Read an article the other day that said certain fruit trees can be just as good or better than a food plot and deer love them....best i remember they mentioned, apple, persimmon, (spelling??)....peaches or pears...and a couple others...

Any of you guys have them, plant them etc? Any experience or thoughts

years ago we were on a lease west of Llano that was riddled with pear trees. when the pears started falling, it looked like a feeder with the deer underneath it. Later, my dad would gather pears from under his own trees that were bad (bird pecks, insects, etc.) and put in a 5 gallon bucket and take to our ranch ... the deer loved them but so did the coons.

oh yeah ... we planted some peach and fig trees at our ranch down by some artesian springs, deer kept eating the peach trees to a point they never grew. They also ate most of the fig trees too until we finally put up some wire cages around them to allow them to grow.

theres a thread on here somewhere with that will answer this and has some good info in it. I just cant find it...

sounds like i might need some trees

peaches produce early summer where apple & pear are in the fall ... protect the young trees, as the deer will kill them pretty quickly otherwise. I planted some fig trees behind my house three different times to have the deer nip them off down to the ground one night.

I would think it would take a LONG time for a tree to get to point where it could produce enough fruit to make it worth it.

Pears trees grow fast. The old fashioned kind that you see near old farmsteads. Within 3-4 years you can have fuit. Just pour the water to them and of course cage them.

that's what I would have thought too ... but my wife and I planted a small "Sam Houston" peach tree in late Oct/early Nov. 2012 and it produced over 200 peaches in June 2013 ... 8-9 months from when we planted it. I was totally shocked!!!



we didn't know we should have thinned the peaches earlier ...

I've found fruit trees to be better at attracting unwanted pests.

I put in some peach trees a year ago but the grass hoppers ate all the leaves off last summer and killed them. I figured if I could keep the big animals away it would all be good but seems there are a lot of ways to kill off fruit trees.

Different species of berries might be better. They may mature faster than trees. If the deer and hogs knock over the trees- a lot of trouble for nothing. There are also odd ball trees, persimmons, paw paw, etc that may work.

Apples are what deer love to eat in Europe. Don't see many apple trees in Killeen, but you could start a "compost" pile near where you hunt...

There's a lot of truth to this.

I don't know if they just smell differently, but I'll plant a pear or peach tree smack dab in the middle of 50 oaks exactly the same size and the deer will murder the trees I've planted but seemingly not touch the oaks.

Gotta keep the trunks caged up until they're fairly sizeable if you want them to live.

Check into chinese jujube trees. They put on a lot of fruit and they will draw in the deer. Fruit ripens in Sept and Oct. It's also a human consumption fruit. You need to put a fence around it when young because cows will tare off the limbs they can reach.

persimmon trees are a magnet for possum, raccoon, armadillo, pigs, skunks, crows, and just about any other pest... some fun nights with a .22 and spotlight sitting in a big spread of those trees on the river bottom

I prefer to wait for a really windy night and watch the coons sway from the tree tops.

So that is where you go to after dark when

yep! It's like a carnival shooting gallery.

IMO, the best naturally occurring browse for deer is Honeysuckle. That's because it's something that others critters don't like as much as deer do like.

You are hanging out in the tree tops after enough

One of my favorite spots to deer hunt back home in Kansas is under an old Pear tree. They start to fall after the first frost and those rutting bucks love them. Fruit trees with grain plots are a great combo. You still need the food plots as they produce far more food and for longer durations. Most fruit trees are picked clean within a week of fruit ripening.

My grandpa has a pear tree no more than 20 yds from his back door and in the fall the deer could care less how close it is to the house, they love those pears. So 3 years ago when I started hunting his land and planting food plots I decided to plant some pear trees knowing I was going to be there for awhile. So I've got a 4 acre food plot and 4 pear tress on the corners and the deer love them. I had to fence them off and protect them but after the second year they produce more than enough fruit to keep the deer entertained. Yeah the coons birds and squirrels love them too, but I can live with that. Just think the food plot is dinner and the trees are dessert, lol.

I wouldn't use a fruit tree as a food plot only, but with a food plot. i use my food plot for more than an attractant though. . But a few fruit trees paired with a food plot is a great extra attractant and a why not. There doesnt seem to be many draw backs but more benifits. So if you have the time I say go for it.

Longhorn3454. You nailed it.

I don't know why coons are such a problem. They make a fine meal, too.