Attracting Whitetail Deer with Mast-Producing Trees and Shrubs
{adinserter Adsense Block}
Hard and soft mast is a major food source for whitetail deer throughout the year. You can create a low maintenance permanent food plot for deer by planting a diverse mix of mast-producing trees and shrubs.
The most important single type of mast for deer is acorns, which can make up as much as 70% of their diet in autumn.
In autumn, deer feast on the acorns of white oaks (Quercus alba) and similar species, which help them put on weight for the winter.
In the winter, red oaks (Quercus rubra) and their relatives become more important. Red oak acorns are more bitter than the acorns of white oaks and less preferred by deer and other wildlife, but their high fat content helps deer survive the cold winter in good condition for the spring breeding season.
Because acorns produce in cycles, the best way to ensure a steady supply of acorn mast for your deer every fall and winter is to plant several different species each of white and red oak. You can also improve the consistency of autumn and winter food supplies by planting other hard mast producing trees. Other hard mast species favored by deer include beech (Fagus sp.), chestnut (Castanea sp.), and hickory (Carya sp.) nuts. Hickories tend to be particularly consistent producers in many regions of North America.
Soft mast is also an important food source for deer, especially in summer. Some of their favorite soft mast sources include:
- American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
- Wild grapes (Vitus riparia)
- Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
- Crabapples (Malus sp.)
- Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
- Sumac (Rhus sp.)
- Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)
- Blackberry (Rubus sp.)
- American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
- Elderberry (Sambucus sp.)
Some Eurasian species, such as domestic apples and pears, are also excellent sources of soft mast in many regions of North America.
Some mast-producing trees and shrubs also provide good sources of browse for deer. A few favored browse species include hackberry, plum, grape, hawthorn, and some species of viburnum, buckthorn, and oak.
By planting a diverse mix of oaks and other mast-producing trees and shrubs, you can ensure a consistent and year round source of food for deer. Permanent food plots of this sort also require less maintenance once established than food crops of annual grains and attract a wider variety of other game, including wild turkey, squirrels, and black bears.
[…] sweeter and juicier relatives of the native crabapples, so in some areas humans must fight the deer, bears, turkeys, and other critters for the apple crop! Apple trees are also an important spring […]
[…] important food sources for hundreds of species of mammals and birds, including game animals such as deer and wild turkey, and some species are almost entirely dependent on it. Mast is an especially […]
[…] providing an important winter food source. Wildlife attracted by wintergreen species include whitetail deer, wild turkey, grouse, pheasant, gray squirrel, and black […]
[…] wildlife hedgerows, because they provide both food and shelter to a huge variety of animals, from whitetail deer and wild turkeys to bees and butterflies. Mast producing trees and shrubs can also be used to […]
[…] and they are inedible to humans, but remain a popular wildlife food. Persimmons are a favorite of whitetail deer. Other animals who enjoy the fruits include wild turkey, quail, squirrels, foxes, some songbirds, […]
[…] fruits are also enjoyed by mammals such as whitetail deer, foxes, and […]
[…] an excellent wildlife plant. Among the animals that enjoy the nuts are wild turkeys, pheasants, whitetail deer, squirrels, and woodpeckers, as well as domestic pigs and some poultry. The catkins are enjoyed by […]
[…] than oaks. This makes them a very important autumn food source for many wild animals, including whitetail deer, wild turkey, and […]
[…] managing your woodlot to increase mast production, you can improve habitat for whitetail deer, wild turkeys, and many other types of mammals, insects, and birds, open up additional income […]
Human stupidity has destroyed the chestnuts and elms, and likely now the beeches now. Though I’m not sure where the beech blight came from it’s safe to assume like all the other human idiocies, from the phylloxera that ravaged the European wine industry in the 19th Century, the insanity of the release of starlings in the USA, to the more recent atrocities like the chestnut and elm blights, it’s usually human stupidity that causes these disasters.
Of course, all of this is nothing compared to the human idiocy of causing global climate change. When malaria and dengue fever run through the cities of the Northern USA, people will begin to awaken to the stupidity around them, too late for anyone alive today, sad to say.