Bowtech,

It's illegal to bait and feed deer in NY. If you want to be safe, just give the tree a kick or two and walk away. Don't pile the apples or anything like that. Just "help" them off the tree.

They won't become dependant on you if you do this, nor will you change their travel routes. They already know the apple tree is there.

The only way you can use mineral licks in NY is if you have livestock on the property. You want to be realy careful about this. They can shut down a large area to hunting ifthey find salt in the ground.

Theysay CWD is spread through the exchange of saliva, and mineral licks and feeding often attract several deer at the same time. That's a lot of spit swapping....