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deer eat apples?
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<blockquote data-quote="Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow" data-source="post: 1227909" data-attributes="member: 7123"><p>Dennis's daylight buck aside, most big 'uns like that will most most certainly come to your feeder, but *not during the day*. Usually at dusk the does will come in, but the bucks will stay back a ways off, 75 yards more, until full on dark in some trees or bushes. That's why you want to try to catch them in such a "staging area" at dusk, back away from the feeder a bit, maybe 75 to 100 yards or so toward where you think they are bedding, in some trees. Apples won't fool a wily buck. Only the rut will make them lose their preservation instincts, and show themselves outsid cover in the daylight,, and even that won't if there are plenty of does for them. <strong><em>Kill those does</em></strong>, and let the little bucks live.... then the rut can work in your favor - see dennis's daylight photo for proof of that - he's there because the does are there - not because there's food. The *does* are there because of the food - the buck is there because the does are there.</p><p></p><p>The best of all worlds is to kill a lot of does, to get your ratio almost 1:1, or preferably no worse than 2:1, then have a draw like a feeder, then wait till the rut, then stake out that staging area back off a ways from your draw in the woodsy staging area maybe 100 yards away. Even a wily buck will want to keep tabs on the does that are at your feeder at dusk, by being nearby. OR, wait until after the 2nd rut is over in mid-late December, or later, and then the big bucks are hungry as a three-peckered billy goat, and just *might* come to your food draw during the day.</p><p></p><p>Having said all that, I planted 6 apple trees on my hunting land for a reason - not because they're a better draw than corn - but because they cost nothing in either money or effort once they're grown, quite unlike a feeder or food plot. Apples, peaches, persimmon, cherry, any kind of fruit like that, or blackberry bushes, can draw them. After researching, for me, apples offered the best mix of hardiness of fruit tree species / total mast crop volue/weight / deer likability, etc.... I purposely bought 4 different species of apples, all of which drop their harvest at different times, from July/August clear through November, to keep the deer coming (that's the plan anyway - they haven't matured yet).</p><p></p><p>Remember, though a lot of birds and such will eat apples, they don't get devastated by *everything* in the forest (squirrels, crows, raccoons, etc.) like the corn does.</p><p></p><p>I've heard one of the most cost-effective ways to draw in deer, and keep other wildlife off the food, is to dump a pickup-truck load of cabbage or other similar vegetable on the ground. Very few species will touch them except the deer, the deer love them, and getting a small buttload is a lot cheaper than, for example, apples. And they will rot very slowly -much more slowly than corn for example, which gets moldy within a few weeks and full of more aflatoxin, so it's a cheap draw that lasts a long time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow, post: 1227909, member: 7123"] Dennis's daylight buck aside, most big 'uns like that will most most certainly come to your feeder, but *not during the day*. Usually at dusk the does will come in, but the bucks will stay back a ways off, 75 yards more, until full on dark in some trees or bushes. That's why you want to try to catch them in such a "staging area" at dusk, back away from the feeder a bit, maybe 75 to 100 yards or so toward where you think they are bedding, in some trees. Apples won't fool a wily buck. Only the rut will make them lose their preservation instincts, and show themselves outsid cover in the daylight,, and even that won't if there are plenty of does for them. [B][I]Kill those does[/I][/B], and let the little bucks live.... then the rut can work in your favor - see dennis's daylight photo for proof of that - he's there because the does are there - not because there's food. The *does* are there because of the food - the buck is there because the does are there. The best of all worlds is to kill a lot of does, to get your ratio almost 1:1, or preferably no worse than 2:1, then have a draw like a feeder, then wait till the rut, then stake out that staging area back off a ways from your draw in the woodsy staging area maybe 100 yards away. Even a wily buck will want to keep tabs on the does that are at your feeder at dusk, by being nearby. OR, wait until after the 2nd rut is over in mid-late December, or later, and then the big bucks are hungry as a three-peckered billy goat, and just *might* come to your food draw during the day. Having said all that, I planted 6 apple trees on my hunting land for a reason - not because they're a better draw than corn - but because they cost nothing in either money or effort once they're grown, quite unlike a feeder or food plot. Apples, peaches, persimmon, cherry, any kind of fruit like that, or blackberry bushes, can draw them. After researching, for me, apples offered the best mix of hardiness of fruit tree species / total mast crop volue/weight / deer likability, etc.... I purposely bought 4 different species of apples, all of which drop their harvest at different times, from July/August clear through November, to keep the deer coming (that's the plan anyway - they haven't matured yet). Remember, though a lot of birds and such will eat apples, they don't get devastated by *everything* in the forest (squirrels, crows, raccoons, etc.) like the corn does. I've heard one of the most cost-effective ways to draw in deer, and keep other wildlife off the food, is to dump a pickup-truck load of cabbage or other similar vegetable on the ground. Very few species will touch them except the deer, the deer love them, and getting a small buttload is a lot cheaper than, for example, apples. And they will rot very slowly -much more slowly than corn for example, which gets moldy within a few weeks and full of more aflatoxin, so it's a cheap draw that lasts a long time. [/QUOTE]
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