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Sawtooth Oak Latitude

I have had really good success in KS with Sawtooth Oaks and was going to help a landowner around Mitchell SD with some habitat improvement and was wondering if anyone has had success with growing Sawtooths at that Latitude>>>Climate Zone 4

Not sure about the Sawtooth's but had great luck with bucks eating the berries off the sumac's.

thanks for the info will consider those as well

Here is a photo of the wild sumac in SE Kansas! Bucks were really chowing it! Maybe you can transplant some do SD?

Im seeing zones 5 at a minimum......south dakota is at best a 5 depending on his location. If he's north. ......might be a waste of time.

I would try if he's further south.

He's in 4 .The NRCS office also cited the Zone 5 limit but I'm still gonna try some but just wanted to see if others have been successful

I think they'll do fine as long as they have good soil and plenty of sun. I planted 50 of them on my property I used to have when I lived in Northern Indiana right along the Michigan line. They grew well. A few of my friend that lived a little further north in Michigan planted them too. Several of mine started producing a few acorns after about 6 years. I planted 2 in my yard at the house and they did much better and put out lots of acorns after 4 years but they got more water and fertilizer thanks to the sprinkler system and fertilizing the yard a couple times a year. Planting them where they get plenty of sun makes a huge difference too. I really see that on the ones I have here in VA because most of the ones I planted in Indiana got pretty good sun. The ones near the woods are about half the height of the ones in the open and are just starting to put out a few acorns after about 10 years. The ones in the open started putting out a few acorns at 5 years and really took off after about 7 years. They are putting out quite a few now at 10 years and range from about 16-24 feet tall canopy ranges about 3/4 of their height.. We fertilize them all once a year.

Earlier this year I planted several more seedlings I raised from the acorn in pots for the first year. Lost about 1/3 of them but the survivors are looking really good.

Genesis, burr oak is the predominant oak species in SD and does well here. SD has brutal winters and hot summers with little moisture at times. If you are set on oaks I'd go with burr oak. Tell me a little about your friend's property and I can make some suggestions on what SD deer like to call home. Is it ag land, river bottom, rolling hills/bluffs, or otherwise?

Charlie made a great call on the wild sumac. Our deer are crazy for sumac.

Burr oak will be for long range planning as they take too long to mature

I'm needing a 10 window for the hard mast......

Hard mast never seems to compete here. I hunt an area with a ton of acorns. The deer walk right by them to get to the corn, beans, and alfalfa. I actually posted a thread about it a few months back. Your friend would be better suited to planting a couple of food plots for late winter forage, I.E. turnips/radish, etc. I would focus on planting good row cover, I.E. cedars, sumac, buffalo berry, wild plum, Apple trees, etc intermixed with stands of ash, elm, maple etc. Your friend should consult with a rep from the SD Game Fish and Parks. They love it when guys try to build habitat and will bend over backwards to help. I have a feeling their advice will be similar to mine. If your friend wants deer in SD I'm just telling you what they prefer and what will hold them.

He has all that already planted just looking for a little diversity.

As and aside.....have hunted many states for whitetails and have NEVER seen deer pick crops over acorns consistently.....periodic times but not when they are falling on a consistent basis.....

I remember your post and I posted to your thread several times....doesn't make sense to me as it contradicts everything I've seen....but NEVER hunted SD for whitetails but I wouldn't know why they would differ...interesting

Not sure why the tannins would be higher in SD if that is the case

Bur oaks can be iffy and some years I've turned my ankle on them all through the season but not on a consistent basis

It mystified me as well. I've hunted in other states and the acorns there were keyed on heavily. Acorns are relatively rare in SD. We usually only have oaks in limited areas along creeks and rivers and in "oak savannahs". I've often wondered if it is just that deer are not conditioned to feed on acorns in certain areas due to their scarcity. It's really all a guessing game as we'll never know, all I can go on is what I see in the area I hunt. Your buddy might plant oaks and have great success with his mast crop. It never hurts to try! Sounds like he is well on his way to having a good property.

Not sure how persimmons do up there but they produce fruit pretty quick. The deer love them and they usually drop in early bow season. Chestnuts too.

Apricot is what he planted.......American Chestnut I thought about but the demographic map wasn't too promising at all.

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