I have a cabin on 12 acres just south of the Canadian boarder in NH and I have been focusing a lot on try to improve the habitat for deer. In that part of the state concentrated food sources are rare. The deer rely on forage (hemlock branches, ferns, raspberry, leaves etc) and can be found eating beech nuts but beech trees are few and far between. In the area I am in, deer move into the mountains in the summer and yard up in the valleys as soon as the snow hits. This makes for excellent late season hunting but results in the early fall through October a challenging time to pattern deer. To improve my property I have planted three small food plots that have taken off quite nicely. It has been a few weeks since checking my cameras but my hope was that I could keep more deer around this summer and into the fall. There is great bedding and a water source right by as the property abuts a river. Last year was our first year owning the property and we didn't get it until July - only got pictures of does. So far this year I have only had pictures of does and a spike. I am good with just having does around because bucks are drawn in for the rut. All that being said, I would like to continue to improve the food sources on my property. In NH oak trees stop growing about an hour south of the cabin. I have found the soil at the cabin to be extremely fertile so I was wondering if I planted a few oaks if they would grow and if they would ever produce acorns. Obviously I won't know until I try, but was curious to know if anyone else had experience planting mast producing trees where they simply don't grow. I think early season could be great if there are acorns dropping.
I'm not sure if they would take and if they do you'd probably not get a very good amount of acorns from it. Look into the black tupelo tree, a.k.a Black gum tree. It does really well in creek bottoms where the soil is partially sandy. It can grow in a variety of locations from the colder areas like southern Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Maine all the way down to the hotter places like Texas and Florida. It produces a little berry that deer and birds apparently love. Just another suggestion in case the oaks don't work out or you wanted another option.
Best to buy trees from your area that are used to your type of climate..Alot of people by tree's in southern areas and when they plant them in the north they die..Go with your USDA Zone and only get trees from suppliers from that zone.Your chances of survival are greater.Check into Swamp White Oaks..Great producer fast grower
Apple trees are going in next spring. Hoping to plant 10-20. I'm just looking for other means of creating food sources.
We have plenty of Northern Red Oak here and we are farther north than you(its native range does cover your area and north into Canada)...it may have more to do with elevation or the fact that the species was extirpated for lumber. Red oak is a fast growing tree, though it will be several to many years before your wildlife will reap the benefits of mast crop from an oak...they just won't produce enough as smaller trees to make a big impact. Bur Oak is another species you could try...it is in the white oak family(which is preferred food over red oaks) and often grows at higher elevations and also prefers open conditions more so than the Northern Red Oak. White Oak also historically grew all throughout New Hampshire and north into Canada(also most all of Maine). The only reason that I can imagine the oaks are not there is that they were harvested for lumber(used in ship building and furniture) to the point that there was nothing to regenerate from. If you have soil data for type and ph then try contacting University of New Hampshire Extension(or try their website) to find out which species might be best suited to your area and conditions.
