TSI and Hinge Cutting

[gundog870]

I know Paul has all of the specifics covered, but how do you guys get over making a "mess" of your timber. I am just looking at the pictures and feel like it would be depressing. But I do want to make a mess of things.

Also, how late into the spring/summer do ou guys do this type of work?

 

[6x6]

You gotta break some eggs Nick. I like to do the edges and smaller pockets inside the timber, to enhance bedding areas. I will be cutting untill the end of april, when the bugs start getting bad and everything is trying to raise babies.

 

[Daver]

Once you see how many deer flock to these "messy" areas I am pretty sure you will get over it. Start small, pick an area that you would like to encourage more bedding and whack a measly 1/2 acre...set a cam and come back in a week and I think you will soon find it within yourself to do more.

A real concern though about hinging/cutting too late in the year is that you could possibly help spread disease, like oak wilt. I agree with the end of April as a general stopping point, especially as it relates to bigger stuff that will "scrape" other trees on the way down like a nice a oak(s).

Also...remember that most of your vines are poison ivy and it is not hard to kick your own butt by doing a lot of cutting when PI is active. You can still get it from dormant vines in the winter, but start spitting that saw through some actively growing stuff and you will wonder where are the red dots on your face/neck, etc, came from.

 

[risto2351]

Nick,

I guess do you want deer or do you want a park? Serious question.

I am almost done with 26 acres of it. Should be great habitat.

As far as how long to cut that is up to you or your forester.

When the sap starts flowing they usually want you to quit. Which means after this

weekend I will luckily have everything done.

My biologist wanted me to kill everything that I cut. Reason being is if the weed trees

stress they may sucker more and actually produce more than they usually do which

makes for more weed trees down the road.

Either way you will see great results.

Just do some research and get cutting. :way:

 

[GOARMY]

I need to do it on some ridge tops where I want the deer to bed. Then I will intercept them going and coming from the food. Seeing sign in the snow told me what they like and I want to make it better.

 

[Buck-Man]

where is the best places in the woods to focus on cutting for bedding ,sanctuary, etc?
low areas, creek bottoms, south facing slopes , top of ridges, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sligh1]

Beauty is the eye of the beholder... I get done and I love what I see! The deer do too! Yes, it's frigin trashed. But the "un-natural look" may be what you are seeing... Fresh cuts, bright split wood and fresh signs of a "tornado" it looks like.... This goes away in 1-2 years... Things fill in, the fresh wood grays out & rots, etc. Things grow up and cover the "ugly" & fresh looking mess. It'll look like a natural jungle in 3-5 years. I love it, I love it more a few years later. Once you know what the future will look like, you'll appreciate this mess you create.

I'd do it all but I'd only do messes where you want deer bedding more. In areas I travel a lot (say farm equipment driving by or right where I walk to a stand) - I'll just do light crop tree release because I don't want to create a bedding area I'll constantly disturb. Of course it's awesome to find south facing ridges - create tons of bedding- in areas that are secluded and stay undisturbed. I'll also trash wide open vast timber anywhere - I don't want areas where I can see 250 yards through it easily- poor for deer & hunting. Flat spots, bottoms, ridges, etc - they all get some sort of attention (even if it's as simple as freeing up a 15" DBH Walnut tree to grow to a monster) all the way to massive hinge cutting. Also depends on the types of trees too- areas with elm, bitternut hickory, etc - I'll wipe em out (And ya, probably plant some desirable trees there). Good luck.

 

[Daver]

where is the best places in the woods to focus on cutting for bedding ,sanctuary, etc?
low areas, creek bottoms, south facing slopes , top of ridges, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Opinions may vary...but I would employ the KISS principle here.

Where do you want them to bed more? That is the first place I would go. I deliberately hinge areas about 100-150 yards away from where I plan on having a stand. Although it can be done, I prefer not to get closer than that, purposely, to a bedded deer. I like that distance so they are not likely to see or hear you getting in a stand.

So let's say you have a nice food plot on the top of the hill and there are some likely stand locations a little off that plot, then I would look for ridgetops about 100-150 yards away from the stand. Ideally, your stand is also far enough from the plot and the designated bedding area that you can sneak in/out without alerting bedded or feeding deer.

They will tend to prefer ridgetops or the top 1/3 of a ridge. There are exceptions of course, but in general, I focus most of my hinging just off of the top of ridges for about a 40-50 yard swath, sometimes only 10-15 yards long, other times 80-100 yards in length.

High ground is better to me than low ground, in general. In most cases I try to provide some "mess" in a precise area that accomodates both southern slopes and northern slopes. If I had to pick one, I would say southern, because they will definitely favor southern slopes in the winter.

I mostly don't do so much in creek bottoms, because I don't want the deer to be "there". I want to use the creeks to get to and from stands. But a nice, out of the wind creek bank can be a good spot on a really windy day. Just don't cut your own nose off by "placing" the deer in your likely entry/exit points.

My younger son shot this buck last fall on the first sit of the year in a textbook situation where we had a stand between bedding and food and with some unseasonably colder temps he got up on his feet sooner than normal and got shot about 80 yards away from his bedroom. I "made" that bedroom about this time last year and I expanded it a fair bit last week too. We treat that area as one of our sanctuaries AND it was a good spot before we started hinging it too.

My son also found a decent shed right in the "soup" of this heavily hinged area where this buck was spending a lot of his time last year.

If you build it, they will come. :grin:

 

[Buck-Man]

thanks for the advice ,sounds great and a great buck to boot