pines for deer bedding area

arrowdem · May 12, 2017

did some hinge cutting today in an area im trying to run into a small begging area about 75 yards off my food plot there is a good opening that had a few trees that i hing cut and now i want to get into that area and plant a dozen or more pines of some sort for the deer to bed through out, couple questions. whats the best type of pine to go with? how old of a tree should i get to assure a good survival and do i need to put up another damn fence out there to keep deer from messing with them or should they be ok animals wont hurt them too bad?

Allen · May 12, 2017

Colorado blue spruce and Black Hills spruce do well up here. You will most likely get some deer rubbing on them and they may even browse them a bit, but the size you want to plant totally depends on your budget. If I was doing a small planting of like twenty, I'd probably try to find a deal on some about three feet tall. If you are doing a hundred, then container stock of 18" tall trees. It gets expensive quickly when you start buying trees by the foot.

Junipers and cedars are another good alternative if you are interested in a little variety. They can provide good thermal cover as well.

KDM · May 12, 2017

I have Colorado Blue and Black Hills spruce as well as junipers and ponderosas and BY FAR, the deer prefer the ponderosas and junipers for bedding. The spruces have dense low hanging branches that the deer can't get under so they bed between them in the grass on the downwind side which doesn't work very well in snow. The pheasants however, prefer the spruces so pick your poison I guess. The ponderosas have a more open growth and the deer get right into them for bedding even with snow. We planted them about 15 ft apart so once the canopy closed in the lower branches died off and now it's like a house in there where its 20 degrees cooler in summer or 20 degrees warmer in winter. The ideal for my land is junipers on the north and west to block wind and snow and then ponderosas for protection and to hold the heat. The deer tended to rub and browse the junipers more than the pines, but there were those exceptions where a buck really got after a pine and tore it to pieces. Good Luck!!!

Davey Crockett · May 12, 2017

Sounds like a fun project , It would be interesting to know what type of tall grass or clover would compliment this.

arrowdem · May 14, 2017

Awesome info here guys. Any clue was a 2-3 year old tree would run a guy?

Ponyroper · May 14, 2017

arrowdem said:
Awesome info here guys. Any clue was a 2-3 year old tree would run a guy?

Morton Co. Soil Conservation District sells 2-3' trees (2-3 years old) for $3.75. Their 3+' trees cost $5.75. Their surplus tree sale will be around the first or second Friday of June. The popular trees sell out fast so people often show up an hour or more early. They don't have a lot of older trees as they order mostly seedlings but I think you could call a couple days before the sale to see what they have left. I think the seedlings are mostly $2 each and they will have tons of them. All the conifers (pines) are seedlings. The bigger trees are all deciduous like Ash, Hackberry, Chokecherry, Lilac etc. When I was there Friday they still had some big Carriganas and American Plums but they are still planting previously ordered trees so some of those varieties may be gone by surplus day. I would say they have around 100 varieties of seedlings and most of them will have leftovers. You could go to the web site and see what varieties they have and the prices.

http://mcscd.com/order-trees

KJS - ND · May 15, 2017

Get a variety as you never know what might get eaten/rubbed/diseases/droughted out. Plant them in the tops of the hinge-cut trees to help protect them from rubbing and winterburn for a couple years until they are established. Towner nursery also sells plugs, but they are done for this year and you need to order 50 so maybe not exactly what you're needing.

remm · May 15, 2017

Deer around my house will rub/eat/bust the hell out of pine trees. I have to put cages around them and even then they sometimes knock the cages over to get to the tree. I planted some ponderosas a few years ago but the bastards would knock the cage over and uproot the trees. Seem to do that more with the ponderosas than with the spruce, however they've uprooted a few small spruce as well. Last winter one buck must have really been pissed as he broke an 8' tall black hills spruce off in half so now I have 3' tall spruce tree that is about 4-5' in diameter. Frustrating, makes me wonder why I keep planting trees sometimes. I usually just order 25-30 spruce from the conservation office every year, they are bare root and generally are 18-24'' trees. I haven't seen anything larger than that from them. I do know that if you want to start with bigger trees, they get pretty expensive. I think the 5-6' spruce trees around here are gonna run you about $120 a piece. When one of those don't make it, it hurts a little more than a few $4 conservation ones.

db-2 · May 15, 2017

I get trees from the Towner Nursery. 75 cents a tree, bare roots.

And yes you will need to protect them depending on how many you plants versus how many deer you have.
And it is frustrating as they seem to pick on one tree until its half its size but sure is big around. Use woven wire to protect or put steel post around bigger ones. Get small ones due to the expense and deer damage. Bigger tree if not protected will go through hell from the deer.

Over the years the regular evergreens will survive better than the pine for me. Bare roots for me do better.
But I have found horns that come from were there are pines will be darker in color at maturity as compare to other trees so I do try to plant about 50 pines every year in my small spots. They just do not do as well as Colorado spruce and other like that.

The nursery stated that the ponderosas pine will compete with sod better than other pines so this is what I will plant this year.
Try to plant fruit trees each year and some of my apples are producing well.

Been doing this since 1995 and it has been a great experience. Never really knew or understood hunting compare to as I do now. Learn a lot and wish you the best. I got some nice horns off small acres and now have friends to talk to at night as they come up and some continue to come up each year. Great to see so many people developing their own spots and planting trees and food plots. You will be well rewarded.
If I had to guess maybe have a 1/3 of the trees still growing from what I planted due mainly to deer. db

Allen · May 15, 2017

The soil conservation districts get a lot of their stuff through Lincoln-Oakes nursery here in Bismarck. They have their sale here soon.

http://lincolnoakes.com/stock/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=12

KJS - ND · May 16, 2017

Be careful as this type of work can quickly become addictive :;:smokin.

With you only wanting to plant a dozen or so trees, you should be able to hopefully take care of them by spraying, mulching and caging them - which will result in them having a better chance of survival and also growing much, much faster. I've been doing more of the carpet-bombing approach where you order 100 plugs, stick them in the sod, and hope for the best - figure maybe will end up with 50% survival if lucky, but can't take care of that many trees so they gotta be tough

.

Trees planted in sod take FOREVER to get going as they struggle to survive the first couple years, but I think they will eventually take off. This is with Eastern Red Cedar trees - which are about the toughest tree around.

Bare root trees from the soil conservation district get tubed for a year, sprayed, and mulched - then they need to be on their own, but these are brush trees which should be able to take some browsing. Apple trees need cages for life.

Good luck and keep at it - nothing better than seeing a tree you planted providing some food/cover for animals you appreciate.

LBrandt · May 16, 2017

Getting to that stage in life where if I plant pine trees its for the enjoyment of the next owner.

Jigaman · May 16, 2017

FYI, pine trees in the RR valley grow very slow. Keep the sod away and it will help.

I have a BH spruce that the leader was chewed off by a deer. Wondering if I should replace the tree or let it go. any suggestions?

KDM · May 16, 2017

Usually when a pine gets it's lead removed or damaged it doesn't grow as well. I have several Black Hills and Blue Spruce BUSHES instead of trees. To replace depends on if you care if you have a normal tall tree or a spruce bush. I really don't care as the trees are for thermal protection for the critters so either "style" works for me.

Davey Crockett · May 16, 2017

LBrandt said:
Getting to that stage in life where if I plant pine trees its for the enjoyment of the next owner.

That's not all bad. I never met my Grandpa but I think of him often when I see the trees he planted.

KDM · May 16, 2017

LBrandt said:
Getting to that stage in life where if I plant pine trees its for the enjoyment of the next owner.

Yep!! My uncle, who's since passed on, once told me when we were tending the 15 acre tree plot he planted on the very land I own now, "You don't plant a tree for yourself. You plant a tree for someone else." His words have proven to be OH SO TRUE!!! He's gone now, but the trees he put in have produced so many deer for so many folks that I can't help but think he's smiling from ear to ear watching those folks enjoy what he planted. I plant at least a dozen trees every year with most being fruit trees, in the hopes that my daughter and maybe her children will be able to enjoy a fresh apple off Grandma and Grandpa's trees. At the very least, the critters will appreciate'em. LOL!!

db-2 · May 16, 2017

Many of tops have come off and they will just shoot out a new runner for the top. Works good unless you want that perfect tree in your yard.
I too think of all the trees I water, hoe and cultivator as dad love to plant trees. Should of planted more as the new owner only takes advantage of those planted and plants no more. Shelterbelt from the thirties could use some help but got my own now to pass on to my kids. db

pines for deer bedding area

arrowdem

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