How many fruit trees to plant?

I would suggest that you graft over 4-5 different pear varieties on your root stock. Choose varieties that drop from August through December so you have fruit dropping over several months and not just a few weeks.
 
Turnip leaves are rather stringent. After a hard frost the leaves turn sweeter, more palatable. Which is good, the deer usually let hem grow and target other food sources until the first frosts.
Deer don't need turnip leaves or bulbs to experience a frost to turn them "sweeter". That's just marketing
 
If you look at the bar charts the turnip roots lost a lot of starch after the frost.

what happened to it?

the ADF also got Lower after frost.

what temperature is freezing in Tennessee any who?

in Minnesota and Idaho the turnips I have planted get their visitation mostly after we be ice fishing.
 
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If you look at the bar charts the turnip roots lost a lot of starch after the frost.

what happened to it?

what temperature is freezing in Tennessee any who?
"ADF: All of the brassica leaves provided highly digestible forage – less than 19% ADF – that was above 32% crude protein before and after frost, which is very high. It is not uncommon in some areas to observe deer eating brassica leaves early in deer season. Deer seek foods higher in digestible carbohydrates and fats as sources of energy when the weather gets cold. Deer may select the energy-rich taproots later in the season, but our results show these forages are equally high in sugar before and after frost. In other words: No, brassicas do not get sweeter after frost."
 
That is an issue we all face, "how much is enough and how much if there is such a thing is too much???" Grafting gets to be addicting so watch out.

There is no great answer. You can look at them as draws to a kill point or as just food sources ... we kind of try to blend the two with drop dates so as the areas your hunting will be dropping at the time of the hunt to draw them in and still have other trees that drop earlier (reason to be there) and later ones as late season hunting aid and over winter food sources.

With a 7 acre chunk of ground you are pulling deer to that 7 acre spot, your pretty dependent on your neighboring properties for bedding cover and, you, I'm guessing are inserting into the property to hunt it ... so the draw is key. You need deer candy - something that's better than the surrounding land and the security to eat that candy not feeling threatened.

I would take one great apple tree over a ten acre plot of turnips any day... especially if I wanted to kill a nice buck.

Apple trees and water sources then back to the simple clover, soybeans and corn... toss in WR and maybe a handful of seeds like turnips to finish off a fading fall plot of beans or corn. Feather out any openings with wildlife shrubs and clip your paths to keep weed browse green. Most of what we attempt is way over rated and a waste of money - its a fun wasteful hobby for us hence these forums. The real truth is Deer feast on weeds twigs and buds and survive just fine.

IMO and many others Turnips are one of the most overrated plots you can have... they are more of a pain in the butt in their pure mono culture form, far better for turning ankles then feeding deer - their beauty is I can take my 3 year old out and have him toss out seeds and then run them over with the four wheeler and they will grow and grow real big - a novelty the first year or so - makes for great pictures . They look great till you realize that once the frost sets them, they wither down to nothing, sure it looks like they got browsed down but most of the time they just wilted into nothing. The deer may eventually figure out how to nibble on them and in time through the winter nights they paw them up. But for putting a deer in bow range and bring bucks into your property you cant beat fruit trees, they are social magnets/deer gathering spots even if just in passing... and bucks love apples.
Im not saying turnips are worthless - just blend them you have 7 acres, in a wooded landscape find a happy balance ... Give them variety and food year round - It sounds like your getting close to capacity with your fruit trees especially the pears - but remember its really easy to make your orchard areas food plots too, shallow tillage and seeding of simple mixes around the trees (shallow!) Ultimately plant what you love doing, if thats grafting pears then load the place up.

Smaller parcels can be trickier but they can be magic too -
 
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Awesome

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Good post, cavey.

Plant a variety of stuff that produces over a long period of time.
Look what's around you and plant something different.
What types of oaks do you have now?
 
Brassicas is the last thing I would plant,Pears and other fruit trees are great and yes addictive but the food is there for max around 60 days.First choice for food if you have plot space would be soybeans or corn with some clover,rye or winter wheat.I have had deer eat daikon radishes.
 
For a short season, yes, fruit can be a good draw (I've done it myself) but for overall production, you can't beat browseable food. A 1/2 acre of turnips can produce 10 tons of food and provide it from October through the winter months.
I agree with you - not so much about turnips - but about food plots in general. To me, fruit is maybe a four month draw - at best, if the coons and possums dont eat it all. On my ground a food plot provides nutrition year round. And I can vary the species of the food plot to the benefit of the intended species or myself. In general I like cereal grain and clover. Cheap, easy, quick. Cereal grain in the fall and winter for my hunting and high protein clover in spring and summer for a high protein food source when does are carrying and nursing fawns and bucks are growing antler. Turkeys use the plots year round and doves in the mature wheat. Plant a variety of grain crops for deer, ducks, doves, and quail. Not sure what fruit provides those benefits
 
I live in an area that is almost all woods with basically no ag. There are a couple hay fields around but very few and not much acreage. The woods are mostly oaks.

We have 7 acres and there were 5 wild crabapple trees here when we moved in so I planted about 20 more apple trees, 1 grafted persimmon, a handful of chestnut trees, 6 pear trees, and 6 pawpaw. I have 20 pear root stocks ordered to graft and plant as well.

I have been cutting down trees that have no wildlife value and replacing but since my plantings are for attraction during hunting season, can I get to a point that I'm going overboard? Our deer density is supposed to be around 16 dpsm in my unit. We are higher here around my house.
My rule of thumb is "plamnt twice as many fruit trees as you think you need". Nature tends to thin them out.
 
My rule of thumb is "plamnt twice as many fruit trees as you think you need". Nature tends to thin them out.
After spring '23 I'll have over 100 fruit trees in the ground. I'm also planting more turnips every year. The deer here like them plenty. Got the kids pumpkin seeds from Canada for Christmas. Going to be a new plot next yr.
 
Why have you only one persimmon?
 
After spring '23 I'll have over 100 fruit trees in the ground. I'm also planting more turnips every year. The deer here like them plenty. Got the kids pumpkin seeds from Canada for Christmas. Going to be a new plot next yr.
I have about 100 trees too. My brother asks me when is enough... I say about 70....... years old.
 
Why have you only one persimmon?
It's a prok. I bought it off an arborist south of me who said I was at the edge of their range. He said try one to see if it lives then buy more if it does. It's been 5 years and the tree has grown well so I might get more.

The oaks are all white oak on my property. I throw down clover wherever I can and will be trying pumpkins this year as well. I don't think 7 acres is going to feed deer year around, I'm mostly interested in being a destination from October through December. There is plenty of bedding on other properties.
 
How about Dunstan Chestnuts? I know they will start pruducing within 3 years.
 
I planted 1 dunstan last year and have 9 more that are potted and sunk into my garden to be planted this year.
 
The property started with about 3000 wild apple trees summer early summer late but most most fall down by mid late November there are some that go through all winter our goal is to have more and more and more and more winter ones two years ago we added around 150 late Apple trees last year and another lady apple trees last year here before we are daily preparing getting ready for our final planting and have around 1000 trees prepared for late for a final planting, this spring has whatever liabilities can get it done.
 
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