Planting trees can be a great way to address habitat concerns and support an optimal whitetail hunting property. To get the best results from your tree plantings, planting the correct trees to meet your needs and existing conditions is essential. This article will serve as a comprehensive guide, exploring various tree species' positive and negative impacts on whitetails and wildlife.

Before purchasing trees to plant, it is important to determine what habitat issue that you need to address. Browse, cover, and screening can all be addressed through proper tree planting.

Adequate browse is necessary for whitetail bedding. Trees and shrubs such as box elder, red maple, red osier dogwood, aspen, etc., are all great forms of browse for whitetails. Base cover and thermal protection can be provided by spruce, pine, and cedar trees. Similarly, tree screening is best in the form of conifers since they provide unpreferred or zero browse value along with a solid visual barrier.

Adding diversity to an area can be very impactful as well. Creating a more attractive property that best suits a whitetail's needs will invite more deer to your property. For instance, in a hardwood forest that lacks base cover, it can be beneficial to add conifers. Whereas in a large coniferous forest, it can be beneficial to add hardwoods for browse. Find the area of concern on your property and act accordingly.

Also, it is important to note that if young tree plantings do not receive plenty of sunlight, they will likely die. Some species are more shade-tolerant, but it is always helpful to have adequate sun. If you are planting trees in a bedding area, adding conifers, for instance, it can be quick and easy to add the trees in the crowns of the trees that were removed when cutting. This will both protect the tree from browse damage and ensure it receives sufficient sunlight. While on the protection note, it is critical to cage trees that are highly susceptible to browse pressure. Failure to do so will result in a loss of your dollars, time, and energy from planting. Lastly, if you are planting into a grassy or weedy area, it is helpful to add landscaping fabric to avoid nutrient and sunlight competition.

After determining the areas you need to address and preparing the area, it is critical to plant the correct tree for your need, soil, and region. Below is a quick but comprehensive guide to various trees that impact whitetails and wildlife.

(in no particular order)

TREES

ASPEN

aka POPLAR

Aspen is an excellent tree not just for whitetails, but for a wide variety of wildlife, especially in northern regions. It regenerates through a lateral root system, producing up to 7,000 shoots per acre. These shoots offer valuable cover and browse. Its rapid regeneration makes it especially beneficial for wildlife habitat, providing abundant and desirable browse.

RED MAPLE

Red maple stands out among the soft maples for its versatility and value to wildlife. It is an extremely prolific species, adaptable to a wide range of soils and site conditions. Red maple produces highly desirable browse for whitetails. It is considered one of the best species for hinge cutting and sprouts aggressively from the base. This regeneration ability makes red maple an ideal choice for creating long-lasting, maintainable browse.

BOX ELDER

Box elder is likely my favorite tree for whitetails. While similar to red maple, it is even more prolific. Boxelder provides excellent deer browse, with a high moisture content in its twigs and branches that keeps the wood flexible, even during the coldest months. This flexibility not only makes it more palatable for winter browsing but also ideal for hinge cutting. Boxelder’s tendency to grow with a natural lean increases the predictability of its fall direction during cutting, making it even more ideal for hinge cuts. These traits make it an outstanding tree for whitetail deer habitat.

OAK

Oak trees have both pros and cons that are important to consider. For starters, the acorns that oak trees produce are a great form of hard mass that is accessible for browse. Yet this abundance of hard mass is only available for a short period throughout the year. Thus, it makes a great complement to other woody browse in a bedding area, but not a food source to grow and build a deer herd with. When acorns are dropping, they can be quite attractive for that short period in the year. Hunting an oak flat on public land can be an effective strategy during this time of the year as well. Along with whitetails, oaks also benefit turkeys since they make great roosting trees, which leads into the biggest con - canopy. Old mature oak trees often have a large canopy that shades out the forest floor and other neighboring young trees. Multiple large canopy trees in close proximity create open hardwoods that provide little to no whitetail and wildlife cover. Deer will live in these areas during the summer because they provide shade and cool air flow; however, they are unsafe and provide little value during the time that truly matters - the fall. Lastly, it is important to note that deer typically hit acorn flats at night when they can feel safer and social, so building a property around oak trees can be a devastating failure. Simply put, oak trees can provide a fantastic complement to woody browse, but they are not a tree that will magically change your habitat, hunt, and herd.

ASH

Ash is a fantastic tree for whitetails when it is young or hinged. While it is not as prolific as box elder or red maple, ash provides desirable browse and is a great hinge tree. For larger, more mature ash trees, a complete cut will result in great regeneration at the stump. Not to mention, ash makes great fire wood that can be obtained while dropping mature canopy. Unfortunately, ash trees are plagued by emerald ash borer. This little green beetle can completely wipe out an entire ash tree population. Depending on the other trees and habitat of the area, this can be devastating. There isn’t concrete evidence on the matter, but there are some who believe emerald ash borer may pass through your area if the tree is in a young state since the beetle is unable to chew through the bark. When ash is young, it doesn't have the deep grooves in the bark like it does when it is mature. Regardless of the problems this beetle causes, ash is a great tree for whitetails and wildlife.

SOFT MASS

Apples, crab apples, persimmons, pears, and chestnuts are all forms of soft mass. It is a great compliment to a quality food source, but it can’t be the quality food source on its own. Soft mass only produces seasonally, which makes it unable to provide food throughout the entire hunting season. You can’t build and grow a deer herd on only soft mass, so it is important to do it right. Soft mass plantings grow well if clustered along the northern part of a food plot and little orchards can be highly attractive when fruit is dropping. When planting soft mass, plant several varieties for cross pollination and protect them from deer, rabbits, mice and other critters. Caging is necessary for young plantings to survive. Tree tubes and weak cages will be destroyed by deer which is the last thing you want since soft mast trees are expensive, require a lot of time, effort, and attention to grow.

A quick note on chestnuts: In the southern regions, chestnuts can provide an immense amount of tonnage for wildlife. However, in the northern parts of the country, chestnuts are highly susceptible to frost damage, particularly when exposed to harsh northwest winds, which can cause them to die off. While chestnuts generally produce more tonnage than apple trees, they are challenging to establish and require careful attention to ensure successful growth.

So, if you have an established, well designed food plot program along with the time and resources, soft mass can be a fantastic compliment to your habitat plan.

(only common trees mentioned, in no particular order)

CONIFERS

SPRUCE

White spruce is a valuable conifer for wildlife habitat, particularly as a component of bedding areas. It is a lower-preference browse species, making it easier to establish in areas with moderate deer pressure. White spruce is tolerant of a variety of soil types, including sandy or light soils, and it can grow in full shade. However, growth is significantly slower under low light conditions, sometimes adding as little as an inch per year. Despite its slow growth in shade, white spruce remains one of the best conifer choices for providing year-round base cover and thermal protection in bedding areas.

Norway spruce is another excellent option, particularly when faster growth is desired. While it may receive some light browsing from deer, it is typically not heavily targeted. Norway spruce requires full sun and performs best in well-drained, fertile soils. It grows much more rapidly than white spruce, making it ideal for use in open field planting as a visual screen. For young trees, protection through caging is recommended to prevent deer damage during establishment. Its dense branching structure provides excellent cover once mature.

CEDAR

Red cedar (Eastern red cedar) is widely regarded as one of the best tree species for providing escape cover for wildlife, particularly deer and small game. It thrives in full sun, is hardy, drought-tolerant, and grows well in a wide range of soil conditions. Red cedars are easy to establish and spread readily, often forming dense thickets that offer excellent thermal cover and protection from predators. However, deer are notorious for rubbing red cedars, which can damage or kill young trees.

White cedar (Northern white cedar), while also valued for wildlife cover and browse, is extremely difficult to establish in areas with high deer populations. Deer will browse heavily on white cedar, which can prevent the trees from reaching maturity. Without protection, white cedar is often over browsed to the point of nonexistence in heavily populated deer regions.

PINE

Red pine grows faster than white pine, but it provides no cover, especially when it's mature. As red pine matures, it self-prunes, shedding its lower branches and creating open stands that provide little to no cover for wildlife.

White pine grows more slowly but retains its lower limbs much longer, offering better thermal cover and visual screening for deer and other wildlife. While young white pine is often browsed by deer, it remains a valuable species for wildlife habitat. Protection may be needed during early growth stages to ensure survival.

Jack pine is another fast-growing pine species, often found in sandy soils and northern climates. While mature jack pine offers minimal cover due to sparse lower branching, its twisted, low-hanging branches can be used to make mock scrapes! (tree not pictured)

CONCLUSION

Using the information learned about trees throughout this article, address your habitat needs of browse, screening, and thermal protection by planting trees! Formulate a plan that is based off of your habitat and hunting plan, soil type, and region. By doing so, tree planting can increase your success hunting whitetails for this fall and for years to come!