Hemlock Browsing

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

When I went to check my last camera last weekend my dad tipped over 3 hemlock trees for some bedding/browse/canopy reduction. I was amazed to come back 1 week later and there isnt a single spec of green on any of the three trees.

While I certaily like that they used what we gave them I had to wonder how hard up are they for food if they not only nibbled, but just wiped out tree so fast.

I had camera over a giant hollowed out cedar we cut down last year and it fed 10 deer for the next 6 weeks of browsing on that one giant tree. Cedar didnt suprise me, but I didnt think hemlock is high on the attractiveness list.

I am headed back tomorrow and will snap a picture of what is left.
Really makes me wonder what do with the next 1000 of them. They are all mature 40 foot or taller trees without a single branch under 10 feet. Nice stand trees, not doing much else as far as I can tell standing straight up.

We knocked down 50 of them last year and the sign in and around the new structure was mind blowing in February.

 

[chummer]

Deer love hemlock here. I have one 6' hemlock I have been nursing for the last 5 years in my back yard. A deer hit it twice this week going from yard to yard. My hemlock was the only tree it hit in my yard. It hit that before it went to the neighbors patio and hit his dogwoods. I had a giant hemlock tip over a couple of years ago before we had any real snow and they had that tree stripped in a week. Hemlock groves around us are probably the only reason we have deer survive the winters. We do not have cedars so Hemlocks are our main shelter tree. The deer bed in them year round, I find very few small ones, they get browsed to death before they get big enough to survive it.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Yeah I don't see any small ones here. They have a roof like effect but absolutely no side cover. I am conflicted on what to do with them. I like half upright and half on there sides. The bottom 20 feet are decent firewood. Better than expected.

 

[chummer]

I know when we get snow all the deer are in the hemlocks. I couldn't imagine cutting one. Although, if yours are in one continuous grove cutting pockets in the center could be dynamite.

 

[nwmn]

I'm not used to any coniferous cover in the are I hunt. There is some in surrounding areas, but nothing thick. Oh what I would do to have a stand of year round green for thermal bedding in winter. How many continuous acres of hemlock do you have? Like chummer said, if you put little pockets on the ground, that might be a gold mine. Adding edge in the middle of a grove would be nice.

 

[ruskbucks]

I have about 20-30 mature hemlock spread out on my land. The DNR forester told me they are kind of rare in the area. The deer stand on their hind legs and browse them as high as they can reach. I have never seen a small one growing anywhere on the land. I just had a cutting done and my forester put in the plan to not cut any hemlock, I don't know the reason why thou.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

I wouldnt say this is thermal bedding in any way. There are no branches for 15/20 feet on these trees. There is also nothing growing underneath them. Its about a 5 acre 50 yards strip that buts up against a marsh.

Just yesterday we cut one giant leaner down and I put a camera over it. 2 hours later there was a doe browsing on it. I did 50 of them last year and they bedded in and around them but didnt eat much. Just made me wonder if they were hard up for food.

 

[chummer]

I wouldnt say this is thermal bedding in any way. There are no branches for 15/20 feet on these trees. There is also nothing growing underneath them. Its about a 5 acre 50 yards strip that buts up against a marsh.

Just yesterday we cut one giant leaner down and I put a camera over it. 2 hours later there was a doe browsing on it. I did 50 of them last year and they bedded in and around them but didnt eat much. Just made me wonder if they were hard up for food.

Not sure how much snow you get but they are the best thermal cover here. The trees keep a lot of snow from reaching the ground. It forms a snow blanket and the deer bed right up tight to the trunks.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

About a foot. Same amount of snow in and around those trees as anywhere else though. They will bed in that strip but right now I am finding that they will lay down just about anywhere. Probably because we are only there 1 day a week.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Hemlocks are good trees to have. In the area where I hunt, there's varying stages of hemlock growth - seedlings up to mature 70 ft. trees. Like Chummer said, deer bed in under them because they keep most of the snow from reaching the ground. We don't see hemlock browsing at camp - maybe due to many food sources available. Even the smaller seedling to 5 ft. sizes aren't hit much, if at all.

Hemlocks commonly grow around swamps, creeks, spring seeps, marshy ground, etc. They can grow on higher, dryer ground as well, but they get THICK near water. They favor north-sides of mountains and shady areas more so than sunny, south sides. Here - where there are varying stages of hemlock growth, they make great bedding / thermal cover.

The biggest threat to hemlocks is the wooly adelgid. They suck the sap out of twigs and branches and eventually kill the trees.

 

[Fall guy]

I am curious if deer really ate all the green off cut hemlock. Hemlock will shed all it needles shortly after being cut. I made mistake using to put back ground on one of my ladder stands. A week later I had a skeleton . I was told that is reason they are never sold for X mass tree. I can use white pine and needles will not drop for 6 months plus.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

A year ago I cut down plenty of them and they still had dried up needles this summer. Trust me they cleaned it up. Looked like a bomb went off around the tree. Since the snow is not deep enough to cover my norways they are being browsed for the second year in a row. Driving me nuts!

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

One weeks damage to a 60 year old leaning hemlock. Shredded up to 6 feet

 

[Bowsnbucks]

BCO - Wow !! That pic pretty much shows the deer DO browse hemlock, at least in that region. We don't really see it here, but there are many other food sources and more preferred browse species here. Maple and oak are at the top of the list here. I guess available food sources and winter nutritional needs dictate what's for supper. Thanks for sharing the pic !!

 

[Tree Spud]

Hemlock & White Cedar are very high browse preference for deer during the winter here in the north. Very difficult to establish unless you cage. All of the white cedars on my place have the lowest branches starting at 5-6' above the ground from browsing. There is a reason why deer yard up in hemlock & cedar areas during winter, good food source.

 

[rocksnstumps]

^^^as Tree Spud talks about, have only seen young hemlock in areas far enough north where the deer numbers are much lower than in years past. They seem to do ok in heavy shade but grow very slowly. Their growth rings are pretty narrow bands in those situations.