Better Timber, Bigger Bucks

Timber Harvesting for Better Whitetail Habitat

Your Mature Trees Are Costing You Deer

You’ve got a woodland that should be crawling with bucks—thick cover, plenty of forage, deer bedding down and feeding without ever leaving your property. Instead, it’s quiet. The likely culprit: too many mature trees. A closed canopy shades out the underbrush and forage deer actually need, leaving beautiful woods that hold little wildlife.

A Hunter's Eye for Timber

It might sound backwards coming from a timber company, but thinning that canopy is exactly what your land needs. And we’re not just telling you that as foresters. We’re hunters, too. With years of forestry experience and a deep understanding of whitetail behavior, Hillcrest Lumber combines timber expertise with a hunter’s eye—so the harvest that pays you also keeps deer on your land.
 
If you’re within 150 miles of Apple Creek, Ohio, we’re ready to evaluate your timber and build a plan around your hunting goals.

How Can Hillcrest Lumber Help?

Strategic Tree Removal for Food Plots
One of the first steps to creating successful food plots is ensuring proper sunlight. We specialize in selective timber harvesting, removing overgrown or mature trees that block light from reaching the forest floor. This encourages the growth of food plot crops and native underbrush, creating a sustainable whitetail habitat.

Get Paid Before a Single Tree Comes Down
You’ll receive 100% of the agreed-upon price before we harvest, not once logs are hauled and sold. Hunting season plans don’t have to wait on a payment. See how our Cash-First Payment Plan works.

A Light Touch That Protects Your Hunting Ground
Our low-impact harvest practices protect the travel corridors, bedding areas, and cover you’re counting on, so your land comes out of a harvest ready for deer season. See how we minimize our footprint.

Two Plans to Get
You Started

Both plans we offer start with the same thing: a real look at your timber. The difference is how deep we go into planning your land for hunting. Neither option is the “right” one. Choosing what works for you depends on whether you want a timber report (the free evaluation) or a full hunting-land blueprint (the $1,500 consultation).

For larger properties, contact us for a personalized quote.

$1,500 for up to 150 acres

Timber Evaluation

with Whitetail Property Consultation and Management Plan​
  • Mark food plots, hunting spots, and other key features with expert guidance
  • Get a detailed map of your property that integrates timber and habitat recommendations
  • Receive a comprehensive timber evaluation and custom report tailored to your goals

FREE for up to 150 acres

Free Timber & Deer Habitat Evaluation Plan

Receive a custom timber report aligned with your wildlife and land management goals.

Get a Free Timber Evaluation

No two timber harvests are the same. We work with you from the start to build a plan that transforms your woods into a thriving site for walking, hunting, and productive future harvests. 

1

Schedule a Free Timber Evaluation

A specialist will travel to your property to evaluate your timber and create a harvest plan that aligns with your goals.

2

Get a Custom Report and Price

Within a day, you’ll have your custom report so you can weigh your options. If you accept our proposal, you’ll get 100% of the agreed-upon price before we harvest.

3

Transform Your Land with Low-Impact Forestry​

Our kind, careful crewmen care for your trees and your land as they would their own. In the case that any unintentional damage occurs to your woods, we’ll make it right.

Build a Complete Whitetail Property

Opening the canopy is the first step. Food plots and habitat design help you build a property deer want to call home. 

Start Planning Your Whitetail Food Plot

Every property holds unique potential, from creek bottoms to hilltops, each landscape shaping a hunter’s paradise. By planting the right crops for every season, you’ll keep deer healthy, close, and predictable year-round.

Design a Whitetail Habitat Deer Can’t Resist

Food plots attract deer, but a complete habitat keeps them coming back. Water, cover, safe travel routes, and security all play a role in turning your land into a reliable home base. Learn how to shape your property into a whitetail haven that delivers season after season.

Start Planning Your Whitetail Food Plot

Every property holds unique potential, from creek bottoms to hilltops, each landscape shaping a hunter’s paradise. By planting the right crops for every season, you’ll keep deer healthy, close, and predictable year-round.

Design a Whitetail Habitat Deer Can’t Resist

Food plots attract deer, but a complete habitat keeps them coming back. Water, cover, safe travel routes, and security all play a role in turning your land into a reliable home base. Learn how to shape your property into a whitetail haven that delivers season after season.

Bringing in the Habitat Experts

Timber is our specialty, but a truly great hunting property needs more than an open canopy. That’s why, as part of our Whitetail Property Consultation plan, we partner with Whitetail Habitat Designs to build out the habitat side of your plan: food plots, water access, travel corridors, and cover, designed around the timber work we’ve already done.

Here’s how it works: we assess your timber and identify where a harvest can open up habitat potential. From there, Whitetail Habitat Designs develops a plan to turn that opportunity into a property deer actually want to live on. Then, if you’d like, they’ll carry that plan through to completion.

What a habitat plan typically covers: