Just purchased a property and not sure what it takes to turn it into prime hunting land? If your acreage is made up of mostly mature hardwoods, you’re probably looking at a closed canopy that limits undergrowth—and that means poor bedding and browse opportunities for deer.
One of your first objectives will be to open up the canopy and diversify the habitat to include more than just mature timber, or deer won’t stick around. With selective harvesting and strategic bedding improvements, you’ll be able to provide the year-round food and cover needed to attract and hold deer throughout the season.
Focus on Bedding & Cover
Bedding areas are the backbone of any hunting property, especially in forested areas. If deer don’t feel safe and undisturbed, they won’t stick around. In naturally heavily wooded areas, thick bedding cover is usually limited, unless the property has had recent timber harvests. It’s up to you to create those secure pockets where deer feel safe enough to bed.
Identify the places where bedding naturally occurs on your land. Look for benches on hillsides or thick areas near food sources. Then increase bedding opportunities by harvesting overcrowded, mature trees and letting new growth take over sections of your woods. A variety of saplings and mid-story vegetation can go a long way in making a deer feel secure.
To take it further, consider hinge-cutting trees in small clusters to create quick, low cover and help block off foot traffic so the spot stays quiet. You don’t need to make huge bedding areas, just add a few thick spots near travel routes or just off feeding areas.
Improve Habitat Diversity
Beyond basic cover, your forest should offer a variety of food and shelter options, making your land attractive year-round with a mix of young growth, mature canopy, and native grass and shrubs. A diverse habitat supports better food sources, thicker bedding areas, and consistent deer activity.
If you’re working with a closed canopy forest, start small. Use selective harvesting to open up pockets and allow sunlight to hit the forest floor—this encourages browse like forbs, briars, and young saplings. Edge feathering (cutting back trees along field or trail edges) creates softer transitions deer love to travel. You can also mix in native warm-season grasses or food plots in open areas to break up the landscape.
Think in layers—tall trees for mast, mid-story shrubs for browse, and ground-level plants for cover. The more structure and variety your woods have, the more useful they’ll be to deer all year long.
Create Trails & Access Paths
One of the most important and often overlooked steps in developing forested hunting land is establishing a solid access plan. Trails and paths are both convenient and essential for managing pressure, staying hidden from deer, and navigating your land throughout the year.
Start by mapping your property and noting the prevailing wind directions for hunting season. Design your trails to let you enter and exit from the downwind side of your stand locations whenever possible. Focus on low-impact corridors like ridge contours, creek bottoms, or old skid trails if your property has a logging history.
If you’re planning a timber harvest to open up the canopy and create more understory growth, that’s a perfect opportunity to think ahead and lay out access trails as part of the harvest plan. Logging roads or skidder paths can often double as permanent travel lanes for ATVs and quiet access on foot. Keep your trails narrow and avoid cutting straight lines that make it easy for deer to spot movement. Curving paths help maintain visual cover. If you’ll be driving on them often, a layer of mulch or gravel can keep them usable through wet seasons.
Lastly, carve out dedicated “sneak trails” that lead to your stand sites. These should be lightly used, well-concealed, and designed for silent foot travel.
Develop a Forest Management Plan with Buskirk Lumber
A timber harvesting plan does more than generate income—it is one of the most effective ways to jumpstart habitat improvements on your property. Learn more about how selective harvesting can improve your hunting land.
Buskirk Lumber is a buyer of standing timber in Michigan. Sustainably harvesting Michigan’s hardwoods since 1920, we help you not only improve your stand for hunting or recreation but also make significant profits in the meantime.
Buskirk Lumber is located in Freeport, Michigan, and services Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, Indiana, Ohio, and throughout the Midwest.
To find the value of the timber on your acreage as you prepare your hunting property, send us a message online or give us a call at (800) 860-WOOD.
