Autumn Olive for deer bedding
02-15-2012, 08:41 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,616
Autumn Olive for deer bedding
Hey guys I want some opinions on this. I am a Timber/Wildlife Management student set to graduate here in a couple months and i want the best way to go about this. I was wondering if you were to make whitetail bedding would you prefer hinge cutting some trees but not enough to allow great openings for invasives like autumn olive to come in or would you cut the trees to create openings for autumn olive to come in, and why? Thanks Jake
02-16-2012, 02:10 AM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Person Co. NC
Posts: 884
The point of hinge cutting is to leave the tree alive. It will use the light created, at least in theory... I know that you will lose a few, but it shouldn't be enough to cause a major problem?
Thankfully, I do not have autumn olive here, so it might be more trouble than I realize.
Thankfully, I do not have autumn olive here, so it might be more trouble than I realize.
02-16-2012, 05:27 AM
#3
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Munising MI
Posts: 501
Where guys have it...it is INCREDIBLE deer bedding cover. Its great for birds, small game, and in high deer density areas it isn't eaten. In fact, that's why AO is able to spread sometimes, although not as fast as some think. It spreads...simply because it is not a preferred food source such as dogwood, for example.
I am not sure I would add it if I don't have it purely because of the negativity surrounding it...but if guys actually have it on their parcels it can be some of the best deer bedding cover in the neighborhood.
As far as hinging goes, tie downs, deer bed creation with living suspended living bushes of regen, leveled bedding platforms, and both increased stem density and horizontal structure...it all has to have sunlight. Too many times guys make the mistake of building sunless bedding areas that have little to no value within just a few years. Instead, open up the canopy to at least 60-70% within the location...give it a good 7-8 hrs of sun, and while you are at it, throw in some fairly random clumps of spruce or pine to diversify the location with another of the 4 components of good bedding habitat...conifer.
Again...not sure if I would introduce AO, but dang you haven't seen a deer bed until you have seen a carved out bedding hole within just a handful of AO, flanked by grasses, weeds, early successional growth and a few supporting conifers.
I am not sure I would add it if I don't have it purely because of the negativity surrounding it...but if guys actually have it on their parcels it can be some of the best deer bedding cover in the neighborhood.
As far as hinging goes, tie downs, deer bed creation with living suspended living bushes of regen, leveled bedding platforms, and both increased stem density and horizontal structure...it all has to have sunlight. Too many times guys make the mistake of building sunless bedding areas that have little to no value within just a few years. Instead, open up the canopy to at least 60-70% within the location...give it a good 7-8 hrs of sun, and while you are at it, throw in some fairly random clumps of spruce or pine to diversify the location with another of the 4 components of good bedding habitat...conifer.
Again...not sure if I would introduce AO, but dang you haven't seen a deer bed until you have seen a carved out bedding hole within just a handful of AO, flanked by grasses, weeds, early successional growth and a few supporting conifers.
Last edited by NorthJeff; 02-16-2012 at 05:29 AM.
02-16-2012, 07:16 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,616
Exactly Jeff I guess it all depends on what the landowner is wanting, from my forestry aspect AO is bad just because it is an invasive species lol but it does make awesome bedding cover if managed properly.
