RE: Apples and Pears
Where I live in Pennsylvania, there are all different types of pears and all different types of apples.
There are some apples - like the yellow apples that seem's to ripen first and then there is red apples that ripens after that and then there is apples that has a hard skin and doesn't ripen until after a couple of frosts hits them.
Most of the winter apples are sour in the beginning and then gets more ripe as they get frost bit a couple of times.
I would look for one of the winter types, but at the same time, I would check my soil and treat it before I planted anything to make sure that the ph and everything was right for that tree.
I would put some chicken wire around it the first couple of years, until it gets strong enough to grow on it's own.
The bucks seem's to have a problem with young trees and will scrape on them and kill them before they get big enough to stand on their own.
Once the trees takes off, I wouldn't look for a good crop of apples for about 10 years.
But once the tree gets big enough, it will be your responsibility to take care of those trees - because if you keep them prooned properly - they will have a good harvest most years.
Apples seem's to grow in cycles around here and not all trees has a good crop of apples every year.
I'm sure that the weather has something to do with that.
But in my opinion - nothing beats a couple of dozen apple trees on your place to improve the hunting.
The last place I lived, I had a good sour apple tree in the backyard that produced as many as 30 bushels of apples per a year.
I took many loads of apples to our camp and the deer never missed a one.
They would eat 6 bushel a day - if they know that they are there and they will not leave the area as long as there was apples on the ground.
My dad often fed them apples - out of the back of the truck. Had a couple of does that he threw the apples to and they would eat them in front of you and was not scared of people.
The one good thing about apples. compared to any other crop was that no matter what you did, once they started to produce - they will produce a crop of apples - even if you are not there to take care of the trees. Like in the case of many old homesteads.
One other benefit is that it also attracts other animals and even bears.
Definately a smart move on your part to plant some trees.