bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Apples are more interesting than rye. They take time and should be done sooner than later. However, foodplots are the biggest change you can do to an area.
Trees orders?
- Thread starter bigboreblr
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Derek Reese 29
5 year old buck +
I think plots are better short term..killed my buck this year on a 1/4 acre plot in the middle of a ton of ag…if there’s no ag the draw is only stronger…alsike/med red/mammoth red/ladino clover with some chicory and purple top turnips and maybe some pasja turnips or Winfred brassica then over seeded with rye is hard to beat and will give you good food into the new year…but soft mast is a “good investment in your future.” That’s what I tell my wife anyway when she gets looking at the cost of this stuff….
Stubborn1VT
5 year old buck +
The trees are going in the edges and in a strip in my 1 acre food plot. I do strips of clover and alternate brassicas /radishes with oats/rye on the rest, similar to what you're describing. I have killed 2 nice 8 points out of this plot. I have low deer density, but 3-6 deer have been using sporadically over the past month.
I also have a .10 acre plot in the woods that got a fair amount of action last year. That is clover/chicory. I'm hoping to widen and plant a small stretch on my log road that connects everything. It is a little on the wet side, but I think if I lime it well I can get red and alsike clover to grow there.
Derek Reese 29
5 year old buck +
Awesome! Sounds like you have a great set up and the trees will be but more attraction!
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Keep up the good work sutbborn,
I have about the same size property in my backyard. Medium deer density, herd is still recovering from a EHD outbreak 2021. However, it's very open and my in-laws house next door is like laguardia . Folks in and out of the driveway around dusk time. Oldest kids girflriend shines lights on the deer at night "to calm her dog down". Got about 100 spruces and pine growing up, maybe 3-5 years old.
Get does in there at dusk before a storm, and usually can squeek a 6 pointer around december muzzleloading season.
I have about the same size property in my backyard. Medium deer density, herd is still recovering from a EHD outbreak 2021. However, it's very open and my in-laws house next door is like laguardia . Folks in and out of the driveway around dusk time. Oldest kids girflriend shines lights on the deer at night "to calm her dog down". Got about 100 spruces and pine growing up, maybe 3-5 years old.
Get does in there at dusk before a storm, and usually can squeek a 6 pointer around december muzzleloading season.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Alot of sites still have a very good selection still. Might be some sales coming soon.
TWalter91
5 year old buck +
I ordered Candy crab,Winter crabarina,Big dog,sweet dog,chestnut crab,rustys favorite,sweet November, #5 crab, Kieffer pear,Sweet advent,Jackpot,Korean giant,Ayers, and Marble hill pear. All from bluehill. I have had very good luck with his trees. Man do these orders add up quick! I originally only order 6-7 but have added on a few times. Lol This is my first year in a while not ordering any from Whitetail Crabs.Will probably be sticking with bluehill from here on out.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
I am skeptical of saint lawrence nurseries claims. Adinrondacks can be a funny animal. Not so much latitude daylight hours etc, its more where the wind is coming from, canada an over the lake making snow too. They are good to say how cold a tree can handle, however some of their offerings I don't think consistently do well in their area. Look up RE gould and sandbur, they both have alot of posts and both are zone 3. RE gould and I also chainsaw are in the western adirondacks / tug hill area. They got like 6 feet of snow right now. RE Gould would talk about iffy zone trees making 2 to 4 years, then a arctic cold snap would winter kill it. Some winters I am in a sweatshirt on bare ground working weekends up there. Then a year or two you can barely walk around in snowshoes.
I prefer to get several folks and places opinion on tree varieties zones. Some varieties are pretty new to their catalog. They also have time proven varieties that the previous owners have done well with for years. Go to cummins nursery, they have hundreds of varieties, they click zone 3 they go down to a dozen.
My camp is about 45 miles south of their nursery. I plant proven zone 3 trees. Kerr is a great choice. From SLN Violi's, winter wildlife, and AWHO are good choices too. Turning point from bluehill, 30-06 from whitetail crabs survived -38 deg night up there, dolgo, trailmain, and macoun are up there too. These are young trees, but doing ok. Most are on anty, dolgo are seedlings, and trying B118 in the sandy soil up there. Likely B118 will do ok.
Wolf river is zone 3 firendly and easy to find. Many sites claim honeycrisp to be zone 3, only a handful say zone 4. However, some mom n pops only talk about known experiences of the trees by themselves and better known customers.
I would try enterprise before liberty. Enterprise is bloom group 3, iberty is bloom gorup 2. I have 2 of both at home and no plans to plant at camp. I try to stay disease free and bloom group 3 and 4.
MN 1734 is a good one from SLN, novaezgro, and adrindoack crab are good ones too. Got Violi's, AWHO, winterwildlife, sweet 16, and adirondack crab on order. Likely all are for camp. I keep a tree of each variety at home that are at camp. However, I put them on m111. Debating adding a MN 1734
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TWalter91
5 year old buck +
Kerr Crabapple
One of the best crabapple trees for deer. Kerr crabapple is a heavy producing tree dropping apples from October through into winter.
bluehillwildlifenursery.com
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
You've got the disease, too, TWalter!! This time of year we all get itchy to plant things ..... so the orders go in. I have a couple coming from Blue Hill too. Nice selection of trees you have coming.
TonySoprano
5 year old buck +
I have High hopes for these Whitetail Crab "Death Wish trees". I have 3 coming along with a 30 06 , Golden Hornet , Redfield and a Feather up.
We are excited to start releasing the Death Wish Crabapple from our breeding program. Death Wish was chosen from cross-breeding crabs we identified as being over 100-years old with extraordinary height and large diameters (27"-30+"), and were located near the northern most parts of the country, closer to the Canadian border. Death was chosen out of these trials to be our first Wildlife Century Tree. This tree has shown extremely dense cropping, self pollination, cold hardiness and is very disease resistant, including high resistance to Fireblight. Its crabs average 1"-1.15" in diameter and slowly start to drop in late October. The main dropping period begins in November through December. Death Wish has shown some semi-weeping characteristics, which seem to allow for the weight associated with dense cropping, eliminating limb break potential. Budded 1-year trees push a thin, tall solid whip in the nursery.
Currently we're releasing a limited number on larger 111 rootstock. We've also began budding trees for Spring 2026 on to full size rootstock, which will allow for the maximum large potential of this extraordinary tree. Trees will start to bear a few years later (4-5 years) due to pushing its energy into growing a larger tree. The spacing recommended on full size rootstock is 24'-28', and the spacing on 111 rootstock should be a minimum of 20'.
A second Wildlife Century Tree having similar characteristics with a full drop period in October will be released within the next year or two.
Wildlife Species: Whitetail, Turkey, Grouse and other Birds.
Planting zones 4-8 (with trials in zone 3).
*First photo taken November 17th.
We are excited to start releasing the Death Wish Crabapple from our breeding program. Death Wish was chosen from cross-breeding crabs we identified as being over 100-years old with extraordinary height and large diameters (27"-30+"), and were located near the northern most parts of the country, closer to the Canadian border. Death was chosen out of these trials to be our first Wildlife Century Tree. This tree has shown extremely dense cropping, self pollination, cold hardiness and is very disease resistant, including high resistance to Fireblight. Its crabs average 1"-1.15" in diameter and slowly start to drop in late October. The main dropping period begins in November through December. Death Wish has shown some semi-weeping characteristics, which seem to allow for the weight associated with dense cropping, eliminating limb break potential. Budded 1-year trees push a thin, tall solid whip in the nursery.
Currently we're releasing a limited number on larger 111 rootstock. We've also began budding trees for Spring 2026 on to full size rootstock, which will allow for the maximum large potential of this extraordinary tree. Trees will start to bear a few years later (4-5 years) due to pushing its energy into growing a larger tree. The spacing recommended on full size rootstock is 24'-28', and the spacing on 111 rootstock should be a minimum of 20'.
A second Wildlife Century Tree having similar characteristics with a full drop period in October will be released within the next year or two.
Wildlife Species: Whitetail, Turkey, Grouse and other Birds.
Planting zones 4-8 (with trials in zone 3).
*First photo taken November 17th.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Saint Lawrence nursery has some.
Thanks, I didn't see them under the "applecrab" category.Kerr Crabapple
One of the best crabapple trees for deer. Kerr crabapple is a heavy producing tree dropping apples from October through into winter.
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
Sorry Bows I just saw this post.
Mine are maybe five or six years in the ground this spring?
I have four, yes slow growers, just a few random apples so far and they have been small.
I’m going to fertilize all the wildlife stuff pretty hard early spring, I haven’t paid attention to the wildlife trees as much as I should have with everything going on the past few years.
I’ve been lucky to just prune and fertilize once in spring….need to up my game.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I ordered some Asian pears.
Sorry Turkey! I always order from you when I can, you just didn't have what I wanted this time around.
Sorry Turkey! I always order from you when I can, you just didn't have what I wanted this time around.
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