As I sit in my blind each day and not seeing deer, Im always making notes of more habitat projects. I have a bunch of maples that need to come down of various sizes. What is the best time of year to drop them so that they sprout from the stumps as heavily as possible to create browse?
Best time to cut maples for sprouting
- Thread starter dtabor
- Start date
OK Sounds good! Thanks for the reply. I was wondering if it was dropped in the winter would is send up the shoots better in the spring as all the sap etc is in the roots vs cutting in the summer when all the energy has already been sent to the top of the tree. If that makes sense. Does in my mind which doesnt really mean much!!
Elkaddict
Well-Known Member
To the extent you can, I’d encourage extensive hinge cutting (we did 24 acres) of the Maples. Much of the hinge cuts lived 3-4 years quickly adding extensive browse and cover in reach of the deer which literally added tons of food per acre. At the same time, a tremendous number of sprouts came up. Finally, those that did not do well hinge cut created tremendous stump growth (mineral stumps). 5 years later, it’s so thick it’s difficult for a man to walk through. As I recall, we did ours in the summer….because that’s when it could be done. South facing slopes saw far more growth than north facing.
Good info, thank you. I am actually planning to hinge the smaller more manageable ones, and am hoping the larger ones will sprout for browse. The larger ones I plan to use for firewood and leave the tops. Living up here with the cold winters its hard to leave good firewood laying there even when its good for the deer!!
