Trees and Bushes Bowhunters Can Plant to Increase
Their Success
A look At Nut Trees and Bushes
 Editor’s
note: Many have written about the advantage of planting
food plots to manage wildlife. You can provide quality
nutrition for your wildlife when you plant crops, but
you’ll also have to invest time and money managing
those food plots. You may find planting permanent food
plots comprised of trees and shrubs instead of just
small grains a more-economical alternative. Here are
some tips for planting permanent food plots to attract
wildlife.
The Sawtooth Oak, which produces a tremendous amount
of acorns in a very -short
time, has become one of the most-popular nut trees for
planting. The acorns of the Sawtooth Oak begin to drop
in September. Both the Sawtooth and the Gobbler Sawtooth
Oak, which has smaller acorns more suited for turkeys,
produce acorns much faster than any of the other oaks.
The Sawtooth Oak produces as many as 1,000 pounds of
acorns each year. Remember, the care you give the trees
you buy determines how quickly they will yield food
for your deer and turkeys. Allen Deese, a nursery manager
for the Wildlife Group of Tuskegee, advises that, “The
Chinese chestnut is another popular nut tree for several
reasons. You can buy a five-year-old Chinese chestnut
that immediately (within one to two years) begins to
drop chestnuts. These trees will continue to grow and
produce nuts that you can hunt over during blow seaso n
for the next 50 years. Once you plant the Chinese chestnut,
you’ll have a productive bowhunting site for your
children and grandchildren as well as yourself.”
Strawberry Bush:
Deese considers the strawberry bush, also called Heart’s
A Burstin’, one of the best-kept secrets in the
world of wildlife management. This small green bush
produces green berries throughout the summer, and in
late summer, the berries turn red an d
have red-orange seeds. “However, one of the problems
with the strawberry bush is that deer will eat the whole
plant if you let them,” Deese comments. “Described
as ‘ice cream for whitetails,’ the strawberry
bushes should be planted 2- to 3- feet apart and covered
with 2X4 wire.” Deese recommends using the 2X4
wire to make an A-frame over the shrub and then boxing
in both ends. Or, stand up the 2X4 wire to make a cage
around the strawberry bush. To effectively attract the
deer, you must protect the bushes until they become
established and they prevent the deer from eating them
all the way to the ground. Wire cages protect the bushes
while they provide food for the deer and a hunting site
for the bowhunter. As the bushes continue to produce
limbs and leaves that grow outside the cages, the deer
can feed on them. The deer will feed on strawberry bushes
as long as the bushes grow outside the wire.
To learn more about the Wildlife Group, visit www.WildlifeGroup.com,
email wildlifegroup@mindspring.com
call 1-800-221-9703 or write the Wildlife Group at 2858
County Road 53, Tuskegee, Alabama 36083.
Check out this information:
http://www.nighthawkpublications.com/freetips/charts/deerfeed.htm
http://www.nighthawkpublications.com/freetips/charts/zonemap.htm
Tomorrow: The Truth About
Honeysuckle + Creating Sanctuaries
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