hinge cuts

Hinge, Girdle, Fell or Leave? A Guide to 50 Tree Species in Deer Habitat Management

Mar 12, 2025 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

So, you read an article or watched a video about Forest Stand Improvement for deer habitat, and now you’re standing in the woods ready to work. You hold a chainsaw in one hand and a…

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

Feb 26, 2025 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Dr. Craig Harper and his students at the University of Tennessee seem to love fact-checking untested but long-held assumptions about deer habitat. Their scientific work confirmed some popular theories and crushed many others. The latest…

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The Right and Wrong of Hinge Cutting for Deer Habitat

Feb 22, 2023 Zack Vucurevich

As I travel the country working with landowners to improve deer herds and habitat, the one management technique I see overused, mismanaged and misunderstood the most is hinge cutting.  There is a time and a…

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The Three Most Dangerous Hinge Cut Safety Mistakes

Feb 13, 2023 NDA Staff

Hinge cutting is a popular and useful tool for improving deer habitat. It can also involve significant risk of injury since chainsaws and trees are involved. Luckily there are some very simple rules that can…

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What to Feed Deer in Winter, and What NOT to Feed

Mar 24, 2022 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

The 30 most critical days for winter deer survival have a name, and it is March. Research at the University of New Hampshire showed that a healthy deer begins winter with a 90-day fat supply….

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5 Clues You Might Be Hinge-Cutting Too Much

Mar 2, 2017 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Hinge-cutting has exploded in popularity in recent years, and as with anything that explodes in popularity, some people take it too far, focusing too much on the technique while missing the bigger picture. It has…

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Put Green Leaves at Deer Level

Aug 22, 2012 Kip Adams

Everyone knows the leaves of most deciduous trees are green during summer. Most also know that leaves grow on a tree’s branches originating in spring and falling off in the fall. However, how valuable are…

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Create Living Thicket Cover by Hinge-Cutting

Mar 21, 2012 Jeff Jackson

Timber stand improvement (TSI) involves removing unwanted trees that are competing with desirable trees. What is the best thing to do with the unwanted trees? Cutting them off at the ground line is a standard…

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