• If you are posting pictures, and they aren't posting in the correct orientation, please flush your browser cache and try again.

    Edge
    Safari/iOS
    Chrome

Short drop window fruit varieties

gunfun13

5 year old buck +
As my fruit tree journey is nearing a decade and starting to have dozens and dozens of trees producing abundant crops, I've noticed that most of them trickle down fruit over at least a couple month period (I'm crabapple heavy). While this trait may be good for feeding deer over a long period, I'm thinking some trees that drop all their fruit over a short period might make for some better stand sites. Any recommendations for varieties that dump all their fruit in a short window? And when is that window for you in your region?
 
You have any liberty trees? A big factor of apples dropping is ripeness. An apple that doesn't store well will drop quicker.

I planted macoun for my wife, but they seem to be here n gone around early bow season.

Got a particular time window your looking for?


I typed in apples that drop before ripe and these came up.

  • arly/Summer Apples: McIntosh, Gravenstein, Lodi, Jerseymac, Zestar, Early Golden, Pristine.
  • Mid-to-Late Season: Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Spartan, Stayman, Macoun.
  • Other: Arlet (Swiss Gourmet), Autumn Gold, Hampshire, Princess.
Also, there are sub varieties of each type called sports. McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Macoun have a lot of little differences from one region or farm to another. waffler nurseries has a few different sports of common apples. Might be one that tweaked in your favor.

Read into sandbur's journey he has a tree or two that drops fruit quick.

Kinda torn about those all winter zombie varieties like kerr. Some year deer leave camp and winter by a lake for warmth and heavy conifer cover. Milder winters they stick around. snowshoe hares and grouse won't mind some extra fruit those years. No clue what the moose do still too few to gauge what they do up there.
 
Last edited:
You have any liberty trees? A big factor of apples dropping is ripeness. An apple that doesn't store well will drop quicker.

I planted macoun for my wife, but they seem to be here n gone around early bow season.

Got a particular time window your looking for?


I typed in apples that drop before ripe and these came up.

  • arly/Summer Apples: McIntosh, Gravenstein, Lodi, Jerseymac, Zestar, Early Golden, Pristine.
  • Mid-to-Late Season: Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Spartan, Stayman, Macoun.
  • Other: Arlet (Swiss Gourmet), Autumn Gold, Hampshire, Princess.
Also, there are sub varieties of each type called sports. McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Macoun have a lot of little differences from one region or farm to another. waffler nurseries has a few different sports of common apples. Might be one that tweaked in your favor.

Read into sandbur's journey he has a tree or two that drops fruit quick.

Kinda torn about those all winter zombie varieties like kerr. Some year deer leave camp and winter by a lake for warmth and heavy conifer cover. Milder winters they stick around. snowshoe hares and grouse won't mind some extra fruit those years. No clue what the moose do still too few to gauge what they do up there.


I have around 10 Liberty trees, 3 of which are mature and producing well. They fall into the extended drop category for me, late September through late November with a handful of mummies still hanging.

Mostly concerned with late September through early December. I have a lot of trees trickling down that time of year, but I never see more than a couple fruits on the ground which are consumed by the first button buck to leave their bed that afternoon. Just looking for something that might put loads down and overwhelm with volume for a short time.
 
Looking at bluehill's site, chestnut for September and October crab for October. Going into November, you're in rifle range, at least in NY.


I got a mid October to mid November good dropping apple I call west Durham. It is biennial. I am waiting a year or two before offering scion to folks because I want to see what it does on a newer tree vs a older maturing one. Seedling of golden delicious possibly, they're some nearby. This is a roadside apple. MAke smaller and later dropping apples than its neighboring trees. Oddly enough the tree next to it produces on years that one doesn't .

You can contact Terry from whitetail crabs to see if crossbow is one on the list, 10 point might be too.

Sandbur has extensive experience with chestnut. Also, CrazyEd might have some insight. He has close to 100 varieties.
 
Small sample size but I've got an Arkansas Black planted in 2018, the past two years she dropped her entire load the first couple days of November.
 
Small sample size but I've got an Arkansas Black planted in 2018, the past two years she dropped her entire load the first couple days of November.
That could be site dependent or possibly just the age of the tree. My Arkansas black hold for multiple weeks, even after several killing frosts. No mummy fruit on it, but definitely not a 2 day dropper here.
 
I was going to ask you to explain Prime Time crabapple. Seems other folks have prime time as a tree name, but the fruit is colored differently.

Might e no magic tree you speak of. But...... If you're target buck goes between 2 trees close to that,,,,, Call it a day after you pull the release.
 
One of these might be the solution to the original question.

On the serious side, my Sweet 16s seem to drop their apples pretty quickly once they start dropping. When exactly that happens depends on which tree and which year, but generally around the middle to end of October.
 
Last edited:
Great video Poorsand. Thank for posting it. I wonder what machine they use to pick the apples up from the ground.
 
I agree with the preimise of the video, if you plant trees that drop short window then for some reason you miss this window and don't hunt then drop doesn't help. On the other hand by shaking the tree you can put crop on ground and where you want the drop and when you want the drop. After shaking and picking then dropping on Wednesday last fall I had pics of 6 different daylight bucks the following four days. Unfortunately when I sat in blind on Saturday I did not have a shooter but that was on my timing.
 
Many including me plant n plant n plant without thiking of a bigger picture. Plant them in sections maybe. Clump of early, clump of mid, clump of late.

I got a sweet 16 last year. See how it does. mother in law absolutely loves that apple. Pretty much only reason I bought it.

Fruits that have longer stems drop faster. When trying to find a new one, I would think shorter shelf life would have a quicker drop time. Look up drop before ripe too. Cummins nursery is not my first pick, but they have tons of varieties and great descriptions if you want to research there.
 
Back
Top