BIG TUNA

I am planting fruit trees, some for me, most for deer. For the deer, should I plant all Apple trees or half Apple trees and half Pear trees? For me, a little variety would be nice, but deer attractant is the deciding factor. How do deer respond to Pears compared to Apples?

GTOHunter

I like the idea of You planting 1/2 & 1/2...I've heard that Deer really go crazy for Pears...sure the apples are a no brainer and they do love eating them but I have heard others say that Deer are crazy over Pears!...another thing to consider is which Apples to plant...I have a Early Green Apple tree and the Deer seem to like them the most,then secondly is the Red Apples,so if You think outside the box and plant a different variety of Apple Tree's that produce at an early stage,middle and late stage You'll have an abundace of Apples for a longer time frame....I need to take my own advice and plant some too!


I can also tell You that You need to place wire cages around the Tree's to protect them from the Deer Your trying to draw in so they (the Bucks) don't rub their antlers on the tree's and damage them....and the Dwarf Apple Tree's are easier to prune and get apples off from,the semi-dwarfs are a good choice also.

BIG TUNA

I've learned some of the basic tricks the hard way, my first apple trees which were 7ft tall, were suddenly nibbled to a 7ft stick one day in the spring. So do you think Pears are comparable to Apple for fall bait?

jrbsr

Add peaches, deer love them to.
My inlaws have peach trees, and just when they get ripe, the deer gobble them all up.
Thats what they say.

Major Woods

I have both apple and pears in the back yard. The deer eat them both and don't seem to favor one over the other.

VAhuntr

I have 2 pear trees in my back yard and the deer love them. Last summer I counted 13 deer one night eating under the 2 trees.

SecondChance

When I bought my old house in the country, I decided to plant a row of fuit trees on the North side for so I could watch them and eat as well. I planted 27 trees, 9 pear, 9 apple and 9 peach. They loved them all and the bucks rubbed the HECK out of all of them!!!!!! I wound up losing 6 because of it. I had to make heavy wire panels with "T" post supports so they could make it to maturity. The deer could stand on their hind legs and reach the fruit still on the branches. Was a blast to watch and the night light shone on it so we could watch them at night as well. Better than a feeder!!!!!!! Plant them all, they will come!!!!

eyeball2

you may want t consider persimmon

WHITETAIL GENERAL

1/2 and 1/2

Mojotex

We once had a small grove of "canning pears" on the land that I hunt. The deer murdered the pears that dropped and would stand on their hind legs to reach any ripe ones that they could reach. So you should not go wrong with a few pear trees. I would suggest that you use "grow tubes" on the apple and pear tree saplings to protect them from browsing deer. Otherwise the fruit trees may not make it a month !!!