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QDMA Articles : Chainsaws: A Cornerstone Tool for QDM
by Lindsay Thomas Jr.
QDMA
For Christmas, I received the ultimate gift for a Quality Deer Manager.
No, not a tractor. Not a lime spreader or a digital trail camera. I unwrapped a new 18-inch chainsaw complete with safety chaps and a visored helmet, a gift from my Dad, who knew I needed one and also, I suspect, wanted me to stop borrowing his. Just because he has three - two sizes of chainsaws plus an extendable pole saw - doesn't mean he has them to spare. A Quality Deer Manager can never have too many chainsaws.
Among a QDM'ers many tools, the chainsaw stands out from all others for its incredible versatility and cost-efficiency. One chainsaw alone can establish and maintain a significant portion of the Habitat Cornerstone of most QDM programs. A chainsaw can hold its own against a tractor, disk harrow, broadcast spreader and a truckload of lime and seed when it comes to producing high-protein forage and abundant nutrition. A chainsaw can produce as much protein as all the feeders you can stand to keep filled but at a fraction of the cost in dollars. And all of this is before you even consider the fact that, unlike a feeder or bag of clover seed, a chainsaw can create bedding cover, clear a new food plot, cut shooting lanes, clear trails, open roads, remove invasive species, and more.
We asked regulars in the Forum at www.QDMA.com to list ways their chainsaws contribute to their QDM efforts, and many responded. "Mdqc01" of Maryland uses hinge-cuts to create growing thickets of browse. "Deerlover" of Illinois cuts strategic "doorways" in heavy cedar thickets to make cover more accessible to deer (and their movement patterns more predictable!). "Sidehill Growler" of Maine keeps his cedar thickets from becoming too thick to be effective winter cover. "Maya" spends hours every winter in Vermont releasing existing apple trees. And "PA Mike" of Pennsylvania summed it all up: "I think I look forward to chainsaw season almost as much as deer season anymore," he said.
Because of this versatility, a chainsaw symbolizes the availability of QDM to all who are interested, no matter their income level. Even if you lease the land you manage, you can apply many of the habitat techniques mentioned above, such as removing low-value trees to release existing mast and fruit producers. Most landowners will agree to these low-impact techniques if you provide them with a proposed plan of which tree species you plan to remove, where you plan to do the work, and assure them you won't cut merchantable tree species.
Only a few weeks before my dad gave me my new saw, a man he knew was holding a saw over shoulder height to trim limbs - something chainsaw safety experts warn you not to do - when the saw kicked back and killed him. I still got my new saw, but it came with many fatherly warnings and much advice. And it should. While a chainsaw is a fantastic QDM tool, it can hurt you faster than any other tool in your box if you treat it carelessly. That's why in his article on page 20 of the February 2008 issue of Quality Whitetails, QDM'er and freelance writer Monte Burch starts out with a discussion of safety before moving onto effective use of this implement. Even people who have used chainsaws for years will learn something from this story - I know I did. Monte's article is followed by retired professor of wildlife management Jeff Jackson's article on using a chainsaw to make "half-cuts," also known as hinge-cuts. This is a great way to create instant bedding cover and increase available browse.
If you own a chainsaw but thought it was just for filling the woodbox, it's time you took a second look at the most versatile and economical habitat tool in the QDM tool-box.
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