How to Improve the Timber on Your Deer Property

Thinning just one acre of trees and canopy can let in enough sunlight and moisture to provide a half-ton of new forage for deer. Photo by Olga Spasionnikava.

Timber stand improvement, or TSI, is a hot trend in land management. It’s a practice designed to improve the health of private woodlands and enhance habitat for all wildlife, especially whitetails. By removing undesirable trees and thinning the overhead canopy by about 30% to 50%, TSI lets sunlight reach the forest floor, which quickly increases new growth of food and cover for deer. Hunt clubs and people who own large chunks of land are hiring professional loggers and spending big money on TSI. Here’s how average Joes like us can improve the woods and hold more deer on our land without breaking the bank.

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GOAL NO. 1: CREATE FORAGE

On one of my Virginia properties, a 60-acre honey hole that had produced a bunch of bucks through the years recently went stagnant. For several years, we had spotted fewer deer using the area, and it was not hard to see why. This section had grown too old and thick, with a heavy canopy up top and little vegetation on the ground. A couple of buddies and I fired up chainsaws and went to work. At random spots across the 60 acres, we dropped as much pole timber as we could, thinning the woods in strips and pockets of a half-acre to 3 acres. Sunlight and rain hit the newly opened areas all summer, and that fall, briars, berry bushes and a mosaic of forbs sprouted up. To this day, those woods are again a staging area for deer and one of my favorite bowhunting spots.

The more pockets of woods you open up across your property the better. A good rule of thumb is to cut and thin an acre or two for every 20 to 30 acres of mature forest. Thinning just one acre of trees and canopy can let in enough sunlight and moisture to provide a half-ton of new forage for deer. Work methodically and carefully, but don’t be shy. Other than sparing oaks and other mast-producing trees, you really can’t cut too much. Especially work to eliminate invasive species (Chinese tallow and ailanthus, for example) and “junk” trees such as birch and box elder. These species steal sunlight that could produce ground forage and cover, and also steal space and crowd native mast-producing trees. Before cutting, contact a state forester in your area for advice on which species to cut and which to keep.

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GOAL NO. 2: CREATE SECURITY COVER

Deer, like bass, are attracted to structure. Although thinning and dropping trees in browse cuts creates some staging and bedding cover for deer, you will hold more bucks on your land by establishing even more strips and pockets of security shelter near crop fields, oak flats and other food sources. Small work gets the job done. Saw and drop pole trees in spots maybe 50 to 100 yards across. Let the treetops lie, or cut and stack logs and tops into piles or strips. Cut some of the pole timber into living brush piles. Saw into 3- to 6-inch trees and shrubs until they topple over, but don’t sever them from the stumps. Many of the trees will live for a year or two and provide browse for deer. For years, the strips of felled trees will provide good staging and bedding cover for does and bucks.

GOAL NO. 3: CREATE ACCESS

As you work this spring, hop on an ATV, strap on your chainsaw and ride the boundaries of your property. Stop here and there to cut trees and logs until you establish a full perimeter trail. Open up logging roads and quad trails inside the woods that might have become blocked. The clean paths will provide easy and quiet access to your tree stands this fall.

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TOOLS AND SAFETY

In addition to a heavy-duty chainsaw (in the 40- to 45 cc range with an 18-inch bar), you’ll need an ax and some wedges. Be sure to purchase and use the requisite safety gear: helmet, goggles, earplugs and chaps. For safety, land managers recommend do-it-yourselfers not cut trees larger than 10 inches in diameter at the breast.