Apples,apples and more apples

[Chainsaw]

Grafting is completed, now just need to clean up the tools and sharpen everything up for next year.

The Scionon tool did an excellent job and cut only what it was supposed to. The real standout though in the new equipment was the tape dispenser. It was especially helpful when wrapping tiny scions. Due to the tape dispenser acting like a third hand it made for very tightly wrapped grafts. Possibly younger people with more dexterity than I could make the wraps just as tight without it but I could not have. Also had to buy a larger cooler.


In fact had to buy four of them to "refrigerate" all the grafts.


And of course the ice jugs get changed daily. The temperature in the coolers is holding at about 45 degrees and so far no mold and plants are still looking dormant. Forty degrees was our target but if 45 works, I'll take it. We likely won't know until after we plant if 45 degrees was cold enough to correctly store the grafted plants.

 

[Wild Thing]

Bears! Don't get me started...

I lost several 7-8 year old apple trees to voles one year, but I have probably lost 25-30 apple trees to bears since 1995 when I planted my first orchard. I have only 3 of the original 20 trees left that I planted in that orchard, and I have lost several of the replacement trees there - some of them twice replaced! They are really destructive and here in Upper Michigan it takes years to draw a bear hunting permit so it is impossible to keep them in check.

This is a Honey Crisp that survived a bear taking off its lower branches a year before...



but I got this guy on camera taking it down for good the following year. It took him 2 minutes to destroy what I had 5 years of work into...





He just decided to turn this one into an open center concept rather than the central leader I was training it to...



Some trees - mainly a couple of Wolf Rivers, have survived several bear attacks...









I supposed they have trashed some of them to get the apples, but as you can see from the photos, they have trashed others when there was really no fruit available. They just do it to flex their muscle....

 

[b116757]

Bears are hard on fruit trees and siding. My brother and I owned a cabin and 40 acres butted up to National Forest several years ago and the bears would tear the wood siding off the corners of the cabin once in a while. Fruit trees on that property would have been in dire jeopardy from their attention. My mothers place 4 miles away sees very little bear activity most years and the wild apple trees flourish on their own for the most part. We do keep competition at bay with a chainsaw every few years to keep them producing fruit. I feel your pain on dealing with the supersized trash pandas.

 

[H20fwler]

am glad we don’t have bears in my part of the state.
It’s bad enough with deer trying to get at young trees and coon mugging them in late summer. I sure don’t need some bear using them as toothpicks.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Don’t even get me started. I have 2 trees they break off every year. The trees look ugly as hell, but they are great producers. I suppose in a way the bear are trimming, or picking the branches for me to trim.

 

[Chainsaw]

Guys, what kind of bear populations are present where the bears are tearing apart apple trees and even camps? Is there any type of tree setup that seems to attract that behavior, like do they attack a lone fenced tree but just walk by a whole stand of apples trees?

 

[TreeDaddy]

Don’t even get me started. I have 2 trees they break off every year. The trees look ugly as hell, but they are great producers. I suppose in a way the bear are trimming, or picking the branches for me to trim.

Reminds me of my Kiefer pear trees......

........gargoylish ogres that look like rejects from hunchback movies......but great pears!!!

bill

 

[weekender21]

Bears! Don't get me started...

I lost several 7-8 year old apple trees to voles one year, but I have probably lost 25-30 apple trees to bears since 1995 when I planted my first orchard. I have only 3 of the original 20 trees left that I planted in that orchard, and I have lost several of the replacement trees there - some of them twice replaced! They are really destructive and here in Upper Michigan it takes years to draw a bear hunting permit so it is impossible to keep them in check.

This is a Honey Crisp that survived a bear taking off its lower branches a year before...

View attachment 34383

but I got this guy on camera taking it down for good the following year. It took him 2 minutes to destroy what I had 5 years of work into...

View attachment 34384

View attachment 34385

He just decided to turn this one into an open center concept rather than the central leader I was training it to...

View attachment 34386

Some trees - mainly a couple of Wolf Rivers, have survived several bear attacks...

View attachment 34387

View attachment 34388

View attachment 34389

View attachment 34390

I supposed they have trashed some of them to get the apples, but as you can see from the photos, they have trashed others when there was really no fruit available. They just do it to flex their muscle....

Any possibility of obtaining depredation permits when bears are causing damage?


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[Wild Thing]

Guys, what kind of bear populations are present where the bears are tearing apart apple trees and even camps? Is there any type of tree setup that seems to attract that behavior, like do they attack a lone fenced tree but just walk by a whole stand of apples trees?

Any possibility of obtaining depredation permits when bears are causing damage?


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We have been dealing with bear damage ever since we purchased our property in 1994. They were here first, I guess, but they can really be a nuisance and very destructive for sure.

I got something close to 100 trail cam photos of bears on my deer scouting cameras last year beginning in May when they come out of hibernation up until early November when they go back into hibernation...



Including a family of 4...



They can grow pretty big - 500# - 600# bears are tagged every year in Upper Michigan...



They are really hungry when they come out of hibernation. I don't mind it when they forage in my clover or alfalfa plots, but they are very fond of going after turkey feeders...



and bird feeders as well. We don't even try to feed them anymore... tired of fixing and replacing feeders.



Sometimes we would leave pails of water near the newly planted trees...but we got tired of replacing pails as well...



We try to tag one once in a while but it takes 7 years to draw a first season hunt in our area so most years we can't even hunt them.



I should "knock wood" here...but the only apple trees on our farm that have escaped bear damage are those inside of a completely fenced orchard near the barn. There is no doubt that they could compromise this fence if they wanted to, but for some reason they have never tried. This orchard has been fenced since 2008.



We have had bears in the yard...and even on the front porch a couple times, but luckily they have not broken into the fenced orchard. Individually fenced trees don't stand a chance against bear damage. Many of mine which have been trashed have been enclosed in 6'X2"X4" welded wire enclosures.



Losing 25-30 apple trees and a few bird feeders, etc, over a 25 year period wouldn't even prompt our DNR to set up a live trap to relocate the bears. Bear damage control permits for killing them are not available so that isn't an option. Up until now our strategy has been to just plant more apple trees but there comes a point in time (and I think I am finally there) where you just throw in the towel and hope you can just hang on to what you have.

 

[weekender21]

We have been dealing with bear damage ever since we purchased our property in 1994. They were here first, I guess, but they can really be a nuisance and very destructive for sure.

I got something close to 100 trail cam photos of bears on my deer scouting cameras last year beginning in May when they come out of hibernation up until early November when they go back into hibernation...

View attachment 34411

Including a family of 4...

View attachment 34412

They can grow pretty big - 500# - 600# bears are tagged every year in Upper Michigan...

View attachment 34413

They are really hungry when they come out of hibernation. I don't mind it when they forage in my clover or alfalfa plots, but they are very fond of going after turkey feeders...

View attachment 34414

and bird feeders as well. We don't even try to feed them anymore... tired of fixing and replacing feeders.

View attachment 34415

Sometimes we would leave pails of water near the newly planted trees...but we got tired of replacing pails as well...

View attachment 34416

We try to tag one once in a while but it takes 7 years to draw a first season hunt in our area so most years we can't even hunt them.

View attachment 34417

I should "knock wood" here...but the only apple trees on our farm that have escaped bear damage are those inside of a completely fenced orchard near the barn. There is no doubt that they could compromise this fence if they wanted to, but for some reason they have never tried. This orchard has been fenced since 2008.

View attachment 34418

We have had bears in the yard...and even on the front porch a couple times, but luckily they have not broken into the fenced orchard. Individually fenced trees don't stand a chance against bear damage. Many of mine which have been trashed have been enclosed in 6'X2"X4" welded wire enclosures.

View attachment 34419

Losing 25-30 apple trees and a few bird feeders, etc, over a 25 year period wouldn't even prompt our DNR to set up a live trap to relocate the bears. Bear damage control permits for killing them are not available so that isn't an option. Up until now our strategy has been to just plant more apple trees but there comes a point in time (and I think I am finally there) where you just throw in the towel and hope you can just hang on to what you have.

With that bear density it seems your state’s management plan could use an overhaul.

We can hunt them every year in NC. Unfortunately the season opens after most bears have left my property.


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[Wild Thing]

Almost forgot...the bears are fond of acorns as well...

We named our farm "Lone Oak" because when we purchased the property there was only 1 lone oak tree on the entire 160 acres. We have planted hundreds of oaks since then trying to reintroduce them - mostly from acorns. After they come out of the tubes, we cage them for several years to keep them from being damaged by deer.



After about 12-15 years we will finally start seeing some acorns on them. A bear went after this one last year and broke down several branches just so he could eat the acorns while on the ground.









Claw marks on the tree left little doubt as to who was responsible for the damage...

 

[Wild Thing]

With that bear density it seems your state’s management plan could use an overhaul.

We can hunt them every year in NC. Unfortunately the season opens after most bears have left my property.


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I agree weekender. The DNR acknowledges that the bear density is increasing, yet they reduced the number of bear tags in our BMU - go figure!

 

[weekender21]

I agree weekender. The DNR acknowledges that the bear density is increasing, yet they reduced the number of bear tags in our BMU - go figure!

Almost certainly politics getting in the way of sound wildlife management.


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[Diesel5610]

I have posted about my bear problems before. We can get tags every year in NY and PA where we have properties and the population continues to grow. The population went from being very low when I was a kid and it was a big deal to see one, to them being everywhere now and we see them all the time. I keep saying I am done planting trees because it is a waste of time and energy when they get destroyed after waiting several years for them to produce, but I just got back from putting 4 Kerr trees in the ground from Cummins, LOL! Hard habit to kick.

 

[Wild Thing]

I have posted about my bear problems before. We can get tags every year in NY and PA where we have properties and the population continues to grow. The population went from being very low when I was a kid and it was a big deal to see one, to them being everywhere now and we see them all the time. I keep saying I am done planting trees because it is a waste of time and energy when they get destroyed after waiting several years for them to produce, but I just got back from putting 4 Kerr trees in the ground from Cummins, LOL! Hard habit to kick.

Sometimes I think...we are just Gluttons for Punishment!!

 

[sandbur]

Sometimes I think...we are just Gluttons for Punishment!!

What rootstock were the Kerr on?


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[sandbur]

I agree weekender. The DNR acknowledges that the bear density is increasing, yet they reduced the number of bear tags in our BMU - go figure!

We are in the quota zone for limited tags. Last year, the DNR made a special area where there were unlimited tags. Quite a few bear were killed.


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[Diesel5610]

Kerr were on MM111 and grade 0 which are their nicest trees so I couldn't pass them up and had to try them. I have a bunch on Dolgo I got from Ryan at Blue Hill last year. I chased Kerr for a couple years and I am anxiously awaiting their first apples, unless the bears decide to play with the tree first,

 

[Chainsaw]

Thanks everyone for the reports about having bear on your properties. Your pictures Wild Thing sure tell the whole story very well, too many bears sure looks ugly. For me after hearing from you on this forum one bear would be too many, Chummer whose property is maybe 10 air miles (complete guess) from me has years where he sees bears some years regularly but has only had one tree damaged by bear as I understand. I have never wanted to have bear on the property and will do everything I can to keep them out if they decide they want to live here.

Is there anyone that hunts in the Fort Drum area of Northern New York on here that could tell me about any bear damage or the lack of bear damage to apple trees in that area? I was in that area a week or so ago and though there are bears in that area, I witnessed no bear damage to the wild apple trees we came across. And the apple trees seen there looked to be about 60 years old.

And Wild Thing your orchard is absolutely beautiful.

 

[sandbur]

Kerr were on MM111 and grade 0 which are their nicest trees so I couldn't pass them up and had to try them. I have a bunch on Dolgo I got from Ryan at Blue Hill last year. I chased Kerr for a couple years and I am anxiously awaiting their first apples, unless the bears decide to play with the tree first,

I wish I had some Kerr on Mm111 for a comparison to B118.


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