What do you think about

When you are over looking a food plot or guarding a pinch point between one of your bedding areas and a food scource that you have Improved or built from scratch? For me personally I study every deer and how it moves throughout my property. I take time to look at how much differant the does move vs mature bucks. By studying this movement I try plan on what I can do to make improvements for the next year that will not only improve my odds at putting my tag on a mature buck but also give him the security he needs to live on my property all year round.
I will say it again… I have planted food plots on my property for more than 20 years, But it was only after I gave the deer the security that they needed that We consistantly have mature bucks bedded on our property all year long. Our #1 goal was to improve bedding areas, This can be done several differant ways, I mainly hinge cut trees for this part of the plan. #2 try to control how the deer move thru your property. This is very easily done with the use of some round up and a chain saw. when you clear a path that you want them to use and block paths that you don’t want them use they usually allways choose the path you made for them.
I guess what i’m trying to say is that every time I watch a deer I try and figure out where he came from? why is he going where he is going? can I give him more security so he won’t leave my property during shooting hours? I have never seen a property that couldn’t be improved with a little work. Sorry to bore you with all of this But I know there are alot of properties that can very easily be improved with a little thought and some manual labor Good luck on improving your property for next years hunt

Not boring, but good information. I had of course thought of making the paths in hopes the deer use them, but not of using hinged trees to direct them and for cover. Another trick up my sleeve……….Thanks much.

Nut

Great post Bob! From what I’ve witnessed and from what I’ve captured on trail cameras, mature bucks usually will not take the same routes as does and fawns especially during the prerut phase. If you think about it, why would they? I believe they want to use as little energy as possible and they can scent check those trails leading in and out of the food sources from downwind. This also allows them to stay back in the thicker cover while conserving more energy and still accomplish their mission. This is where I believe hinge cutting can dramatically help those bucks feel more secure moving about on your property. Sometimes I envision that I’m at war with snipers in trees all around me. Would I walk through that open woods?

Another benefit of hinge cutting that I’m going to put in place this winter is to block out some pesky neighbors that sit right on the fenceline and shoot across our fenceline at yearling bucks (this year they claimed they wounded two deer and they ran into our property ). I also feel that as the neighbors approach their stands along the fenceline, hopefully the deer will be more inclined to seek refuge in the hinge cut areas as well. The trees that I hinge cut will also provide the deer some additional browse to get through the winter.

I was afraid I was the only one who had neighbors that do that exact same thing nice tip that may be worth looking into

Great info Bob, I was wondering if you could go more in depth about the hinge cutting you do on your property, maybe with some pictures? thnx

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Great info Bob, I was wondering if you could go more in depth about the hinge cutting you do on your property, maybe with some pictures? thnx

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Will do. I will take a few new pics and post them soon

awesome thnx

Yep it’s almost that time again. I have been playing with some ideas for my dad’s land over the past few weeks on paper. I have one stand in particular that I know could be converted from a marginal stand to a great stand with some hinging to control movement and some TSI to create a upwind bedding area. The stihl is sharpened and ready to eat wood

What else is there to think about other than wrapping your tag around some big antlers. And how to do it on a consistant basis. It doesn’t matter how long I have been hunting a property it seems like every year I learn something new or the deer throw a new trick at me. From mock scrapes to food sources that will keep them happy all thru the year. Now onto hinge cutting and improved bedding areas. next on my to do list is a pond/waterhole in the comfort of the woods where they will visit during shooting hours

That is one trick we hope to employ more this year in SD also Pat. Water is always a premium out there. We plan to hand dig some small “pothole” ponds. We will line them with rubber inner-tubes we got from Cenex and place some rocks on them to hold them in place.

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Another benefit of hinge cutting that I’m going to put in place this winter is to block out some pesky neighbors that sit right on the fenceline and shoot across our fenceline at yearling bucks (this year they claimed they wounded two deer and they ran into our property ). I also feel that as the neighbors approach their stands along the fenceline, hopefully the deer will be more inclined to seek refuge in the hinge cut areas as well. The trees that I hinge cut will also provide the deer some additional browse to get through the winter.

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I had the same issue with new neighbors, at first tried to get along with them. We ride our horses up thru our woods and one of the neighbors threatened my wife to shoot her horse if she came thru his bow deer stand again, which was right on the fence line. I have never posted our land, the next day it looked like a yellow centerline. Made a nice 4 wheeler trail right by his stand and drove it every morning and night with the 4 wheeler multiple times if I could and every opportunity I had. Took about two weeks and no bow stand. They have been really good since then.