I gotta disagree with you…….Hinge cutting has its place an its not just a fad type of thing……Just like fish, deer like structure. Just like how some fisherman sink Christmas trees to create vertical structure…..hinge cutting creates some horizontal structure on the forest floor that the deer like for bedding and cover. I see this all the time when I’m tracking deer for hunters. They really like tree tops and downed logs for bedding cover……Hinge cutting is another way of creating some cover in the understory. As far is being usable browse…….It creates a ton of highly preferred browse. In essence its no different that a coppice/stump sprouting technique……I’ve seen maple stumps here on my place that looked like you took hedge trimmers to them.

Also, hinge cutting is helping to remove midstory trees and allow more sunlight in which is just about always a good thing. Hinge cutting can be used to manipulate deer movement as well by using the trees to create paths of least resistance in areas where you want the deer to pass by…..This is especially effective for bowhunters…….Hinge cutting can also be used a quick way to thicken things up and make them more unhuntable in areas where you may be having poaching issues and you want to block easy travel and easy shooting lanes……

I could go on but hinge cutting is another tool that should be kept in our back pocket and not just seen as a midwestern fad.