Should You Ever Hinge Cut For Deer?

Should you ever hinge cut? Jeff explores when, how and why to hinge cut...and if you should hinge cut on YOUR land.
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[@courtofficermcilvaine7928]

I just hinge cut a stand of Sweetgum Trees along one of my property lines to help screen-off a neighbor's house. Worked out great. Thanks for posting the video!

[@MegaBraunie]

Hinge cutting changed my property from an average bedding area to a exceptional deer hub.

[@clintbrubaker4344]

I've got about 20 acres of solid honey suckle with very few mature trees. No hinge cutting for me! Just planning on cutting openings in the honeysuckle! Love working on the land!!

[@jordanquade8881]

Love your channel, just bought my first bit of acreage, 22.5, not huge but the biggest I’ve owned to date. I can’t wait to try to utilize some of your suggestions. The property is in Maryland so hopefully I can apply these strategies there. Thank you for all your do!

[@jimmyalamo839]

would love a vid on how to tell what signs or ways to tell where deer are currently bedding, or if you need a camera to check that. and how to keep them

[@h-minus2212]

My wife and I are considering some hinge cutting as we thin our hardwood stand. We tend to cut only what we burn for wood in a season. Now, we decided to harvest what we can burn and hinge cut a portion in order to experience the benefits of increased sunlight to the floor, and whatever browse and cover the hinged trees provided. Thank you for creating great content.

[@SethKinsinger]

Hey thanks for your videos. I learned a lot since I started watching. And there’s finally someone that doesn’t promote things he doesn’t believe in 👊🏽

[@underdogoutdoors]

I use a lazy mans trick, brush hog overgrown fields, in patchy sections to leave cover- then spread lime heavy early summer, sometimes top it with 10-10-10 fertilizer, always blows up with deer all hunting season.- Just realized I'm off topic! lol.

[@mikeclement5383]

I did! I hinge cut to blow out the canopy so my conifers could come up. I had minimal cover and the hard woods in my area weren't desirable for lumber. Now I'm just waiting for my white pines, eastern red cedar and Norway spruce to come up. Edit: I should say that when my hinges do finally die off after a couple seasons, I will use it to heat my barn. Won't go to waste.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

The cool thing is the hinge cuts can live for decades if they receive sun

[@huntwarbukz4117]

Awsome info Jeff thx for sharing with us as always 👍🦌

[@janitorialguy4436]

Tough call I’m not knowledgeable enough to make that decision. Thanks Jeff good video

[@dennybirchfield]

I hinge cut an area between 2 pine tree clusters about 5 to 600 yards long really open now the deer move through there and I have 3 stand opportunities along there

[@whitetailhabitatandhunting]

Thanks Jeff!

[@coltondietrich2478]

You often say you only recommend hinge cutting on approx 15% of client parcels. What clues should I look for to know whether my property is in the 15%, or the 85%? (Assume most of my trees are "hinge-able" based on species and size.)

[@paulcrave3112]

I have a property of about 10 acres where about 7 of it was planted in rows of maple trees probably 25 years ago. Most of the trees are in that 2”-6” diameter range. The woods is “see through” most of the hunting season. I’ve wondered for several years if this type of woods would benefit from hinge cutting. Even just parts of it.

[@timhatfield6367]

Couldn't hurt...?

[@JasonMartin-ez7rw]

Thanks Jeff, for another great video. We live in mixed ag and our 170 was previously used for pasture. Multiflora rose has exploded since the cattle have been moved off and we did a TSI for habitat. Do you have any videos on your thoughts on multiflora rose or how to manage it to benefit your deer habitat?

[@michiganwhitetailsociety]

10.6 acres Michigan great potential, creek down middle. A couple of small areas of crp need thickening and a couple pocket plots. What’s your suggestion to grow new thickets in those spots without destroying the crp? Spreading existing might be a possibility but I’m unsure at the moment

[@christopherwelch192]

Just like a 9/16 wrench, they work great when you need a 9/16, but not so much when you need a 3/4!

[@clintbrubaker4344]

Man I thought today might be my day! 😢 Good snag!

[@bowman8316]

Lol 👍🏼

[@kurtpearson2793]

You’ll get yourself a harvest soon-! Just think food and bedding, and wind, and temps..stand locations, stand access, and moon (you might see better)

[@clintbrubaker4344]

Staying alert and on stand through mid-morning seems to be key as well!

[@jerrybrewer4851]

What would you suggest to do when the area is almost 100% poplar that was logged in 2003 and is now getting mature?

[@raypeppel8625]

Do you cut conifers down to create cover in areas where they are to tall to give cover?

[@JP_BowHunter]

Hi Jeff, Thanks for the great information, as always. Question about bedding near a national forest. Would a national forest be big woods to you? If so you stated deer in these areas might not like thick bedding areas, so do you have a recommendation how thick and what size would you make a bedding area near a national forest?

[@ryanconklin5983]

Jeff. Love the content and advice you share. I have two smaller AG fields that total 6-7 acres. They are just weed fields now. I really want to incorporate the pizza looking switch grass field mix in both. I’m torn on what shrubs to mix in. I have thought about transplanting some AO that I have in some wood lines but this will not help with deer bedding as they don’t love to browse the AO. Southern Michigan mixed AG and rolling hills. Any suggestions ?

[@carlmize3251]

Is it worth hinge cutting on small benches where the deer are already bedding for thermals?

[@kurtpearson2793]

Any advice for us that have agriculture (corn/soy rotation) next door?

[@fredmcintyre9889]

Become friends 😂, ...... seriously corn Trumps, soys in late season.

[@travisjohnson8384]

I have some areas hinge cut on old pasture ground for getting quicker cover, but now I am wanting to burn to get more growth. Should I burn the hinge cut areas or avoid them?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

That depends...what you need and your deer need is woody growth...shrubs, trees, hardwood regen. You want to make sure in burning you never replace good woody growth with green herbaceous growth that is not available Oct thru March. If the prescribed fire replaced that woody growth of the hinge cuts for more woody growth than that's great

[@jamesnolan9651]

Great information

[@jamesnolan9651]

@@jeffsturgis is this for real?

[@twoTsquared]

Can small persimmon trees be hinged? We have a lot of mature and young ones all along our boundary of marshland. Need to open up a 1/2 acre point.

[@gerardsavage239]

hi jeff, is birch ever a good tree to hingecut?

[@jeremyrobs3643]

Does red oak or white oak hinge cut well?

[@JackFrostTheDeerHunter]

Poplar tree cuts...ground level or hip level?

[@fredmcintyre9889]

Ground

[@disc4609]

If you have as many as I do, I’d pick a height that’s easy on your back 😂🤣

[@mikeclement5383]

Ground in the middle of winter. It'll coppice the tree and you'll get new growth LOADED with high mineral content and nutrients that the deer will hit harder than a salt lick.

[@JackFrostTheDeerHunter]

@@mikeclement5383 wish I could we have 3-4 feet of snow in the woods right now. Definitely gonna do some cutting. Will buck some up for camp firewood and bonfires. Free wood is the best.

[@AdventuresWithJoshua.Videos]

Does sumac or poplar hinge cut well?

[@stevedenoyer5956]

No , sumac and pop pile will both root sprout, so if you have enough sunlight getting in to them, cut them off in the dormant season, and they should root sprout in the spring and summer. They will die if you hinge cut them

[@jjhoran1273]

1st

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

I think so JJ!

[@twoTsquared]

youtube.com/@jeffsturgis This spoof keeps pretending to be you Jeff.

[@SethKinsinger]

Yep he tried it with me

[@SethKinsinger]

Hey are you giving me a prize or is thier a scammer out there