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Sawtooth Oaks

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Harold Money jr

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Thinking of cutting some undesirable trees and planting sawtooths and nuttall trees in their place and where I want a good acorn producer. I'm wondering how the deer really hit the sawtooth and nuttall oaks? Are they truly as good or better than Whiteoaks?
 
No experience with Nuttalls, but deer love Sawtooths early in the season. Sawtooths usually produce by mid-September, before the White's drop and deer love them.
 
Awesome!! Thank you for the response. In researching Nutall oaks it looks like they are very similar to sawtooth but produce in December. Deer pretty much leave my place during the late season, so I'm looking for late season feed.
 
No experience with Nuttalls? but agree that deer love Sawtooths....but you mentioned specifically that your wanting late season food....as mentioned already the sawtooths will drop early...still a great addition to your property but they may not meet your goal? On a more positive note....a sawtooth is one oak tree you can plant and have a chance to see acorn production in your lifetime.... another tree you may consider is the Dunstan Chestnut....but honestly...while I love planting food plots and trees....one of the most powerful and beneficial things you can do is removing undesirable trees (and maybe some desirable) to allow sunlight to the forest floor....not sure what the land around you is like? But cover, in some cases, can be king and the food that is generated by allowing sunlight to the forest floor is truly unbelievable.....not to ramble but consider any stand of white oak or red oak you have...are they packed tightly into certain areas? Notice if their crowns are open and full or are they narrow and trying to reach out of the top of the canopy? I ask this because in some cases you can remove some of your acorn producer's and actually increase your acorn production.... actually in some cases you can see a tremendous increase in production..... because the trees that remain have the room for the crown to open and fully develop which gives more opportunity for the tree to produce acorns.... just something to consider....good luck with your project! Enjoy the process!
 
I have several hunters every year come to the house and pick up the sawtooth acorns that are littering my yard. I have a ton on the ground and they get slung like bullets when a mower hits them and they will knock holes in vinyl siding and dents in cars-ask me how I know! The best method to plant them is to simply take a heavy piece of metal rod and push it in the ground about 1.5" deep. Drop an acorn in the hole and step on the hole with your foot to cover it a little. Walk to the next spot and do this again. I usually do this in September when I get to the woods to start looking around some.

I have looked at aerial maps of my properties taken in the winter and the sawtooths are easy to spot on the pictures. They hold their leaves later than all the other trees making them easy to see from the air. Deer will tear them up and they produce thousands of acorns, even in a dry year like we are having this year. I think these are the best deer food for early season that is available.
 
Teacher said:
Deer will tear them up and they produce thousands of acorns, even in a dry year like we are having this year.
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As dry as it's been, to the point the white and red oaks are dropping their developing acorn buds, I'm amazed at how loaded the Sawtooths are. Boggles the mind.
 
I'm excited to be able to plant trees on my newly purchased, long time hunted farm. I have the opportunity to put acorn bearing trees where I want them now. Those days of wishing there was a feeding tree here or there is kinda in my control now. Also the days of finding my oaks in a productive area didn't produce or the acorns dried up this year can still be a productive site. Thanks for the input to all that responded!!
 
Harold Money jr said:
I'm excited to be able to plant trees on my newly purchased, long time hunted farm. I have the opportunity to put acorn bearing trees where I want them now. Those days of wishing there was a feeding tree here or there is kinda in my control now. Also the days of finding my oaks in a productive area didn't produce or the acorns dried up this year can still be a productive site. Thanks for the input to all that responded!!
Click to expand...

Congratulations on your land purchase! Habitat management...and watching wildlife respond to the changes you make...is very rewarding.
 

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