Planting apple trees and deer?

[faustus]

 

I was wondering if anybody has tried to plant apple trees on their favorite hunting property or hunting spot?

I planted two little ones 2 years ago and the deer nibbled at them so much that they are pretty much dead now. ;-(

I planted a couple more this year with fences around them (see picture). But the fencing is just too much work ....

I was wondering if anybody has any experience?
How can you keep the deer away till the trees are large enough without fencing?

Any suggestions? Any experience to share?

[jhg]

The only way we did it and had success was protecting them until they had enough height to survive.
Just use some t-stakes and circle with hog wire or similar. Its worth the trouble. Having some fruit trees on your property is great.
We also had luck planting seedlings among other growth on the field edges so they added height fast but we still had to keep the deer off them.

Joshua

[Hopewell Tom]

"Tree Fences" are what I use. I started with old page wire fence (sheep fence), but ended up buying a new roll. 47" tall. I make them into a circle(cylinder shape, actually)that's about 36" diameter. Tree in the center and two 6' fence posts opposite each other with fencing staples to hold fence in place. Still too much work (less than what you did, but...).  A good long term solution. I haven't figured out any other way. Rabbits are also a big problem here,too. Put the smaller holes of the mesh at the bottom.

[meathead]

Yep you are gonna have to fence them.  I use 2 x 4" rabbit fence on our fruit trees.

[overbo]

Use the plastic tubes to start off your trees.They make a mini greenhouse around them and your first couple years growth willbe twice or more the amount than w/out them.They also keep the bucks from rubbing their antlers on your trees as well.

[Tater John]

48" tree tubes is what I used for the first time spring of this year and am having good results. Persimmon and White Oak started from seed.

Rusty

[maxwell]

Shoot the deer!!!!!  Plant clover.  I started with 28 apple trees and have six left.

[owlbait]

I have 3 on their 2nd year. Doing good. I have a rodent wrap at bottom. A small cylinder of tight weave around the trunk. Then about a 3 ft diameter fence so the deer can't reach it from the side. Bit of work but will soon be worth it.

[Tater John]

I planted two apple trees in the backyard this year too and wrapped them with wielded wire, 48" high X 36" diameter staked with 1/2" rebar. Tree tubes are 3" dia.X 48" and don't yield to having an apple tree crammed in it.

Rusty

[DEATHMASTER]

Tree tubes from yhe DNR and chicken wire out in a 3ft circle with 2 fence posts.

Keep the weeds down around them with roundup.

The work might seem like alot but give it 5 yrs and you will have a deer magnet.

The good stuff in life usually is not easy.

[sagebrush]

I use sheep fence on mine. I just cut a piece 15 to 20 feet long and make a circle with the small squares at the bottom. I don't use any posts. When they are smaller you can use a smaller circle but I keep at least two feet between the fence and the tree. It works pretty good. The problem is when you have a herd of elk in there and they get scared. They run through everything including the tree fences. Then the tree fence can pull down the tree. Gary

[Earl Jeff]

You can spray them once a month with plot saver ribbon spray.

[Downtime]

Planted two honeycrisp on each side of one of my small food plots (L shaped ~1,500 sq ft).  Put a plastic sleve around the trunk and used t-post with 6' fencing.  Works great.  4th & 5th year what the deer & rabbits could not do, the bears were able to do.  Now no apple trees.

[Bill Carlsen]

I planted some this year on our 23 acres. I made 10' long tripods and set them around the new trees like a tepee and then wrapped plastic netting around the tepee. Works great.

[ChuckC]

Downtime.. that is a major concern for me up in the UP.  I can keep the deer away, but once it starts to bear (pun ?) fruit  will the bears break the tree down to get at it. ?
ChuckC

[ChuckC]

Bill.  You've got tiny trees ?
ChuckC

[Downtime]

Well I am trying again, with three new apple trees by my food plot.  Menards had thier apple trees on sale this mid summer, so I was able to get two cortland apple trees and bought a chestnut crabapple at a local nursey.  They are all about 5 foot tall trees.  Put tubing around them and fencing.  Hope that the bears will allow them to get big enough.

[KentuckyTJ]

A great natural hunting food source. I killed the deer in my avatar stopping at three of them on his way out to a soybean field in the evening two years ago. They of course bear fruit in summer early fall so we placed them in strategic spots where the deer were using that time of year. Also think about predominant winds and where treestands will be placed eventually.

They do need some attention through the years so they aren't "No maintenance" We don't spray because the deer don't mind a few worms but do prune them occasionally. They do need protection until they get larger.

If you will look closely you can see my treestand seat in the tree in the background.

 

[Bill Carlsen]

Chuck...I fixed that and the trees are currently doing very well. The cage thing, however, has worked best around the house and this year we have bushels of apples. It will be a while longer out on the property.

[Jim Rocole]

My brother and I have planted 36 apple trees in the last 2 yrs. In our neck of the woods you have to tube them and fence them. we use drain tile for the tubes. this keeps the rabbits from chewing them and the fence keeps the deer and bear out. we do use 5' wire mesh fencing with around a 5' diameter around the tree. we have tried shorter and cheaper fence but we have found the deer will reach over anything under 5' and the bear and deer will push in the lighter gauge fencing. we use 1/2 rebar to stake the fence. cheap and easy stakes.