Planting for Mule Deer: Browse, Fruit and Cover for the Northern Rockies and Plains

Written by Luke Ruffner Robinson, owner of Montana Fruit Trees in Missoula, Montana.

Mule deer aren't whitetails, and you can't plant for them like whitetails. They'll eat apples in town like any deer, but out in the country they don't live in a creek-bottom orchard the way whitetails will. They live in broken country (coulees, breaks, draws, south slopes) and get through winter on shrubs. If you've got muleys on your place and want to help them, the best thing you can plant is scattered clumps of native browse and a little conifer cover tucked into your draws, protected until it's up out of reach, and kept away from the cows. Below is why that works and how we'd go about it. Everything here is hardy to zone 2 (forty below and then some).

Why mule deer need browse

Biologists call mule deer "opportunistic, concentrate selectors." They're mixed feeders, somewhere between a grazer like a cow and a pure browser like a moose. In summer they eat mostly forbs (wildflowers) and grasses, and as those dry out, shrubs take over (USFS FEIS). The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies says "Mule deer are primarily browsers, with a majority of their diet comprised of forbs and browse" (WAFWA Great Plains guidelines).

In Montana, winter is when shrubs matter most. Jeff Mosley, Extension Range Management Specialist at Montana State University, writes that "Winter deer diets statewide are usually shrub-dominated" (MSU Extension).

Winter is also a losing game for every deer. Mosley again: "Deer and elk commonly lose weight and vigor during winter because they ingest fewer calories than they expend searching for forage and coping with weather." He adds that winter survival relies "in large part, on body fat reserves accumulated while foraging during summer and fall," and that "Only small differences in the protein content of winter forage can dictate whether elk or deer survive winter or reproduce successfully the following spring." Protein in preferred mule deer browse is at its lowest in winter (FEIS).

That fat carries into next year's fawns. The FEIS review notes that "Malnutrition is often the leading cause of mule deer deaths" and that "the heaviest fawns at the start of winter had the highest overwinter survival." After the 2022-23 winter, North Dakota Game and Fish Big Game Management Supervisor Bruce Stillings said the hard winter "resulted in mule deer does being in poor body condition last spring and record low fawn production in 2023" (ND Game and Fish).

What a landowner can do is give mule deer browse they can reach in late fall and winter, with cover close by, in the kind of ground they already use. A few acres of good draws won't change a herd, but every bit of winter browse within reach of cover helps the deer that winter on your place.

How mule deer use ground (and why it changes the layout)

Whitetails hide in thick cover. Mule deer escape by seeing danger and bounding off into broken ground. WAFWA describes the habitat they need as "Broken, undulating terrain that allows mule deer to escape predators, quickly disappear from view," and notes that "mule deer are adapted to more open environments with greater extremes in temperature and wind-chill."

On the northern plains, "Level and rolling grasslands provide poor habitat for mule deer." They use "rough, forested, or nonforested breaks along river drainages, badlands, and shrubby stream courses and draws," and Great Plains mule deer prefer shrubby draws with silver buffaloberry, golden currant and chokecherry (FEIS).

More shrubs isn't always better. WAFWA warns that "Woody cover can become so dense that mule deer predator avoidance and escape mechanisms become ineffective, ultimately reducing survival and production," and it sets suitable woody plant density for mule deer at "≤30-40%." MSU's Mosley found the same from the forage side: "When 40% of the ground surface is covered by tree or shrub canopy, forage production is cut in half," while "Tree and shrub canopy cover of 10-15% or less generally does not limit forage production."

So we plant clumps for mule deer, not a solid shelterbelt. You want islands of browse and cover with open sight lines and forbs between them.

What mule deer eat through the year

Season What they're eating What your planting does
Spring Early green grass and forbs. Mosley says deer and elk go for the first green grass and succulent, nutrient-rich forbs. Openings between clumps grow the forbs. New shrub leaves start getting nipped.
Summer Mostly forbs and grasses (FEIS). This is when they put on fat. Shade and hiding cover. Buffaloberry fruit ripens July to September. Fawns need cover in fawning areas.
Late summer and fall Forbs dry, so "browse becomes increasingly important in the diet" (FEIS). Plum (August to September) and chokecherry fruit, plus leaves and twigs.
Winter Shrub-dominated diets, conifer browse when snow buries everything else (FEIS, MSU). They "prefer to feed where there is no snow." Chokecherry, buffaloberry and juniper twigs. Juniper and thick shrub clumps cut wind and catch snow. South slopes and draws stay usable.

The best plants we grow for mule deer

Plant What it gives mule deer When it matters Hardy to
Chokecherry "A preferred mule deer browse on many winter ranges throughout the Intermountain West and Northern Great Plains." Crude protein doesn't drop much as winter goes on. Good mule deer cover in MT, ND and WY. Suckers into thickets. Fruit late summer to fall, twigs all winter Zone 2
Native American plum Drought resistant, forms thickets, "Plum thickets often furnish valuable protective shelter" (NRCS). Fruits every year. Fruit August to September, cover year round Zone 2
Silver buffaloberry 15% of mule deer summer diet in one Montana study, and "an important browse species in mule deer winter diets" in North Dakota. Provides bedding sites for mule deer in ND. Thorny, so cattle leave it alone. Fruit July to September, twigs in winter Zone 2
Golden currant One of the shrubs in the Great Plains draws mule deer prefer. Grows along streams, ravines and washes. Fruit feeds songbirds too. Leaves and twigs spring and summer Zone 2
Rocky Mountain juniper Mostly cover. Wyoming rates it excellent hiding and thermal cover for mule deer, and it's "a major component of wintering mule deer diet in the Bridger Mountains of Montana." Winter, deep snow Zone 2
Serviceberry (where it's wetter) Often "a primary or important component of the winter diet of big game." Mule deer rate it fair to good. Don't let it be the only thing they eat (see below). Winter and spring Zone 2
Aspen (mountain ground) Big summer food for mule deer in parts of the West. Needs moisture and well drained soil. Summer and fall leaves Zone 1

Plant facts from the US Forest Service Fire Effects Information System (chokecherry, silver buffaloberry, golden currant, Rocky Mountain juniper, serviceberry, aspen) and the NRCS American plum plant guide.

Why we mix species instead of planting one

Two of the best mule deer shrubs come with a catch. Serviceberry carries cyanogenic glycosides, mostly in young twigs. Captive mule deer fed only winter serviceberry twigs died within a week, and one researcher speculated a winter diet over 35% serviceberry would be fatal (FEIS). It also doesn't grow wild in Montana where annual precipitation is under 14 inches. We left it out of our plains mule deer bundle for that reason. Plant it in the mountains and foothills, mixed with other browse.

Juniper is the other one. MSU's Mosley writes that deer and elk "won't thrive" if their winter diets contain more than 15 to 20% juniper or sagebrush, because "The natural oils contained in these plants disrupt the animals' digestive systems." Juniper is there for cover first and as a backup food in deep snow. Plant it with the deciduous shrubs, not instead of them.

How to lay it out

Pick the right spot

  • Draws, coulees and drainages. WAFWA says "the leeward side of hills combined with draws, escarpments, and woody cover help to reduce snow depth." Draws also burned less often in the old days, which is where woody plants naturally grew up on the plains. Your planting belongs in the same places.
  • South slopes for winter. "During cold weather mule deer tend to use south-facing slopes" (FEIS). Put some clumps on the lower south side of your draws.
  • Close to forage, not on top of it. Mosley's numbers: "Ideal foraging habitat is within 0.1 to 0.25 mile of shelter or hiding cover," and cover and foraging ground should be "within 0.5 to 1 mile" of water. He suggests aiming for about 40% cover and 60% foraging areas across the whole neighborhood, not only inside your fence lines.
  • Not in low wet spots for the plains shrubs. Aspen doesn't tolerate long flooding or waterlogged soil either. Golden currant handles stream edges and washes better than the others.
  • Away from the house if you're in bear country. Plum, chokecherry and buffaloberry all feed bears.
  • Away from a sharptail dancing ground. Buffaloberry clumps in draws feed sharptails in winter too, but read our sharp-tailed grouse guide before you plant anywhere near a lek.

Clumps, not rows

We'd plant a draw as a string of small clumps with open grass and forbs between them, keeping total woody cover in the draw under that 30 to 40% line. A shelterbelt row is the wrong shape for mule deer. University of Minnesota Extension spaces shrubs "3 to 6 feet in the row" and conifers "20 to 25 feet" apart (UMN Extension), and we use those same spacings inside a clump.

Piece of the layout What we'd do Why
Shrub spacing inside a clump 3 to 6 ft between chokecherry, plum, buffaloberry and currant UMN shrub spacing. Close enough to knit into a thicket. Chokecherry and plum sucker and fill in.
Juniper On the north or windward edge of a clump, about 20 ft from the next juniper UMN conifer spacing. Breaks wind and catches snow on the lee side.
Serviceberry (if you add it) Its own clumps, as far from the junipers as the draw allows Juniper rusts hit serviceberry too (UMN Extension, see Safety below).
Clump size 5 to 8 shrubs plus a juniper Small enough that deer can see out. The Mule Deer Winter Browse bundle makes 2 or 3 clumps.
Space between clumps Leave open ground, keep total woody cover in the draw under 30 to 40% WAFWA density limit; MSU forage loss above 40% canopy.
Distance to feeding ground Within 0.1 to 0.25 mile of open forage MSU Extension
Water Within 0.5 to 1 mile. Troughs no taller than 20 in. MSU Extension; WAFWA says troughs over 20 in shut out fawns.

If you're planting a whole draw, our bundle only gives you two or three clumps. For more chokecherry, plum and buffaloberry in bulk, state nurseries sell conservation seedlings to landowners. The Montana Conservation Seedling Nursery in Missoula has a 150 seedling minimum for new plantings and sells bare-root stock in spring only. North Dakota's Towner State Nursery has a 100 tree minimum, gives North Dakotans first pick and sells surplus out of state.

Sun, soil and water

All of these want sun. Wild plum tolerates some shade, and buffaloberry "will grow in semishaded areas and on dry, exposed hillsides" (FEIS), but they all grow faster in the open. Chokecherry seedlings "establish satisfactorily if planted free of competition," so kill the sod in a 3 ft circle before you plant. FEIS says that's on ground getting at least 15 inches of precipitation a year (FEIS), so on drier places put the chokecherry low in the draw where water collects, and don't skip the drip.

Water with drip. It's the only way we recommend watering young trees and shrubs, and in a dry coulee it's the difference between a clump and a row of dead sticks. A battery timer on a hose bib or a small tank and gravity line works fine out in a pasture. I'm skeptical of the idea that watering rarely makes roots go looking for water. Young plants in dry country need steady moisture until their roots are established.

Planting and the first three years

  1. Fall before: Mark your clumps. Kill the sod in a 3 ft circle where each plant goes. Figure out your water (drip line, tank, timer). Fence the cows out if they use the draw.
  2. Spring planting: Plant bare-root as soon as the ground can be worked. Soak roots, plant at the depth they grew, firm the soil, water in. Mulch the circle with wood chips. We'd skip straw out in a pasture, since it's good mouse and vole housing.
  3. Protect right away: Put a welded-wire cage about 5 ft tall and 3 ft across around each shrub, or cage the clump. See below.
  4. Year 1: Drip through the summer. Pull weeds in the circle and keep the grass around the clump short going into winter. Voles chew bark under the snow, and they're "less likely to traverse weed-free zones that are 15 feet wide" (UNL Extension). Expect some losses. In one bitterbrush planting study, first-fall survival ran from 41% to 92% depending on the year (Johnson and Okula 2006). Replant gaps the next spring.
  5. Year 2: Keep the drip going. Keep the circle weed free. Chokecherry and plum may start suckering.
  6. Year 3: Start backing off water in wet years. Leave cages on until the tops are well above deer reach. Let suckers fill the clump in.

Protecting the planting

Deer will eat a freshly planted shrub down to the ground. The best data I know of on this comes from antelope bitterbrush plantings on winter range, which is about as close an analog as you'll find for planting browse where mule deer winter. Browse protection with mesh tubes "increased absolute survival 10% to 20%," and averaged across four planting years it raised survival from 28% to 43%. Larger seedlings survived better too. The authors wrote: "Use of browse protection will increase survival and growth, but one must weigh the added costs" against "the alternative of planting more shrubs initially" (Johnson and Okula, Native Plants Journal). One catch they found: protected plants got browsed later anyway once stems grew out the top of the short tubes. We'd rather use a 5 ft welded-wire cage than a short tube.

If you don't have wire, brush works. BLM wildlife biologist Kelly Bockting described piling cut conifers on heavily browsed mountain mahogany in southwest Montana: "This allows the mahogany to grow up through the slash for several years without browse pressure from wildlife" (BLM). If you're clearing junipers or pines that have crowded a draw, pile them over your new clumps.

Keep the cows off

Livestock are the other big threat. WAFWA recommends that "Livestock should not be allowed to browse >50% of annual leader growth (by weight) of woody shrubs," and notes that "Deer tend to avoid cattle and areas heavily grazed by cattle." Grazing can also strip hiding cover for fawns (FEIS). Fence the clumps or the whole draw while they establish. And remember chokecherry is poisonous to livestock (more on that below).

Build fence mule deer can cross

If you're fencing a draw, build it so deer can get over and fawns can get under. WAFWA's wildlife-friendly specs: "Maximum height of 42 inches," "Smooth bottom wire ≥18 inches from the ground," and a "Minimum of 12 inches between the top 2 wires." They also say "Five-strand barbed wire fences and net-wire fences are not acceptable." Use the tall welded-wire cages around individual plants, and wildlife-friendly wire around pastures.

Timing it to hunting season

A mule deer browse planting is mostly about winter and next year's fawns, not about pulling a buck to a stand in October. The fruit comes on late summer into fall: buffaloberry ripens July to September on the Great Plains and plum August to September. Deer turn to browse as forbs dry up in fall, so the clumps get used from early fall on. The twig browse is what carries them from November through March.

Where the clumps can pay off in season is late. The mule deer rut runs anywhere from September to March "depending upon location" (FEIS), and in a lot of Montana and Wyoming country the late rifle season catches deer moving onto winter range. Browse clumps in the draws they winter in are where you'll find does, and bucks follow the does. That's our read of how muleys use ground, not a promise. In 2026 Montana's general deer season opened October 24 (The Western News). Dates move every year, so check current regs.

Over time, what a hunter gets is more does coming out of winter in good shape, more fawns, and deer with a reason to winter in your draws. That takes a few years while the shrubs get above reach and the clumps sucker and thicken.

Mistakes to avoid

  • A solid shelterbelt. Mule deer need to see out. Keep it under 30 to 40% woody cover.
  • Planting on the flat. Put clumps in draws and on lee and south slopes, where deer already go.
  • All serviceberry or all juniper. Both are fine in a mix and a problem as a whole diet.
  • No protection. Unprotected seedlings in a deer winter range mostly don't make it.
  • Cattle in the draw. They'll browse it, and chokecherry can poison them.
  • Junipers near apples or serviceberry (cedar-apple rust, see below).
  • No water. Drip the first couple of summers at least.

Safety and the law

  • Chokecherry and livestock. "Chokecherry foliage can be poisonous to grazing livestock." Hydrogen cyanide is released in the plant when frost damages it, or in the animal during digestion. Livestock normally don't eat a fatal amount unless other forage is short (FEIS). Keep cattle and sheep out, especially after a hard frost.
  • Juniper and cedar-apple rust. Rocky Mountain juniper is one of the main hosts of cedar-apple rust and its relatives, and UMN Extension says not to plant junipers "within a few hundred yards" of apples, hawthorns and their relatives. The related rusts also hit serviceberry, pear and mountain ash (UMN Extension). Keep juniper well away from apples, crabapples, hawthorn, serviceberry and mountain ash where you can. It's also why there are no apples in our mule deer bundle.
  • Male and female plants. Buffaloberry and juniper are dioecious ("Rocky Mountain juniper is mostly dioecious"). Ours are seedlings, so we can't tell you which are male or female. That's why the bundles come with several of each.
  • Bears. Buffaloberry is a valuable grizzly food, and wild plums feed black bears (FEIS, NRCS). FWP says "Bears are attracted to fruit-bearing trees and bushes," and recommends you "Consider installing an electric fence around fruit trees and gardens" (Montana FWP). In bear country, keep fruiting shrubs away from houses, barns and coops.
  • Chronic wasting disease. Feeding pulls deer together. Minnesota DNR says feeding "can concentrate deer and allow for close contact," which is "one of the mechanisms for CWD spread" (MN DNR). Scattered browse clumps spread deer out. A pile of feed does the opposite. Another reason we plant and don't pile.
  • Baiting and feeding laws. Planting browse is habitat work. Montana's feeding law (MCA 87-6-216) bans providing supplemental feed attractants to deer and other big game, including purposely feeding them in a way that concentrates animals and could spread disease. It exempts normal agricultural practices and cultivating a lawn or garden. Native browse in a draw isn't what that law is aimed at, but if you're unsure about your setup, call FWP. South Dakota bans bait stations for big game from August 1 through February 1 and March 15 through May 31, but food from "accepted farming, forest management, wildlife food plantings, orchard management" that nobody placed or gathered doesn't count (ARSD 41:06:04:03). North Dakota's old unit bait rules never covered food plots or standing crops (ND Game and Fish), and a 2025 law keeps Game and Fish from restricting bait for deer hunting on private land (The Dakotan). Public land has its own rules. Minnesota's statute (97B.328) says wildlife food plantings aren't bait for deer hunting, and its CWD feeding ban in 37 counties exempts feed "present solely as a result of normal agricultural, forest management, or wildlife food-planting practices" (MN DNR). Wyoming and Idaho define bait as something placed. Picking fruit and piling it by your stand is a different story in every state. Rules change, so check current regs before you hunt.

Ready-made bundles for mule deer

To check what survives on your place, put your address in our cold hardiness calculator. The rest of our wildlife bundles are here.

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