherwise wasted area into better habitat.

As we watched deer pour out of that bedding area we also noted at least 5 bucks that probably ranged from 3 1/2 to 5 1/2....all from one 40 acre patch of cover.

I'm not aware of a single consultant or adviser who would not be in complete agreement that cover is extremely important but there are of course differing ideas or opinions on hot to create the best cover and actually hold whitetails from 2 until maturity. That's the part that many landowners are confused by...they see the buck harvested but no evidence (such as Rich shared) that they had made improvements that keep whitetails there for years....not just when pushed there due to high pressure on surrounding properties.

In heavily hunted/pressured areas like PA and MI even a small property becomes a sanctuary to deer during November but such is not the case in Iowa where nearly all farms (at least in SE Iowa) become sanctuaries. Large tracts of land are purchased solely for hunting and managed as such so 1-2 people are likely to quietly hunt bow hunt 400 acres in Iowa versus 5 people on any given 40 acres in eastern states. That means people like myself with small farms must work even harder to hold whitetails because they don't come here because throngs of hunters drive them here.

My farms are separated so they involve different deer and different terrain but the principles are the same...thick timber created by TSI and hinging, NWSG, shrub and conifer planting, centrally located food sources that feed deer year around and...bottlenecks that allow me to kill bucks away from feeding areas.

I enjoy sharing trail cam pics as living proof that the habitat improvements that Rich, myself and literally hundreds of others employ...work perfectly!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B10-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B11.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B12.jpg

What kind of cover should you have?

Thick! The kind you can't see through...the kind deer feel safe in, that they can see under but you can not see them!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0014.jpg

I'm standing at a fence line taking these pictures of naturally regenerated cover (over grown pasture)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0008.jpg

and what we don't want...wide open timber!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0013.jpg

One thing rich notes in his article is that when deer reach 4 1/2 they stop appearing in the open timber areas of his farm...so this we want to avoid (note some minimal TSI has been done)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0012.jpg

and create this instead

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0011.jpg

I encouraged the landowner to have the forester doing the TSI to do some hinge cutting but because they don't understand it...they just cut it all down!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0009.jpg

The side with the tremendous cover is made even better because it is screened by red cedars

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0010.jpg

There is no need to make deer a bed in a safe sanctuary like this...heck you couldn't keep them out if your tried!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Tree%20Planting/Natural%20Cover/IMG_0007.jpg

When you hunt narrow corridors leading from thick bedding areas to either more bedding or feeding areas you can easily kill mature bucks without hoping they'll expose themselves in open ares before dark. Knowing that there is no real need to "boggle" your mind with minute details abut hunting itself. Create the funnels, hunt the wind and kill some good deer as they travel them...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B3-13.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B3-14.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-26.jpg

If you wonder if you can believe the habitat advice given...look for proof the the habitat enhancements actually hold young bucks like these...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-24.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-25.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B6-9.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B2-20.jpg

until they reach 4 1/2, 5 1/2 and older...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-22.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B7-5.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/b5-9.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-23.jpg

Too many people have "food plot on the brain" and they completely forget the need that COVER is the only way they will ever be able to consistently hold whitetail bucks on their property to maturity. Trust in whom you will and believe what you wish but those pics are from two different farms, each with less then 40 acres of timber a piece...not unlike a whole lot of other farms across the nation........ ;)

[Scott]

I bought my farm this year through Rich and he is a standup guy and continues to be a great resource for projects on my place. I cant wait to start cutting trees. You can have all the food in the world but cover is a big key to raising and holding big bucks.:way:

[letemgrow]

My sancturary is a thick mess of shingle oak, cedars and a few locusts as well. Its time tho to thin it out and I am going to create lines north and south to funnel the deer more to my favor out of that area. Also, thinning will help the oaks produce more as there are a few swamp white oaks mixed in there as well. The red blocks are the sancturaries that I only enter to do habitat work on, the green circles are the stand sites and the green lines are the paths to walk in and out of the stands on.

The thick blue lines are my plans of dropping cedars, locusts elm etc to funnel the deer past my stand sites. TSI will also be preformed again on the good trees growing in those areas. The upside down "V" is used for a gun stand across the creek to the west of the V to funnel them down along the creek instead of just walking wherever they want to in that whole section llike they have been doing. :way:

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/pes1979/Farm%20pics%20over%20the%20years/Sancturaries-1.jpg

[dbltree]

Like your plans Phil! Take some before and after pictures to share later...:)

Here's a couple pics of some timber that's sorely in need of some habitat improvement and it's the perfect size to allow hinge cutting!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/OpenTimber1.jpg

Maple is a pretty invasive tree and while there is plenty of it in this stand, it can also provide some high quality browse when hinged. Right now however it's a barren wasteland for deer....they have neither cover nor browse.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/OpenTimber.jpg

The landowner does have some oaks that could be released by hinging the invasives around them which then becomes a "win win" for both improved timber and greatly enhanced whitetail habitat.

Once hinged the whole area will explode with new browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0009-1.jpg

and deer will feel safe and more likely to bed near feeding areas

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0006.jpg

If timber is too open deer are likely to move far into the interior and that means it's often after dark before they walk by your stand. I've seen deer walk nearly 2 miles to get to cover they felt safe in and that makes them very vulnerable to neighboring landowners as they travel back to food sources.

Provide plenty of thick cover on your property and that's where they'll stay... ;)

[streat]

In places with lots of hedge trees like western Illinois, where do the hedge trees (osage orange) fit into the TSI and bedding area management?

We often cut hedge trees for posts, and the tops can be left behind and the trees regrow vigorously.....but they are hedge trees!

Hedge trees are incredibly tough and thorny, can't imagine even whitetail like to try and move around or through the left behind tops.

Question is: Do you even hinge a hedge or promote leftover hedge tops for cover or is the hedge trees in bedding areas best left alone or killed off?

Thanks for the help! I guess the thorny locust trees fall into the same category, what about them?

[FarmlandQDM]

I hinge cut both honey locust and hedge(osage orange). Osage orange leaves, fresh honey locust sprouts, and honey locust pods are all sought after food sources for whitetails.

[letemgrow]

I hinge cut both honey locust and hedge(osage orange). Osage orange leaves, fresh honey locust sprouts, and honey locust pods are all sought after food sources for whitetails.

I only wish they would seek out honey locust sprouts and pods on my place....I would have a gold mine. The pods last all winter long and I quit cutting down honey locusts since they never browsed them. Deer do tear up black locust seedlings on the farm tho and everyone looks like a shrub.

[letemgrow]

Like your plans Phil! Take some before and after pictures to share later...:)



My other camera is MIA on the farm somewhere... too much habitat work and not enough paying attention to detail. Got a good deal through cyber monday on another camera so I am back, locked and loaded!!! :way:

[IQDM]

Some of you may have watched Rich take another beautiful 5 1/2 year old buck from his farm last fall, on Realtree TV so it's not an accident or a fluke. I asked Rich for permission to use his photographs and I urge you to read his article in Quality Whitetails, for great common sense information that you will find very helpful.

I'll second that on the article! One of the best in recent months IMO! :way:

[huntdoc]

when is the time to start cutting? I may have a chance to cut a few trees in next few weeks if it isn't too early in Winter to bother.

[dbltree]

when is the time to start cutting? I may have a chance to cut a few trees in next few weeks if it isn't too early in Winter to bother.

You can start anytime now...:way:

Let's talk about funnels....what they look like, why we need them and how we can make them...

If you have never been frustrated watching deer traveling down a runway 50 yards away or popping out into the field in a different spot every night....raise your hand! I doubt in a room full of hunters we would see a single hand go up, so suffice it to say that everyone who has ever hunted deer, especially with archery equipment, would love to know that ALL the deer within a reasonable distance would have to travel down one runway.

This is an example of some natural funnels and while this is not my land I have hunted here many times. I have had encounters with gigantic whitetails but never once have I killed so much as a doe in this spot. Look it over and pick out the natural narrow areas we refer to as funnels, bottlenecks and pinch points and pick your stand spot!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Funnel1.png

I didn't mark my stands on this picture but circled a couple narrow spots that naturally bottleneck deer but I also marked the many runways that make hunting even this great funnel extremely frustrating. I hope it is obvious by the way that this spot connects larger areas of timber and during the rut traveling bucks are constantly cruising through here. The question is....how can we funnel them down to only one runway?

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Funnel1-1.png

if this were my farm I would make some fairly simple changes by edge feathering/hinging trees along the line fence (assuming my property was the one to the south). The creek along the west side is naturally deep a with very steep banks so it is somewhat of a natural barrier and open fields to the east tend to keep deer traveling within the timbered areas.

The red line then is were we would hinge to block multiple runways, the blue lines would be lines of travel, the yellow stands for E or NE and W NW winds. The orange lines would be hinged areas that create a cushion around the stands to keep deer from coming in downwind from a field area.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Funnel1-2-1.png

Deer don't like to exert necessary energy and very quickly adapt to taking the "easy way" and soon every deer will travel through this spot just as easily as they did multiple runways beforehand.

Note that the hunter can easily access this narrow corridor without spooking deer bedded in either of the larger timbered areas. If deer were feeding in the hidden bottom field, the hunter can easily slip out to the east after dark without being seen or heard.
Deer can be picked off in a narrow spot like this without alarming every deer in the area and because it's not a field edge, mature bucks are far more likely to appear before dark.

These illustrations are just meant to plant seeds of ideas so that you can first recognize natural funnels and then pinch movement further by blocking off other runways. Hinging cull trees is just one method that happens to be the easiest and most economical way to bottleneck deer and lower your frustration levels next season.... ;)

[dbltree]

What about places with no trees...what then?

Personally I am ethically opposed to using any form of "high fencing" and by that I mean something so high that deer cannot possibly jump over it. Deer being basically lazy however will go around fence that is too much effort to jump over, so knowing that I use 16' foot cattle panels along old fences or places with few trees.

Usually I can just wire them to old fence pots already in place....just slightly higher then the fence and that is always enough to divert deer towards an opening (usually where I lower the fence) leading to a runway by my stand.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0004.jpg

Pretty simple and easy to use and it does provide an option where trees are not...

Some funnels are just amazingly simple....like this spot where I mowed a path through a corn field that never got planted this year. It grew up to a mass of weeds and grasses so i mowed a path from one side to the other and it leads right to food plots and within easy range of a ground blind.

Deer pour down this simple funnel on a daily basis

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0034.jpg

Don't make funneling complicated...it's not...use anything available to block off multiple runways and funnel them by your stand. Make a "mess" and they'll avoid it....;)

[dbltree]

Here is an example of using some natural impediments where only minimal hinging is required to complete the funnel. In this case deer travel from neighboring cover and it's a real hot spot during the rut. There is enough cover that deer prefer to stick to it but not enough that they might bed there. The blue line indicates the road/fence and the green lines indicate a very steep ravine that deer prefer tor to stumble down.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/1-1.jpg

These are some pictures from my stand where elevation helps me show what you cannot see from the trail cam view

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0007-1.jpg

The green lines indicate the ravine and steep cuts that jut up from it, the orange line indicates the runway that brings deer within 20 yards of my stand.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0012-1.jpg

In my Journal I shared pics of a doe I killed that bailed off into that ravine and I had to get my son to give me a hand getting her out of there. He hopped in the sled we haul deer in and rode it to the bottom of the ravine...just to give you an idea how steep it is.

We always want to take advantage of any natural travel impediment that might alter a deer's travel and then fine tune it with hinging or other obstacles.

Behind me is open field that while bucks do cross it obviously during the rut, they usually prefer the safety that the tree cover provides.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0016.jpg

Deer follow a fence row to this point and that's it...so don't overlook some very simple entry points to your property funnels. This one allows me to hunt barely 50 yards off the road so i do not disturb deer in anyway. They don't smell me, see me or have any clue I have ever been there.

They filter in from all points and even follow the road down to the fence jump.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0021.jpg


They eventually cross beyond me and scramble up the steep bank on the other side

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0001.jpg

Until then they prefer to avoid the steep ravine

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0004-1.jpg

These photos from a telephoto lens are probably 50 yards away

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0005.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0002.jpg

This is just a series of cam pics showing groups of deer coming through the funnel one after another

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/2.jpg

One group comes thru and the next ones appear in the background

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/3.jpg

In early fall it is easy to pick does off with out alarming large numbers of deer...I simply wait for a single doe and fawn or the last in the group.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/4.jpg

In late fall into winter I wait for the buck that will invariably follow a few seconds later

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/5.jpg

Not only do funnels make it incredibly easy to harvest whitetails it is also easy to do cam surveys that allow the landowner to know both the quantity and quality of deer that are using his/her property.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/6.jpg

By monitoring and hunting only narrow funnel travel corridors I significantly lower the risks of inadvertently molesting deer. I don't travel any where near bedding or feeding areas so I don't leave a "mark". Hunting strategy then is amazingly simple and utilizing this concept one can follow only a few very basic rules to hunt your property successfully.

Hunt the wind...only and always! Most corridors allow you to have two stands so you can utilize at least two different winds. Because they are narrow in most cases the hunter can access stands or cams without crossing runways or bedded deer. It's simple, amazingly easy and landowners and managers have at their fingertips the means to lower your frustration level and increase your harvest success.

Start with aerial photos, use cams to monitor current travel , observe during season and then tighten up bottlenecks for next season...you'll be glad you did.... :way:

[Hardwood11]

Dbltree: I noticed in the picture of the open fields, you have tree rows planted. Did you plant pin oaks or red oaks in the field, looks like a hardwood that still has it's leaves in December.

[tslc]

Be careful with the cattle panels as deer will hook a back leg when they jump them and not get out.

[dbltree]

Dbltree: I noticed in the picture of the open fields, you have tree rows planted. Did you plant pin oaks or red oaks in the field, looks like a hardwood that still has it's leaves in December.

Those are sawtooth oaks planted about 15 years ago...very much like shingle oak in appearance and do hold their leaves much of the winter. They finally started producing acorns this year. :way:

Be careful with the cattle panels as deer will hook a back leg when they jump them and not get out.

yep...just like they hook their legs in barbed wire fences and die also. Remember I am not "fencing" with these cattle panels but merely diverting deer or blocking off multiple runways. They have no reason to jump them because a few yards away I have the barbed wire fence tied down so they can just step over it...;)

[dbltree]

I really enjoy sharing information with my friend Rich Baugh because he utilizes many cams to monitor his deer and that of course tells him how and where they use his habitat. Rich does have a large farm so he is able to hold mature deer and what he learns from that is always interesting. When you know a buck is residing on your farm you can be patient and allow him to mature and then kill that buck at 5 1/2.

Rich has been making a habit of that for some years now and killed a 191" behemoth recently and Rich shared a little habitat info that affected how and where this buck lived.

This picture of rye in his corn field also give you an idea that he has built the same type of habitat that I do...food sources surrounded by NWSG, surrounded by timber....perfect!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Cereal%20Grains/Rye%20in%20corn%20and%20soybeans/Ryeincorn1.jpg

The larger the property, the more cover we have and the more likely we can hold bucks to maturity. Rich mentioned that "Dozer" lived in a 60 acre timber that is largely wide open partially because it needs to be logged and the market is depressed right now.

Within that 60 acres however he has hinged 3-4 acres 2 years ago and Dozer immediately took up residence there and lived in a 1//2 acre area since then. Rich noted that it is amazing how many deer bed in that hinged area!

Dozer bedded there because Rich had food sources within 300 yards going into winter and with the same thing happening this winter, this buck was easy to pattern. Rich was patient, allowed him to mature, patterned him with trail cams and then killed him as he came out to feed at 4:30 like he had done every day before.

Some of this should be obvious...the importance of hinging to create bedding, how much deer prefer hinged areas versus wide open timber, using trail cams to know what bucks are living there and then pattern them to kill them.

Winter food sources keep deer from moving to the neighbors during the most difficult times of the year and a combination of cover types insulate bucks from activity and they are more likely to stay put. Rich knows the importance of sanctuaries and leaving those areas alone but he also does habitat work, shed hunting and checks trail cams and that activity did not cause these mature animals to leave his farm.

On smaller farms we have to try harder and build the best premium habitat possible to be able to hold bucks to maturity. We have to hunt wisely and funnels allow us to do that without molesting deer in bedding or feeding areas.

The value of a chainsaw then cannot be underestimated but neither should the fact that a complete habitat program that provides year around cover and feed be overlooked.

Rich provides just such a program and even then acknowledges that he has much to do...but then again....don't we all....;)

[dbltree]

Landowners new to hinging often wonder exactly how to make the cut, how far to cut etc. I hope to make some short video clips soon but here are a couple photos to get you started.

Every tree is unique and different but hinging for bedding usually does not require that the tree tip over in any certain direction. I look at the tree first and then begin a cut that will allow it to fall the way it is naturally leaning. I cut on an angle and perhaps 60-85% of the way through the tree.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Cut1.jpg

Often I can give the tree a push and tip it on over...two people can also work together by using a light pole and applying pressure farther up the tree.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Cut2.jpg

Smaller trees obviously are easier and safer to work with and this gives you an idea what the "hinge" is likely to look like.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge1-3.jpg

The larger the tree, the more difficult and dangerous they are to hinge so work with smaller trees first and be extremely careful with larger trees. The are so heavy that when they start to tip, a few may split and send the tree slicing backwards like a giant spear....even if you have a helper there there may be nothing they could do to save your life.

Be safe...wear chainsaw chaps and helmet and don't take unnecessary risks when working in the timber! :)

[letemgrow]

When in doubt on bigger trees, just ring them to be absolutely safe too!!!

[dbltree]

When in doubt on bigger trees, just ring them to be absolutely safe too!!!

Absolutely! About 12" dbh is my max and all the bigger cull trees I girdle...no deer worth dying for!


I'm not the greatest "artist"...(ok...I'm a terrible artist :D ) but here's a rough version of a funnel that i hope shows how I made it such a mess that deer don't bed in the area behind my stand.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Funnelexample1.jpg

I come in from a field and have some trees i have to step over (if you leave a clear path the darn things will follow it right to your stand....)

Some funnels could have stand either side but in this case there was no place for a stand and if there were...getting to it would be dicey.

Hinging for bedding can be pretty "messy" but hinging in the immediate area of the funnel (behind the "fence" hinging along the edge of the funnel) is more then just a mess. In this case they explored it at first and browsed on the hinged tops along the edge but a year later they just travel the funnel and have I have never noticed any in the hinged areas.

All you have to do is...be there...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/B1.jpg

Course once in awhile they get tuckered out and have to stop and rest a bit...right under my stand....

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Campedout.jpg

This funnel is awesome morning or night but I prefer to slip in under cover of darkness in the morning. Either way...thus far I have never jumped a deer going in or out although as that last picture shows...anything is possible....;)

[dbltree]

Sometimes there is a tremendous amount of "hoopla" over the bedding issue, for most of us it's just common sense but some put way to much emphasis on creating a "bed" versus a thick safe sanctuary. Usually the reason for that is because they simply don't understand enough about whitetail behavior, so let's see if we can make a little sense of it?

A mans wife says to him..."c-mon over here big boy and you'll have a night you'll soon not forget"....man says..."nawww...I have my comfy Serta mattress so I think I'll just get some sleep"... :p

Realistic? Possible perhaps but knowing the average man I suspect "sleep" would be the farthest thing from his mind at that moment.

Whitetail bucks....yearlings have a range up to 1200 or more acres while a 5 1/2 yr old may spend his time on 140 acres or less...EXCEPT during the rut! We create thick brushy sanctuaries that hold deer but the older the buck gets, the less he likes being around other deer so he may spend the summer and early fall in a little draw or field of NWSG or in a small area within a larger bedding area.

One would think then that we could pin down a buck and kill him easily if we know where he beds but...the older they get they have this nasty habit of becoming nocturnal, rare exceptions of course but those fellas don't last long. So what then? We have a 4-5 yr old buck living on our property but he won't budge til after dark...but all that changes during the rut! He didn't get old by being stupid so unlike the 2 1/2's he doesn't run along a scrape line before dark like an idiot but he is vulnerable because he is on his feet and moving before dark.

That takes us back to the analogy at the beginning...would we be so naive as to think that from late October to early December that any bucks are going to look for does all day and then scamper back to their "bed" when they get tired??? Friends....these bucks are big and powerful and charged up with hormones that would wear out the Energizer Bunny! They aren't going back to their bed...heck they aren't going to bed anywhere until they are exhausted and at that point odds are it will be with a hot doe.

Cool! So now they'll both run back to the bedding area and we'll way lay em! Maybe...but 9 times out of 10 he'll run her as far away from other deer as he can. Middle of an open field, a little used draw that leads to nowhere and other such places seldom used by numbers of deer.

Cheez Whiz! I did all this work making these bedding areas and now he is no where to be found...yeah...if it was easy we would all have a wall full of Booners.

So....assuming your goal, regardless of where you live is to begin to encourage more/older aged bucks to spend more time on your property and increase the odds of harvesting one consistently...there are things wayyy more important then worrying about making a "buck bed".

Create thick brushy sanctuaries by any means possible, logging, TSI, hinge cutting and planting shrubs and conifers and keep a constant succession of new cover by doing a new area every year or two. Build bottlenecks between bedding areas and to food sources so that ANY bucks that travel your property will be forced through narrow corridors vastly increasing your odds of an encounter with the most mature bucks in your area.

The browse and cover combined with adjacent year around food sources in safe, secure hidden areas well screened from human activity will hold more does then you bargained for. Those does will in turn bring bucks out of the woodwork that will have no other choice but to travel through the funnels to check doe bedding areas.

Spending time on complex, detailed individual beds is neither necessary nor productive because it only increases the time you are in their bedroom. Tip em over and get out!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge2-3.jpg

Leave some areas semi open so deer can move around and travel yet be well screened

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0058.jpg

The cull trees in my area consist of primarily shingle oak, smooth and shagbark hickory, ironwood, maple, elm and honey locust. Of those the shagbarks are the least likely to remain alive while the others, regardless of angle of cut survive with even a tiny sliver of bark attached.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge3-3.jpg

Reducing shading canopy by ANY means will encourage new shrubby/brushy growth that will in turn cause deer to bed and feed there and I emphasis FEED because browse is an essential but often completely overlooked element when dealing with our timber habitat.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinge4-2.jpg

I cannot over emphasis enough the need to use trail cameras to monitor your deer and to evaluate your habitat program, because without this toll you will be clueless as to what is going on. Without cams you have no idea how many bucks are using your habitat...note 3 bucks in a row going through this funnel!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/3bucks.jpg

Without trail cams you are completely in the dark with no knowledge of bucks actually living in your habitat from year to year. So they are important tools to watch young bucks

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B6-12.jpg

become older bucks

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B3-21.jpg

and eventually mature bucks

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-33.jpg

All using the same funnels in and out of the same bedding and feeding areas and ample proof that the habitat we have created is meeting our goals of holding not only more bucks but more mature bucks as well.

Don't fret the small stuff! Life is complicated enough with out adding dribble about making "beds"...make a mess! Log, or hinge a percentage of your timber every year and maintain funnels between them and keep deer adapted to traveling only to your food sources by not forcing them to look elsewhere! The right food source combination's that will feed them year around will in turn give them no reason to leave.

Be safe...hinge smaller trees and girdle larger ones to open up canopy...get in, get out and leave em alone.... ;)

[letemgrow]

Absolutely! About 12" dbh is my max and all the bigger cull trees I girdle...no deer worth dying for!



I agree, it is much faster to just ring the bigger trees anyways....keep up the DIY pics and info for all of us Paul!! :way:

[dbltree]

Every woodlot or timber is unique and different and the quality of timber there may vary widely. When the woodlot is higher quality oak and walnut crop trees then we have to take a different approach then if it is poor quality elm, ash, hickory and maple. Every landowner has different goals, so mine may not be the same as yours so i can only share ideas and guidelines to consider.

Some landowners can not afford to hinge cut trees because they need the trees for firewood and to others growing quality veneer oak and walnut logs takes precedence over growing quality whitetails. There is then, no across the board "right or wrong" way to manage your timber but I always strongly recommend walking your timber with your forester first and have him/her help you establish a Forest Stewardship Plan that will help achieve your goals. If whitetails are your priority, let them know so they can help you manage the timber accordingly.

Open timber is not the best whitetail habitat but it is also not wise to massacre a beautiful stand of white and red oak such as this one. I suggest in a 20-40 acres timber that you may choose 2-4 acres in the center for instance and work on thickening that area up even if you sacrifice a few crop trees and designate that as a safe bedding area.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/IMG_0004.jpg

Right now timber prices are somewhat depressed but...for those with a large percentage of crop trees in their timber I recommend doing some selective cutting (logging) under the guidance of a qualified forester. Removing large crop trees and leaving the tops behind instantly creates new cover that will start holding more whitetails.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/IMG_0001.jpg

In my area one needs a minimum of 10,000 board feet or roughly 50 crop trees before a logging company will consider buying them but that can vary and again, discuss all that with your forester. Whitetails will almost over night begin bedding amongst the downed tops, backing up to the cover they provide to bed.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/IMG_0002.jpg

The tops screen deer and instantly changes the "open" atmosphere where they can be seen for a "country mile" common in open mature timber. Opening up canopy will encourage new regeneration and a more brushy environment that will encourage whitetails to spend more time there.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/IMG_0003.jpg

As with anything there are cautions and continued management is required because invasive shade tolerant trees such as hickory, maple and ironwood may spring up and unless you want them to take over you'll need to eventually go back and hinge those trees.

Other invasives such as honeysuckle may also creep in so never ignore your timber and manage it wisely with the help of qualified professional foresters.

The key is always the same...reduce shading canopy and encourage a thicker, brushy type understory and deer will live there...perhaps more then you bargained for... ;)

[KSHUNTER]

I bought a farm this year that I took possesion of July 1st, soon as I took over I put up a cam over some corn and salt. I think I got a total of 4 deer from July to September, I then put in 5 acres of rye to provide food, and starting in October deer statred pouring in.

I plan on hinge cutting an area this year to start increasing cover and establishing funnels. My question is: Do I create funnels and bedding areas where I want them, or enhance the bedding and travel routes deer are already using?? I didn't hunt the property this year, so I don't know how they travel the property. Im planning on going in after a snow and having a look to see how they are using the property.

So would you create funnels where you want deer to travel or just manipulate the patterns they are already using? Same question with bedding areas.

[dbltree]

I plan on hinge cutting an area this year to start increasing cover and establishing funnels. My question is: Do I create funnels and bedding areas where I want them, or enhance the bedding and travel routes deer are already using?? I didn't hunt the property this year, so I don't know how they travel the property. Im planning on going in after a snow and having a look to see how they are using the property.

So would you create funnels where you want deer to travel or just manipulate the patterns they are already using? Same question with bedding areas.

I start with what they are using and "connect the dots"....enhance the current bedding areas and begin funneling the main runways between them.

Over time you expand the bedding areas and start brand new ones and "tighten" up the funnels as you hunt them and observe "leak" where deer may be sneaking through some where.

If the timber is wide open and deer are just bedding everywhere then start in the center and do some aggressive hinging and work outward from there...:way:

[dbltree]

I recently shared pictures of a violator who in cooperation with a neighboring landowner has been attempting to hunt/drive deer from surrounding farms to his friends property. They are competitive archery shooters and hunt together and have practiced this routine many times until...I caught him on my trail cam.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/2010%20Season/T3.jpg

Without cams I wouldn't have known and the funny thing is that people walk thru the same funnels the deer do for the same reasons...it's easy! Neither people or deer care to stumble through downed trees and brush when they can walk down the trail so funnels make it easy to catch both deer and violators on trail cams and make harvesting a good buck significantly easier.

Violators are everywhere...no state or county is immune so as landowners it's something we have to deal with because it is often a significant problem that many are not even aware of. Wives or friends drop them off so they can hunt through without a vehicle parked on the road, professionals use night vision equipment or simply shoot them from the window during daylight hours.

We can lower the negative impacts of these violators by turning our properties in thick dense cover! Edge feathering to provide screening, hinging to create thick cover within our timber, planting shrubs and conifers, planting NWSG, establishing permanent shelterbelts to screen our property from the roads ALL combine to create a poachers nightmare!

We work hard to create sanctuaries only to have some clown walk through it, we allow young bucks to mature only to have someone poach it during bow season using a rifle. Without trail cam surveillance it is nearly impossible to know what is going on and without top quality dense habitat we only make it to easy for poachers to take advantage of our hard work. Don't dismiss or discount the violator element in your overall habitat goals.

I've shared pictures of boat loads of deer in my food plots...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Cereal%20Grains/Deer%20in%20Rye/Deerinrye1-1.jpg

but food alone will not hold deer on your property! My neighbor called me last night to tell me he hauled some round bales back to his cows in a protected area next to the fence between my place and his. My side is timber and part of it runs uphill and is visible from this remote are of pasture so he commented to me "You know where you cut (hinged) all those trees?"...I said yeah..."I counted 27 deer in there on that hill when they stood up and started moving when I got close with the tractor"...

When you combine year around food sources with year around cover you'll hold deer year around....simple as that... :way:

[dbltree]

I wanted to add a post about a chainsaw cut to the face to this thread...warning...it's graphic!

Chainsaw massacre (http://www.qdmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=38541)

I ordered this helmet with face protection but it may not be worth a flip?

Peltor Lumberjack Series Hardhat (https://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=35700)

If you have a favorite that works well for you please post it up so we can avoid accidents like that post this winter. ;)

[dbltree]

Cover

You can't have too much cover and regardless if you log, hinge or plant shrubs and conifers....creating thick brushy cover will in turn attract and hold large numbers of whitetails including mature bucks.

These are examples of naturally regenerated cover...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Cover/Brush1.jpg

Deer pour out of this cover every evening

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Cover/Brush2.jpg

Brushy shrubby type cover allows them to lay down and see danger approaching

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Cover/Brush3.jpg

and then get up and flee withe cover between them and the pursuer

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Cover/Brush4.jpg

Brush also equals browse and natural browse takes the pressure off from planted food sources as well as keeping them fed through the difficult winter months. Think brush/cover/sanctuary and building better whitetail habitat with it today... :way:

[j d shaw]

here's a trick for thorn trees my dad and I did on the bigger diameter trees.We actually were looking for a way to remove the thorns so we could use the wood for our wood stoves.On the trees that have a lot of thorns on the trunk,take a mixture of 50/50 gas and deisel fuel in a small sprayer and spray around the base up to 4' high and torch them.the oils in the thorns will provide all the fuel you need from there.Do this on calm,damp days to prevent setting the woods on fire!They will burn all the way to the top,it won't get the thorns out on the limbs but will totally clean the main trunks.If using for firewood,let them stand for a few days then cut them down and use the main trunk for firewood.It makes a good hot burning firewood.

[dbltree]

Timber Edge-feathering

Edge Feathering gained popularity many years ago as a means of enhancing small game habitat, especially for quail. It didn't take long for me to figure out it also made for great trail blocking and screening for whitetails!

These trees are often too big to hinge so larger trees I simple cut down and then swing them around with the tractor and loader.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF1-2.jpg

It's easy to see how one can almost instantly block off runways along a field edge over a very long area if you have the cull trees to do so. In my area the combination of sunlight and protection of the tree tops causes the edge to explode with new growth. Blackberries, vines etc. all take advantage of this protected environment to grow and flourish and in doing so only add to the blocking effect while increasing browse along the edge.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF2-3.jpg

Funneling deer out through one or two runways versus dozens makes for more effective trail cam surveys and increases successful encounters in hunting season! Edge Feathering is a win win for wildlife and hunters both!

[dbltree]

Blocking

Can you make an area too thick? You bet! That's why hinging can also work so well for trail blocking!

These pics are an example of a low area that deer crossed randomly across the entire length of it and I set out to prevent that and force them all to travel within 20 yards of a ground blind.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0030-1.jpg

Where deer have the opportunity to bed on any ridge or even a rise they will do so and low areas that tend to be wet will seldom be used for that purpose anyway.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0029-1.jpg

Deer will feed along and through low areas so it's a great place to create browse....note the re-growth sprouting off the stump in the right foreground

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0028-1.jpg

In this case I left the White Swamp Oaks standing and tipped over the shingle oak, ash and maple to make such a thick mess they simply don't go through it. Ridges tend to be less fertile soil so re-growth is often less robust and hinging can be more aggressive.

Regions where the whole area is low land are of course a different story as deer have little other choice in regards to bedding but one can expect more vigorous re-growth once canopy is removed. Depending on the type of trees and stage of growth sometimes small pockets left untouched may actually be preferred so each landowner may wish to experiment and note which habitat receives the most use.

In either event the use of hinged trees to block runways and create funnels is a tremendous tool that can greatly increase your hunting success and provide more effective trail cam surveys.... ;)

[Nontypcl1]

While out do some hinging and planting site prep this past friday I came across a couple areas that are thick with prickly ash. What do you guys think about prickly ash? Is there much wildlife benefit from it? I know a guy can help a tooth ache by chewing on the fruit but that's about as much as I know for its uses:). I've got quite of bit of it on the property in different areas but these two spots are really thick.

[letemgrow]

While out do some hinging and planting site prep this past friday I came across a couple areas that are thick with prickly ash. What do you guys think about prickly ash? Is there much wildlife benefit from it? I know a guy can help a tooth ache by chewing on the fruit but that's about as much as I know for its uses:). I've got quite of bit of it on the property in different areas but these two spots are really thick.


Supposedly birds eat the fruits, but I don't see where deer browse it at all so I have killed a lot of it off in favor of other shrubs to plant. It deserves a spot IMO tho as it is a native I believe.

[Nontypcl1]

Supposedly birds eat the fruits, but I don't see where deer browse it at all so I have killed a lot of it off in favor of other shrubs to plant. It deserves a spot IMO tho as it is a native I believe. That's pretty much what I have seen and the approach I was leaning towards. My forester says they're not really invasive at all but can get thick in certain areas. I'll probably got thru and do a little thinning in the areas in question. I sure wont mind not snagging my pants on them:grin:

[dbltree]

prickly ash?

I like some patches of it...deer seem to like the cover although I wouldn't want 40 acres of it! :D

[dbltree]

The TSI job am I working on now has an area the landowner did himself last year....always fun to see what they look like a year later! The whole place is full of deer tracks thanks to abundant cover and browse from the downed trees and reduced canopy.

Some trees are bound to break off in which case they send up shoots from the stump

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0001.jpg

Others where the hinge remains intact...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0002-2.jpg

send up vertical stems easily reached by deer

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0003-2.jpg

Either way copious amounts of new screening cover and plentiful browse is available

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0004-2.jpg

In the background here you can see the unhinged area and how open it is, devoid of cover and browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0005-2.jpg

Compared to the hinged area where I can see only a few yards rather then hundreds of yards

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0006-1.jpg

He hinged some sizable trees in this area and because of that really opened up canopy!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0007-3.jpg

The leaves are still obvious on this hinged tree!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0008-3.jpg

A chainsaw sure makes a difference in these open timber settings! :way:

[dbltree]

Some pretty good sized trees' were tipped over last year in this hinged area!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0009-2.jpg

This is pretty common when hinging shagbarks...they stay pretty high up!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0013-3.jpg

Simply reducing canopy allows the whole area to become a whitetail haven!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0010-3.jpg

The bed in it and feed in it

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0011-2.jpg

the one thing they don't do however

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0012-2.jpg

is travel through it

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0014-2.jpg

there is a beat down runway following around the exterior but one could easily cut a path through the hinge cuts if need be.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0015-2.jpg

This is the area we are working on now...wide open...no cover...no feed...no reason for deer to be there!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0018-1.jpg

It easy to see how heavily hinged areas can succeed in funneling deer around them so with a little thought you can leave a narrow, natural travel corridor open by a stand. Traveling bucks will choose the open route even though they might at other times of the year bed in the hinged areas... :way:

[ksbooner]

When you hinge cut now, do the trees live better or worse than if you hinge cut when the sap starts running in the spring?????????

[dbltree]

When you hinge cut now, do the trees live better or worse than if you hinge cut when the sap starts running in the spring?????????

I haven't noticed any difference but some species may react differently then others. If the hinge is intact...they remain alive most of the time.

In the timber where I am doing TSI now the stand consists of mostly white and red oaks with a smattering of hickories and elms mixed in. It's already been logged and that has opened up canopy already so my first target is the shade tolerant weed tree...ironwood!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0019-1.jpg

I'm hinging every one of those I see

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0020-1.jpg

and then "messing it up" by hinging some of the co-dominate species like hickory and elm

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0021-1.jpg

Some places are thicker

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0022-1.jpg

others not so much simply because there is not much to work with

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0023-1.jpg

TSI is crop tree release that in cases like this is primarily weed tree removal and under the cost share agreement there must be a minimum of X number of crop trees per acre so the forester sets guidelines in the Forest Stewardship Plan that we must follow to receive cost share.

It is important when we have good oak and/or walnut stands not to destroy the stand itself and opening up canopy too much can do just that. Open grown oak seedlings will have poor timber value because they will have limbs instead of a tall straight trunk (open grown oak = Savannah oak)

Every timber is different and for that reason being guided by a competent forester is extremely important :way:

[ksbooner]

Do you work with yourself or do you have someone that helps you?

Would hinged trees live longer if someone was pulling them over while you were cutting with a homeade tool that is about 6 foot long with a "u" shape end to grab onto the trees up high?

Maybe if the tree doesn't live that is no big deal because it would allow more sunlight to the ground?

Why is it better if the hinge cut trees live?

THANKS A TON DBLTREE! YOU TRULY ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dbltree]

Do you work with yourself or do you have someone that helps you?

Would hinged trees live longer if someone was pulling them over while you were cutting with a homeade tool that is about 6 foot long with a "u" shape end to grab onto the trees up high?

Maybe if the tree doesn't live that is no big deal because it would allow more sunlight to the ground?

Why is it better if the hinge cut trees live?

THANKS A TON DBLTREE! YOU TRULY ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The hinged trees just provide more cover and browse because they send up vertical stems that deer can feed on but...the stump will send up many new stems as well so it's not a huge problem if they break off.

The hinged trees also provide cover in and of themselves because they are off the ground as you can see by the pictures. If the hinge remains intact they will almost always live...if the tree breaks off obviously only the stump remains alive.

Opening up canopy is really the main advantage here and yes...you can have someone help push them over but the weigfht of the tree may still cause it to snap off. Start with smaller trees first and try to steer clear of hinging larger trees for safety reasons. I have hinged some 12" trees but 4-8" are safer and easier to work with...;)

[dbltree]

Another day of TSI/hinging...girdling larger trees to release crop trees and hinging smaller weed trees

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0018-2.jpg

It doesn't take long to turn an open area

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0019-2.jpg

into a dense thicket of cover

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0020-2.jpg

That will erupt with new growth this spring

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0021-2.jpg

Allowing sunlight to the forest floor will allow young oaks to survive and plenty of forbs and new browse to grow.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0022-2.jpg

I have cut for 2 weeks straight from dawn til dark, a vary diverse species of trees and thus far not a single tree has done anything but tip over. The angle cut keeps them from tipping backwards and they simply fall over but please be safe an start with smaller trees first. Experiment with the species of weed trees in your timber and decide which method of cut seems to work well for you.

Remember chainsaw chaps, helmet with face protection and if possible wait for warm days without snow. It is important to be able to move back and snow can make it slippery and easy to loose your footing, especially on steep slopes common here in SE Iowa.

Ice cleats on your boots can be helpful when working in snow so consider giving those a try and if at all possible, take someone with you for safety reasons..... :way:

[dbltree]

Just a few pics of the hinges themselves from the job I have been working on lately...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1977.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1978.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1984.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG1985.jpg

I work fast and furious because I have so much to do but those who have more time and help can play around and experiment with different cuts, heights, direction of fall etc. and see what works best for them and then...check back next winter and see if any of that really made a difference to the deer or not? ;)

[dbltree]

Here is a point of view from a forester on the subject of hinging, obviously different but with some valid points that landowners should consider.

Hinging offers instant cover regardless if the trees live or not but the "mess" it creates is a forester/loggers worst nightmare. It is important to not destroy valuable tree species and also important to recognize that properly done TSI (girdling cull trees) will also make a profound difference in the understory with a marked increase in cover and browse.

I share this article simply to offer another view (not my own) to help landowners understand the options, especially those who prefer not to have their timber look like a tornado went thru it as most of mine does....;)

HINGING –

Hinging is the term used for the practice of partially cutting through a standing tree until the tree crown falls while leaving as much connective tissue intact as possible between stem’s portions above and below the cut. The objective of the practice is to develop quick cover while retaining a partially live crown resulting in a ‘green brush pile’. This is a useful tool for field edges, and when used in moderation and with knowledge aforethought, within the interior of woodlands. I have seen this practice misused so many times, though, that it makes me cringe. Believe me, any fool can buy a chainsaw and make a mess and this seems to happen most often when a landowner reads some magazine or other reference which refers to hinging as THE way to make cover. The real problem is that there is usually no foresight and little knowledge used when applying the practice.

Oftentimes, only a portion of the crown of a hinged tree remains alive because too small a percentage of tissue at the hinge remained intact and undamaged. Then only sprouts from the cut surface, bole and base of the tree remain. The sprouting capability of a tree stem decreases as it grows larger in diameter. The sprouting capability of a 3-inch diameter stem, for example, is roughly 3 times what it is for a 10-inch diameter stem of the same species. Also, sprouting vigor varies from one tree species to another. The sprouting properties of trees are used as a tool in some forestry applications. However, when sprouts are touted as browse material for deer, one important consideration is usually forgotten – with hinge cuts, the sprouts will soon grow above browse height unless the deer concentration is exceedingly high and the number of hinge cuts is low. Once above browse height, the sprouts present a problem. Sure, they’re still making a mess but they soon grow into larger stems which serve little purpose for any wildlife species and adversely affect any desirable tree regeneration which may develop. Sprouts growing from the edge of a cut surface are weakly attached and as they grow in diameter they are increasingly prone to breaking off. Any portion of a crown which does remain alive usually declines over time. The lifespan of these damaged trees is shortened by disease and breakage and seed production is undependable. A site which has been laid waste to hinged trees resembles an early succession stand of young trees and shrubs (thick cover) but it is much less likely to succeed into a desirable stand with desirable tree species. It is also difficult to go back into the hinged site and correct the situation.

Timber stand improvement is the term used for a collection of woodland management practices used to alter a woodland for a multiple of landowner objectives. Thinning, crop tree release, weed tree removal, site preparation for natural regeneration and crop tree pruning are the t.s.i. practices most commonly used in southern Iowa. Application of some or all of these practices is the alternative to making just hinge cuts when quick cover is an objective. T.s.i. will result in a greater variety of groundcover, a thicker understory (cover) resulting from increased exposure to sunlight, increased regeneration of desired tree species, increased mast production for wildlife, reduced regeneration of undesirable species, and increased income potential. An example of a t.s.i. practice: Selectively release desirable species, e.g. white oak, black oak, by deadening competing trees of less desirable species. Some of the smaller competing trees and weed trees could be hinged during the dormant season while others could be felled during the growing season to provide some thick cover for bedding and turkey nesting the following season. The rest of the trees to be deadened, especially ones larger than 10 inches d.b.h., could be double-girdled or frilled and left standing to serve as snags for woodpeckers as well as other insect-foraging birds and for secondary nesters which use excavated woodpecker holes such as nuthatches, chickadees and flying squirrels. These activities still result in thick cover but the t.s.i.-treated stands, as opposed to hinged stands, will continue to develop into desirable stands. Timber stand improvement practices, when coupled with a multiple of objectives including wildlife, benefit a lot more species of wildlife than just deer and turkey.

Getting back to the subject of hinging, if you are going to make a hinge cut under any circumstance, be sure you know your tree species so that you retain those species which are of the greatest wildlife and commercial value. With that in mind, also be aware that a woodland with a good diversity of tree and shrub species is much more beneficial to a wide variety of both game and nongame species than one which is predominantly 2 or 3 tree species with a thin shrub understory. Don’t target a tree species for reduction or elimination unless it is a problem species such as ironwood or black locust. I commonly see shagbark hickory deadened through a woodland because the landowner ‘learned’ that hickories are worthless and that getting rid of hickory is the way to help out the oak resource. This rationale uses too broad a brush. Hickories serve a lot of wildlife species, too, though not so many as the oaks. Instead of targeting hickory in general, release oak crowns as they need it and make openings where less desirable species such as ash and elm dominate locations next to oak seed trees.

When making a hinge cut, the percent of stem circumference which remains intact will determine how much, if any, of the felled crown will remain alive. The greater the lean of the stem from a vertical plane, the greater the success because a greater percentage of the total circumference will remain intact and unruptured. The smaller the stem, the greater the success. Timing is important, too. The tree must be dormant. Mid to late winter is better than mid to late fall. Avoid making the cuts when the temperature is really cold because the tissue is more likely to fracture rather than bending at the ‘hinge’.

If you plan to hinge some trees along a woodland edge to favor upland game, consider a two-step approach. During the spring or summer before the winter in which you’ll do the hinging, identify the trees you plan to hinge. Identify where a tree’s crown will fall and then, using any glyphosate-based postemergent herbicide (e.g. Roundup, Cornerstone and others), spray an area at least 50% larger than the crown size. The resulting weed growth which will develop after the grass dies will be much more useful to quail and pheasant chicks than the dense grass cover would have been. Broadcasting some ladino or red clover seed into the sprayed areas would also benefit chicks because they require high-protein insects for early development and insects are attracted to legumes.

Duane Bedford
Retired District Forester
Chariton, Iowa

[Shedhuntermd]

Thanks great info, now to sell my land owner on it :)

[dtr]

Thanks for sharing that info Paul.

Duane makes some very important points that we need to consider. I personally feel that a combination of girdling and hinge cutting is important. I prefer to have a traditional "TSI" (primarily girdling) done on my entire timber and hinge cutting done in areas where I want to create immediate/long term bedding areas.

Every timber is unique and all landowners don't have the same objectives. Having someone like you or a forester involved in developing a forestry plan is very important before getting started.

Great info and thanks for all the time you dedicate to helping educate us!

[dbltree]

There are many reasons to hinge trees or open up canopy to increase the density of lower understory, but providing safe bedding is perhaps one of the more important reasons. Where then do deer like to bed? What common denominators are there that cause them to choose and particular spot to lie down?

Working on TSI projects across southern Iowa gives me a broader view of such things then we might normally get from just our own land and the following are beds I stumble upon while marking crop trees.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG2009.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG2008.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG2007.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG2006.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG2005.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG2004.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG1999.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG1998.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG1996.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG1995.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Natural%20Beds/CIMG1994.jpg

So what do all of those beds have in common?

Elevation and in almost every case they preferred to have their backs against either a tree or a small downed branch or log. A couple were under a cedar tree but I suspect they were more interested in the tree trunk itself rather then the overhanging branch.

Those are just natural beds and these deer did have plenty of other options. Observe the natural bedding habits on your property this winter to keep some perspective on your hinging projects and note their choices after you hinge as well. After years of observation and hinging trees I have found only one bed under the trunk of a hinged tree while all others (depending on the slope) were backed up to the downed tree or laying above it (overlooking the downed tree)

When confronted with danger deer must be able to leap to their feet and make a hasty and unimpeded escape, laying under something might be akin to us trying to escape from under the kitchen table....just food for thought but as always, make your own observations on your property and then make the habitat changes you feel will be most effective.... ;)

[dbltree]

On good soils with plenty of moisture, regeneration can be rapid once canopy is opened up via hinging or TSI! These little red cedars are only a year old and popped up everywhere after I hinged the area quite radically.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_0014.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_0014.jpg

in 8-10 years I'll have to thin these or they will end up being way to thick

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_0016.jpg

Lacking seeding trees you can easily interplant conifers into your hinged areas to vastly improve your bedding areas

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_0017.jpg

Oak regeneration is also rapid where seed trees are present

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/CIMG1969.jpg

In many areas I go in and hand plant oaks among downed tops

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/CIMG1967.jpg

These however are all naturally regenerated seedlings that will also have to be thinned every 10 years or so

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/CIMG1966.jpg

The oaks will be heavily browsed when small so they are multipurpose when small and thinning should not be done to early. Open grown oaks will have poor timber value so once again follow a foresters advice and thin at the proper stages.

You can combine a couple EQIP/WHIP practices to thin weed trees (via hinging) and then plant/tube/herbicide seedlings in the thinned areas.

FOREST STAND IMPROVEMENT-Practice Code 666-Manual control of undesirable woody species (weed tree removal or weeding) on forest land. $113.00 per acre
TREE / SHRUB ESTABLISHMENT-Practice Code 612- Field planted to trees and shrubs for wildlife habitat
and/or timber production. $270 an acre (canopy cannot be greater then 25%)

[dbltree]

Here's a series of pics from a stand of mostly shingle oak a year after hinging...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0001-1.jpg

Tremendous amount of screening cover and browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0002-3.jpg

The stumps send up new growth that is really more valuable then the hinged tree

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0003-3.jpg

and the opened/reduced canopy allows the whole area to explode with new cover and browse, while the adjacent oaks acts as seed trees to encourage oak regeneration.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0004-3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0008-4.jpg

The whole place is full of tracks and beds where there was little activity previous to hinging

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0009-3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0010-4.jpg

You can see the young red cedars coming up as a result of the open canopy

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0019-3.jpg

We have 2 feet of snow and a week ahead with temps dropping near minus 10 every morning so browse is essential this time of year!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_0018-3.jpg

Each tree species reacts differently to hinging and not all will produce the kind of growth you see on those shingle oaks. Maple trees don't hold their leaves but do send up plenty of high protein browse so each has advantages. Those species that do not hold their leaves only make adding conifers even more important, so give some thought to inter-planting some cedars or spruce trees if your timber is lacking this element.... ;)

[dbltree]

I've always had Poulan saws but I bought a new one 3 weeks ago and it blew an oiler pump within a week and yesterday broke the drive shaft so I picked up a Jonsered saw and they promised me they are way more reliable then the Poulans.

Jonsered (http://www.usa.jonsered.com/)

Stihl is a great saw but a little pricey and the dealer/service centers are not convenient for me. One thing is certain, running a saw day in and day out working TSI projects will put it to the test, so we'll see how it does. The Poulans are probably fine for weekend use but I'm sure not happy with the ones I have for commercial use.... ;)

[KSHUNTER]

You should be happy with the Jonsered, I have several buddies that run them, and run them hard. They sell hedge for extra cash in the winter(a lot of it), and they are hard on stuff. If they were not tough saws, they would not be running them.

I was going to buy one for use on my farm, but my wife bought me a Stihl for Christmas. Were lucky that service centers are close for both saws.

[Qdmaer]

Just bought a stihl farmboss, so far it pretty sweet.:drink2:

[dbltree]

Just bought a stihl farmboss, so far it pretty sweet.:drink2:

The red saw performed flawlessly yesterday but I will say if my local service/sales shop had sold Stihls I would have owned one...:way:

[LANDROBBER13]

First, thank you for all you add to the site. I've used some of your information and have found it very beneficial.
Concerning saws, I think you'll be very happy with the Jonsered; we did away with the Poulans and Homelites in the 70's, started with the Jonsereds in the 80's and by mid 80's switched to Husky's for heavy cutting and Stihls for climbing and continue to the present with this system. As a forester/arborist I think all three are fairly similar and it just comes down to preference and SERVICE. Thanks again for your help.

[dbltree]

First, thank you for all you add to the site. I've used some of your information and have found it very beneficial.
Concerning saws, I think you'll be very happy with the Jonsered; we did away with the Poulans and Homelites in the 70's, started with the Jonsereds in the 80's and by mid 80's switched to Husky's for heavy cutting and Stihls for climbing and continue to the present with this system. As a forester/arborist I think all three are fairly similar and it just comes down to preference and SERVICE. Thanks again for your help.

Good information...thanks!

The little red saw has been getting a work out!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Equipment/Jonsered.jpg

The knee deep snow has been tiring to work in and I'm grateful for the warm weather!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Equipment/Kneedeep.jpg

How many trees can one hinge in a year...in a lifetime? I'm not sure but thousands in a year I am certain, all of them cut on an angle like this

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2130.jpg

Cutting on an angle has proven to be the safest and most effective means of hinging for me. The tree can only go one way and if it tries to tip the wrong way it simply comes to rest against the bevel and I let the wind take it on over.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2131.jpg

This is a solid 12"+ tree easily and safely hinged

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2171.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2170.jpg

I have completed over 130 acres of TSI/hinging this winter alone not including my own and I have nearly 50 acres yet to do so it stands to reason I would not be foolish enough to work all day alone hinging trees by any method other then the safest one.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2059.jpg

Working on different farms with different species on everything from low lands to steep ridges gives me a unique perspective that few will ever experience

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2066.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2068.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2080.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2081.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2084.jpg

Any time we so much as fire up the chainsaw there is inherent danger, so there is no such thing as "safe", only methods developed over decades of hinging trees that give me confidence that I am using the method safest for me.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2085.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2089.jpg

Severe cold weather is the #1 reason trees break off so whenever possible work on hinging on warm days during the winter months

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2090.jpg

Working during the summer and fall months increases the likelihood of infections such as oak wilt so winter and very early spring is best and all it takes is a sliver to keep the tree alive...note the white oak that I released and protected with the hinged tree.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2105.jpg

When you can work with a friend, then using a push pole can be helpful but there are also dangers involved with two people. The person cutting can simply step aside and is intimately familiar with the "feel" or "reaction" of the tree to the saw. In a split second I can move safely aside but a second person attempting to push the tree and concentrating on that can be at risk, so just be cautious in these situations not to "bite off more then you can chew".

Hinging professionally gives me the opportunity to share many facets of hinging and timber management and there is no better time to share pictures and information then winter, so I'll try to post more pics each day. TSI, blocking, funneling, stand setups, browse, hinging red cedars and more will be shared so...stay tuned... ;)

[Nontypcl1]

What have you guys found to be the best bet for killing shagbark hickory in the winter? I've been hinging tons of it but now I've got into an area where there are too many crops trees to safely hinge most of them. I double girdled numerous but have to say with so many hickories in this area I start getting dizzy after a while. Will a hack and squirt work using tordon or straight gly? Any other suggestions?

[dbltree]

What have you guys found to be the best bet for killing shagbark hickory in the winter? I've been hinging tons of it but now I've got into an area where there are too many crops trees to safely hinge most of them. I double girdled numerous but have to say with so many hickories in this area I start getting dizzy after a while. Will a hack and squirt work using tordon or straight gly? Any other suggestions?

Either of those options will work but I usually use Tordon RTU on hickories...they die hard!

Trail Blocking

Used as part of creating or enhancing a funnel, trees can be hinged to literally block off runways you don't want them to use. These are a few examples.

Before

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0033.jpg

After

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0037.jpg

Before

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0035.jpg

After...large shingle oaks and small red cedars hinged

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0040.jpg

Before

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0034-1.jpg

After...note hinged trees beyond the edge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0038.jpg

No better time to check for "extra" runways then winter when snow cover makes things very obvious and easy to block off! :way:

[dbltree]

Hinging cedars

Haven't tried it before so I decided to give it a shot

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinging%20Red%20Cedars/RC1.jpg

Not sure what the long term result will be but I'll keep you posted!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinging%20Red%20Cedars/RC2.jpg

Red cedars often get too thick and need to be thinned so I'm curious how these trees will react to being hinged?

[Qdmaer]

Dbltree, I have a lot of pin oaks that are park effect and i wanna hinge to thin and get better acorn production. I basically want a hinged bedding area underneath properly spaced oaks. What distance should i space my better crop trees at to also have good sunlight to the ones i hinged? Thanks

[dbltree]

Dbltree, I have a lot of pin oaks that are park effect and i wanna hinge to thin and get better acorn production. I basically want a hinged bedding area underneath properly spaced oaks. What distance should i space my better crop trees at to also have good sunlight to the ones i hinged? Thanks

Do a 4 sided release..in other words make sure there is clear canopy on all for sides by either hinging or girdling competing trees. I'll be posting more info in the TSI thread soon but look for the best crop trees with a full round shaped crown versus a thin spindly crown.

Look for tall healthy, strong crop trees to release...:way:

[dbltree]

Timber Edge Feathering

Edge Feathering in an excellent way to block runways, increase screening and browse as well

Tipping over cull trees along the timber edge blocks off runways immediately

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_0048.jpg

Not real important if they are hinged or not

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EF1.jpg

The tree will block runways for years and new growth will explode all along the edge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_0058.jpg

This is 4 year old growth

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_0059.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_0060.jpg

Heavy blackberry growth makes a gnarly and impassible mess that helps funnel deer to the runway left open.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_0047.jpg

Federal cost share is available to boot! Block the excess runways, feed deer and screen their bedding areas and get paid to do it...sweet!

EARLY SUCCESSIONAL HABITAT DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT
Practice Code 647
Timber Edge Feathering:
Management for early plant succession to benefit
desired wildlife communities and increase structural
diversity/habitat using timber edge feathering as the
primary management tool.

$145.50 acre EQIP/WHIP

[IQDM]

Hinging cedars

Haven't tried it before so I decided to give it a shot

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinging%20Red%20Cedars/RC1.jpg

Not sure what the long term result will be but I'll keep you posted!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hinging%20Red%20Cedars/RC2.jpg

Red cedars often get too thick and need to be thinned so I'm curious how these trees will react to being hinged?

I don't have any red cedars where I am,:( but I have tried to hinge a pine or two... Hinging didn't for me with pines...:mad:
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00646.jpg
But what did seem to work is when I took my Gehl skid loader and pushed this pine over. Leaving the trunk whole, I was able to just pull some of the roots up.
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00648.jpg
I know that this isn't a very practical way to do things, but for trees that just don't like to be hinged, it may be the only way?? This pine has been alive for 2 years like this.
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00650.jpg
While edge feathering/blocking field entrances I tipped over a couple poplar trees using this push method... I have had little luck hinging this type of tree and will keep you posted as to if this works or not. :confused:
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00660.jpg

[IQDM]

Here is a before after picture of my field entrance blocking...
Before
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00656.jpg
After
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00659.jpg
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00658.jpg
This edge feathering was done 2 weeks ago, but as of the next night deer were filing around the ends of this field block right past the stands on each end...
Also it is amazing how fast they start to browse on the downed tops! 2 weeks and most of the twigs look like this!:way:
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00665.jpg

[dbltree]

Great pics IQDM...thanks for posting!!

Funnels

This sketch shows how I laid out a funnel and perhaps the following pictures will make sense after looking at it. The brown line is the path I use, not the lines where deer use to travel and the only one left that they are forced to use now.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/FunnelIll1.png

The first pics are of the north fence line and show fence crossings and runways I blocked off

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0004-2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Fence1.jpg

I had this blocked off last year but a few deer started slipping through the cracks so to speak

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Block1.jpg

I severely hinged shingle oaks to create a living fence and close off any remaining spots they might slip through

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/Blocking1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0005-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/IMG_0006.jpg

This leads along the fence line to the main runway that leads under my stand and creates the -L- shaped funnel

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F8.jpg

My stand on the funnel, note the trees left standing behind it so I am not silhouetted

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F5-1.jpg

Base of the stand tree with runway to the far left

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F3-1.jpg

"Mess" behind the stand tree to keep deer from traveling behind me

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F4-1.jpg

Main fence crossing

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F6-1.jpg

Main runway leading past tree stand

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F1.jpg

Elevated cam to monitor runway.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/F2.jpg

Few late winter bucks using the funnel

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B2-33.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B3-25.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/B1-42.jpg

and boat loads of deer

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Deer1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Deer2.jpg

Eventually deer adapt to using the funnels and the need for complicated hunting strategies vanishes, hunt the wind and kill em when the walk by. Simple and effective! :way:

[dbltree]

Overhead cover

As I have shared with pictures of natural bedding choices, whitetails may or may not choose overhead cover for various reasons. When the can, they often choose to lay under the overhanging branches of red cedars or shrubs in my area but at the same time some prefer open ridge tops where they can see danger approaching, using little more then a downed log or branch as cover.

When hinging I find it's hard not to create some overhead cover if there is enough trees to hinge, but that varies widely with the type of trees, soils and maturity of the timber. The following are from two different farms that I have done TSI or Weed Tree Removal (via hinging).

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2169.jpg

I typically hinge trees at waist to shoulder height depending on the situation, because often the ground is very steep and getting around on slippery snow/mud covered slopes can be treacherous.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2170.jpg

Where there are lot's of trees the hinged trees will land on uncut trees forming an overhead canopy

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2213.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2221.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2230.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2232.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2234.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2242.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2245.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2247.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2231.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2233.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2240.jpg

Often deer use hinged trees as a screen rather then overhead cover and I found this shed

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2252.jpg

In a bed on this side of this old log where he was able to lay in the sun and see down the slope

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2254.jpg

These pictures are from a friend who killed a 191" buck this winter that had spend the past several years living in these hinge cuts

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/H1.jpg

There is little if any overhead cover but the downed trees and subsequent re-growth provide cover in an otherwise wide open, very mature oak wood lot

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/H2.jpg

Every timber is different and each landowner may have different species and terrain to work with but even if the place is clear cut, the resulting regrowth will attract and hold whitetails.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/H3.jpg

Adding conifers to hinged areas can increase screening and thermal cover and make a huge difference in holding deer. When possible hinge trees high enough that they provide overhead cover as well as screening but use caution and put safety first! :way:

[dbltree]

Recent pictures from the weed tree removal job I'm, working on now...plan calls for all weed trees (virtually everything but oaks and walnuts or trees over 14" DBH) to be felled...perfect situation for hinging! Some trees will be treated but others will be left to re-sprout but in either case it's also a great time to do some fantastic trail blocking!

Clumps of American Basswood...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2266.jpg

Shagbark and shellbark hickories

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2269.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2268.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2267.jpg

Some areas are almost solely shingle oak that looked like this

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2270.jpg

But I can completely block off multiple runways by hinging all these shingles

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2271.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2275.jpg

You can also see how this screens the deer bedding on the back side from the landowner entering via a trail thru the timber

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2276.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2277.jpg

The terrain varies of course and the large white and red oaks tend to be up higher on the ridges, so killing the understory will encourage oak regeneration. Deer love to feed on and bed in young oaks so this is a win win for both whitetails and the timber itself.

A friend wondered why I cut a black walnut in a previous picture and here's an example of why...can you pick out the black walnuts and the burr oak??

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2278.jpg

We have two black walnuts and a nice burr oak in a spot you could cover with a coat! Always we are releasing crop trees and in most cases we choose oaks over BW or better BW's over ones with poor form. In this case the burr gets the nod because both BW's have not the greatest form and in this area, there are BW's a plenty but very few burrs....all things to consider

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2278-1.jpg

Black walnut

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2279.jpg

Burr Oak...note that you have to be able to identify species even at young ages and without leaves!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2280.jpg

Can you see the shed?

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2272.jpg

I leave whatever I find for the landowner but it's always fun to spot them!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2273.jpg

Every day, every property it's something new, the same only different and I thoroughly enjoy enhancing the landowners timber and habitat at the same time... :way:

[IQDM]

Overhead cover

As I have shared with pictures of natural bedding choices, whitetails may or may not choose overhead cover for various reasons. When the can, they often choose to lay under the overhanging branches of red cedars or shrubs in my area but at the same time some prefer open ridge tops where they can see danger approaching, using little more then a downed log or branch as cover.

10 - 4 on the over head cover Paul! :way:
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00668.jpg

[dbltree]

I'm often asked how long before deer start using newly hinged areas...usually over night! When I work in a large area day after day however they often choose to move over the ridge where there is less commotion until I leave the area for a day or so. I was at the Iowa Deer Classic for 3 days and when I returned to the TSI job I have been working on for several weeks, the place literally exploded with deer as I rode the ATV in to work.

I could see them get up from the ridge tops and the snow was littered with tracks and I noticed a number of beds where I left off.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2281.jpg

The screening alone makes them feel safe bedding and many still choose downed logs or branches

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2282.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2284.jpg

Plenty of shagbarks to drop in this project!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2283.jpg

This is a funnel I have been working on for the landowner and it's working like a charm!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2285.jpg

The ATV trail will become a funnel in itself as I block off runways that crossed it

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2286.jpg

Tracks littered the area where I had previously worked

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2287.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2288.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2289.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2290.jpg

Didn't seem to bother them to use this "tunnel" that I have to finish blocking off

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2291.jpg

When we combine the plethora of new bedding and browse with year around food sources on this farm the funnels will be a busy places this fall! :way:

[QDMAMAN]

The ATV trail will become a funnel in itself as I block off runways that crossed it

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2286.jpg



Paul,
Will that ATV trail be a designated hunter access trail as well?

Thanks!

[dbltree]

Will that ATV trail be a designated hunter access trail as well?

He will have several options to reach stands but that trail may be used as a walk in before daylight to reach one stand. After I'm done he will probably be changing some stands and approaches.

I have a situation much like this on my own farm that consists of a farm lane with funneled cross runway. I have to walk down the lane but this set up has been by far my most successful setup.

Deer will not be bedding in the "mess" you see in those pics so no worries about jumping deer. The thickly hinged trees screen deer and hunter both and rubber boots eliminate any scent problems.

Rutting bucks in this situation will be more likely to cross the trail as they follow the drainage but I suspect they will eventually use the main trail as well.

ATV's will not be used however...I'm just using it now to haul saws and gear in to work....;)

[dbltree]

Few more pics of the "mayhem" from a TSI (weed tree removal) project where I have been hinging everything but oaks, walnuts and trees above 14" with good form.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2292.jpg

Looks like a mess to the forester...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2293.jpg

but heaven to whitetails

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2296.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2297.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2298.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2299.jpg

Steep country

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2300.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2301.jpg

Some of the ridges are more open but these are not and will be a jungle of cover for a long time to come

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2302.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2303.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2306.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2307.jpg

Couple natural beds I ran across while working

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2294.jpg

They often choose pretty subtle backdrops

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2295.jpg

180 acres of TSI work so far this winter...thankful for a "rain day" to rest up a bit.... ;)

[letemgrow]

Boy you have been a busy man Paul!!

Do you have to treat anything with herbicides under that plan?

[Skully]

Looks great Paul! I have an appointment with Ray Lehn, our district forester in a couple weeks. He said he will help me mark some trees and give me some insight on my TSI plan. How does the cost share work when you do everything yourself? I am hoping to get something started this spring before I get consumed my turkey season! :way:

[dbltree]

Do you have to treat anything with herbicides under that plan?

We are treating some places with herbicide to encourage oak regeneration and any girdled trees but most of the hinged trees we are not treating.

Looks great Paul! I have an appointment with Ray Lehn, our district forester in a couple weeks. He said he will help me mark some trees and give me some insight on my TSI plan. How does the cost share work when you do everything yourself? I am hoping to get something started this spring before I get consumed my turkey season! :way:

Just make up a bill Troy...if it's done under REAP it's $160 an acre for TSI type projects so be sure to submit it for that amount, then they will send you a check for 75% ($120 an acre)

If it's EQIP/WHIP then it's just a straight payment per acre rather then a percentage. Ray is great to work with! :way:

[Skully]

Thanks Paul! :way:

[dbltree]

Ran across this naturally "hinged" elm last week

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2318.jpg

and this is what it looks like after growing sideways for who knows how long...safe to say a long while!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2319.jpg

Every tree species is different and ash seems the most likely to send up pretty strong, stout sprouts either from the horizontal tree or stump and maple is pretty "lively" as well.

Most hinged trees however will not have anywhere near the canopy that they had when vertical yet still have enough to provide cover and browse. This allows them to remain alive yet not compete with neighboring crop trees and new oak regeneration.

I'll share pics of other species as i run across them to give you an idea what to expect after 2-4 years.

[dbltree]

This is natural oak regeneration at a farm I have been working on...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2335.jpg

but you can see how heavily the young oaks are browsed

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2336.jpg

Two points here...oak regeneration is valuable for more then just regenerating oaks! Deer love to feed on the young oaks and as they grow they will use them for bedding cover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2337.jpg

The trick is to keep them from getting completely destroyed and hinging some weed trees into the young oaks helps protect them

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2338.jpg

Not always a lot to hinge in an oak stand

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2339.jpg

but every weed tree you can drop helps provide some screening and reduces canopy to encourage young oak regeneration.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2340.jpg

[dbltree]

Edge Feathering

Typically timber edge feathering involves tipping over cull trees along the edge, into a field or meadow

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF3-1.jpg

and more of the same for 50-80' within the interior edge of the timber to block runways, create browse and screening

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF4-1.jpg

In many cases of course, the field edge is not ours, so dropping them in that direction is not an option. In this case we just reverse and tip them inward creating a funnel effect along the fence line

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF1-3.jpg

We still create a screening/blocking effect in that 50-80' path

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF2-4.jpg

In all cases we are still doing a form of Crop Tree Release as we leave the best oaks and walnuts standing while making a "mess" of the rest and...with cost share (EQIP/WHIP 647) getting paid to create great whitetail and quail habitat to boot... :way:

[dbltree]

Edge feathering and trail blocking

Some recent pics of how easy it is to block off multiple runways AND...screen deer from field activity.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2613.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2584.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2585.jpg

This runway paralleled another so I blocked it off and funneled them to another (also funneled) runway

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2597.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2605.jpg

View of stand down the (now) main funneled runway..notice how heavily it's used

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2610.jpg

Barbed wire fence...lifted up to encourage them to use the main runway

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2611.jpg

Regrowth/sprouts from hinged and cut trees

Ash

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2595.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2599.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2600.jpg

Shingle oak

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2596.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2612.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2588.jpg

Locust - right, shingle oak left and behind

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2598.jpg

Hickory

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2601.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2604.jpg

Browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2602.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/CIMG2603.jpg

Notice that in most cases the re-growth is "shrubby" and not in the form of canopy that typically interferes with oak regeneration. There may be little if any new sprouts along the horizontal tree although it varies by species and they tend to be short and stubby. Just right for browsing but in no way comparable to the canopy of a standing tree.

The trees pictured are 2-3 years after being hinged or cut.... ;)

[TDswitchback26]

Paul, how long have these trees been hinged in these pics that show this re-growth. I did some ash, locust, hackberry and hickorys this weekend.. do some sprout growth better than others? Thanks

[dbltree]

Paul, how long have these trees been hinged in these pics that show this re-growth. I did some ash, locust, hackberry and hickorys this weekend.. do some sprout growth better than others? Thanks

Most of those are 2-3 years and as the pictures show there is often significant difference in sprouting by species. More from ash less from hickories...;)

[dbltree]

Creating screens with a dozer

A friend of mine needed to increase the size of his food plot area which fortunately is already centrally located amidst a large area of cover. I suggested he have the dozer operator push the trees up into a screening/blocking formation rather then burying or burning it and he did just exactly that!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/CIMG2481.jpg

Screens are one of the most important yet often overlooked elements of our whitetail habitat program so we should never miss any opportunity to create one!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/CIMG2480.jpg

The effects of the dozer are not unlike the effects of timber edge feathering and immediately allow deer to feel safe and hidden in bedding areas beyond.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/CIMG2477.jpg

These same screens, done properly also allow us to block off multiple runways and force deer to use only those openings we permit and thus increasing the effectiveness of trail cam surveys along with more successful harvest opportunities.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/CIMG2478.jpg

This summer the area along the edge will explode with forbs and shrubs that will increase edge browse and further enhance the screening effect. in this case...well done! :way:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/CIMG2479.jpg

Regardless if you use a dozer, a chainsaw, a tree planter, a tiller or...all of the above...make or plant screens around your property , bedding and feeding areas and you will not only increase the odds of a mature buck living on your property but harvesting him as well.... ;)

[IQDM]

That looks awesome Paul! We also used an large equipment to do some screening this winter. We used an excavator to make a road around the outside edge of our property for accessing our stands without busting deer out to our neighbors. By keeping the most of our human activity on the outside of our property, we hope to keep the deer feeling safe on the inside. :D
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00143.jpg
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00145.jpg
We took all the debris from downed trees and brush and piled it on the inside of the roadway with the excavator so that our movements are somewhat hidden. We plan to go along and further block the view by hinging everything within 10yds of the road in a paralel manner. This will hopefully create a living brushpile and hide the road even more. :way:
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00146.jpg
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00147.jpg
It looks a little rough now, but once things dry up, we will be able to level it out a bit and plant a nice grass roadway to get to our stands and food plots.
Also, notice my neighbors stand on the right... Guess he won't be glassing into my property anymore! ;)
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/pipping22/DSC00144.jpg

[DE2IA]

Nice job.....looks like that road will work out well for your property.

[dbltree]

Here's an example of using cut trees for blocking in a narrow semi open area that is already a natural funnel. The area will be planted to clover and the sides blocked to force deer to use only a few runways where stands can be located.

A few scattered oaks were left standing...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3004.jpg

I used the tractor and loader to push up trees into a natural "fence" along the edge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3015.jpg

Small openings can easily be filled by hinging a few weed trees into the opening.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3014.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3012.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3023.jpg

These areas will quickly explode with lush new growth, primarily blackberry and sumac that will provide both screening and browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3022.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3021.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3019.jpg

The long narrow area leads to other food sources but deer are far more likely to enter this very secluded and hidden area long before dark

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3020.jpg

Some edges we will edge feather during winter months, taking advantage of the plethora of cull/weed trees along the edge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3010.jpg

These will be hinged and then pushed around parallel with the field to create even more blocking/funneling.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Blocking/CIMG3011.jpg

White clover will work perfectly in this area, the only crop able to withstand the heavy grazing that will occur here thanks to high deer densities, but also easy to maintain with occasional spraying and mowing.

Look over your aerial maps because you may find you have a spot where something similar might work for you and edge feather/blocking can be done along any field edge to provide screening, browse and a funneling effect. :way:

[dbltree]

These are summer time pics of Timber Edge Feathering done as recently as this past winter and you can see how the edge then explodes into a jungle of new browse that also provides a dense screen between the field edge and bedding areas within the timber.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5393.jpg

It also creates an impenetrable "fence" or blocking effect that forces deer to use only one runway left open.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5394.jpg

Blackberries are usually the first to fill the open area left when the trees are tipped over

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5395.jpg

Hinged trees further in help to funnel deer to one runway

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5400.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5398.jpg

This is one of those runways, coming through a small opening I plant to rye an clover every fall.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5396.jpg

Again, hinged trees form a blocking effect that funnels deer out this runway

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5397.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/IMG_5399.jpg

Funneling deer out one runway allows for more accurate trail cam surveys and gives us a better idea where to hunt an individual buck this fall... ;)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Buck2-27.jpg

[dbltree]

I read an article recently in which the author talked about "spring plots and fall plots"....really?? You really want deer to go to one field in the spring and a different field in the fall??

I want them to come to the same centralized feeding area YEAR AROUND and I want them to do that for generations until they are so adapted to doing so they ignore all other food sources around them. To do that one has to provide a myriad of food sources in that one field to keep deer fed all year long and that place should be as hidden as possible.

This is on my own farm...central, hidden, all runways funneled to one major runway, the timber has had TSI and radical hinging done to promote bedding close by...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Iowa/Lay%20of%20the%20land/Foodsource.jpg

It's a little difficult to see all that is involved here without further explanation, so this view shows the wide variety of food sources that do indeed keep deer fed year around and thereby keep them coming to this place, every day without fail....

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Iowa/Lay%20of%20the%20land/Foodsource-1.jpg

Beyond the soybeans is a field of corn, only yards away but hidden by the finger of trees and several more small strip plots are also just out of site. There are hybrid oaks and chestnuts growing also within this hidden valley so quite literally ALL of their needs are provided within this relatively small area.

in order to feed a lot of deer year around i manage for high yielding crops and don't spare the horses when it comes to fertilizer and lime and the white clover component feeds dozens of deer every month of the year from garden sized strips of clover.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Clover/Z6.jpg

To squeeze the most out of every square foot, the soybeans will be overseeded with 100-150#'s of winter rye and 5-8#'s of forage radish in late August as the beans start to yellow and I will add 100-200#'s of urea just before a rain to spur lush growth just before season. When the beans are gone the rye and radish will remain and the rye will continue attracting and feeding deer until the following spring.

It's amazing how much feed can be produced within even a very small yet carefully managed area! Every square inch produces quality food sources at minimal cost, white clover is there all year long, brassicas July thru March, rye/oats/peas/radish and red clover combine to also provide a year around source of food....and deer know they can count on it!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Cereal%20Grains/Deer%20in%20Rye/ZA5.jpg

The strip plotting concept by the way also fits nicely with the fact that deer are creatures of the edge and will follow the edge of two different food sources until they have a beaten path!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Cereal%20Grains/Deer%20in%20Rye/ZZ2Edge.jpg

While this picture may seem a bit amusing, it is a fact that deer adapt to coming to these year around feeding places almost from birth...does lead them there and they lead their fawns there...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Cereal%20Grains/Deer%20in%20Rye/Fawnsinclover.jpg

and bucks know where the feed and the girls are!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Cereal%20Grains/Deer%20in%20Rye/ZZ3.jpg

The entire wooded edge has been edge feathered and all other runways blocked by hinged or felled trees and an old farm lane and a single runway bisecting this central feeding area make for a death trap for whitetails in November.

My latest article in Quality Whitetails is called "Bottling Bucks" and shows this same area from an aerial perspective as well as sharing other bottlenecks I have created to funnel deer. If you are not a QDMA member and would like a copy of the article, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to send you a copy.

dbltree2000@yahoo.com

Incorporating funneling into and out of year around food sources is deadly effective...take a look at your aerial maps and give some thought on how you can make strip plotting and bottlenecks work for you.... ;)

[retiredmurph]

dbltree great post lot of ideas for my own timber, I have done some edge feathering for quail and I've cut down a couple thousand cedars. Planning on more wore next year,

[LoessHillsArcher]

Pretty easy to see the difference in hinged timbers and not...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v461/iowadeerhunter/Number%20two/100_2473.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v461/iowadeerhunter/Number%20two/100_2456.jpg

[dbltree]

That's what I'm talkin' bout Jordan! :way::way:

[dbltree]

The value of screening our timber cannot be underestimated and there is no faster way to do it then hinging trees both along the edge and the interior. The following are pictures of timber where we did radical hinging to help screen the bedding areas from outside field activity (farming, food plots, approaching stands etc.)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_5610.jpg

This area is not one where we really needed to do a lot of trail blocking so screening was the primary intent

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_5609.jpg

Every hinged tree is very alive and sending up a massive amount of cover and browse and unlike previous to hinging, we no longer see whitetails fleeing from the area as we pass by for normal farming activity.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_5608.jpg

That compared to a timber where conventional TSI was done....it's wide open!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_5628.jpg

We have to drive by this timber to work in the fields and deer run from it every time we do so....a problem easily fixed with a chainsaw!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_5627.jpg

Hinging cull trees is important for all facets of our habitat program because it creates thick bedding areas, plentiful browse, screening that insulates them for the outside activities and can be used for trail blocking as well.... ;)

[LoessHillsArcher]

Edge feathering done in March 2011 - the results a few months later
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v461/iowadeerhunter/Number%20two/IMG_0196.jpg

TSI and hinge cutting done in March 2011 - the timber was thicker almost instantly!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v461/iowadeerhunter/Number%20two/IMG_0199.jpg

[dbltree]

Screening and browse...all for a little sweat equity...:way:

[Central Iowa]

Nice work Jordan looks good.

Sent from my DROIDX using IW

[LoessHillsArcher]

Screening and browse...all for a little sweat equity...:way:
And a massive amount of acorns falling into that browse! And all for a little fun... :D

[dbltree]

October 7th, 2011

I don't normally get out the chainsaw in October but some of the farms I manage need some screening/blocking work done before the rut starts so I've been working away at it. The purpose here is not create bedding but start creating a safe bedding area beyond by edge feathering/hinging trees along the edge to roughly 50-75 yards in and to block off multiple runways at the same time.

Started out looking like this...deer can see anyone approaching/traveling along the timbers edge which is wide open across the width of it!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6276.jpg

A short time later...standing in the exact same spot it looks like this!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6277.jpg

next year it will begin to really thicken up with new under growth as blackberries, shrubs and stump sprouts explode to life.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6278.jpg

but already the edge is completely blocked off from sight and travel

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6279.jpg

Deer can feed, travel and bed along the interior edge feeling secure and safe

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6280.jpg

the area beyond will eventually be hinged to create a more desirable bedding area

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6281.jpg

The interior "edge" will become a new runway in time and only the best opening(s) will be left to make hunting more productive.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6282.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6283.jpg

With some exceptions...only the oaks and walnuts are left standing

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6284.jpg

and the difference in canopy is obvious

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6285.jpg

Plenty of oak seedlings that would never have survived will eventually rise above the mass of undergrowth

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6286.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6287.jpg

The previous landowner had wisely planted red cedars along the edge and in time they will further screen and insulate the bedding area.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6288.jpg

Not only will these area eventually hold more deer but will be more likely to hold mature bucks which in turn will be easier to harvest when funneled through one or two openings. Late March is a great time to work in the timber but early October can also be a good time to get some runways blocked off to increase hunting success this fall.... ;)

[dbltree]

Here's an example of using edge-feathering to block multiple runways and funnel deer by a stand...

There is more to this picture of course but deer had been using multiple runways coming straight out to the feeding area and rutting bucks ran helter skelter as they pleased, taking the shortest route to the next bedding area. So we took advantage of an old clearing, cleaned it up and are in the process of establishing clover. I blocked one side part way in and left the other side open. the edge is mostly young white and red oaks and is heavily used as a scrape line.Now...ALL deer must pass thru the clearing/funnel within 20 yards of the stand.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EFsample.jpg

This is a view up the clearing which is now in the rye/oat/pea/radish mix to establish a perennial stand of white clover and is being heavily grazed. A cam that sends pics directly to the landowner without visiting the cam reveals heavy usage of the scrape line as well. Note also the young red oaks which are dropping acorns to add to this beautiful setup! Fruit trees could also be easily added to increase the effectiveness of drawing deer to this clearing first...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6325.jpg

I hinge or fall ALL trees except for oaks and walnuts and where necessary I go in to the interior 50-80 yards to get a complete block. The exterior trees will almost always be leaning towards the field so eventually I will use the tractor and loader to push them around parallel with the field edge.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF1-4.jpg

Because it's a new clover seeding around the field edge I'll wait til freeze up to move the trees but the edge is fully blocked already!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF2-5.jpg

Trees are primarily honey locust, elm and hedge trees

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/EF3-2.jpg

and they create an impenetrable living fence which will only get better as sunlight and spring rains bring a flush of new growth this coming year!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Ef4-2.jpg

This winter I will push the trees around with the tractor and loader but one could cut the limbs off and pile them by hand if equipment was not available.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6323.jpg

The edge feathering will not only block/funnel deer but creates an awesome screen that allows deer to bed feeling safe and secure. It helps cut down on trespassing and poaching problems because it is nearly impossible to get thru the thorny mess without getting cut to ribbons...(don't ask me how I know... :rolleyes: )

In cases where the edge is primarily oaks, there may be some that need to be thinned, lower branches that can be cut off or logging done (in which case push the tops in to create the blocking effect). Edge feathering will also create a plethora of new browse as shrubs and blackberries spring up and allow crops to grow near the edge without being shaded.

Keep track of deer movement this fall and see what areas of frustration you can eliminate with a...chainsaw.... ;)

[dbltree]

One of the great things about hinging for blocking is that you can get very accurate trail cam surveys and often even a relatively small area can be "funneled" up in 10-15 minutes with a chainsaw. I did that very thing for a friend recently where bucks were coming up out of a draw and filtering out thru a 50 yard wide area making it impossible to catch them all on the cam.

When I got done...they all have to walk down this runway!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/f3-2.jpg

it took only minutes to tip over shingle oak, elm and hickory along the edge to create a simple but effective barrier

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/f4-2.jpg

In this case the funnel is actually reversed with the funnel being out in the field but still....deer will have no choice but to walk thru the funnel...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/f1-1.jpg


and right by the trail cam!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/f2-2.jpg

Funnels are an extremely effective tool to make harvesting your deer easy and efficient so with a little more work you can funnel them by a trail cam AND your stand! For the third year in a row I have harvested a nice buck with my bow as he traveled thru a funnel I built several years ago. Each year it gets easier it seems and I killed my buck after only hunting two days this year! I passed him in the same funnel last year, noted that he continued to use it this year thanks to the trail cam and then killed him at daylight on October 21st, 2011...pictures and story at this link...

2011 Buck in a Funnel (http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1144&start=260)

Funneling deer will significantly lower your frustrations during hunting season and allow you to more accurately monitor deer using your property...all for the cost of some sweat equity on a Saturday afternoon.... ;)

[dbltree]

Example of a hinged tree...in this case cut for blocking but it shows how the hinged tree now also provides browse, screening and in the right area bedding

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6519.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6520.jpg

Little hard to see here but the area in the background was hinged last winter, so while you may not be able to see in detail...what you don't see is a wide open area that deer do not feel comfortable using.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6518.jpg

This pic shows re-growth 4 years after hinging trees...this is rich low land soil so that often causes an explosion of new re-growth both from hinged trees and the reduced canopy. Typically where higher ground such as a ridge is immediately adjacent, deer will choose the ridge for bedding, if the area is all flat and low they will probably seek out subtle rises that are drier depending on the time of year. This area is primarily used for browsing and travel cover and they bed on the adjacent ridge. Note the thick blackberries and shrubby cover along the outer edge, further screening deer as well as providing edge browse.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/IMG_6517.jpg

One of our goals in managing our timber resources should be to promote quality oak timber growth and mast production through proper Timber Stand Improvement methods. Hinging can be a tool to help in this process especially in areas that may be 60-90% "weed trees" both to reduce canopy and competition but also to promote regeneration and where needed, allow for hand planting of oak seedlings.

Regeneration will vary by soils and level of seed trees in the area but here are some examples of my own timber where hinging has been ongoing for 4-5 years now. Young oaks are reaching up thru the mass of undergrowth...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6481.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6482.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6483.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6485.jpg

Often the perception is that due to the resulting thick undergrowth that oak regeneration is not possible and there are extreme cases where invasives do make regeneration impossible so each landowner must monitor the results of their hinging project and be prepared to take steps to control invasives which could include everything from Reeds Canary grass to Honeysuckle.

In most cases in my area the hinging itself has released the seedlings by reducing canopy and they quickly spring to life. You can see that there is simply no competing canopy from this hickory, yet it provides bedding and browse for whitetails where once there was zero of either.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6487.jpg

Beds abound in the hinged area which means that the presence of deer will also mean increased browsing of the young oaks

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6486.jpg

Seedlings in the wide open are far more likely to be browsed then...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6489.jpg

Those coming up thru hinged tops

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6491.jpg

and resulting blackberry brambles

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6492.jpg

Young oaks can endure some shading when young yet will survive to grow above the blackberries

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6521.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6491.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6494.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6495.jpg

On this farm the oaks consist of primarily burr (white species) oaks and black (red species) oaks....neither of which are the ultimate in either hardwood or mast preference

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6496.jpg

So I started native white oak and red oak acorns from seed in Rootmaker cells from trees noted for good mast production and had planted them this fall amongst the hinged trees. An 18 cell RM tray and carrier is roughly $6-8 and there was no cost for hand picked acorns...$3-5 for a tube and stake means every landowner could easily add a dozen or two oaks to their hinge cuttings every year.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6488.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6484.jpg

I also added some Dwarf Chinkapin oaks (white oak) for diversity

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6493.jpg

but often found it difficult to find a spot where young oaks were not already growing!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Regeneration/IMG_6490.jpg

Hinging cull or weed trees can be extremely beneficial in providing increased bedding and browse and holding mature whitetails on your property and if done correctly we can also promote oak regeneration which long term will increase the value of our property and further enhance our habitat with increased mast production.

Monitor the resulting "aftermath" of your hinging and be prepared to kill invasives with herbicides and hand plant oak seedlings, using tubes and herbicide to protect them both from over browsing and competition from invasives. Timber is one of our most valuable resources and yet the most often overlooked...look yours over from your tree stand this fall and start making plans for improvement when season is over.... ;)

More details on growing oaks from seed here: Acorns - Growing Oaks from Seed (http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2310)

Consider adding some chestnut seedlings while your at it but be certain to tube them and eventually fence them or deer will decimate them.

[Qdmaer]

Paul, If my goal is to get a mature buck to bed in an area, can it be too thick if i cut too many trees for him to want to bed there? I plan on carving trails through it also.

[dbltree]

Paul, If my goal is to get a mature buck to bed in an area, can it be too thick if i cut too many trees for him to want to bed there? I plan on carving trails through it also.

Deer...especially mature bucks have different personalities so it's impossible to have a "one size fits all" answer to that question but...it is possible to make the area so think that some deer may not bed there.

However I have jumped whitetails in the thickest, nastiest mess of blackberry and multiflora rose brambles that I find it hard to say that one could make an area so thick that NO deer would use it.

I like to make areas very thick with small areas that are less so, often they just naturally have a large tree or perhaps a single red cedar already being used by deer.

I would suggest doing the area in sections and varying the extent of hinging to give some diversity in your sanctuary...;)

[dbltree]

A few posts back (October 23rd, 2011) I posted pics of funnel I made with the chainsaw in about 10-15 minutes solely for a trail cam survey. Deer were coming in and out of a draw over a 50 yard area but did have one major runway so I funneled them into that runway from each side and put up a trail cam...only a few weeks later the cam had an amazing 750 pictures of whitetails traveling through this funnel. They "checked it out"...especially does, sniffing things over but then continued on their way and quickly adapted to using the funnel...made simply by hinging wed trees at the edge.

These are just a few samples of deer using the runway/funnel...something you can all do to more accurately determine what deer, especially mature bucks...may be using your property or an area of your farm.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z3.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z4.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z5.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z6.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z7.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z8.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z9.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z10.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z14.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Funnels/z15.jpg

if one has enough weed or cull trees it is a simple matter to hinge trees in a manner that will funnel deer past a camera or better yet...past a stand! I was blessed to be able to harvest my second Iowa archery buck when a doe led him through the funnel past my stand.

Dbltree's Dream (http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1144&start=280)

Building funnels not only makes it easier to manage your deer herd and habitat but makes hunting them less frustrating and more rewarding as well... ;)

[dbltree]

November 20th, 2011

Funnels...the more I use funnels accompanied by trail cams the more I learn and then the more successful I am at harvesting mature deer. The following are pictures from a funnel that is 3 years old now and as a trail cam on it 24-7. I use the Bushnell Trophy cams because of 1 year battery life which allows me to place them and forget them until such time as I feel it appropriate to check them. I don't disturb bedding or travel by constantly checking these funnel cams but what I learn is indispensable.

Every funnel is different or can be at least and this funnel which lies between bedding and feed experiences zero use by mature bucks from may through early October, which could be misleading if one look at cam pics all summer! Why hunt here...not a single buck uses it?! So all spring, summer and early fall...doe groups parade thru this funnel every day like clock work until mid October at which point things take an about face! This is the last doe that came through this funnel...on October 31st

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/D1-2.jpg

This is the first buck that came through on October 18th after which there was a steady parade of bucks that lived on my farm but used entirely different bedding areas.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/zx18.jpg

Each property is unique and different including my own so we will experience slight variations but in this case the bucks tend to live in NWSG and small fingers and draws during the period of antler growth through mid October.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z18-1.jpg

I know they are there via trail cam surveys using salt licks which then helps me identify and age the deer

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z17-1.jpg

When the rut approaches however the entire situation changes dramatically and young bucks relentlessly harass does until they begin to seek out safe haven in the same haunts that the bucks used all summer.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z16-1.jpg

The bucks however know where the girls live and they know where they feed and thy begin to pound the trails leading between the two.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z14-1.jpg

As does come into heat the bucks do their best to push them into areas such as open fields, far away from other bucks but in doing so....they tend to go back thru the familiar runways and bedding areas.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z13-1.jpg

Using cams to monitor these funnels then gives me the confidence to hunt them knowing the odds that a mature bucks will travel them are high. perhaps only one buck may pass thru a day and one mature animal every 2-4 days but I know that if I put in my time...it will pay off.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z12-1.jpg

You can see that bucks of all ages an sizes pass through the funnel, every deer within 15 yards of my stand

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z11-1.jpg

There is no other way, no other travel route with the exception of wide open fields

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z10-1.jpg

and trail cams on the food sources 200 yards away reveal that only rarely do any of these bucks show themselves in the open during daylight hours.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z9-1.jpg

yet the odds of daylight movement go up remarkably where they feel safe in the timber that is heavily hinged on all sides

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z8-1.jpg

Because I provide year around food sources that cause all deer on my property to go to ONE feeding place, they all adapt to this

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z7-1.jpg

and deer young and old travel the same runway thru the same funnel, day after day, year after year.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z5-3.jpg

This was my target buck who almost never entered the timber....almost never, but he could not resist a doe coming into estrous and later this same day I killed him as she brought him back thru this funnel.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z4-5.jpg

That funnels are effective is obvious but they can be so much more effective when combined with trail cams on duty 24-7

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z3-4.jpg

and year around food sources that keep deer coming down these runways rather then constantly changing up to find feed in different fields.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/z2-3.jpg

Success is never about ONE thing it is about a myriad of habitat improvements and providing for your deer year around and then hunting your target animal where he is most likely to appear in daylight hours. Trail cams on funnels take the guess work out and give you confidence to put in long hours where the odds are highest.....not only the area, but the time period.... ;)

[dbltree]

While there are many great reasons to hinge trees, the principle reason is to create safe, secure bedding in the form of thick ground cover both from the hinged trees themselves and the thick re-growth that results from opening up canopy. During the rut however bucks may only rarely actually use these ares for bedding on;y because they take time on;y for quick "cat naps" in their relentless search for the next hot doe. November 15th is considered peak rut in much of the mid west so these pictures give one an idea of the short time any buck is likely to spend resting...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Bedded%20deer/PICT2914.jpg

The Bushnell cam was set on 3 pic bursts at 1 second intervals which amounts to the next best thing to video and this buck never actually "slept" but rather rested briefly which is common behavior during November

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Bedded%20deer/PICT2918.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Bedded%20deer/PICT2928.jpg

Roughly 30 minutes and...he was on his way

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Trail%20Cam/Bedded%20deer/PICT2982.jpg

The cam was overlooking a scrape...something I never hunt but I have this farm farm for sale and the purpose was merely to collect pictures of bucks. The spot was already thick with young shingle oaks which creates the same type of atmosphere that whitetails seek out for safe bedding. Several does also bedded within range of the camera but no deer spent a great deal of time there before getting up to feed again. They need to feed (at least on browse) roughly every 4 hours so deer are not apt to spend a great deal of time in any one place so hinge cut trees provide a safe place for them to both rest and feed...

This is an area I worked on for a landowner recently...mostly young shagbark hickory...

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/h3-1.jpg

Under terms of the cost share plan I went thru and marked the crop trees

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/t2.jpg

Girdled large trees that can severely damage other crop trees if felled (not to mention being dangerous to fall)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/TSI/2011-11-19_11-37-27_118.jpg

and then hinged the smaller trees using some care to "fence in" young oaks to help protect them from marauding bucks and winter browsing

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/h2-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/h4.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/h1-1.jpg

Simply opening up canopy will encourage a flush of new under growth that will provide safe bedding and browse but hinging cull/weed trees will provide immediate bedding and browse and deer will often feed on the tops within hours after being felled in the winter months.

When possible try to avoid hinging on extremely cold days when trees are like icicles and may snap off and use care to hinge them waist to mid chest high for best results. :way:

[crs740]

I have a section on my property that forms a gully with ridges on both sides, the bottom of the gully is probably aruond 120-150 feet vertically from the top of the ridges. How do you recommend hinging trees on the slope? Have them fall as gravity takes them or try to angle them so they form a crosshatch?

[crs740]

also, what diameter tree do you feel is not safe to hinge and should be gridled? When girdling, you need to cut rings around the tree twice, right?

[dbltree]

I have a section on my property that forms a gully with ridges on both sides, the bottom of the gully is probably around 120-150 feet vertically from the top of the ridges. How do you recommend hinging trees on the slope? Have them fall as gravity takes them or try to angle them so they form a crosshatch?


also, what diameter tree do you feel is not safe to hinge and should be girdled? When girdling, you need to cut rings around the tree twice, right?

I usually just fall them down slope but if the slop is to steep they may use only the top of the ridge.

I try to hinge trees under 12" and girdle larger ones unless the large tree is leaning and won't crush or injure a crop tree when it falls. Remember that falling ANY tree can be dangerous and the larger they are the harder they fall! Don't take risks and get hurt or worse...start with small trees and get a feel for it and as you gain experience, work you way up.

[huntdoc]

Property where I hunt was select cut at beginning of October. Many islands of treetops scattered around. My goal is to connect several through use of hinging some smaller trees between them so that it creates more predictable travel pattern. Not sure I am going to be doing much more hunting this year, is it too early to start hinging this winter?

[dbltree]

Property where I hunt was select cut at beginning of October. Many islands of treetops scattered around. My goal is to connect several through use of hinging some smaller trees between them so that it creates more predictable travel pattern. Not sure I am going to be doing much more hunting this year, is it too early to start hinging this winter?

No...in fact November is even better then December because temps are not so cold that trees are frozen and snap when they fall...:way:

[dbltree]

December 14th, 2011

Timber Edgefeathering

Typically edge feathering is falling trees along the edge but it can also be an area from 50-100 yards into the timber depending on the situation. In this case there are already red cedars along extreme edge, a good thing of course but deer laying inside them could still see under them so I hinged trees immediate behind the cedars and at the same time worked on closing multiple runways down to one.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/2011-12-09_09-06-45_250.jpg

A look from the back side of the cedars

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/2011-12-09_09-16-58_972.jpg

Deer were cutting across an inside corner but I blocked those runways off forcing them to stay in the timber and passing with in 25 yards of the owners stand.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EF2.jpg

the trees are hinged high enough to create the greatest blocking screening effect

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EF11.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/Ef13.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EF1-1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EF14.jpg

but even if some break off (usually honey locust) they still serve to create a massive block and screen along the edge

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EF15.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EF16.jpg

Where possible I filled in holes by falling trees into the opening

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/2011-12-09_09-14-26_878.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/2011-12-09_09-16-52_775.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/2011-12-09_09-16-58_972.jpg

Reducing canopy will allow sunlight in to encourage red cedar regeneration along with an explosion of new shrubby browse and screening plants such as blackberries

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/RC.jpg

I used the natural existing runway that traveled along the back side of the cedars and used care not to fall trees into it and if I did, I cut an opening to keep the runway open.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/2011-12-09_09-29-33_6.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/2011-12-09_09-29-18_505.jpg


http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/Runwayinsidecedars.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/Runway2.jpg

The red cedars already provide some great screening but the EF work will create an even thicker, denser screen to both funnel deer (keep them from entering the field at random points thru the cedars) and provide deer with a greater sense of security behind the mass of hinged trees,

By going all the way around the timber we will eventually have only a couple entrance/exit runways for more accurate cam surveys along with high percentage hunting stands.... ;)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/Runway1.jpg

[Crit]

Hey Dbltree, really enjoy your posts on various forums. I wanna pick your brain before actually attempt this. I have a situation where deer are utilizing a tall grass field behind a neighbor's home to the south of our property as a bedding area. They enter a crop field through a thin fence line. There is not a suitable tree for a stand. Any approach to that fence line would spook deer as they are in and around it at all hours.

I would like to feather that fence line in an attempt to force deer to travel east down the fence line and closer to an established stand sight.

Should I feather the fence line towards the bedding cover, towards the field edge or feather it parallel with the existing fence line?

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h356/crit497/Possibleedgefeathering.jpg

Looking forward to your input.

[dbltree]

Should I feather the fence line towards the bedding cover, towards the field edge or feather it parallel with the existing fence line?

I assume your question is in regards to "direction" of falling the trees? Along the edge there is only one way they are going to fall! They will be all leaning out into the field for sunlight, so hinge them as you see in the pictures so that they fall naturally into the field perpendicular to the fence line. Then use a tractor and loader (or skid steer) and swing them around parallel to the fence to create a blocking and screening effect. The trees shown in my pictures have not been moved yet but I will push all of them parallel with the edge when I am done cutting. ;)

[Crit]

Thanks, exactly the advice I was looking for.:way:

[dbltree]

December 19th, 2011

It's always interesting to visit hinged areas several years later and note the difference in cover. These areas from several farms done by other people where I am now doing more follow up work

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/H2-2.jpg

Compared to the open timber here previously, the are is now growing thick with brushy cover

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/H3-2.jpg

and that of course attracts deer like a magnet

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-09_14-05-28_456.jpg

Hinged area re-growth can be phenomenal, even if the hinged trees do not survive, the simple act of opening up canopy will then cause an explosion of re-growth.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Hingeregrowth.jpg

Tree that remain alive become a "living brushpile" and increase both screening and browse

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/H1-2.jpg

When hinging be sure to make the hinge waist to chest high more like the trees on the left then the one in the foreground

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_11-42-04_175.jpg

Trees cut higher are more likely to have beds under them although they are attracted to almost any ground clutter that they can back up against

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_13-32-03_492.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_13-32-45_175.jpg

Here is a sample of deer using ground clutter versus overhead cover...the point is to get trees on the ground!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_13-32-22_149.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_14-00-52_119.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_14-01-05_434.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_14-04-52_674.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_14-24-33_236.jpg

Note the stark difference the hinged trees in the foreground make compared to the wide open "park like" area in the back ground.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_11-42-09_297.jpg

Note here the oak regeneration that accompanies the removal of canopy, assuming of course that there are oak seed trees near by.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_13-02-29_391.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_13-57-49_179.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_13-57-58_494.jpg

Hinging trees creates not only much needed bedding but ever important browse as well

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_15-48-06_483.jpg

There is neither food nor cover in ope timber like this and the runway shown is coming from a hinged area and leading to a food source.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_14-53-52_439.jpg

You can radically change the quality of your habitat and hold deer like never before using hinging as a tool

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_15-34-12_457.jpg

You caution however not to destroy good crop trees so always begin by working with your forester, identifying and marking crop trees and then releasing them by girdling large trees and hinging smaller trees.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/2011-12-10_13-32-31_278.jpg

I urge you to read through the information on Timber Stand Improvement first

Timber Stand Improvement (http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=428)

Then build better habitat with your chainsaw and some sweat equity... :way:

[dbltree]

This is an example of "feathering" the trees starting with the smaller trees at the outer edge and then moving backwards falling taller/larger trees on top of the small ones to block and screen the edge. The right side is an example of an inside corner and how I used edge feathering to block and screen the sides and prevent deer from cutting across the corner. Hinge cut area in the exterior cause traveling deer to skirt the edges (such as a rutting buck) and thus funnel them by the stand.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/EFIllustration.png

This is an example of a field I EF and left two openings for trail cam surveys as well as one near another inside corner where a natural steep draw pinches down deer and forces them near the corner. Rutting bucks should be hunted in the interior of the timber rather then the edge where they feel comfortable in daylight hours and runways that connect bedding areas and run parallel to feeding ares such as this are high percentage spots.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e288/dbltree/Hinge%20Cutting/Timber%20Edge%20Feathering/Funnel2.jpg

Note that while the stand is in the timber it is not far in this case and no bedding is near by allowing the hunter to slip in and out with the least disturbance. The fact that there is a draw behind it means deer are not laying on a ridge watching the hunter enter and exit... ;)

[treerat]

This is a picture taken from the bow stand in November, of an 11-month old edge feather job. As you can tell, there were very few desirable species in the area based on the number of large trees left. However, there are tons of young 6" oaks and a nice aspen stand taking hold in this area. I have some work to do to clear trails that were blocked with fallen trees and create a few strategic access points to the field.


http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=9260

[dbltree]

Wow! That turned out great!! Thanks for sharing the pic! :way: