risto2351
Well-Known Member
Paul,
Talking with my wildlife biologist he said to leave the shagbark hickories.
Even though they are not oaks they will produce a mast crop that will benefit the whitetails??
Paul,
Talking with my wildlife biologist he said to leave the shagbark hickories.
Even though they are not oaks they will produce a mast crop that will benefit the whitetails??
Hickory nuts and whitetails
I have hundreds of mature hickories that produce great crops some years. Squirrels love them. I have never seen a whitetail eat hickories. Not even turkeys, which I heard did. I can't imagine a turkey can crack a hickory nut. I would like to know though.
I have hundreds of mature hickories that produce great crops some years. Squirrels love them. I have never seen a whitetail eat hickories. Not even turkeys, which I heard did. I can't imagine a turkey can crack a hickory nut. I would like to know though.
singlecoyote
Proud member of the IBA
A TSI project that I did 2-3 years ago required that I leave shagbarks over 9" DBH and it was because of bat nesting. Didn't love that but whatever. I might have accidently whacked a few bigger shaggies. 
There is some timber value there, so keep that in mind.
There is some timber value there, so keep that in mind.
Crimson Arrows
Well-Known Member
I have left a few LARGE shagbarks in areas devoid of anything else, but mostly for aesthetic values. Otherwise they are gettinh hinged of late in select areas
dbltree
Super Moderator
Browse
The security that thick bedding cover provides and it's importance in holding whitetails is clear but equally important is having plenty of high quality browse within and around our bedding areas.
Browse is often noticeably missing in open park like timber yet it is imperative that whitetails have access to browse like this...
That bud was the only one left uneaten and all of the rest looked like this
Even the resulting re-growth from the lowly ironwood...
get browsed
Hinging cull/weed trees not only provides bedding but plenty of browse such as this hackberry
and elm
the cut stumps may often send up more new growth then the downed tree such as with this black cherry
or this ironwood
which sends up little from the downed tree...but plenty from the stump
The results of hinging are often profound leaving a thick mass of downed tops
thru which thousands of new sprouts may emerge
Whitetails need browse in their gut even and especially if they have plenty of high quality crop forage and grain. They are "browsers" not "grazers" so unlike cattle they do need to have roughage in the form of browse in their diet. Provide for ALL of their needs by getting out the chainsaw and give them plenty of bedding and browse on your property....
The security that thick bedding cover provides and it's importance in holding whitetails is clear but equally important is having plenty of high quality browse within and around our bedding areas.
Browse is often noticeably missing in open park like timber yet it is imperative that whitetails have access to browse like this...
That bud was the only one left uneaten and all of the rest looked like this
Even the resulting re-growth from the lowly ironwood...
get browsed
Hinging cull/weed trees not only provides bedding but plenty of browse such as this hackberry
and elm
the cut stumps may often send up more new growth then the downed tree such as with this black cherry
or this ironwood
which sends up little from the downed tree...but plenty from the stump
The results of hinging are often profound leaving a thick mass of downed tops
thru which thousands of new sprouts may emerge
Whitetails need browse in their gut even and especially if they have plenty of high quality crop forage and grain. They are "browsers" not "grazers" so unlike cattle they do need to have roughage in the form of browse in their diet. Provide for ALL of their needs by getting out the chainsaw and give them plenty of bedding and browse on your property....
IQDM
New Member
:way: Amen to that! Food plots are great, but pale in comparison to browse and cover!Whitetails need browse in their gut even and especially if they have plenty of high quality crop forage and grain. They are "browsers" not "grazers" so unlike cattle they do need to have roughage in the form of browse in their diet. Provide for ALL of their needs by getting out the chainsaw and give them plenty of bedding and browse on your property....
dbltree
Super Moderator
Timber Stand Improvement using girdling and hinging
The act of hinging trees to improve whitetail habitat is often referred to as "TSI" but while hinging trees can be a tool in this process it is in and of itself not necessarily "improving" the timber stand unless done properly.
Not all trees can be hinged nor is it safe to even attempt it and falling large trees onto or into valuable crop trees can be counter productive so it is important to know when to girdle trees and when to fall them via hinge cutting them. Once in awhile I run into a stand of primarily "weed trees" but even then using indiscriminate "slash and cut" tactics can lead to mistakes, especially for the novice unfamiliar with tree species.
Marking trees first allows us to carefully look over the trees in our stand and decide which should be crop trees and which will be weed trees. Generally we choose black walnut and white oak over red, black or burr oaks
In some cases the stand may be 80% white oak for instance and then one must look carefully at the canopies and decide which oaks to kill to release the best specimens. In most cases it is far better to make those decisions with a paint can in hand rather then a chainsaw....
If the marked crop tree is surrounded by smaller weed trees then they can be felled by hinge cutting to both create cover and release the crop tree at the same time...such as with this black walnut surrounded by ash, shingle oak and basswood.
Good stands of hardwood timber are usually quite open and poor deer habitat
but large trees crashing into beautiful white or red oaks can cause serious damage that may be irreparable because open wounds are an invitation for oak wilt. Attempting to properly decide which crop trees to leave standing...which a chainsaw in hand is an invitation for disaster...
Marking the trees first allows us to make better choices and actually makes cutting go faster, since all the "thinking" has already been done.
In this stand attempting to fall large trees would not be in the best interest of the timber or the landowner so I use a combination of girdling and falling.
Here is an example of 2 beautiful white oaks (a third is not in the pic) and 2 black walnuts...what to do???
a look at the canopy reveals some damage from winds breaking another tree off and into these tree, the whites are suppressing the black walnuts but the whites are excellent quality...leaving one pondering the right choice??
With a saw running we often may not have the patience to really think things thru and decide what is best and in this case none of these trees are candidates for hinging. I decided to leave all of these trees standing and release them by killing the surrounding weed trees but that is my personal decision and every forester may look at these and make several different choices.
Each of you have unique and different stands of timber....someone with aspen and hemlock for instance will probably find clear cutting areas of their timber over a period of years will be the most effective habitat improvement. Some may feel their timber is more important than whitetail habitat, so there is no one way that is right for all.
Where weed trees (note...not every hickory, elm or ash is a weed tree and depending on the markets can also be valuable depending on the size) are plentiful, you can use them to block areas behind a stand such as I did here for a landowner while doing TSI
Even in otherwise good stands of timber there may be small area where trees can be hinged and not cause harm to crop trees, the ensuing "mess" can make some great whitetail habitat...
Often smaller weed trees can be tipped over without harming large crop trees and provide some ground cover
Falling shade tolerant weed trees such as ironwood, elm and hickory can allow at least a chance for some oak regeneration
Large weed trees however can be safely girdled to open canopy, releasing the adjacent oak crop trees and allowing some understory re-growth to occur
Hinging large trees can be dangerous and "widow makers" such as this hickory can kill you in a heartbeat if you forget....
Falling trees twist, turn, snap backwards....all kinds of crazy and unexpected things so always have an escape route and if trees hang up...leave the area until high winds either bring the tree on down or it is there to stay.
Even girdling is not without danger and is often more dangerous then falling a tree because if it is rotten inside it will snap off in a flash and that can be deadly if you are on the "leaning" side when it does!!
Oak wilt is very common in black oaks here so i have learned to girdle with caution!
In this pic there are a number of black oaks...all girdled...all of which came down sometimes before even finishing the first girdle.
We are all in a hurry to create some fantastic whitetail habitat but do some planning and research first, learn what species of trees are in your stand and how to identify the best of the crop trees if any are present. Some may not have the time nor experience for this and may choose to have a contractor do the work or at least mark the trees for you. Others will be eager to learn and do the work themselves and if so I urge you to read thru the thread on Timber Stand Improvement before you begin.
Good quality hardwood timber can be very valuable, not only does it add to the value of your property but good healthy, fully released oak trees can provide plentiful, sweet mast that whitetails find irresistible. Creating some pockets of think ground cover using hinging to fall competing weed trees will insure they bed there rather then just make nightly forays into your timber from the neighbors place.
The act of hinging trees to improve whitetail habitat is often referred to as "TSI" but while hinging trees can be a tool in this process it is in and of itself not necessarily "improving" the timber stand unless done properly.
Not all trees can be hinged nor is it safe to even attempt it and falling large trees onto or into valuable crop trees can be counter productive so it is important to know when to girdle trees and when to fall them via hinge cutting them. Once in awhile I run into a stand of primarily "weed trees" but even then using indiscriminate "slash and cut" tactics can lead to mistakes, especially for the novice unfamiliar with tree species.
Marking trees first allows us to carefully look over the trees in our stand and decide which should be crop trees and which will be weed trees. Generally we choose black walnut and white oak over red, black or burr oaks
In some cases the stand may be 80% white oak for instance and then one must look carefully at the canopies and decide which oaks to kill to release the best specimens. In most cases it is far better to make those decisions with a paint can in hand rather then a chainsaw....
If the marked crop tree is surrounded by smaller weed trees then they can be felled by hinge cutting to both create cover and release the crop tree at the same time...such as with this black walnut surrounded by ash, shingle oak and basswood.
Good stands of hardwood timber are usually quite open and poor deer habitat
but large trees crashing into beautiful white or red oaks can cause serious damage that may be irreparable because open wounds are an invitation for oak wilt. Attempting to properly decide which crop trees to leave standing...which a chainsaw in hand is an invitation for disaster...
Marking the trees first allows us to make better choices and actually makes cutting go faster, since all the "thinking" has already been done.
In this stand attempting to fall large trees would not be in the best interest of the timber or the landowner so I use a combination of girdling and falling.
Here is an example of 2 beautiful white oaks (a third is not in the pic) and 2 black walnuts...what to do???
a look at the canopy reveals some damage from winds breaking another tree off and into these tree, the whites are suppressing the black walnuts but the whites are excellent quality...leaving one pondering the right choice??
With a saw running we often may not have the patience to really think things thru and decide what is best and in this case none of these trees are candidates for hinging. I decided to leave all of these trees standing and release them by killing the surrounding weed trees but that is my personal decision and every forester may look at these and make several different choices.
Each of you have unique and different stands of timber....someone with aspen and hemlock for instance will probably find clear cutting areas of their timber over a period of years will be the most effective habitat improvement. Some may feel their timber is more important than whitetail habitat, so there is no one way that is right for all.
Where weed trees (note...not every hickory, elm or ash is a weed tree and depending on the markets can also be valuable depending on the size) are plentiful, you can use them to block areas behind a stand such as I did here for a landowner while doing TSI
Even in otherwise good stands of timber there may be small area where trees can be hinged and not cause harm to crop trees, the ensuing "mess" can make some great whitetail habitat...
Often smaller weed trees can be tipped over without harming large crop trees and provide some ground cover
Falling shade tolerant weed trees such as ironwood, elm and hickory can allow at least a chance for some oak regeneration
Large weed trees however can be safely girdled to open canopy, releasing the adjacent oak crop trees and allowing some understory re-growth to occur
Hinging large trees can be dangerous and "widow makers" such as this hickory can kill you in a heartbeat if you forget....
Falling trees twist, turn, snap backwards....all kinds of crazy and unexpected things so always have an escape route and if trees hang up...leave the area until high winds either bring the tree on down or it is there to stay.
Even girdling is not without danger and is often more dangerous then falling a tree because if it is rotten inside it will snap off in a flash and that can be deadly if you are on the "leaning" side when it does!!
Oak wilt is very common in black oaks here so i have learned to girdle with caution!
In this pic there are a number of black oaks...all girdled...all of which came down sometimes before even finishing the first girdle.
We are all in a hurry to create some fantastic whitetail habitat but do some planning and research first, learn what species of trees are in your stand and how to identify the best of the crop trees if any are present. Some may not have the time nor experience for this and may choose to have a contractor do the work or at least mark the trees for you. Others will be eager to learn and do the work themselves and if so I urge you to read thru the thread on Timber Stand Improvement before you begin.
Good quality hardwood timber can be very valuable, not only does it add to the value of your property but good healthy, fully released oak trees can provide plentiful, sweet mast that whitetails find irresistible. Creating some pockets of think ground cover using hinging to fall competing weed trees will insure they bed there rather then just make nightly forays into your timber from the neighbors place.
Crimson Arrows
Well-Known Member
Thought I'd show a few updates from the timber work on my farm this winter. We essentially finished up on Wednesday what started January 1st- and was non-stop. I can say I have been hit in the head, almost lost front teeth, pulled out double digits locust thorns, been to the ER twice, but overall its done
I will try and post pics in the next few weeks but here are some from yesterday
On this farm, I spent hours thinking what to do to benefit all wildlife over the past year before I started.
I love turkey and deer hunting, but also want everything from Indiana bats to bluebirds to thrive.
I KNEW I needed more cover. So, I picked about 8 areas to make REALLY thick through hinging, had straight TSI done on one section, and also made a couple open areas that had great oaks surrounding it for strut zones and acorn buffets
I also edge feathered ALOT for nesting and cover and hinge cut like a mad man.
Here is the last section we did yesterday and it was a draw filled with ironwoods. It leads to one of my favorite pinch points and unfortunately had potential that I felt was untapped.
I wanted to create an environment that was a thick draw they would bed in and work their way towards me in the evenings or back to in the AM. Currently, while they "could" bed there, it was just to open and they wouldn't.
So we created about two 50 yard sections that looks like this...
Between the two thickets is when I got a workout, dragging over 60 ironwoods to the ditch after we cut them at their bases and will spray eventually to kill them. 99% I hinged IW this winter, but here was a case where 5-8 mother oaks over 100 years old surrounded this ridge, and I wanted to create a place turkeys could roost and drop down to feed...or bucks could leave their bed and begin eating acorns in October.
I also left 3-4 GIANT hickories for the "Hoosier" bats, aesthetics and because after 100 years I guess I felt they deserved to stick around
The IW ridge surrounded by oaks looked like this before....
And this now....
They then could move to me at the pinch point or to this secluded clover field
**Forgive this picture of my father in law standing in the lane we created headed to clover...... he has never got over coming in second for the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" auditions
Its alot of work but I hope it pays off. Ill try to post more pics when I can and anybody who has land, I strongly urge you to do these things. As we were working on another brushpile, the one WE JUST MADE had 5-6 chickadees jumping all over inside it.
Dosnt take long for wildlife to catch on....
I will try and post pics in the next few weeks but here are some from yesterday
On this farm, I spent hours thinking what to do to benefit all wildlife over the past year before I started.
I love turkey and deer hunting, but also want everything from Indiana bats to bluebirds to thrive.
I KNEW I needed more cover. So, I picked about 8 areas to make REALLY thick through hinging, had straight TSI done on one section, and also made a couple open areas that had great oaks surrounding it for strut zones and acorn buffets
I also edge feathered ALOT for nesting and cover and hinge cut like a mad man.
Here is the last section we did yesterday and it was a draw filled with ironwoods. It leads to one of my favorite pinch points and unfortunately had potential that I felt was untapped.
I wanted to create an environment that was a thick draw they would bed in and work their way towards me in the evenings or back to in the AM. Currently, while they "could" bed there, it was just to open and they wouldn't.
So we created about two 50 yard sections that looks like this...
Between the two thickets is when I got a workout, dragging over 60 ironwoods to the ditch after we cut them at their bases and will spray eventually to kill them. 99% I hinged IW this winter, but here was a case where 5-8 mother oaks over 100 years old surrounded this ridge, and I wanted to create a place turkeys could roost and drop down to feed...or bucks could leave their bed and begin eating acorns in October.
I also left 3-4 GIANT hickories for the "Hoosier" bats, aesthetics and because after 100 years I guess I felt they deserved to stick around
The IW ridge surrounded by oaks looked like this before....
And this now....
They then could move to me at the pinch point or to this secluded clover field
**Forgive this picture of my father in law standing in the lane we created headed to clover...... he has never got over coming in second for the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" auditions
Its alot of work but I hope it pays off. Ill try to post more pics when I can and anybody who has land, I strongly urge you to do these things. As we were working on another brushpile, the one WE JUST MADE had 5-6 chickadees jumping all over inside it.
Dosnt take long for wildlife to catch on....
Last edited:
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Awesome pics man! Gotta love the habitat work!
dbltree
Super Moderator
Increasing understory and enhancing timber quality
Trees crowd each other and compete for sunlight and that competition slows growth, reduces mast production and virtually eliminates understory ground cover that whitetails need for both bedding and browse.
This timber was virtually void of deer sign other then a runway passing thru it from adjacent cedar cover to a feeding area beyond...
I went to work to change that
Releasing the better crop trees and putting some lumber on the ground at the same time
Even in a stand of hickories the best crop trees can be released to encourage faster growth
and where possible competing trees hinged to instantly increase ground cover
Pockets of trees may be hinged heavily, in some cases to provide screening and or manipulate deer movement
while other areas may be girdled to release trees but encourage only light ground cover
Better quality black walnuts and white oaks struggle in dense hickory stands
but in areas without better trees, I try to avoid killing every tree just because...hickories have timber value as well, as do most...even cottonwood can be marketed for pallet lumber
Where falling large weed trees would cause severe damage to crop trees, I girdle them and hinge only the smaller, shade tolerant understory trees that often consist of hickory, elm, basswood and ironwood.
Hickories hinge well except in extreme cold temps when almost all trees tend to break off...this winter has been mild and ideal for hinging.
At first glance some areas of mature timber seem unchanged...but pockets of hinged timber can be seen on adjacent slopes and as girdled trees die, the increased sunlight to the forest floor will begin to quickly change things.
Note that this area was heavily hinged for blocking or manipulating deer movement to force them by the landowners stand
Trail blocking and funneling is relatively easy to do with a chain saw and I admit...I can not do a TSI project without altering the timber to create funnels...even though I will never see the fruits of my labors....
Trees crowd each other and compete for sunlight and that competition slows growth, reduces mast production and virtually eliminates understory ground cover that whitetails need for both bedding and browse.
This timber was virtually void of deer sign other then a runway passing thru it from adjacent cedar cover to a feeding area beyond...
I went to work to change that
Releasing the better crop trees and putting some lumber on the ground at the same time
Even in a stand of hickories the best crop trees can be released to encourage faster growth
and where possible competing trees hinged to instantly increase ground cover
Pockets of trees may be hinged heavily, in some cases to provide screening and or manipulate deer movement
while other areas may be girdled to release trees but encourage only light ground cover
Better quality black walnuts and white oaks struggle in dense hickory stands
but in areas without better trees, I try to avoid killing every tree just because...hickories have timber value as well, as do most...even cottonwood can be marketed for pallet lumber
Where falling large weed trees would cause severe damage to crop trees, I girdle them and hinge only the smaller, shade tolerant understory trees that often consist of hickory, elm, basswood and ironwood.
Hickories hinge well except in extreme cold temps when almost all trees tend to break off...this winter has been mild and ideal for hinging.
At first glance some areas of mature timber seem unchanged...but pockets of hinged timber can be seen on adjacent slopes and as girdled trees die, the increased sunlight to the forest floor will begin to quickly change things.
Note that this area was heavily hinged for blocking or manipulating deer movement to force them by the landowners stand
Trail blocking and funneling is relatively easy to do with a chain saw and I admit...I can not do a TSI project without altering the timber to create funnels...even though I will never see the fruits of my labors....
Highmark
PMA Member
I realize you cannot easily create funnels by having a logger come in and do some regular logging but if I have some good mature walnuts (20"+ dia) would I be better off having them come in and take 3-5 Walnuts per acre than hinge cutting some other less desirable tree's? I gain some ground cover with the left over tops and make some money on the logging.
dbltree
Super Moderator
Absolutely! Always market mature timber first and start TSI projects and/or hinging afterwords. Use the tops for cover and funneling and hinge small weed trees where possible :way:
dbltree
Super Moderator
A year later...
The following are pictures taken almost exactly a year after I did some edge feathering on a landowners farm, it's always interesting to go see what things look like after a growing season has passed. Did trees survive hinging? How much re-growth? How did whitetails and wildlife react to the hinging....and so on.
In this case a narrow strip was edge feathered on the inside of the timber rather then being felled into the field, simply because the neighboring field belongs to an adjoining landowner. The trees in this strip were between a fence line and a band of red cedars where deer frequently travel thru and bed in, so the trees were hinged primarily for blocking, screening and browse.
Here you can see the fence line trees to the right, hinged trees to the left and any thing remotely resembling a "crop tree" left standing...in this case mostly black cherry.
This strip is a solid mass of downed trees which is NOT what we would want for a bedding area
There is lot's of browse coming up where there was once a park like timber
The cedar bedding area is well screened
The younger pole sized trees were perfect for blocking runways...forcing deer to follow the inside edge and past the owners stand
nearly every tree remained alive and has new growth
When creating bedding, areas of trees can be hinged or large individual trees felled but you should be able to walk around the hinged areas freely...a solid mat of downed trees is not going to be used for bedding.
Radically opening up canopy causes and explosion of screening new growth and a new "edge" that whitetails like to follow and take advantage of the succulent browse.
Even though not very wide...the strip of downed trees almost completely blocks and screens the interior from the field edge.
I always leave semi-open areas for travel along the inside edge
If this were on a ridge deer will typically bed in the open area next to the downed trees but in this case they have better bedding further into the interior of the cedars and beyond.
The trees shown were primarily elms, hickories and cherry trees...not high value trees, unless of course we can use them to enhance our habitat and manipulate deer movement. This year we did TSI on much of the remaining timber doing a crop tree release with combined girdling and felling of trees to make a combination of thick pockets of cover and semi-open areas that will have plenty of new growth and browse yet also open enough to walk thru....more on that in a future post....
The following are pictures taken almost exactly a year after I did some edge feathering on a landowners farm, it's always interesting to go see what things look like after a growing season has passed. Did trees survive hinging? How much re-growth? How did whitetails and wildlife react to the hinging....and so on.
In this case a narrow strip was edge feathered on the inside of the timber rather then being felled into the field, simply because the neighboring field belongs to an adjoining landowner. The trees in this strip were between a fence line and a band of red cedars where deer frequently travel thru and bed in, so the trees were hinged primarily for blocking, screening and browse.
Here you can see the fence line trees to the right, hinged trees to the left and any thing remotely resembling a "crop tree" left standing...in this case mostly black cherry.
This strip is a solid mass of downed trees which is NOT what we would want for a bedding area
There is lot's of browse coming up where there was once a park like timber
The cedar bedding area is well screened
The younger pole sized trees were perfect for blocking runways...forcing deer to follow the inside edge and past the owners stand
nearly every tree remained alive and has new growth
When creating bedding, areas of trees can be hinged or large individual trees felled but you should be able to walk around the hinged areas freely...a solid mat of downed trees is not going to be used for bedding.
Radically opening up canopy causes and explosion of screening new growth and a new "edge" that whitetails like to follow and take advantage of the succulent browse.
Even though not very wide...the strip of downed trees almost completely blocks and screens the interior from the field edge.
I always leave semi-open areas for travel along the inside edge
If this were on a ridge deer will typically bed in the open area next to the downed trees but in this case they have better bedding further into the interior of the cedars and beyond.
The trees shown were primarily elms, hickories and cherry trees...not high value trees, unless of course we can use them to enhance our habitat and manipulate deer movement. This year we did TSI on much of the remaining timber doing a crop tree release with combined girdling and felling of trees to make a combination of thick pockets of cover and semi-open areas that will have plenty of new growth and browse yet also open enough to walk thru....more on that in a future post....
First year hinge cut results
I posted earlier in the winter on advice for hinge cutting. We ended up cutting 5 compartments for a total of 3-4 acres. It is really a mess. Basically it is a 100 percent hinge cut with a few timber trees, oaks, apples, pears, and pines left. We created a couple of corridors past deerstands. We learned a lot and got bettter as we went. The deer might not go into these areas except under high pressure, but they will definitely bed on the edges, and we created a lot of new edge in a sterile woods. We left some nice pockets facing downhill which look to be perfect for bedding. The deer were all over the tops when we cut. I am going to try and post 4 pictures of what we did. Next year we will cut some firewood to open up some pockets and work on creating another 4 acres. Already some hinged trees are leafing out. We cut a lot of white ash and hard maple which I don't know if they can live hinged or not. The elms and soft maples we found, hinged well and are pushing leaves out. Can't wait to see if we hold more deer next year.
Lcarabine
I posted earlier in the winter on advice for hinge cutting. We ended up cutting 5 compartments for a total of 3-4 acres. It is really a mess. Basically it is a 100 percent hinge cut with a few timber trees, oaks, apples, pears, and pines left. We created a couple of corridors past deerstands. We learned a lot and got bettter as we went. The deer might not go into these areas except under high pressure, but they will definitely bed on the edges, and we created a lot of new edge in a sterile woods. We left some nice pockets facing downhill which look to be perfect for bedding. The deer were all over the tops when we cut. I am going to try and post 4 pictures of what we did. Next year we will cut some firewood to open up some pockets and work on creating another 4 acres. Already some hinged trees are leafing out. We cut a lot of white ash and hard maple which I don't know if they can live hinged or not. The elms and soft maples we found, hinged well and are pushing leaves out. Can't wait to see if we hold more deer next year.
Lcarabine
Attachments
dbltree
Super Moderator
Regrowth after hinging trees
I love going back into areas previously hinged and seeing the tremendous re-growth that has occurred in only one year! The resulting explosion of new growth is often nothing short of amazing and is always full of deer. The other day I went back to continue our hinging program that a landowner and I started in the winter of 2010/2011 and was delighted with the results! I drove the Ranger to within 60 yards of the ridge, filled the saw and hiked to within 30 yards of the thick cover before the whole area exploded with whitetails!
One can see why with this thick cover at the top of the south facing ridge!
Previously the whole area looked like this and was of course largely devoid of deer
Even better was finding this shed next to a hinged hickory...
Opening up canopy alone spurs the amazing re-growth, so much so in places one can scarcely see the hinged trees but they have on on growth and are providing cover and browse themselves
Open timber in foreground and hinged areas in the back ground
So I set about continuing more of a good thing
Hinging any "weed" trees and leaving the oaks and walnuts standing
I always look for the main travel corridor and leave it open
Falling trees either right or left of it
It's been a long winter with over 400 acres done so I have more pictures to share...some rainy day....
I love going back into areas previously hinged and seeing the tremendous re-growth that has occurred in only one year! The resulting explosion of new growth is often nothing short of amazing and is always full of deer. The other day I went back to continue our hinging program that a landowner and I started in the winter of 2010/2011 and was delighted with the results! I drove the Ranger to within 60 yards of the ridge, filled the saw and hiked to within 30 yards of the thick cover before the whole area exploded with whitetails!
One can see why with this thick cover at the top of the south facing ridge!
Previously the whole area looked like this and was of course largely devoid of deer
Even better was finding this shed next to a hinged hickory...
Opening up canopy alone spurs the amazing re-growth, so much so in places one can scarcely see the hinged trees but they have on on growth and are providing cover and browse themselves
Open timber in foreground and hinged areas in the back ground
So I set about continuing more of a good thing
Hinging any "weed" trees and leaving the oaks and walnuts standing
I always look for the main travel corridor and leave it open
Falling trees either right or left of it
It's been a long winter with over 400 acres done so I have more pictures to share...some rainy day....
dbltree
Super Moderator
April 29th, 2012
The following are pictures from a timber where I did a crop tree release using hinging and girdling over a year ago....the difference in ground cover is incredible!
The are not yet done looks like this...wide open with little or no ground cover or browse
Standing in the same spot but facing the side where I did radical hinging it looks like this
Even trees that broke off provide amazing amounts of growth
The hinged weed trees released young oaks and provide screening and bedding cover
and copious amounts of browse
Every hinged or cut tree has created an environment that provides the things whitetails crave most....food and cover
Trees killed via girdling open up canopy and allow lush new undergrowth
Young oaks are free to grow less the competition that once crowded them
while creating a jungle of bedding cover under them
I did some additional cutting...hinging trees along the edge
That next year will look something like this
Hinging to release crop trees and provide bedding and browse for whitetails is a win win habitat move! There is almost nothing you can do on your property that will produce more significant nor profound results and when used to funnel deer as well your odds of harvesting your target buck will rise as well... :way:
The following are pictures from a timber where I did a crop tree release using hinging and girdling over a year ago....the difference in ground cover is incredible!
The are not yet done looks like this...wide open with little or no ground cover or browse
Standing in the same spot but facing the side where I did radical hinging it looks like this
Even trees that broke off provide amazing amounts of growth
The hinged weed trees released young oaks and provide screening and bedding cover
and copious amounts of browse
Every hinged or cut tree has created an environment that provides the things whitetails crave most....food and cover
Trees killed via girdling open up canopy and allow lush new undergrowth
Young oaks are free to grow less the competition that once crowded them
while creating a jungle of bedding cover under them
I did some additional cutting...hinging trees along the edge
That next year will look something like this
Hinging to release crop trees and provide bedding and browse for whitetails is a win win habitat move! There is almost nothing you can do on your property that will produce more significant nor profound results and when used to funnel deer as well your odds of harvesting your target buck will rise as well... :way:
dbltree
Super Moderator
August 1st, 2012
Edgefeathering
Typically edgefeathering involves falling and/or hinging cull/weed trees along the edge to create a transitional habitat that is beneficial to nearly all types of woodland and upland wildlife. Allowing sunlight in creates an explosion of new shrubby growth and cover and when we combine that with the "blocking" effect of this growth within the downed trees we also create some fabulous screening and trail blocking for whitetails.
The following pics are from some EF I did this past winter...
From the inside we cannot see the field a mere 20 yards away
and this creates a safe secure place for whitetails who love the safe feeling of not being seen
Note that while there is enough room for deer to move around...
you can not see down thru the timber thanks to the hinged trees
the downed trees fall towards the field and then were pushed around parallel with the field which allowed me to block off a dozen or more runways leaving only one...centrally located runway that is now more of a freeway!
From the outside we see nothing but a wall of new growth!
That new growth provides thick screening, a "fence" of sorts when combined with the downed trees..
and copious amounts of succulent browse
To often natural browse is overlooked and all our focus is on other food sources but whitetails are indeed browsers rather then grazers and must have browse in their daily diet.
When I started this project the timber was wide open from the field in and deer would flee within moments of approaching the field, let alone the timber.
Now deer remain calmly hidden from view and stage just inside the timber before entering the field to feed making them far more likely to step into the field in daylight hours. The single runway obviously has advantages for hunting but also allows us to get very accurate trail cam surveys.
Edgefeathering is an economical and efficient way to markedly improve your whitetail habitat as well as hunting opportunities. If you will be attending the Land and Wildlife Expo in Nashville next weekend stop by my seminar on Saturday where I'll be discussing this and other timber management options.
Land and Wildlife Exp Speakers
Fall, winter and early spring are great times to work on an edgefeathering project so get your chainsaw tuned up and ready...
Edgefeathering
Typically edgefeathering involves falling and/or hinging cull/weed trees along the edge to create a transitional habitat that is beneficial to nearly all types of woodland and upland wildlife. Allowing sunlight in creates an explosion of new shrubby growth and cover and when we combine that with the "blocking" effect of this growth within the downed trees we also create some fabulous screening and trail blocking for whitetails.
The following pics are from some EF I did this past winter...
From the inside we cannot see the field a mere 20 yards away
and this creates a safe secure place for whitetails who love the safe feeling of not being seen
Note that while there is enough room for deer to move around...
you can not see down thru the timber thanks to the hinged trees
the downed trees fall towards the field and then were pushed around parallel with the field which allowed me to block off a dozen or more runways leaving only one...centrally located runway that is now more of a freeway!
From the outside we see nothing but a wall of new growth!
That new growth provides thick screening, a "fence" of sorts when combined with the downed trees..
and copious amounts of succulent browse
To often natural browse is overlooked and all our focus is on other food sources but whitetails are indeed browsers rather then grazers and must have browse in their daily diet.
When I started this project the timber was wide open from the field in and deer would flee within moments of approaching the field, let alone the timber.
Now deer remain calmly hidden from view and stage just inside the timber before entering the field to feed making them far more likely to step into the field in daylight hours. The single runway obviously has advantages for hunting but also allows us to get very accurate trail cam surveys.
Edgefeathering is an economical and efficient way to markedly improve your whitetail habitat as well as hunting opportunities. If you will be attending the Land and Wildlife Expo in Nashville next weekend stop by my seminar on Saturday where I'll be discussing this and other timber management options.
Land and Wildlife Exp Speakers
Fall, winter and early spring are great times to work on an edgefeathering project so get your chainsaw tuned up and ready...