Hinge Cutting Progress

I got the thumbs up yesterday from my cousin to try a test area for hinge cutting up at the farm. I'm pretty pumped about it and plan to start Sunday (weather permitting) with a few cuts. I'll try to keep this thread active with before pictures, pictures of the progress, and follow-up pictures down the road. Feel free to chime in if you have have advice, pictures, etc. I've never hinge cut a tree in my life so I'm starting from scratch.

About 3 years ago I started doing a mix of hinge and full cuts on mid-story junk trees, mainly Ironwood and Sweet Gum, in two somewhat open Oak flats near my main crop field. Goal was to create visibility for me and to get some sun on the ground to promote good growth., The results have been great. The first place I started on I now have anywhere from 100 to 200 yards of visibility from my stand but from a deer's perspective it is a mess which they feel very comfortable in.Last year I got to watch about 10 minutes of a full on chase through there, something I had only got glimpses of before. This year I saw 15 deer on a morning sit which was a record for me.Definitely worth the chainsaw hours and still needs some work. Maintenance is easy, a few hours in the late summer spraying any hardwoods or Privet that has popped up. The second place I still have a lot of work on and at this point have just got some lanes and general clearing done to get some visibilty. First sit on it a nice doe group crossed it just exactly as I figured they would so high hopes for this place too.I would give some thought to where you invest your time. I chose the first spot because one year I watched 7 racked bucks cross a clearcut just a little out of range and re-enter the woods at this spot.Its bound by a creek on the east and south with a major crossing 75 yards north of the stand, a four year old clearcut on the west and about 7 acres of beans and corn on north.And 3 fall food plots within about 300 yards.So it pretty much meets all the qualifications to make a deer happy,

Thanks for sharing. About how large of an area would you say you hinge cut?

Made couple new buck beds yesterday on two mounds of dirt left from cleaning out old pond. Hinge cut trees on mound and leveled out top and placed a log for them to bed against. Honeysuckle all over mound of dirt and pond 30 ft away should be good spot. Made a hinge cutting tool out of 8 ft pipe with a hook on it to pull trees over works well. You can cut less of the tree and have more control of it on smaller trees.

Ive been lookibg up h8nge cutting a bunch, and think it is 9ne of the best things you can do for a property

I think I have done probably 5-8 acres in my main spot and probaby only 2 to 3 on the other. This is what it looks like. Even though it looks really thin out there it is not from 3-5 down
.

This is my second place I am working on. View left and view right with the creek crossing.





And the reason I I am putting time in on this particular spot.





Not much light getting to the second spot so a lot of thinning needs to happen and I may do a small burn to promote growth and get the deer height stuff growing.There is a trail dead center that leads to a second crossing.

Got a little work done Sunday with the season being over. Didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked with not having much time to work with and spitting rain.

First attempt was more or less a success.




A couple "before" pictures




"after" pic


My poor attempt at homemade habitat hook using a pole I already had and a curved piece of pipe from the hardware store. It certainly needs some teeth to it or else it just slides down the trunk. Might have to invest in the real deal at some point. Sweetgums certainly seem to hinge the best out of what I worked with.

I took a piece of rebar and mig welded it to the pipe for my hook it grips ok may go back and weld piece of flat metal on with some teeth cut in it.

Plastic wedge work good to

I'll probably add to this as I get more experienced, but here is a basic list of stuff to carry into the woods.

Chainsaw plus safety gear
handsaw
lopers
wedge (plastic ideally)
small sledge hammer
spray bottle with glyphosate (to stump treat anything cut to kill)
Habitat hook
machete

It’s encouraging to see some new growth on the first round of trees I hinge cut.

In a few months it will be like a jungle in there. I got some that is 3 years old with 6 ft whips growing on them still living this year. You will have to experiment with different trees to see which one hinge the best. Check some areas yesterday that we did this year and found tracks in there so they are checking it out. It's more encouraging when you find the deer bedding in it. A chainsaw and fertilizer can make a lot of cover and food for a cheap price.

Figured a trophy rock in the middle of the hinge cutting area would be a good way to get deer using the area and keep trails open. You can really can tell the canopy is opening up.

Cut a trail through some really thick stuff that was already where I have been hinge cutting. It’s encouraging to see deer actually using the new trail.

A pic of an area cut a couple months ago vs. today.





Awesome seeing the regrowth. Should be great cover.


As I mentioned in the previous update, I cut a trail through the thick stuff. Went from getting one picture to a bunch, with a lot of them being during daylight.

Thanks for the update. I am very interested in your project. I'd like to do the same at our club if I can find the time.

You really need a plan on what your trying to get out of hinge cutting it's not a matter of July cutting trees off 5' from the ground. You want to create a trail if you will with thick hinged trees on both sides try to use it as a funnel. Go on deer and deer hunting and watch Steve Bartillia show you how it's done right this guy is the absolute best at hinge cutting

True. It's also not just making trails and funnels. It's opening the canopy, creating screens, creating horizontal cover for bedding, etc. I'm sure my 2nd attempt at doing this will be better than my 1st. Thanks for Steve's name...I'll check out his stuff.

Still crazy how much activity I have going on in the hinge cut area. Done cutting for the year and I'm trying to stay away from the farm as much as possible.

We'll be sitting in a stand overlooking the edge of the area we hinge cut this summer. Haven't been in the hinge cut area in a while...hope the hard work pays off!