To cut or plant or cut then plant - opinions?

[shawnv]

My 30 acres has quite a bit of activity right now but it can be better obviously. It was logged 19 years ago so I have an area on my north and south border that are mostly young maple, birch and some younger pin oak that is all 2.5-5" in diameter. There is a hunting cabin 125 yards North of the main food plot and my in-laws cabin is 125 yards south

What I'm debating is when I have some other areas clear cut if I should also have these strips clear cut and plant Norway spruce or if I should just hinge and thin and then plant Norway spruce or just leave it as is and plant. I'm not sure what kind of growth I would see from the spruce if I didn't cut at all or only did sparingly. My concern is that for two years this area is will really expose the cabins and the deer who use the plot now will not until dark and right now this plot is the center piece of attraction in the area for bucks and does alike.

 

[Jim Timber]

Oak logs in the 3-6" range are perfect for growing mushrooms! :D

Seriously, that's what I'm doing with mine that size that don't end up firewood (good no-split firewood size too).

Hinging would be another good option if you're planting spruce there, but cutting first will make planting difficult, and planting first you'll kill some of your plugs (at least I did) or end up with a trunk directly over them (also happened).

I've still preemptively planted spruce in areas I'm going to harvest large aspen (14" DBH) knowing they might get whacked. I'd rather have good roots and a sheltered first year, than not plant the tree because it might not survive the logging later. That's one part of my land I'll try skidding with snow just to protect those trees.

 

[dipper]

Small trees-hinge them all! Do a couple acres a year or do it all. Forget about spruce in there. Mother Nature will consume them with all the growth. You would have to actually work at keeping them alive. Keep existing trails open and close a few up that you don't want with the hinging.
It's not worth anything to log
Don't worry about being close to the house. The deer will get used to your presence. Any bedding is good bedding imo, especially if your area is lacking. I would be excited to create some awesome habitat

 

[dipper]

Leave a good amount of oak. Give them plenty of space to branch out

 

[shawnv]

I have pockets of mature trees that can be cut so I'm hoping I could exchange some of that for their time to clear cut the small stuff. Around most of the small stuff I have many mature pines that I want taken out as they do little for me and is why I'm not so sure I want to hinge the small stuff. I did that this spring in a couple pockets and there still wasn't enough light hitting the floor.

 

[shawnv]

Thought about 2-2 spruce to help with competition. I would only plant some pockets or a small screen line so we're talking a couple hundred trees, not thousands. Good stuff to ponder on, thanks!