Hinge Cut Bedding Blocks

[BSK]

I have been considering this for a small parcel. 5-6 acres pasture and about 9 acres of woods. Woods were high graded about 20 years ago so most of the big trees left have marginal timber value. 10 years ago when I first started hunting there was a lot of nickel to half dollar sized regrowth and briars near the edges of the woods. Does normally bedded there and bucks cruised it pretty well during MZ.
Now you can see from one end to the other and most of the small diameter trees are the diameter of a silver dollar ++, and look like a dandelion with the crown starting 15-20' up. Little to no food or cover at ground level
There are enough big trees that I have to leave alone that just cutting/hack squirt the small stuff might not result in much ground level cover/regrowth? OR will all that small stuff re-sprout and make some thick bedding cover?
OR
Should I bend/break/hinge cut this smaller stuff to try and get some cover near ground level?

If hinge-cutting is too labor intensive, you can try hack-and-squirt. I find young trees of the diameter you are taking about are VERY easy to kill with hack-and-squirt. Now mature trees... not so easy.

To answer your question about whether dealing with these younger trees would be any benefit, look up at your more mature trees. Are their canopies touching or is there distance between their canopies? If some distance exists, kill/cutting the younger stuff WILL provide benefit. Just make sure to do it in patches large enough to make a difference. I would much rather produce pockets of thick regrowth rather than moderate regrowth evenly spread around.

 

[hammer33]

Thanks BSK. what I would like to accomplish is to make it attractive to deer again. Ill look at the canopy and see if the big mature trees have it all shaded out or if there are pockets where I can manipulate to get some cover.

 

[BigAl]

Isn't that Leonard & Teresa's son?

Yes

 

[Ski]

I have been considering this for a small parcel. 5-6 acres pasture and about 9 acres of woods. Woods were high graded about 20 years ago so most of the big trees left have marginal timber value. 10 years ago when I first started hunting there was a lot of nickel to half dollar sized regrowth and briars near the edges of the woods. Does normally bedded there and bucks cruised it pretty well during MZ.
Now you can see from one end to the other and most of the small diameter trees are the diameter of a silver dollar ++, and look like a dandelion with the crown starting 15-20' up. Little to no food or cover at ground level
There are enough big trees that I have to leave alone that just cutting/hack squirt the small stuff might not result in much ground level cover/regrowth? OR will all that small stuff re-sprout and make some thick bedding cover?
OR
Should I bend/break/hinge cut this smaller stuff to try and get some cover near ground level?

Sounds like a perfect opportunity to hinge cut, especially if the area you're talking faces south or west. You wouldn't even need a chainsaw. A machete hack and then break the tree over. I do LOTS of these with really good results. Lay them outward into the opening and be sure to leave enough room for trails to meander through and enough room for the deer to slip out into the opening. The idea is to create an environment that makes them feel hidden but not confined. The problem a lot of folks have when hinge cutting is that they go too hard and it quickly makes deer feel confined. It's important for them to feel like they can quickly escape danger, so going too thick defeats the purpose.

If still unsure then try a small stretch and see what happens. That's the best way to learn. If it works well then you have something to start with. If not then you're not out anything.