Tazman

I was scouting out a new place and found an old pear tree with a good deal of fruit on it. I am not sure what the proper name of these pears are, but we call them " keeper" pears. Okay now for the questions:

1. Do deer eat pears? I know they love apples & persimmons.

2. Do they wait until the fruit is ripe or will they eat it green? Right now these pears are hard as a rock, far from being ripe.


And just in case TR shows up over hear I will throw in some sarcasm that he enjoys, I asked on TR' s tips and he didn' t have an answer!!!!!

Okay now in TR' s defense, I admire anyone who doesn' t try to blow smoke up my rear end, he answered that he imagined they would like them once they started to sweeten up, but he wasn' t familiar with deer and pears!

See TR I am not all that bad! [>:]

bigbuck24

I hunted a place for many years that had a couple of pear trees and though the same thing,once they rippened up a bit,the deer would come.They did only occasionally,in my opionion it is not one of thire favorites,but keep in mind,this was a farm with crops and the small woodlots had plenty of mast.

Tazman

The area where the pear tree is, is real thick, near where they bed and within 20 foot of a travel corridor leading to a stand of oaks and a stream, there are tons of blackberries they are chowing down on now, but they will be gone before the season comes in. I really think the pear will be ripe before the oaks start dropping thier acorns and there are no crops in the area, just a few small gardens which I am sure they raid on occasion. If they like pears this could be a great morning and afternoon stand, it is near their bedding area and a good distance once the blackberries are gone from most of their other food sources.

8mm/06

Deer in the areas I hunt in Michigan seem to LOVE pears. The owner of the property I bow hunt has for years baited an area with a mish-mash of stuff...apples, corn, sugar-beets, pears, oats...........they seem to really go for the pears if they aren' t too ripe.
My experience with pears that have been hauled in tells me they like ' em plenty.

Stickemup

Funny you should ask. I' ve got a pear tree in the corner of my yard and it is absolutely loaded this year. It' s already busting off limbs and they aren' t anywhere near ripe.

I' ve had deer run from under it several times now coming out of my front door in the early morning. They are eating the pears and the leaves off the lower hanging limbs as well as eating some of the pears on the ground. I can' t say it' s one of their favorite foods, but I do know they will eat them.

Tazman

Stickemup, what kind of pears are they? It seems a bit early for them to be dropping, but then again you are south of me.

Antler Eater

Yep, deer like pears. I don' t know what particular kind is their favorite but there are quite a few guys in Michigan that use them in their mix of bait.

DougMD

Several months ago, I read an article where it listed the things deer prefer, and pears ranked higher than apples on the list. I guess the key would be knowing when they ripen, when they drop, and what stage of ripeness deer prefer. I would imagine you done found yourself and Micah a goldmine! Don' t go there stinking it up before the time is right!

wimp

Yep they like em. THere is a lone pear tree on the one farm I hunt and on good producing years they are always under that tree.

gulfcoasthunter

I have several what we call sand pears trees on my farm and the deer love them.