Apples - How Much Do WNY Deer Like Them?

[idn713]

So I have always hunted the Brockportish area of Monroe County, and I have always hunted properties with multiple wild apple trees. 
 

After having sat and observed these spots for years I have come to wonder if they are really a big draw at all for our deer. It always seems like there are tons of untouched fallen apples and the pics of deer feeding on apples are few and far between. 
 

I’ve come to think it’s one of those “land of plenty” scenarios. We are surrounded by tons of agriculture in our area, so maybe the deer don’t really need or care for wild apples? Especially when there are thousands of acres of soy, corn and commercial apples everywhere? 

Seems like they are all about the unique experiences. If there is tons of one thing near you, they would rather have the fun new thing (clover, alfalfa, brassicas).
 

What’s your experience?

[tuffishooker]

It is the low sugar content of the wild apples that does not attract as many deer . Check if any other creatures are eating them, eg possum , coons etc ? We use falls from domestic apples , pears work better but corn cobs have been the best .

We will mix a " cow lick " salt block with crushed [ stomped ] apples with good effect : another cover scent is to stomp apples on your boots and if possible keep apples in your pockets during the hunt .

[ontherise]

Yeah, I bait all my deer with honey crisp apples.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[idn713]

I would eat that bait. 

 

To be clear these are stand of wild apples I am referring to. Not bait piles or any other unethical practice.

[Legacy]

Apples are gold unless you are in the middle of orchards. Pears can be even better.

[Gill-T]

If a deer sat at the base of a tree and ate every last apple, they would explode with gas!  Apples are a “desert”. Deer need a good mix of greens,browse, protein from nuts and lastly fruit. They will eat two or three apples and keep moving. Great kill spots as they make noise crunching them that blocks the sound of you drawing your bow. 

[Bosun Cowboy]

Deer love apples !!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[Sk8man]

They  even munch on the crabapples right off the trees out back

[tuffishooker]

10 hours ago, Gill-T said:

If a deer sat at the base of a tree and ate every last apple, they would explode with gas!  Apples are a “desert”. Deer need a good mix of greens,browse, protein from nuts and lastly fruit. They will eat two or three apples and keep moving. Great kill spots as they make noise crunching them that blocks the sound of you drawing your bow. 

 

This is were the corn comes in with a mixed diet !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gator]

In areas with lots of apples, the best ones win. The rest rot on the ground. We have 39 trees on our property, about half of which will produce in any given year. Some are spitters and some are gold. You can tell which are which by watching the deer. 

[Outdoor Lover]

Natures candy!!

[Pete Collin]

I live near the southern end of Letchworth Park.  By the Portageville entrance, there are a few big apple trees.  When they bear fruit, you will see deer day and night under them in full view of the road.  It's comical watching them take a whole apple in their mouth, and make gagging motions as they pulp them with their back teeth.

[Bigfoot]

In my teen years I hunted a neighboring property quite a lot. The 50 acre chunk had once been mostly pasture but it had been converted into commercial Christmas tree production. So, the area was mostly pines/furs with hardwood hedgerows marking the edges of the former pastures. There were just 3 apple trees that I can recall and they were vastly different.

 

Tree number one was a large mature tree mostly surrounded by pines. It produced yellow apples in enormous quantities and I don't think anything ate them. There would still be hundreds on the ground, even in mid- April.

 

Tree number two was about 20 yards down the hill from tree one. It produced apples that were red and yellow. The critters cleaned up the apples daily and you could pretty much count on them being all gone before gun season.

 

The third tree was in a small hardwood patch. It was being out competed for sunlight by the surrounding hardwoods. Instead of having the classic shape of an apple tree, it was a beanpole. It produced very few apples. Once while bowhunting (in a tree stand) I saw a button buck come and search the area. Not finding any, he worked his way into a dense thicket. About 5 minutes later an apple fell to the forest floor. Much to my surprise the little buck retuned on the dead run to claim that apple. It was all I could do to not laugh out loud.