Do you guys ever tube/fence your wildlife shrubs?

I have some two ft tubes I used for shrubs in high traffic areas. Leave on a couple years and then remove. More to prevent them from taking to the ground in the first couple of years. Once roots are established, they seem to tolerate browse better.

Thanks

Don't under estimate raspberries for winter browse for deer either.

Briars I suppose is essentially what you are talking about. It's amszing to me, but deer do seem to like them.

Greenbrier is a favorite and very nutritious for deer. Burning helps control it when it gets thick.
We have buckbrush and bitterbrush for browse, they will utilize sagebrush too if really necessary- deep snow.

Some briars are ok but I don't like it when they get too thick. I haven't found a good way to remove some yet.

Mulberry is by far the favorite food tree for deer in my area. Many fields, that have mulberry in the fence rows, look like they were carefully pruned by a master gardener. There are no thin branches, that a deer can reach standing on their back legs, left.

I've got a deer, probably a tame buck, that I hate, that a neighbor raised, that is starting to damage a lot of my trees. I had trouble with it last year. It was raised with German shepherds and likes dogs. My dogs therefore ignore it. I've hit it with rocks and sticks and it won't leave until I chase and get near it. I have not seen it, but noticed new tree damage each of the last 3 days. I'm going to get a nuisance permit and kill the offending deer with the best military grade, night vision optics Beretta Groups makes, with their retired CEO, who is my main fishing buddy.

Keith

I might have to look into some red mulberry, thanks.

Here's some mulberry branches a deer just started working on.




I don't mind the mulberry so much, but likely the same deer was the one that stripped several hundred cherries and new apples.

The branches will regrow leaves and fruit, but often the deer will come back and work the very same branch again. Being predated on does make the mulberries put out more fruit, but the sugar content usually suffers.

Keith

I have hazelnut, the deer never touch it.
A deer's diet varies from place to place.
A few red Oiser dogwood, more grey dogwood and pagoda dogwood tho.
Again, the deer don't really mess with it.
In my place Red Maple and Oaks are probably tops browse.

I am thinning my woods heavily and planting the opened areas with native grasses and forbs that favor open woodlands.
I then burn yearly to keep brush and seedling trees at bay.
I am not doing anything to purposely attract or encourage deer, I have too many as is.
The woody browse is almost non-existent after I go thru an area.
I'll tell you tho that from March to June I have deer all over the place.
They love all the flush spring growth that open woodlands and burning encourage.

Nice. What kind of seed are you planting?

When plant bushes and trees for CRP we’ve had the best luck with planting them as thick as we can and it seems like the deer don’t bother them as bad.

Here's one of my mulberry trees from today. There are a few hundred mulberry trees on my farm. I don't think there are any birds or mammals that don't eat mulberries, that are on my farm, except humming birds. Even the small seed eating birds eat mulberries. If you coppice the trees, they put out tremendous amounts of woody browse.

I ate mulberries right off the trees earlier today. I grilled brats on mulberry wood for supper.

Keith