Found a bunch of northern red oak acorns.

[Angus 1895]

Walking the dogs in crow Hassan park near Rogers Minnesota I found the mother lode of acorns under mass red oaks.

if you want any let minnow.

 

[Telemark]

I think red oaks are an underrated tree for habitat in the North. I have a lot of them (about 5 acres) in Ontario, and they get a decent amount of traffic throughout the season. The deer never manage to eat all the acorns, but the acorns decay slowly and act as a reserve food supply over the winter and even into the Spring and early Summer some years. I read an article about this year's ago, so I started managing the oaks a little each year after that.

Generally I remove the smaller oak trees that are crowding the largest acorn-producing trees, but slowly over time. I don't do a full "crown release" in one go. I take just the trees I can use for that season. The logs are excellent for cultivation shiitake mushrooms, and the branches that are too small for mushroom cultivation get put in a separate stack by the fire pit and reserved for cooking fires. The cut stumps usually sprout and provide attractive browse for 2 or 3 years.

I'm lucky to have so many already growing, but if I didn't then I would be planting dozens of them.

Here’s s the article I mentioned:

Red Oaks are Important in Deer Nutrition | National Deer Association

deerassociation.com

 

[Teeder]

I agree with what Telemark said. There were none at my home property, so I planted a few dozen. A couple have had tassels the last 2 years and are real close to producing. My hunting property has about 12 mature trees ( red and a couple black) that are producing, but is completely surrounded by 100's of reds on the other properties. Out there I concentrate on releasing my oaks and protection for any little ones that come up naturally, plus adding white oak varieties that are completely missing.

 

[Angus 1895]

These acorns were 90% sinkers, and already were covered in the forest litter.

There were several young seedlings among the very large grand trees. It was weird being out in Minnesota without a coat on and not needing bug spray!

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Walking the dogs in crow Hassan park near Rogers Minnesota I found the mother lode of acorns under mass red oaks.

if you want any let minnow.

Right in my neighborhood!

The red oaks absolutely dumped acorns this year in much of MN. They've been on the ground for over a month and still carpet the ground on my property. I think a huge number will never get eaten because there is so many.

 

[Maddog66]

I have almost 300 acres without one oak of any species so this year I collected about 150# of red and white oak acorns and carpet bombed my property.

All the sunny field edges, every brush pile or down tree and every natural forest opening I could find.

I also have 2 more 5 gallon buckets full to spread out this winter when I get some logging done.

 

[BuckSutherland]

My 40 is completely loaded with red oak across the entire property. All the brown leaves in these pictures are red oak. Only a handful of big monsters, but well over 1,000 trees total that are at least 6-8' tall. 100s under 6 feet tall and regening all the time. The deer really browse them. I'm gonna be releasing more of them in a few days. I had the most massive crop of acorns ever this year. I would say a couple hundred trees dropped some acorns. Some individual trees had truckloads by themselves. There is no way the few deer we have left will even clean up 50% of them.

 

[Maddog66]

So nice Buck!!! Envy is flowing hard today.

Do you ever feel like you have too much of a good thing?

When I log, I’ll get basswood, aspen, and maple regen by the billions. Deer just hammer all of them.

If any oaks come up from acorns I think I’ll have to cage them but about 20 years after I’m dead someone will have oaks to hunt, by gosh.

 

[Ruffdude]

I wouldn't waste two minutes working red oaks in my neighborhood of NE lower Michigan.
Unfortunately they will all be dead soon as oak wilt as took hold here. Yeah it will take decades likely so for now we put our efforts into White oak varieties and cross our fingers.

 

[bigboreblr]

Grab those seedlings..........

I have read red oaks are higher in tannin and the animals prefer they decay some before eating. Im sure soil types effect palatibility too.

I treated my oaks well at my old home. Fertilize, lime, and watered during dry spells They were 100ft from my garden hose. A year or two, my acorns were the only ones around. The tree cams were very busy those years.

Dont forget the hickory trees. Think there is a disease hitting them here in NY. Early bow season can be alot of fun with a good hickory around. Atleast the squirrels make it less boring at times.

 

[b116757]

I planted about 400 or so trees from the red oak group and 150 from the white oak group in a 12 acre deer orchard I’ve been working on.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I have read red oaks are higher in tannin and the animals prefer they decay some before eating. Im sure soil types effect palatibility too.

I ate (read: chewed on and spit out) a handful of different acorns this sept. I could actually eat white oak acorns, red oaks not so much.

 

[b116757]

I’ve tried different acorns myself just to see the difference. Deer prefer the low tannin white oaks for sure and for hunting they are a good bet but for deer nutrition through out the late fall and winter the high tannin red oaks will see them through until spring. I think reds are good piece of the deer nutrition puzzle to have for overall herd health if you have the room to add them.

 

[Angus 1895]

I planted about 400 or so trees from the red oak group and 150 from the white oak group in a 12 acre deer orchard I’ve been working on.

What spacing are you using?

 

[Teeder]

I’ve tried different acorns myself just to see the difference. Deer prefer the low tannin white oaks for sure and for hunting they are a good bet but for deer nutrition through out the late fall and winter the high tannin red oaks will see them through until spring. I think reds are good piece of the deer nutrition puzzle to have for overall herd health if you have the room to add them.

This!
It's a much longer lasting and more reliable food source than white oaks.
There are no native whites on my hunting property, but there are a few northern reds. The deer have no issues cleaning them up as soon as they hit the ground. White acorns won't last very long on the ground if they aren't eaten right away.
I've planted 3-4 dozen reds at both properties through the years. I have a few that will produce any year now. They've had tassels the past 2 years, but no acorns yet.

 

[b116757]

I did 40’ row spacing and 20’ tree spacing in the rows thinking I or my kids can thin poor producing trees to get to about a 40x40 when mature.

 

[Teeder]

I've been planting mine at about 20 x 20 lately. Like you said, someone else can deal with thinning later. If I'm still around, I release the better / more interesting trees.