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Whitetails and apples, I need an education

Horn

Horn

Well-Known Member
SH Member
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Mar 8, 2022
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I'm hunting a new piece of public. The same one I got that little spike on. I've been scouting around more and there's tons of apple trees. Red ones, green ones, both colors of full size and crab apples. There are also little groves of apples surrounded by thicker stuff, sometimes a lot of thick sometimes just a band of it. There's trails around them, and through them but not much for sign in them.

What are good strategies here? Is there a better time of year to focus on them? Most trees only have a few/moderate apples on the ground. A few have apple carpet underneath lol. Does that mean anything? Like they aren't going to eat those or they just aren't around? Or they'll eat them eventually hunt them? Some of these spots would be fairly straightforward to hunt, some of them I crawled 100+ yards in lol. No one said I'm smart.

Thanks!
 
Same way you’d hunt a food plot which it sorta kinda is. Plan for early morning or late afternoon, hunt the edges. Apple harvest is right now, dunno where you’re located but here in the northeast/mid Atlantic apples are dropping from trees and won’t be available for much longer l.
 
Exactly as @Exhumis said, it’s a destination food source so consider it as such and try to find where a network of trails come together to head to the apples and set up downwind of that hub. If a hub is tough to identify, set up on the downwind edge of the orchard hoping to catch something moving through and within and around the apples. In my experience though, and with ag close by, I’ve found the deer hit a for a few minutes and then head out to feed on other ag. I do believe they hit them first in the evening after feeding throughout the day intermittently near their bedding areas on woodier stuff and acorns, hickory nuts, beech nuts etc. they want some soft water mast to balance out the harder stuff.
 
I would taste some. There were some apple trees in an area I hunted in MI that we’re the best I’ve ever had. I shot a buck and didn’t have any water or food all day and I swear the apples got me through the drag.
 
The deer seem to hit sweet varieties the second they hit the ground. The old fashioned sour apples need to lay on the ground and ferment a bit before the deer get excited about them. Look for fresh feeding sign - pieces of apples, piles of poop, maybe even a little rubbing or scraping near the trees or the paths too and from them.
 
Thanks for the info guys! The I was in that area all weekend, I think there's too much pressure to get much daylight movement there. I have one impossibly hard to access and probably worse to try to hunt I might try for hunting the apples if a good wind comes up when I'm heading out
 
DroptineKrazy said:
I find that the deer in my area don't hit them hard until after the first frost. Especially if it's a good acorn year.
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We're well past avg first frost but it hasn't happened yet and it is supposed to be a good acorn year.. better keep an eye on them
 
Horn said:
We're well past avg first frost but it hasn't happened yet and it is supposed to be a good acorn year.. better keep an eye on them
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Sunday night should be a widespread freeze across the northeast. Early Monday am is the time to get after the deer.
 
From everything I know/heard of deers and apples they love them and as long as they’re there the deer will be there just sit quietly and wait, can’t imagine that not working lol
 
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I was thinking about trying here. Not sure I can get there without alerting 3 counties to my presence though lol. Or how to shoot one. And if I did how I'd get it out of there. I mean, I shoot little deer but that's next level :tearsofjoy:
 
What else is around there for food @Horn ? Maybe they just haven't moved to then yet. Seems like at some point they will be in there. Something else must be better at the moment. Looks like a good cover place. Maybe as pressure picks up towards the end of the month, might be a good afternoon place. Any historic rubs you noticed? Something to indicate bucks have spent time in there before?
 
MattMan81 said:
What else is around there for food @Horn ? Maybe they just haven't moved to then yet. Seems like at some point they will be in there. Something else must be better at the moment. Looks like a good cover place. Maybe as pressure picks up towards the end of the month, might be a good afternoon place. Any historic rubs you noticed? Something to indicate bucks have spent time in there before?
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Yes. Lol.

There's some corn that was standing still last weekend but it's coming out quick around here so not sure if that field is still standing or not. If I remember correctly there were a few more fresh rubs on thumb sized trees than older ones. Not really trails or droppings in there much, but I don't think they're eating those apples either. I'm pretty confident they hang around, maybe bed in there but I didn't find any specific beds. Some beech a little ways west, a lot of open areas. Not much for oak in that neighborhood. Considerable maples too but no sign the deer care about them, at least right now.
 
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I'd walk out some trails and see if there's an ambush point or staging area you could set up on. Maybe backtrack to the beds and set up midway? Especially if the trees are getting hunting pressure, they might be stashing up until after legal shooting light.
 
Horn said:
Yes. Lol.

There's some corn that was standing still last weekend but it's coming out quick around here so not sure if that field is still standing or not. If I remember correctly there were a few more fresh rubs on thumb sized trees than older ones. Not really trails or droppings in there much, but I don't think they're eating those apples either. I'm pretty confident they hang around, maybe bed in there but I didn't find any specific beds. Some beech a little ways west, a lot of open areas. Not much for oak in that neighborhood. Considerable maples too but no sign the deer care about them, at least right now.
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Did you keep trying this area? I was interested to see how it played out. You’ve asked some good questions about apple trees that I’ve taken for granted.
 
Plebe said:
Did you keep trying this area? I was interested to see how it played out. You’ve asked some good questions about apple trees that I’ve taken for granted.
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I did not end up back in the really heavy apples. I did intend to go in there one day but I took a different route to scout and play the wind and ended up setting up a ways south of the heavy fruit, there was some apples around if I recall. I had a a fawn at less than 5 yards after I bumped some doe out, it came in to a bleat. Really cool experience. I did have the 2 doe come back into range, just didn't have a clean shot. Still cool!

I also found  really good sign, to me anyway quite a ways north of the heavy stuff but I didn't see anything, I think the northern area is a keeper for early season but I admit I'm not sure if the apples are much of a factor in that area. Maybe?

There's quite a bit of pressure in that area too. Not insurmountable but one of the most pressured spots I've found
 
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