Land Managers...hinging and turkeys

[darron]

Does any landowners/managers on here do any type of hinge cutting on their farms to create additional cover and browse? If so, how has this effected your turkeys?

I own 109 acres and in the middle of my property I have a sanctuary in a creek bottom that runs between two large ridges. It is probably 15-20 acres in size and I only enter it to turkey hunt and do habitat work in late winter. Some of these areas are thick, however, some areas are very "park like" where you can see hundred yards or more. I went in last weekend trying to thicken these open areas by hinge cutting. Seems like this would not only benefit deer, but turkeys as well as the downed tree tops would create nesting cover for hens. Most of the trees I hinged were maple, ironwood, ash in the 10-25' high range. I wanted to make sure not to hinge any likely roost trees so I stayed with the small stuff.