7 Bad Tree Plantings For Deer - & SHRUBS!

The BEST trees and shrubs for deer, planted the wrong way in the wrong spots for the wrong reasons, equal BAD plantings for deer. While some of these deer habitat plantings are truky bad, some are just plain misunderstood. Have you been misguided in your deer plantings. Make sure that you are not wasting your resources of time and money, by following this bad tree and shrub planting guide.
You can find out which trees and shrubs are the best to plant for your land, by enrolling in my latest land design web class, at:
www.whitetailhabitatsolutions...
Make sure that you are getting the most out of your plantings for deer, by following my weather forecast deer hunting predictions when you head to the woods. Check out HuntCast, at:
huntwise.com/sturgis

[@whitetailhabitatandhunting]

Thanks Jeff! Your my favorite channel to watch!

[@bestrong1240]

love your videos! thank you for sharing your knowledge with us

[@mitchellgenz1373]

Great content as always, be starting soon on land projects.

[@kevinfowler6065]

All your tree advice has probably had the most positive impact of all your advice

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks a lot for the feedback Kevin I appreciate it! Truly hope it helps folks avoid costly mistakes...hope you are having a great weekend!

[@saltytech8380]

Great video as always Jeff. My shrubs should be showing up soon and look forward to putting your habitat plan into place!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Brian...exciting! Really happy for you...get after it 😊

[@kjaydub]

Deer, grouse, & squirrels have been pretty jazzed with the hazelnut bushes I planted on a plot in Northern WI

[@chrismacomber9727]

Great show brother keep it up and thanks againg for all the info

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Chris...thank YOU! Really appreciate you!

[@Swood2704]

Majority of the trees I have planted other than my fruit trees have been both species of sawtooth oaks, live oak, burr oak, Chinese chestnut, and white oak and chicapenn oak

[@bradleymartin8499]

Good video. Thanks for all the info. I have learned a lot since I started watching.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks a lot Bradley, love to hear it! Hope you have a great Sunday 🙂

[@davekaisler309]

Great timing for me on this subject! Just had 10 acres of 30 yr old block of conifer logged. Took out every other row and then every other remaining tree. Tons of sunlight to ground for first time since i've owned property. Would you suggest having tops mulched to hasten new growth by getting more sun to ground or leave them decay. Was planning on starting with adding some poplar cuttings in pockets. Thanks for all the great information

[@patrickrevelo6568]

thank you amigo good information

[@christinelippincott5189]

A tip...We live in farm country. Lots of road frontage with deep deep culvert ditches. These ditches will grow lots of stray shrubs if the town doesn't get to them in mowing or they survive farmers spraying. Look for red twig dogwood, willow as you are driving. Then ask the farmer if you can dig carefully out the brush. This spring I did just that. I and I dug out dozens of 3-5 ft red twig to plant on our place. The cost just my time. You may even get a great conversation with one of your local farmers. I also did some digs this same way for vetch plugs to plant in spots so they will grow and spread. Road side ditches are also great for free pines just ask the owners. Explain the towns going to cut or spray them anyway. towns have ROW but land owners still own and pay taxes to the road.

[@scottlawless6083]

Thanks Jeff for all the valuable info on your videos. I'm in South Alabama and try to take the information you are giving and fit it in my area with native plants for my area. We have loblolly pines and long leaf pines as our timber woods. Even though it is big tracks of conifers, it has a lot of briars, kudzu, honey suckle, etc.. growing within these tracs of conifer also most tracs have several branch heads starting in them an that area usually has hardwood growing in them that's protected. A deer can bed anywhere inside and have cover and browse for there first 2 daylight feedings then food plots and ag for the afternoon feedings. What is your thoughts on this

[@stevegerber835]

Awsome information Jeff. What is the best crab apple tree to plant. Thanks.

[@robertboston9778]

Thanks for a great video and for changing the Audio pickup from muffled 0:00 - 3:30 to clear for the rest of the video. I know you're "in progress" with the home studio - Great Stuff! Attacking my plan - Making thirteen .13 acre (100' circles) in the bottom of my canopied over 57 acre core area and based on your recent videos each opening will have 3 groups of 3 White Spruce, the trees will be about 8' spacing and the groups about 30' spacing in each opening. The openings will be 90-100 yards from each other making a line of movement. Sound about right? :)

[@jimmydahlheimer2453]

Great video! Curious what your advice would be regarding a hillside stand of primarily ironwood and a few oaks. We have sandy soil. From what I’ve read it seems ironwood offers very little in habitat value. Clear it or hinge cut? If cleared, I assume add some aspen and pockets of conifer?

[@anniegaddis5240]

Great info, am sharing this on my MeWe page!

[@ChilcoteForestryServices]

good points. Planting hardwoods doesnt make a good financial investment because of the time value of money. Walnuts have an allelopathic effect and often there is no cover but invasives under them. I have had good success plating fruiting shrubs but only if deer are fenced out of the area. Fencing can be paid for with EQIP funds when you do a Golden Winged Warbler habitat project (which also creates great deer habitat)

[@craigcherry876]

We are actually working on getting a fairly large warbler project going on some property in the U.P.

[@seanjohnson9262]

Good Sunday morning! I wish deer liked my invasive buckthorn! I slowly battle it but it’s never ending.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Sean...me too! Has to be a labor of love. Not to be a downer but I know folks that have battled it for decades and gave up 😬 Almost has to be your life's main mission...

[@dmouse522]

It's a love/hate relationship. As a land steward you hate it; as a late fall cover plant you "almost" love it. I keep it around my stand sites.

[@AK-Prodz3]

We're taking your advice and currently working on a pine tree removal project. We have 10 acres of our 80 that was row planted in pines by the previous owner, one row pines, next row hardwoods, then pines again and so on. The stand is now about 15 years old. The pines have killed a majority of the other trees due to vigorous growth and shading the hardwoods. We're about a quarter of the way complete with removing about 2 acres of pockets within these pines. Would you do something to remove the mat of pine straw left over? Would you plant anything in these pockets or just let the pockets grow with whatever comes up in them? The only thing we plan to do after cutting is to spray and kill any grasses that come up in the pockets. Thanks!!!

[@TheSmithtj80]

Thanks for all the content Jeff and Dylan! Great stuff! When frost seeding switchgrass, does it need full ground contact? I'm planting into winter rye that got a pretty good start. I know the chemical regime will take care of rye before switch comes up but want to make sure it will pull into the ground during frost thaw cycles. TIA!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks a lot TJ we appreciate it! It's OK to plant into rye, but the seed does have to hit the soil...eventually. I would plant it and follow the regime. I am frost seed 30#s in about a week...some in rye as well. Should work very well! Just can't sit on a mat of grass...rye should be perking up straight very soon tho!

[@Mossy-back-blacktail]

Growing up on an Apple Farm. The best thing I could give for advice to anybody looking for the Apple that actually helps grow Body and Antler that HAS the most calcium and phosphorus along with some iron and a little bit of vitamin A and B it would be the -Anna Apple!- Look it up and see what you think. But watching the deer that live at the place the ones that eat the Anna apples are the ones that typically have the bigger bodies the bigger antlers along with the larger looking babies by winner.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Unfortunately apples are available at a time when deer aren't growing...they are surviving at that time and need more carbs to burn than anything. They aren't growing antlers or bodies in the Fall 😉

[@Mossy-back-blacktail]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 I'm not saying they're growing bigger antlers or bodies in the fall but the ones I watch all summer and the beginning of fall on the apples typically have bigger bodies bigger antlers. / I don't know how many people know that there's an apple out there that actually has calcium and phosphorus in it

[@jeremybaysinger8753]

Hi Jeff a food plot question, I wondered after you plant your fall plot then you say go back over it with your fall clover seed for the next year. Does that mean once the clover is up for that spring and summer do you go back with your fall seed and spread on top of the clover in the next year? Basically seeding the fall annual in the clover every fall. Hope this question makes sense. Thanks

[@ronaldbabbs2015]

Jeff I will try to keep this short. I have around 8 acres down by the lake that is all red brush and very few tree. The trees there are maple, elm and cotton wood. I plan on mowing out 4 acres of the red brush because its got so thick the deer have a hard time going through it and have pretty much stopped bedding in there. Am I doing the right thing and should I leave pockets of the red brush and after mowing it should I them hing cut some of the elms and maple and cut the cotton wood trees completely down and leave lay or hing cut them also. Sorry for such a long question. I really hope you can answer some of these questions. Im 63 and don't want to mess it up. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

We grow fruit trees and have woods we need to manage. I planted acorns, because no oaks. We have so many berries. But holding deer till hunting season is key. I like fruit trees that hold fruit into hunting season. I have lots of red maple, cherry, and service berry on ridge and conifers in swamp. Need to thin out some white pines and service berries. We can't have a tree museum. I have cfa land behind us with lots of deer. I need food to get deer onto my property at hunting season. I got some curly willow growing and skunk cabbage planted for the bees. The winter pears seem better for deer hunting because they stay on trees longer into winter. So far I got a groove of 5 cherry and 5 apples planned for bees and deer.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Eli! Unfortunately without food plots on private land you will never have a consistent level of attraction on the land. Or be able to define the deer movement, maximize buck age structure, be a herd influencer, etc. Great for daytime browse...which is necessary during a deer's bedding area time, but without the food plot program there is no real reason for them to focus on the land on a daily basis. Well, unless that's all they have in the area... I hope that makes sense? Holding deer until season doesn't really matter...only the deer you hold the attention for from Oct thru January matters.

[@nicholasauld]

I'm looking at planting about 1/2 acre of trees around the backside of a pond directly behind my house on a 10-acre lot for cover/bedding. I was looking at doing about 100 pines and was wondering what types of pine you would recommend. I'm in the Niagara Region of Ontario and my property can be rather wet a lot of the time.

[@keithgunderson8926]

I will be cutting hopefully around 1000 dogwood cuttings and saw you mentioned caging. Does this just simply mean fencing to keep them from getting at them before they mature?

[@curtismulder1950]

I have been blessed to take over my grandpas farm in Iowa. I am also blessed that eighty years ago he planted two types of black walnuts. So the investment is not always for your life but for your family future. That is if your future family knows how to identify trees. For example my horse trainer gave away a four foot diamater black walnut tree last fall. When I let him know the value of that tree I think he had a regret. I wish I would not of told him the worth of that tree because it you don't know you won't worry.

[@mikenimmo119]

Hello Jeff, How after planting Red Osier would you be cutting them back allowing for new growth, or would cutting them in anyway not be necessary? Mike

[@mrsrex]

Just bought $600 skins worth of different types of apple trees. Got some huge pompous grasses for screen, 200 foot square of red clover. 200 foot square of poplar/ box elder hinge cut. 100 foot square of black/rasp/blueberries, 3 mature white oaks, 1/2 acre of soybean to go in and a half acre misc. Garden to go in yet. Also got a dozen mature chestnut trees, whatever that's worth Deer lol. 2018 we started with the above mature trees, 2 acres of damn ol japanese knotweed, and a mixed bag of briars, and standing walnut. Started watching Jeff in 2019 and been transforming our 5-6 acres. Never seen a deer in 18, family killed 3 in 19, and family killed 13 deer in 20. No biggins except on camera, but hoping ol whopper jaw will slip this fall!!

[@craigcherry876]

Walnuts will take over in hardwoods from what I have seen. I am starting to see them sprouting everywhere in my hardwoods from the 5 that are in my yards. The thick oak leaf cover on the ground is the perfect germinating environment. I have been trying to give them away since I just don't like to kill trees. We have a lot of issues with invasives like buckthorn and autumn olive. They are completely eliminating other species. Anytime you lose diversity over large areas it isn't good.

[@codywhitehead6494]

Thanks for all the videos Jeff!! I’m putting together a list of must have items for a couple new food plots I cleared this winter. Since the plots are new, I wanted to spread pelletized lime and also use a product like plot start. Did you notice improved results from the plot start and is it worth it? Thanks!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Cody that all sounds great! We dis notice a differencw...very good test strips and I can't wait to use this season!!

[@jacobstroud3662]

Llpplppp

[@Jackdaniels3333]

What’s your opinion on American plum for bedding areas/ summer food cover?

[@michaelpuerling8482]

I have a section on my land that is ash that are being killed by EAB. Do you have a suggestion on what I could plant into these areas where I am getting this die off?

[@philipcole739]

Jeff, thanks for great videos/info. We’ve got a large amount of honey locust and pecan trees, especially in the edges. Also ag/soybeans on property. Thoughts on the honey locust, use them/try to thin?

[@kybucks5086]

Have fun thinning those locust. I did two that were in the way besides that they stay. Deer will eat the pods

[@christinelippincott5189]

The deer love those pods here I have left two small pockets of them. I also love love ironwood. Deer here will walk around on their hind legs to eat the drapes off them in fall. Remember like beech trees, aspen popular, the locust will root suckered like crazy when cut and or damaged. I had a NYS foresters walk our place and said , Want turkey? Do not cut these as he pointed to the iron wood. I'm a turkey hunter and he was correct.

[@melsmith8011]

When planting Red Osier cuttings and fencing, how long should the fences remain guarding them?

[@parkerallen4960]

Great video Jeff. Do you have any advice on what to do with the red Cedars. When you cut diversity pockets do you just log them and leave the tops or are you just cutting them and leave them? We have a bunch of red cedar that isn’t doing anything for wildlife any advice would be helpful.

[@kjaydub]

Chop it down and have a mobile sawmill come in and cut it into boards. Build a fence in your backyard with the lumber and save yourself $5k lol

[@dennisignowski144]

Would putting a few red cedars along switch grass and plots be good?

[@SecrawOutdoors]

Birch? We have a lot of birch in northern WI and it seems they don’t do much for cover

[@iowapointfreak]

im considering planting 10-15 chestnut trees as an additional type of food plot on my 40 acre hunting farm. Good idea or bad?

[@kurtcaramanidis5705]

Great video. I assume Chinese Chestnut will make the best list.

[@bradbrockhaus633]

Hi Kurt

[@kurtcaramanidis5705]

@@bradbrockhaus633 Hello Brad.

[@Jay-hu1pc]

Hey Jeff have you ever used switchgrass seed from Rudy’s in holmen?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Hi Ronny I have not. I get mine from John at www.northwoodswhitetails.com John insures the best quality seed he can buy. Not relating to Rudy's, but make sure you read your seed labels no matter where you buy from. Germ rate, hard seed %, weed percentages, inert matter, etc. We have a big seed label video coming out on Saturday and what to watch for.

[@Jay-hu1pc]

Thanks

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

You are welcome Ronny!

[@tonycasagrande4103]

Morning Jeff, Can I plant red oiser cuttings in bean stubble to create diversity pockets in fields that I frost deeded SG in Ohio? Will they survive the summer drought? How soon can I plant them? What is the best way to cage them?

[@mike81399]

👍

[@jasondiaz7611]

If there’s a 1-2 acre on a property with honeysuckle only. Do you think it’s worth mowing/mulching and planting switch in that same area? Could be a great bedding nob on my prop

[@outdooraddiction8401]

What about bamboo do deer bed in bamboo trees the grow very fast and create thick cover ?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

I honestly have zero experience with it...but make sure not to plant if it is an invasive! Can't say I have even seen it planted...

[@scottlawless6083]

Bamboo is very invasive and will take over the property. The deer can not move through except on trails and it will not allow browse to grow in it.

[@MichiganRick]

I live in farm country and there are not any Autumn Olives growing out in farm fields! Now if that field sits a few years you will have AO growing there. You will also have willows, cotton wood, maple, box elder, ash, etc. growing just as Mother Nature had planned. AO is considered "invasive" but everything else growing in not?? AO provides great cover, screening and I've seen deer eating the ripe berries in the fall.

[@finallyfriday.]

My uncle had 40 acres of fields, maybe 5% woods. Autumn Olive took over fields completely. VERY tall, actually. 15 years later AO all gone and now it's pines and sugar maple. AO is a volunteer plant that sure plows the way for others. I understand it's also a nitrogen fixer. Same thing happened on my farm. Plus it's a "super food". Some tasty some not- from bush to bush.

[@dantadysak5485]

Don’t plant apple trees next to cedar trees. There is something known as cedar apple rust that causes your apple tree leaves to get brown spots which leads to less apple production and tree growth. You can treat the tree leaves with a chemical but if you have a choice of where to plant you may want to either take out the cedars in favor of the apple trees or find a different location. I learned the hard way.

[@frankspataro9714]

Trim those apples here up north now is the time

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Amen to that Frank!

[@TheEJonesve]

Great videos. Your audio has too much echo/bass to it.

[@PutEmInTheBox]

How about persimmons?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Great one for Southern portions of IN, OH, Iowa, PA...and south! Definitely on the good tree list 👍

[@MyVisualRomance]

Its like deer cocaine here in the south. They hammer it.

[@danhoff4401]

Jeff you gotta be careful talking about the investment $$, somebody's wife is going to watch this and start crunching numbers on their whole hunting property.

[@davidstephenson7194]

Red cedar are of zero value for wildlife habitat....there are much better options. Red osier is low quality deer browse and you are reccomending it. Deer will eat it only when there is no quality browse available and it is difficult to establish anyways as you found out. I am glad I am not following your advice on establishing quality wildlife habitat....I feel bad for those that are.

[@twal5299]

Word salad, waste of time.