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Q:
i was thinking about planting some apple trees out on my land to attract deer towards where we hunt. is this considered baiting the animal? it's natural, and it's a plant, so i didn't figure it would be baiting. but i dont know. help me out. i live in Nebraska if it makes a difference. i'm planning on buying about 10-15 apple trees and planting them all over my 160 acres of hunting land.
Question by Reid Jones. Uploaded on April 27, 2009
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Answers (16)
Hey Reid, I just did the same on my property, no it's not baiting. Every animal will feed on these apples, and you aren't going to hunt over every tree right? It's natural and it's a food source, Good Luck.
of course i won't hunt over every tree. i would be hunting over about 5 of them. theres an area where we have a tree stand where i would like to put 2 of them. and where i have my hut that i built, there would be 3 visible apple trees. but i can see over 300 yards of land from my hut. i would be about 80 yards away from the closest one.
Planting the trees qualifies as more of a food plot, and some people call that baiting, but whatever. I'm OK with it.
The only thing is, it takes quite some time for an apple tree to mature enough to bear fruit.
actually shane, i can get older trees and replant them onto my land. not too old to where they bear fruit but i think they're okay sized. i think about 5-10 years is as long as they take to start bearin fruit. i'm just worried about keeping the plant protected from deer eating the whole tree right away.
I would say go for it!!! you could put up chicken wire fencing around the tree to help protect the base
Make sure they are protected from N and W winds in the winter and try and get them either near water or in a wetter location. Apples in Neb. are going to require a little TLC. Good luck we are planting a few ourselves this year in MN. You will need the chicken wire! Also make sure you have at least two different varieties that bloom about the same time close to each other. Apples are self-sterile and each kind needs the other to produce fruit so don't plant all the same kind in one location.
I would say to plant them. Baiting is considered more of putting apples out in front of your tree stand and then hunting over that. Hunting over a apple tree however does not qualify as baiting. Funny how one can get around the rules. Hope all goes well and wish you good hunting.
In addition to Chuck's comment you would want to plant them about 16 feet apart for polination reasons. Not sure how many are needed in a group. I planted 5 last year about 5 feet high right now. 5 different types. No fruit yet, expect some next fall.
Reid, sounds like a great idea to enhance your property. You are right to worry about protecting them though, as the deer will eat'm up. The game commision often puts up high fence around new plantings, but deer can easily jump 8' fence if they want to. I have seen deer inside these little protective fences many times. Still it's worth a try. good luck
Make sure you place a fence around the trunk of each tree. The deer here in Kentucky love to rub their racks on the apple tree trunks here in Kentucky, but the fence prevents them from doing so.
oh yeah i'm well aware of what deer can do to a person's plants. planted a garden of lettuce, tomatoes, and potatoes. the wabbits and deer ate up all the lettuce, and stomped all over the potato plants!!! didn't hurt much since the tatos were underground lol.
Go for it. It's a great idea.
Reid, it would be no different than hunting from an oak tree dropping acorns would it. That's not baiting, that's smart hunting. Just a thought though. If you want those trees to grow big you need to protect them from the deer for the first couple years(wire cages). Another thing to ponder. Maybe a group of trees together might be better than several scattered about. Just a thought.
Reid,
Get a copy of the Stark Bros fruit tree catalog. It has good info for selecting varieties and planting. For best results I would go for desease resistant trees that ripen in Oct or Nov. Some varieties need lots of spraying just to survive cedar rust and pests in my area. My Stark Red Delicious which I never spray had so much fruit last year the tree fell over from the weight.
Its legal and deer love em. Go for it. I bow hunted north of you last year (in southern South Dakota) and an apple tree dumped hundreds of them during the prime bow season in late November. They definitely bring in the deer. If bow hunting I might be inclined to plant just a couple so you don't have deer running all over. If rifle hunting, it won't make any difference as long as the deer come. If you can, you might try to get trees with various apple drop timing and keep it going during most of mid-October through end of November.
Agreed with DakotaMan and + 1 for you sir!!!
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Hey Reid, I just did the same on my property, no it's not baiting. Every animal will feed on these apples, and you aren't going to hunt over every tree right? It's natural and it's a food source, Good Luck.
of course i won't hunt over every tree. i would be hunting over about 5 of them. theres an area where we have a tree stand where i would like to put 2 of them. and where i have my hut that i built, there would be 3 visible apple trees. but i can see over 300 yards of land from my hut. i would be about 80 yards away from the closest one.
Planting the trees qualifies as more of a food plot, and some people call that baiting, but whatever. I'm OK with it.
The only thing is, it takes quite some time for an apple tree to mature enough to bear fruit.
actually shane, i can get older trees and replant them onto my land. not too old to where they bear fruit but i think they're okay sized. i think about 5-10 years is as long as they take to start bearin fruit. i'm just worried about keeping the plant protected from deer eating the whole tree right away.
I would say go for it!!! you could put up chicken wire fencing around the tree to help protect the base
Make sure they are protected from N and W winds in the winter and try and get them either near water or in a wetter location. Apples in Neb. are going to require a little TLC. Good luck we are planting a few ourselves this year in MN. You will need the chicken wire! Also make sure you have at least two different varieties that bloom about the same time close to each other. Apples are self-sterile and each kind needs the other to produce fruit so don't plant all the same kind in one location.
I would say to plant them. Baiting is considered more of putting apples out in front of your tree stand and then hunting over that. Hunting over a apple tree however does not qualify as baiting. Funny how one can get around the rules. Hope all goes well and wish you good hunting.
In addition to Chuck's comment you would want to plant them about 16 feet apart for polination reasons. Not sure how many are needed in a group. I planted 5 last year about 5 feet high right now. 5 different types. No fruit yet, expect some next fall.
Reid, sounds like a great idea to enhance your property. You are right to worry about protecting them though, as the deer will eat'm up. The game commision often puts up high fence around new plantings, but deer can easily jump 8' fence if they want to. I have seen deer inside these little protective fences many times. Still it's worth a try. good luck
Make sure you place a fence around the trunk of each tree. The deer here in Kentucky love to rub their racks on the apple tree trunks here in Kentucky, but the fence prevents them from doing so.
oh yeah i'm well aware of what deer can do to a person's plants. planted a garden of lettuce, tomatoes, and potatoes. the wabbits and deer ate up all the lettuce, and stomped all over the potato plants!!! didn't hurt much since the tatos were underground lol.
Go for it. It's a great idea.
Reid, it would be no different than hunting from an oak tree dropping acorns would it. That's not baiting, that's smart hunting. Just a thought though. If you want those trees to grow big you need to protect them from the deer for the first couple years(wire cages). Another thing to ponder. Maybe a group of trees together might be better than several scattered about. Just a thought.
Reid,
Get a copy of the Stark Bros fruit tree catalog. It has good info for selecting varieties and planting. For best results I would go for desease resistant trees that ripen in Oct or Nov. Some varieties need lots of spraying just to survive cedar rust and pests in my area. My Stark Red Delicious which I never spray had so much fruit last year the tree fell over from the weight.
Its legal and deer love em. Go for it. I bow hunted north of you last year (in southern South Dakota) and an apple tree dumped hundreds of them during the prime bow season in late November. They definitely bring in the deer. If bow hunting I might be inclined to plant just a couple so you don't have deer running all over. If rifle hunting, it won't make any difference as long as the deer come. If you can, you might try to get trees with various apple drop timing and keep it going during most of mid-October through end of November.
Agreed with DakotaMan and + 1 for you sir!!!
Post an Answer