Whitetail & Turkey Acorn Grove (9 Trees) | Spring 2027

A long-term mast grove for whitetail and turkeys: bur oak and northern red oak for acorns, and American hazelnut for nuts and winter catkins.

This One's for the Long Haul

Oaks are slow. NRCS puts bur oak at about 35 years to its first real acorn crops. The hazelnuts are the near-term food, and the oaks are for the next generation of hunters on your place. Cage every oak, since deer browse oak seedlings hard.

Protect Them

Deer, elk and moose browse young plants hard, and bucks rub trunks in fall. Cage each tree until it's out of reach: a welded-wire cage about 5 ft. tall and 3 ft. across works for deer. Where elk come through, MSU recommends an 8 ft. fence with a top rail. Trunk tubes alone won't stop rubs. Water with drip the first couple of summers.

Is Planting This Baiting?

Growing plants is habitat work. Rules on fruit or nuts you pick, move or pile up vary by state, so check your state's hunting regs before you hunt over it.

For the full how-to (why these plants work, spacing, protection and timing), read our whitetail deer orchard guide.

See our other wildlife bundles on the wildlife orchard bundles page.

Photos: white-tailed deer by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.