Apple tree plantings - deer movement

hunts_with_stick

5 year old buck +
so I might be buying property next to my current piece. i currently have 15 or so fruit trees on my piece. if I buy the piece right next to mine, there is an area probably 500 yards or so away from the current apple trees that I could plant more. Would I be hurting my hunting efforts by having a second “orchard” so close?
 
Ideally you have an orchard or two and you can create bottlenecks and hunt the deer on the way to them. If they are in the same general direction, the more trees the better. I feel like planting many fruit trees spread out everywhere will feed deer just the same, but make them difficult to kill. But if you can manipulate and improve the primary bedding, or know where it’s located, you can place your food in a strategic location that it can be hunted. Doesn’t have to be looking directly at the mast trees, they just have to be in a location where the deer have to move to get to them.


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I have apple trees planted in every food plot I have. Scattered about. . The more food the better I say. You might find that deer are preferring one or two specific trees so concentrate there. While the deer wander around to everything they do have favorites. I can set my calendar by deer usage at specific trees. Eventually they get to all of them over many months
 
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I don't think so.

Deer are always on the move, browsing as they slowly move along. I have 3 orchards on 100 acres, and the deer seem to move between orchard areas. This is not a hard fast rule of course, but the general travel corridors tend to lead from one food source to another, and then on to the next - including multiple orchards.
 
I would plant another orchard 500 yds away that’s easily another stand site.
 
You can probably look at this two ways. Is there a chance on a given night you are sitting in stand #1 over the original apples, and the deer are in the second orchard. Yes. That could happen.

Having a second (or third, or fourth) orchard or stand location though allows you more movement and more stand locations and reduces the chance that you burn out your original apple orchard stand.

Overall I think you're going to enjoy an overall net gain in deer hunting opportunities by adding another orchard for the reasons the other members have already mentioned.
 
When I first bought my place, it was 12 acres and one food plot. Every buck in the country ended up in that food plot. We killed every big buck we have on camera. I kept adding to my acreage and now have 400 acres - it is much longer than wide - so there is always a buck or two at the east end that does not get to the west end. I have 8 food plots now that cover 40 acres. As often as not, we dont kill out target buck - because the food is so spread out. The short answer to your question - yes, another orchard will spread your bucks - but you MIGHT pick up a different buck.
 
so I might be buying property next to my current piece. i currently have 15 or so fruit trees on my piece. if I buy the piece right next to mine, there is an area probably 500 yards or so away from the current apple trees that I could plant more. Would I be hurting my hunting efforts by having a second “orchard” so close?

How big are both parcels?
 
One is 12 the other is 11. Surrounded by propert that nobody is allowed to hunt
 
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Think of it like this, rather then drawing the deer away from your 1 stand, it is drawing the deer to your land, and off others. Better chance to hunt wind, and less burn out on the one stand.
 
Great point. I can also just plant early ripening apples too. Then the Other one can have early as well,as late (during the rut)
 
First off it sounds like you have an ideal situation with your property location, if you have the opportunity to purchase the neighboring property that would be my primary focus. I only point this out because it sounds as if you have the upper hand in acquiring the parcel. Your hunting experience will be greatly affected if someone else purchases that property and starts using it in ways that could "hurt your hunting efforts." more than you planting apple trees. After that multiple orchards could definitely have their benefits but, if attracting deer is your major goal I would share the make up of the rest of your property first ie: existing food plots, cover, water, neighboring parcels and then seek advice on the property design.
 
Great point, thanks
 
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