Trees for Deer: A Hunter's Buying Guide
Which fruit and nut trees to plant, when they drop, seven questions to ask before you buy from anyone — including us — and a side-by-side of the sellers you'll run into if you're shopping around.
Written by the same people who grow and ship your trees. If anything here is out of date or incorrect, email us at contact@whitetailhill.com and we'll update it.
Which trees to plant, and when they feed deer
Food plots feed deer for a season or a few seasons at most. Trees feed them for decades, on ground you don't have to replant, spray or disc. The goal is a mix that drops something from opening day through the late season — hard mast for the calories, soft mast for the sweet tooth. Here's how the main players line up.
The backbone. Bears every year, out-produces oaks pound for pound, and deer choose them over acorns. If you plant one tree, plant these.
Same tree, later clock. Extends the chestnut window into the rut when a standard hybrid is done.
Sugar-heavy soft mast that hangs and drops through late season. The tree deer walk past everything else to reach.
Reliable soft mast; the right varieties hold fruit into November. Excellent in front of a stand.
Early-season draw and, in the case of plum thickets, bedding cover. Fills the gap before the chestnuts start.
The long game. Sawtooth is the fastest oak to bear; white oaks are the most preferred acorn. Plant them for the next owner as much as for you.
A workable property plan: chestnuts as the core planting and a persimmon and crabapple or two within bow range of each stand. Production timelines assume a protected tree in decent soil; they stretch when either is missing.
Seven questions to ask any tree seller
Ask these before you check out. If you can't find the answer on a seller's site, that's an answer too.
Who actually ships your order?
A growing number of hunting brands sell trees they never handle. You order on their site; a nursery you've never heard of packs and ships it. The place you ordered from never even touches it. The tell is easy to spot: the product listing names a different nursery as the vendor, the photos and descriptions match that nursery's website word for word, and the site doesn't say where the tree ships from. That's what you call a storefront, not a nursery. It isn't illegal or even unusual these days — but it means the brand you paid probably can't tell you how the tree was grown, when it will ship, or what to do if it fails, because they've never even seen it. Some of them have never grown a tree themselves.
What size are you getting?
People who are new to planting trees usually start off thinking bigger is always better. With trees that couldn't be more wrong. You want to transplant trees when they're young. One year old is the sweet spot, which is about 2–3 ft tall for most species. If you let them get bigger than that and try to transplant them, you're going to have root damage, root binding, and major transplant shock.
To put it in simple terms: when trees get too big, they shouldn't be dug up, shipped, or transplanted. If you do, you get low survival rates, slow growth, and damaged root systems that stay with those trees forever.
Unfortunately, some places like to prey on the inexperience of their customers and sell oversized trees (4–10 ft tall and usually several years old) at huge markups. You'll see prices as high as $50–$120 for these larger trees. People are willing to pay it because they think bigger is better, but in reality they're getting a tree that has a lower chance of surviving and will be permanently hampered by the damage done to its roots. In fact, we've heard from dozens of customers that the large trees they purchased from other nurseries grew okay for a year or two and then withered up and died. It's a symptom of root binding, often seen in oversized trees grown in containers for too long, and something all too common when you buy 2, 3, and 4 year old trees from other growers.
Selling big trees at a big markup is a bad tactic that we try to point out every time we see it, and something we simply won't do. We get asked every year by customers to sell larger trees. People even offer to pay a premium. We won't do it. We only sell trees at the right size for transplanting, which is about one year old and in that 2–4 ft range. We want you to get a fast-growing, healthy tree that will be producing for generations. That's more important to us than being able to charge a little more for something that might die on you.
Where does it ship from, and who decides when?
A tree dug in Ohio in mid-September is on a different clock than a food plot in Mississippi. Some sellers hand you a calendar and let you pick a ship week — which sounds like a good thing until you realize you're the one guessing whether your ground is ready or not. Some sellers don't say anything about timing at all. Ask where the tree ships from and whether the seller is timing delivery to your region or leaving it up to you.
What does the guarantee actually say?
"Guaranteed" on a product listing means nothing until you find the terms. Check three things. Is the guarantee written on the seller's actual policy page, or only on a product headline? How long does it last? And what does it cover — the tree's condition when it arrives, or whether it's alive next spring? Those are very different promises. Some sellers' refund policies say plants can't be returned at all while their product pages advertise a guarantee. Only one of those documents is binding.
How long have they been doing this?
Growing, shipping, and taking care of trees is something learned through experience: knowing when to dig, how to pack, when to ship to which state, and what to tell a customer in May if they have questions about taking care of their trees. A nursery learns that over years of shipping and years of replacement claims. Order from somewhere that's brand new to this and you're ordering from a place that hasn't been through a single season yet. That doesn't mean the tree is bad — it just means nobody at that company knows yet. Do you want to be the guinea pig?
Is there real volume pricing?
If you're planting an orchard or a whole property, the per-tree price should come down with quantity. A grower can do that. A storefront just re-selling someone else's catalog usually can't, because the price isn't theirs to move.
Who answers the phone in May?
You find out what kind of seller you bought from the spring after planting, when a few trees haven't leafed out — or maybe they have and you just have a question. Call the number on the site before you order and see who picks up, and whether that person has ever planted trees. Ask some questions; see if they know how to take care of the trees they want to sell you.
How the sellers compare
Whitetail Hill, Chestnut Hill Outdoors, Morse Nursery and Domain Outdoor, on the questions above. Everything is taken from each seller's public website as of September 10, 2026. Prices, stock and policies change; confirm before you buy — from anyone, including us. If we've got something wrong, tell us and we'll correct it.
Swipe sideways to see the whole table →
| Seller | Who ships your order | Years selling trees | Ships from | Who picks the ship date | Size | Guarantee — and what it requires | Volume pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitetail Hill Chestnuts | We do — from our nursery right here in Cherokee, Alabama | 6 seasons | Cherokee, Alabama | We do — timed by state to match your optimum planting window. Shipping schedule published. | Around 1 year old and 2–4 ft tall. Excellent for transplanting. | Survival Guarantee: trees emerge from dormancy. Requires following the planting guide and protecting with our tube ($8.99). Store credit or one-time replacement. Written on its own policy page. | Yes — 100 / 200 / 400 / 600 and curated bundles |
| Chestnut Hill Outdoors | They do — ships its own trees | Since 1991 (per their site) | Alachua, Florida | Seller schedules by season (spring Jan–Apr, fall Sept–Nov) | 1.5–3 ft, 3–5 ft and larger 6 ft+ sold in stores | Covers condition at delivery only; report problems within 24 hours, before planting. Their FAQ: "Once trees are planted, the customer is responsible for growth, care, and survival." No coverage for trees bought in retail stores. | 10-tree kits and bundles |
| Morse Nursery | They do — ships its own trees | Founding year not found on site | Battle Creek, Michigan (FedEx) | You do — pick a ship week at checkout | Range from 1.5 ft up to large 5 ft sizes | 1-year replacement if you buy the $10 Tree Survival Kit (tube, mat, fertilizer, netting). | Fixed bundles |
| Domain Outdoor | They don't — tree orders are drop-shipped by Morse Nursery. Domain does not operate their own nursery.¹ | First season — tree line launched Sept 2026 | Not stated on product pages. Supplier is in Battle Creek, Michigan. | Not stated on product pages¹ | Same as Morse (supplier): range from 1.5 ft up to large 5 ft sizes | "1-year guarantee" appears on a $10 Tree Survival Kit add-on (Morse's kit). Domain's own refund policy lists plants as non-returnable and contains no tree guarantee terms at the time of writing.² | None at this time |
¹ Per product data published on domainoutdoor.com (vendor and tag fields), Sept 10, 2026. Ship-date selection may appear at checkout; it is not shown on product pages.
² domainoutdoor.com/policies/refund-policy, Sept 10, 2026. "Not stated" means the information could not be found on the seller's public website. Whitetail Hill Chestnuts is not affiliated with any other seller named on this page.
Three of these four sellers grow and ship their own trees. One appears to be a storefront with fulfillment done by someone else. Of the three growers, we're the only one who checks all of the boxes: handling our own orders, timing shipment to your state instead of making you pick, a published written survival guarantee, real volume pricing, and trees sold only at the best size for transplanting. That's why we think we're the right call — but we'd rather you check every claim on this page than take our word for it. Do your research and see for yourself. If you have questions, our team is just a phone call away: 256-415-4085.
See our lineup
We grow some of the absolute best trees for wildlife. Everything on our site is handpicked to feed deer, turkeys, and other wildlife on your property. Everything ships on your state's planting window for the upcoming season.
Sold out on something you wanted? See the full catalog — sold-out varieties come back the following season.
When will my trees ship?
Find your state on the map. That's your window. We hold your trees and ship them so they arrive when it's time to plant where you hunt — not on a week you had to guess at. Fall and spring each have their own schedule, and we post the current one on the ship date map.
Order after your region has already shipped and your trees go out within 5–10 business days.
Frequently asked questions
Chestnuts or oaks — which should I plant first?
Chestnuts. A hybrid chestnut produces in two to three seasons, bears every year, and out-yields an oak of the same age many times over. Oaks are worth planting for the long term — sawtooth is the fastest to bear, white oak the most preferred — but if you want deer eating off your trees while you still own the property, start with chestnuts and add soft mast around your stands.
Does Domain Outdoor ship its own trees?
It doesn't appear that they do. As of September 10, 2026, Domain Outdoor's tree listings name Morse Nursery (Battle Creek, Michigan) as the vendor and are tagged as Shopify Collective products — a drop-shipping program in which the supplier ships directly to the customer. Their tree prices match Morse's retail prices exactly. We're not affiliated with either company; you can confirm this with them if you'd like to, but the signals point to a drop-shipping arrangement.
How can I tell whether a brand grows its trees or resells someone else's?
Look for a vendor name on the product listing, compare the photos and descriptions against other nurseries' websites, and check whether the shipping policy names a ship-from location. If the vendor is a different nursery and the descriptions match that nursery word for word, that nursery is probably growing and shipping the tree. Or call and ask where the tree is being shipped from — any reputable company should be happy to tell you.
Why does your guarantee require a tube?
Because an unprotected seedling in deer country gets browsed to a stub, and no nursery can guarantee a tree against a deer's appetite. The tube also protects against wind, rabbits and herbicide drift while the roots establish.
Why don't you let me pick my ship week?
Because you'd be guessing, and the cost of guessing wrong is a dead tree. We've shipped trees to every region of the country for six years and we know when the best windows for planting are. If your situation is unusual — a late frost, a flooded plot, travel, or you just want a specific timeframe — call us and we'll work with you to schedule something.
What trees hold deer through the rut and late season?
Late Drop Hybrid Chestnut carries the chestnut window into November. American Persimmon hangs fruit and drops through December. Crabapple varieties that hold fruit late, like our Main Attraction, bridge October and November. Plant those three within range of a stand and you've got a draw from opening day to the last week.
Whitetail Hill Chestnuts is not affiliated directly with Chestnut Hill Outdoors, Morse Nursery, Domain Outdoor, or any other seller named on this page. All competitor information is drawn from those sellers' public websites and was last verified on September 10, 2026; prices, stock, policies and terms change and should be confirmed directly with each seller. Trademarks belong to their respective owners. Our own prices and stock are shown as of the same date and are subject to change.