Apples/Pears VS Annual plots (except corn/beans)

[williams111]

For those of you that have trees producing a lot of fruit do you think the attraction those trees create in the fall (october/november) is greater then an Annual plot? My annual plots usually consist of a mixture of Rye, Oats, Peas, Clover and Brassicas. I will likely continue leaving some corn in future years, that is why I want to exclude that from this question.

I have lots of trees I need to transplant from my house to the farm. I have limited space for the trees unless I begin planting them in/around my annual plots. I am fine with doing so if the attraction/draw will be as good as an annual plot. I understand this will likely be dependent on the location and surrounding properties. I am in an area that is about 50/50 timber crop ground.

How does tonnage per acre from mature apple/pear trees rank compared to annual plots?

The attraction to my property is not great until late fall, there aren't any other real food plotters in close proximity to me, but there is enough ag around that there is plenty of food for most of the fall. I dont know of many people growing fruit for the deer so I am hoping it help the attraction to my property in early fall when my trees start producing.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

If you want to attract deer, or keep them on your land, you need to offer something better, or different then what they have elsewhere. Fruit trees wont produce anywhere the tonnage that a food plot will, and they are over all, time wise, a short food source, or draw. But, if all your neighbors have corn and beans, and you have apples, when those apples start dropping, I am sure a lot of deer will come to visit those apple trees.

If you have the room, I would take a 20 yard swath of your food plot, in an area that would get mostly full sun, and plop an apple tree about every 15-20 feet. Mix them up to drop at separate times, and you will draw more deer in. But, you will lose tonnage of food. But the advantage of doing a 20 yard swath, plant it with clover between all the trees, that will make up for the loss of tonnage.

 

[b116757]

I’m personally moving away from annual food plots to deer orchards. There will be several transition years.

http://www.afoa.org/PDF/CI1101f.pdf

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I am as well. My larger food plot turned into an apple tree food plot, but is slowly turning into just an orchard. My smaller plots I still plant clover, and winter rye, and maybe I toss in something else.

 

[chummer]

I call my plots orchard plots. Best of both words but for me there is no better draw than the apples. Years I have lots of apples I have lots of deer. They are planted in clover but I overseed with oats and wheat every year.

 

[Native Hunter]

Now that I'm putting in food plots with a lawnmower, my plotting cost is way down. Even though I have lots of fruits and nuts dropping, I plan to continue to plot. Even pure wheat plots (which are really not very expensive) are a great attraction.

 

[PatinPA]

I want as much diversity as I can get in various food types. Different deer prefer different foods. I've been baiting deer in WV for over 20 years and every year I see certain deer eat every apple out of the pile while the next one won't even touch them. I'm typically surrounded by corn, soy beans and hayfields so I want to offer anything different that I can. Hoping to someday just have an all you can eat buffet.

 

[SwampCat]

Fruit tree plots are not a year round benefit to deer, unlike a good food plot program

 

[williams111]

Fruit tree plots are not a year round benefit to deer, unlike a good food plot program

I’ve got limited acreage, even with foodplots I don’t get many deer on my property throughout the summer. There is tons of food in the summer so my main concern is to attract them here during hunting season to potentially harvest them and/or get them through gun season to survive another year.

 

[b116757]

Fruit tree plots are not a year round benefit to deer, unlike a good food plot program

This is true. In my case “a good food plot program” is a great deal of work perhaps not every year but often enough that I’d like to get away from it in the long run. My oak tree plantings should feed deer with minimal to no long term care for many many years. I’m not a food plot hater just looking for a less care intensive approach moving forward.

 

[b116757]

I want as much diversity as I can get in various food types. Different deer prefer different foods. I've been baiting deer in WV for over 20 years and every year I see certain deer eat every apple out of the pile while the next one won't even touch them. I'm typically surrounded by corn, soy beans and hayfields so I want to offer anything different that I can. Hoping to someday just have an all you can eat buffet.

There definitely is something to this. This year my oldest boy set up two cameras almost back to back one looking over a corn pile the other looking out into oak grove. We had one mature Buck that we would only ever see on the oak grove camera he never ate any corn. I wouldn’t have thought that would be the case.

 

[Teeder]

I'm also going with an orchard plot. Apples & pears surrounded by clover.
The need of having clover was demonstrated to me this winter.
I have clover planted between rows of berries in my yard. The deer were hitting in hard over the past month through multiple feet of snow with layers of ice. I helped by shoveling strips to make it easier for them.

 

[Barndog56]

There's no reason you can't incorporate fruit or nut trees into your annual plot. It just calls for the throw and mow method so you aren't damaging tree roots with tillage. My orchard has had oats, crimson clover, buckwheat, sunflowers, brassicas, and winter rye in it over the years. The only tonnage lost is the small diameter right around each tree where the annuals are stunted.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

so you aren't damaging tree roots with tillage.

YES. We learned the hard way that plowing / discing near fruit trees will kill them - chopped-up root systems.

Our camp tries to have some sort of year-round food supplies for the deer and turkeys. Our main orchard gets no tillage anymore (see above reason), and the apple & crab trees that are scattered around the property don't get tillage near them either. Our food plots are the main draw all year long. We have a mix of annual and perennial plots so we can provide good feed post-rut, very early spring, fawning season, summer, and into the fall. When acorns start dropping, heavy food plot use tapers off - but they still get used. Apples are "candy" in the fall - not so much on high protein nutrition. We're still early in our apple & crab production, so each year we get more dropping. Apples are more a one-season draw for us, with a few exceptional late hangers feeding deer into the winter. Our green food plots get hammered all year long, so they're our "meat & potatoes" for attracting, growing and holding deer.

Our over-winter greens are WW, WR, and a mix of brassicas.

 

[yoderjac]

I don't see any difference. Every plant has a period when it is the most attractive to deer. It has to do with the phase of the plant as well as the needs of the deer as well as the the other available foods and most importantly, the security of the food source. I find wildlife trees more of a long term investment. I look for the lowest maintenance trees. Trees use a lot of resources for the fruit they produce, but don't require annual planting. Both benefit deer in different ways at different times.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I like apples, I walk out and grab a few when they are ripe, my wife makes some amazing apple crisp, and other apple treats. So the apple trees make me happy, and the deer. I just don’t like the bear destroying my trees.

 

[SwampCat]

I’ve got limited acreage, even with foodplots I don’t get many deer on my property throughout the summer. There is tons of food in the summer so my main concern is to attract them here during hunting season to potentially harvest them and/or get them through gun season to survive another year.

I agree - it is different everywhere. The stress period for my deer is late July - Sept. We dont have row crop in our area. I consider winter annuals to benefit my hunting and beans and clover for the deer the rest of the year. I am starting to have some apples bear fruit - but not enough yet to get past the coons and possums and squirrels

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I just don’t like the bear destroying my trees.

That is my problem. I am always envious of members who can grow beautiful orchards with no fear of bear damage. I probably live in better than average bear habitat and they just destroy apples. They destroy young apples. They destroy early to mid age apples. And they will even climb and topple mature, but poorly rooted, apples. The time, energy, and expense it would take for me to grow apples and protect them all from bears doesn't make it worth it to me. My food plots are all bordered by old, wild apples that I try to maintain. But for me, plots are the way to go and a guaranteed draw. If I have a good apple year that's just icing on the cake.

 

[H20fwler]

I’m in a very high ag area.
I am all about the fruit trees mostly apple/pear, I want to have fruit dropping from July through winter.
The key to putting out fruit trees is good DR and to get varieties with drop times you want most.
Like many I’ve got mixed clover as the main understory in my orchards…and weeds.

My older trees are just now starting to fruit decent and I have deer in the orchards all the time. I don’t mow and they use them for bedding cover too.

Once trees are 7-8 years old there is not much maintenance to them if you prune good from the start, just a light prune in spring and a little fertilizer.

My food plotting has gotten smaller every year..with that said I still feed and have mineral sites out all year.

 

[yoderjac]

I’ve got limited acreage, even with foodplots I don’t get many deer on my property throughout the summer. There is tons of food in the summer so my main concern is to attract them here during hunting season to potentially harvest them and/or get them through gun season to survive another year.

Keep in mind that with a small property you will never hold deer. The best attractant during hunting season is security. For QDM with significant scale, we worry about stress periods to improve the herd health. That is not an issue for small properties. During hunting season, I don't think anything attracts deer like any quality food in a location with high security and low pressure.