Planting a deer orchard is a great way to offer deer with a preferred food source while improving your property’s long-term value. Also, it saves you hours of labor every year when compared with planning a food plot as it requires annual maintenance. While young trees and other related supplies may be costly upfront, they have nearly no long-term maintenance costs. Dr. Deer trees that will increase the population of deer in your property include pears, chestnut, and plums.
The following are the trees you can plant around your property if you want to attract deer to it:
Dunstan Chestnut
The American Chestnut was a very important tree in American history. It produces a huge amount of mast edible by both humans and wildlife. It was the main source for wildlife including deer, squirrel, turkey, hogs, and bears. Deer prefer chestnuts because of the nuts’ sweet taste. It sweetens the meat of the animals that consume it.
Wild Persimmon
Persimmons offer both browse and edge cover. However, the fruit is what makes it truly shine. Deer love ripe persimmons which ripen in the heart of deer season, offering a huntable food source that every deer in an area cannot resist. Because ripe persimmon fruit does not last long in the woods, you must hunt the deer as soon as you see them hitting the ground.
Pear
Wildlife pear ripens in late fall and holds on the tree until Thanksgiving. The fruit is great for deer and wildlife and will bring them in throughout the hunting season.
White and Red Oaks
Deer often prefer white oaks acorns over the red ones because of their less acidic nature and sweeter flavor. Acorns from white oaks mature in around six months, so they produce every year. But, if you want to hunt late season, you must have red oaks on your property. They produce acorns with a more acidic flavor than the white oak. That is why deer will often avoid them until food begins to become scarce. Plant a variety to guarantee a longer and more consistent acorn drop every fall.
Crabapples
These small, wild-growing apples can be found anywhere in the United States. Although they may not taste much like an apple you are used to, deer love them. The apples should be ripe when they fall when you give the branches a light tug. Shake the tree the day before your hunt so lots of crabapples fall to the ground.