Hinge cutting study

[treerat]

Do Deer Use Hinge-Cut Bedding Blocks? New Study Results Out

Dr. Craig Harper and his students at the University of Tennessee tested hinge-cutting and bedding cover to see how deer responded. The results were surprising.

deerassociation.com

Interesting article about hinge cutting success.

 

[gjs4]

Related-Random post....

Is it just me or does it seems most hunting outlets have been producing anti-hinge cutting comments in 2025. Like its the new hot topic (Was surpised to read this)

 

[Teeder]

Thanks for posting.

When I bought my house in 2002, the back portion was full of red maples, which i hated. Through the years that view has changed. Roughly every 5 years I go through and re-hinge them. Now I consider them the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[BenA]

That 4.5' hinging height they used in the study makes me kind of nervous. I know you have that kickback safety cutoff in front of the handle to stop the chain, but still...

I would have loved to see them have another cover type in there to compare to like a 3 year cutover.

That said, I do see bedding and good usage where I've hinge cut. I have used it in edge feathering mainly.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I’m not sure that study was some smoking gun. Basically found out if you take a 10 acre open hardwood stand, make a mess of 5 acres and allow structure and sunlight, deer will use it. If UT is handing out masters degrees for that kind of hard hitting research sign me up!

 

[Turkish]

Related-Random post....

Is it just me or does it seems most hunting outlets have been producing anti-hinge cutting comments in 2025. Like its the new hot topic (Was surpised to read this)

In the South, hinge cutting many trees is a bad idea. You just end up with a more difficult mid story to manage 2 years post treatment. That single 4” diameter 30’ tall sweetgum you hinge becomes 8 more. The species composition improves when you terminate that sweetgum and you end up with the same thick cover.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I’m not sure that study was some smoking gun. Basically found out if you take a 10 acre open hardwood stand, make a mess of 5 acres and allow structure and sunlight, deer will use it. If UT is handing out masters degrees for that kind of hard hitting research sign me up!

That was my thought.

The chunk that opened up the canopy and put more cover/browse at deer level drew more deer than the coverless canopied over timber - no kidding?

Seems people always want to fight over hinging vs felling vs hack n squirt but they did all 3 which with maybe a little more hinging than some might use. Generally seems in line with what a well reasoned habitat manager would do whether they hinged the small trees or just fell them. Results are not surprising. BUT - it did get my juices flowing to get the chainsaws tuned up and out into the woods!

 

[bwoods11]

In my opinion, if you have 100 acres of timber it’s best to have some hinge cut areas, some open and have some with conifer trees…

The perfect set up would be hardwoods between the two (mainly for rut action).

I have a good friend in Iowa that hinge cuts every acre he can … & swears by it !

 

[BenA]

I've seen plenty of bedding without any type of cover directly overhead, but I've also seen enough to realize they do like it in certain situations. Just like cows will huddle under a tree, horses will high tail it to the barn, and dogs will get in their house; providing deer with a canopy could be a good idea. They need to thermo-regulate. In heat, they need shade and a breeze if possible. In rain, they need overhead protection. In the cold, they need something to trap or absorb heat. There's all types of situations where I could see the overhead canopy provided by hinge cuts be just as beneficial as the side cover they provide.

 

[jsasker007]

I've done my own version using my mini excavator to push over mostly maple trees that are competing with my better oaks. Push them over so they are angling up from the roots to the top of the tree slightly leaving enough roots on most of them to have the maples keep growing providing maple tree top browse for the deer and they aren't competing with the oaks anymore. Seems like it's been working alright so far. Been doing it for maybe 5 years so not real sure of the long term results yet. Gives me something to do and it's my own experiment to see if it will help provide more cover and browse. The deer do eat the growing tree tops that are only about 4' off the ground on the bottom side if that makes sense. The tree tops that are out of reach start growing back towards the sky. Might be about a 10 year deal and I have to finish taking the downed maple out all together. We'll see.

 

[TreeDaddy]

The fewer predator ( Yote) camera sightings in the hinged area did catch my eye

Given the increased deer sightings , that piece of data seemed counter intuitive

bill

 

[Brian662]

The fewer predator ( Yote) camera sightings in the hinged area did catch my eye

Given the increased deer sightings , that piece of data seemed counter intuitive

bill

Around my area (mixed woodlots and ag) coyotes tend to take lazy paths of least resistance to cruise for cheap and easy meals. Don't often see them weaving through thick cover like a deer will.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Around my area (mixed woodlots and ag) coyotes tend to take lazy paths of least resistance to cruise for cheap and easy meals. Don't often see them weaving through thick cover like a deer will.

Possibly cruising and using scent like we say bucks do "on the down wind edge of bedding" without weaving through the thick stuff?

 

[Brian662]

Possibly cruising and using scent like we say bucks do "on the down wind edge of bedding" without weaving through the thick stuff?

Right. That could lead to lesser camera sightings of coyotes that the study mentioned, IMO

 

[BenA]

Whitetail Properties did a video standing in one of the UT bedding block study areas in Pennsylvania about a year ago. The video is here:

 

[Hoytvectrix]

For the "no duh" comments about the quality of research...this is how things work in science. Even really obvious things need to be verified before committing to larger and more complex research projects. Often a practice is observed in the field and then a very simple project is completed to quantify if there is any validity to it. Masters projects are often a "what would happen if we did X?". The data from these projects are used in grant proposals to get further funding and answer more specific questions.
How does hinge cutting compare to other habitat manipulations for creating bedding areas?
How does hinge cutting interact with prescribed fire or other forms of tsi?
Which deer are using these areas and for how long?

I do a lot of applied research and education of professionals within my industry. It is shocking how often practices become adopted and hang around, even after research shows they don't really work.

 

[Turkish]

Do Deer Use Hinge-Cut Bedding Blocks? New Study Results Out

Dr. Craig Harper and his students at the University of Tennessee tested hinge-cutting and bedding cover to see how deer responded. The results were surprising.

deerassociation.com

Interesting article about hinge cutting success.

From the sounds of it, Lindsay Thomas finally started looking through the old QDMA forum archives that he saved on his personal Gateway 2000 and found this from week 3.

 

[bwoods11]

My limited experience on hinge cutting, is it’s best to work on small areas with trees such as Boxelder. Having two hinge cut areas not far apart is a very good spot to sit (In between) during the rut!

I owned a farm in Iowa many yrs ago— that had been previously hinge cut (the entire timber). I didn’t like it as much . It was a big jungle of habitat but tough to hunt .

 

[BenA]

What's everyone doing as far as sizes for their hinge cut areas? I have limited flat ground, so mine are mostly edge feathered areas on the line between old field and ravines. I wish I could make them wider, but am limited by the width of these bench areas. The deer do seem to like theses spots though. I'm making more of them in the next few weeks.

 

[jsasker007]

I've been pushing over soft wood trees pretty much all over my property opening up for oaks. The areas that I can just leave for the deer and stay out of I do a lot more knocking down and clearing out trying to make a couple of sanctuaries for the deer to hang out.