It's importance is often overlooked for deer

https://youtu.be/ZGycrd9k490

I'm going to look into some Wildlife shrubs. I've never bought any

no need to plant anything, just break out the chain saw and thin the overstocked forest.


If your woods has a low stocking rate and the woody browse is pretty thin maybe you have too many deer.
Deer can and do alter the habitat especially when they get overpopulated.

That fella needs to get a few lessons in tree cutting before he gets a tree in the face. Very bad practices going on in his video.

I take cuttings from Red Osier Dogwood every year for browse plots, a lot of good videos on propagating it. I look for stems about 14" long with (4) nodes, I scrap off the last (2) nodes and pot them in sand, I have a nice root system developed by the time I transplant in May. I've also had success without potting and transplanting direct after cutting.

Back in the UP days the DNR paid me to do wildlife cuts on State lands near deer yards anything over 4” at chest hight was cut but den trees, nesting trees along with fruits and nut trees got a pass or thinned a bit. The plan was creating maximum growth for the coming years to feed the deer yards in the winters.

The first few years the growth was so thick with popular whips it was tough to walk through even that also made for the biggest raspberries that had to grow through the ground cover with less competition over the years.

The DNR biologist Frank said the browse gets them through winter and the digestive track has to change over to digest it then in the spring then change back to digesting greens again. He said balsam was terrible feed as it provided little nutrients but cedars did provide more benefits to the deer. He also told me that during the switch to greens in the spring the deer stir go down hill during the change over period.

Cleared out a few cotton woods before spring leaves and only a couple hours later this cow shows up
She has been regularly feeding on it. Glad to help it out

There is no moose in kodiak. This is my other place on the Kenai peninsula

Your point is well taken but if not done right I'm afraid that I could lead to too many briars

If you have popular trees cut some they will shoot up whips like crazy no planting required just sunlight.

Poplar trees? The whips that shoot up from some cut hardwoods is called "coppice wood."

What I believe Law Dog was referring to was Popple, or Aspen. Cut it and they will send up sprouts all around. Not from the stump but just random shoots here, there and everywhere.
They clear cut the stuff, the shoots grow 2-6 ft/yr. Makes great cover for Grouse, deer, woodcock and other stuff.

Popple/Aspen doesn't like shade tho, you have to cut enough so there is lots of light.

Yes Poplar trees/aspens sprouts so thick you can’t get through a fresh grown area that love clear cuts.

Back to Op's original idea.
If your going to buy stuff and plant it I think its a fools errand. It'll never amount to much as the deer will browse the young stuff and more than likely kill it after several years.
If your going start from shoots it might make more sense but the end result will likely be the same.
But I think best would be a chain saw and judicious thinning.
I have lots of briar stuff, mostly Blackberries. If they get lots of light they will take over and not much else will survive.
The deer do eat blackberry bushes, the new shoots and leaves get nibble some but not enough to knock them back.

Its a delicate dance, not enough light and you'll get little growth except for more shade tolerant stuff like sugar maple, too much light and you'll run the risk of Blackberries, goldenrod and some non-native invasives.

If you have Popple/Aspen that would be the best bet for getting lots of browse. Make small 1/4-1/2 acre openings in the woods.

You could also cut red maples so they resprout, the deer will love the sprouts popping out from the stump. Cut all the smaller red maples under say 8". You'll get more light for existing stuff and you'll get resprouts.

The DNR had me cut several acres then if I could get to the spots I’d get a firewood permit and haul some firewood out on the way home when I could.

I don't know if there is a safe way to hinge cut a tree. It's not a practice I would recommend. I guess there's a time and place for it though. The Foresters I've talked to generally frown upon it.

I leave the tops because it helps keep the deer away from trees that are in the process of regenerating.

I talked to a forester recently who told me the top 2 wildlife shrubs for deer are hazelnut & red osier dogwood.

Yeah, I suspect Law Dog is referring to the tendency of Aspen to sprout from their own root system. Aspen, or Popple as my old man calls it, is a clonal species. In some instances an Aspen forest is really only one organism with thousands of stems growing off one original root system. These shoots tend to respond more vigorously to scarification, so if you can expose bare soil wherever you want to grow browse then you should see a better response.

Interesting related link:
https://pandopopulus.com/pando-the-tree/#:~:text=Pando%20the%20Tree%20%2D%20Pando%20Populus,connected%20through%20one%20root%20system.