what kind of fruit trees should i plant on my property for whitetails?

[BountyHunter]

Plant some sawtooth oaks while you are at it. Will start dropping in 5 years and every year after and deer and turkey will be all over them.

 

[LeePaHunter]

Plant some sawtooth oaks while you are at it. Will start dropping in 5 years and every year after and deer and turkey will be all over them.

I will have to check into it. Thanks.

 

[NYSHUNTER]

I planted chestnuts this year and about 3 years back put some apple trees in still no deer

 

[LeePaHunter]

I planted chestnuts this year and about 3 years back put some apple trees in still no deer

I have two chestnut trees and three really old apple trees and two really old pear trees. My great grandmother who I bought the property from said those trees were there long before she owned the property which she said was 64 1/2 years. According to some of the old photos those trees have been there well over 100 years and are still producing quite well. The deer seem to love them in the fall I just was wandering if there were any other good trees to plant around some of the food plots I am making to help draw the deer in and give them some food to help them get ready for winter.

 

[turkeyfever]

Patience is the key to planting trees. You have a time frame between 5 and 15 years before mast crops will start producing. There are some varieties like the sawtooth acorn tree that will start producing mast between 5 and 8 years. We have tried the chestnut but does not seem to like the zone we are in.

I would advise you to spread your food source over a period of time. Plant trees that drop acorns or fruit during different months. We added the sawtooth to fill the void from late August to early October. Then our white oaks, red oaks, water oaks, post oaks are dropping from late October till the end of November.

Last year we were at a Wally World and notice they had some oaks planted on the property line. This was right around Christmas time and the trees were loaded with acorns. Did a little investigating of the species and found out that it was a Nuttall Oak. They will start dropping acorns in December into January.

Fill the void around what you have already producing on your property to give them something all year instead of during hunting season.

Also a control burn is a good way to open land for native species to thrive. I burn my property every 2 to 3 years to open thing up. Just make sure you protect your young seedlings if you planted any.

 

[Capt RB]

Add different apple species same with the pears. We had chinese cherry trees that were a big draw for grouse as well as deer. These would have grouse under them when we played football in the front yard.
After you have everything planted graft every species to the old apple trees. You will need acouple of seasons to do it. Everything should be above the center of the tree. Lots of info on line as to the best methods.
Good luck and post some pics of your success