better spruce for deer

I am ordering 50 spruce trees. Not sure if I should get norway spruce or white spruce. Anyone know which is better for deer?

I am not a deer expert but I do plant about 250 trees every year to reforest old farm fields. What do you mean by “better for deer?” If you mean for cover then Norway Spruce or White Pine are the choice as their branches will eventually leave a branchless area near the ground for deer to bed under. White spruce tend to stay thick at the base which deer don’t like because they can’t see predators coming.

They like protection from above during which to bed, especially in the winter but they rarely bed where you think they should, sometimes it is in the middle of a tall grass field, other times on a fence line or on a ridge in the woods. I believe the wind conditions, food locations, and where they happen to be when they decide it is time to take a nap determines bedding area more than available cover.

If you meant planting an evergreen as a food source then that is a losing proposition. They love to browse on balsalm but once they reach the height of their browse line the tree is no longer able to regenerate and provide browse. Cutting down a few poplar every fall for them to browse on the tops is a better way to go.

I have found that the norway are more deer resistant than the white, as far as bedding once the trees are tall enough i trim the lower branches to about 4-5′ from the ground on one side of the tree. the deer love to bed under these man made beds

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I have found that the norway are more deer resistant than the white, as far as bedding once the trees are tall enough i trim the lower branches to about 4-5′ from the ground on one side of the tree. the deer love to bed under these man made beds

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X2 I did a restoration project and planted about 14,500 trees. As for the pines/evergreens, we’ve encountered a few learning opportunities The white pines were eaten down this year as soon as the new growth emerged. That was even with the deer repellent sprayed on them. About 1200 cedar trees were eaten down to the base of the trunk. Blue spruce had the least amount of deer damage, yet suffered from the harsh winter conditions. The norways were more hardy and I didn’t have much winter kill.

I’ve also been adding a lot of spruce as future wind breaks to existing bedding areas. ecspecially if they are exposed from the road!

I mostly want them for bedding as I have seen very little evidence of any type of spruce being browsed by deer. I know love to browse white pine and balsalms, but not the spruce. I’ve read that the norway spruce is the fastest growing of the spruce family, but it seems to have less mass that the whites.