I have used apples in the past I don't have a lot of experiance as it is illegle here but in certin areas of CT. it is legal. I have found that appels work but only when they are rotting and mushey. To speed up this process I ;put them in the micro wave for a min. this speeds the process. I really belive that it is the smell that attracts them as I can smell the apples whin I'm up in my tree stand at 30 yards away.