Hinge-cutting on Hunting Land

Hinge-cutting on your South Carolina hunting land is a great way to create cover for wildlife as well as providing new food sources for deer. Hinge-cutting is the process of cutting a tree in half and letting it fall, but keeping it alive so that it can still produce leaves. If you need to remove trees, this is a great way to improve the quality deer management on your hunting property. Many times you will feel the need to remove trees to provide space and ideal conditions for preferred trees. These hinge-cut trees can live for years this way and be valuable for you.
Hinge-cutting is a great method to use for thinning the forest on your hunting land. Timber management is often necessary to keep a clean forest floor. Hinge-cutting is beneficial for a variety of reasons – cover for turkeys, quail, etc. as well as a new food source for deer. Providing a thicket cover near a food plot is a great idea and deer may find this to be a great bedding area.
Thin trees and thicker trees need to be cut in different ways. A small sapling can be bent and cut at the bend with a machete. Force the sapling down until it is parallel with the ground; you can cut the tree at any height you wish. Larger trees will probably require a chainsaw, but can be cut in the same way as the saplings.
Depending on your cut and the type of tree, your hinge-cut trees can live for years and sometimes the growth can be re-cut again in a few years, creating an even thicker cover. Larger trees will often hollow out and will create refuge for different types of animals.