Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
This is what my Golden Hornets do. Turn into mummies and never fall. Another example of what works in the north may not work in the south or vice versa...... I guess I will be topworking these next spring.
No more Golden Hornets for me
- Thread starter Native Hunter
- Start date
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Kansas. Mine looks the same...
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
I can't find a November apple that works better for me than Yates. Next spring, all my losers will get topworked to Yates.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
rocksnstumps
5 year old buck +
For our southern friends, following link may be of interest on apples and crabs that do well down there with notes on disease resistance. Pages are available for information but owner has retired with the former orchard located in Georgia.
https://www.johnsonnursery.com/FruitPages/APPLES.htm
Based on above, mammoth black twig sounds interesting for a late oct-nov apple
https://www.johnsonnursery.com/FruitPages/APPLES.htm
Based on above, mammoth black twig sounds interesting for a late oct-nov apple
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Thanks and it does sound good. Last year I planted Kenner Seedling and Matamuskeet which also have good reps for DR and being late. Hopefully those will do well.
Goldrush is a disaster for me. CAR destroys the leaves every year. I have a tree that’s several years old and have never seen the first apple.
I have lots of apples that do well here but that magic November time frame is elusive.
Headdigger
A good 3 year old buck
I still have a few Yates apples hanging on my trees in the piedmont of S. C. My Golden Hornet looks just like y'all's.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
My Yates started slowly dropping in mid October, dropped just a few each day all though November and went into December. I actually ate one of the last apples off of it just last week, and it was delicious. No need to fertilize the tree, because it has had solid deer poop under it for about 2 months.
Some other trees that see useless to me are the Dolgos from Wildlife Group (if they are actually Dolgos) and the Eliza's Choice. I had high hopes for both, but the apples just keep hanging and hanging and rot on the tree. This was yesterday. Back in October they looked incredible, but if they just rot, I see little value for me.
chummer
5 year old buck +
Put a camera on that tree. It would be a great experiment if deer still come to the smell of the tree to see if any have dropped. My guess is they won’t know none dropped until they get to the tree. Question is how many times do they check the tree before they give up. Maybe in the south there is enough other food they give up but in the north I would have to think the smell would keep them coming back to check the ground.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
It was suggested to me that my Dolgo from Wildlife was actually Calloway (maybe it was you, I don't remember for sure). I have the same experience. They looked great, then turned to mush on the tree. My best hope is that they freeze and fall... and that deer like frozen fermented mush apples.
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Yes, I recall that discussion a while back, and I remember Calloway being mentioned. All I know is that I ordered three Dolgos and all of them are the same.
Eliza's Choice is a disappointment, because here is part of what the advertisement says, " ...The pictures show Eliza standing by her Choice Crabapple tree loaded with fruit in mid-October. However, the fruits continue to ripen and fall well into November, which makes Eliza's Choice Crabapple a must have for hunting enthusiasts...." That leads me to believe that I would have a lot of fruit falling in October and November. In fact, it would make me think they would be nearly gone by the end of November. However, I can't tell that any have fallen.
That cultivar was supposedly discovered about a 2 hour drive from me. You would think that my experience would not be much different since I'm not that far north of the location.
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
The tree is near a bedding area and on a well used trail, so I think you are correct that they probably check it out. I have persimmons still slowly dropping, and I can see the sign pretty clearly under those trees.
I'm okay with having a few trees with rotting fruit in December, but what I'm looking for the most is trees with a lot of fruit falling in November when I do most of my hunting. I would also like my prime time trees to be in my best locations.
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Apple Junkie
5 year old buck +
Thanks for the sharing your experiences guys. I'll cross the Golden Hornet my wish list, make room for something that works better .
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
There are a couple OLD apple trees of unknown variety near my camp (about 12 minutes away) that have apples hanging into March. They look to be in the same kind of condition as Native Hunter's pix in post #8, but they keep dropping all winter long and the deer clean up all of them. Deer tracks and droppings tell the story. I don't think being shriveled and somewhat dried out make much difference to the deer - as long as they keep dropping to be available for them. If you guys have ag around or other food sources, maybe shriveled apples aren't as attractive there. The location of the OLD apple trees I mentioned has no ag or other good food sources near there, so maybe hungry deer can't be choosy??
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Bows, I think deer can indeed by choosy, and I agree that the Dolgo's and Eliza's in Post 8 look much better than the Golden Hornets. However, I think that the wording in the Eliza's advertisement would make anyone believe that most of the apples would be on the ground by sometime in November. Also, when you look at the WG add for Dolgo it says, "...fall to December...."
As I said in Post 12, I'm okay with having a few trees with rotting fruit in December (or even March for that matter), but what I'm looking for the most is trees with a lot of fruit falling in November when I do most of my hunting. I would also like my prime time trees to be in my best locations. I counted on these trees being as advertised and put them in prime locations...……..just saying...…………..
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
It's definitely a good one. My experience with it is through a friend, but I have three young ones planted. Hoping for fruit on the oldest one next year.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Im sure I've mentioned it before, but I can't recommend Turkey Creek enough for trees. Of all the nurseries I've ordered from, I'm the most confident in what he sends me for being what it's supposed to be and in great shape.
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DrDirtNap
5 year old buck +
...here’s some more information along that same vein of frustration...a few of my Northern Whitetail Crabapple trees fruited this year. Very little of the fruit has fallen. It’s still hanging in the tree. I’m hoping that this is related to maturity and as the tree gets bigger the the fruit will fall more. It could also be related to hot dry spell we had at the end of the summer.
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Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
I saw the same thing on some of mine, but like you, I decided it was too early to pass judgment. Let's keep in touch on this over the next couple of years.
On a brighter note, some of my new pears showed great promise and went into November just fine.
