Hello,
Good idea. Whitetails love red cedar for bedding and thermal protective cover during winter, especially.
However, what you describe is a lot of work! And expensive if you must purchase stock of that size! You would find it much, much cheaper and much, much easier if you elected to plant bare root seedlings over older, larger stock. Just a thought.
You would want to plant several hundred trees per acre to ensure a good dense stand (400 - 800 bare root seedlings or, say, 300 - 500, 2-3 year old trees). Keep in mind, also, that eastern red cedar is very slow growing.
There are other habitat changes you might consider to attract big bucks to your area. I don't know if the 5 acre area you speak of is presently forested. If it is, you could clear out a 5 acre area in the center and simply let the area resprout into new growth. The open area will grow in super thick within a year or two and will really be attractive to all deer, as both a bedding and a feeding area.
You could also put in a 5 acre food plot. Depending upon food supplies in adjacent areas, and time of year, having a constant and deer-attractive food source might be your best means of getting big bucks to hang around your property.
If you are strictly looking for cover, and not a food source, you might opt to plant switchgrass. I will assure you that this 5-8 foot tall vegetation is a favorite bedding area of big bucks and does too! Deer simply love bedding in this thick protective stuff and it’ll hold them in all but extreme cold and heavy snow. An excellent option, too, would be to plant a food plot right along the edge of, or in the middle of, a few acres of switchgrass. It takes 3 years or so to get a really good stand of switchgrass growing but it is worth every moment of the wait!
Cost share programs may be available for some of these projects. Contact your local NRCS for info on that. Also, your local conservation groups (Pheasants Forever, NWTF, etc.,) can help with food plot and native grassland establishment.
Good luck with your habitat work!
Raven