I shared a while back about hunting a stand last year and I tossed an apple core on the ground and had two deer come in smelling it. Once I realized what I had done, I refused to shoot. One was a decent buck. I had been wondering why they would come to an apple smell so quickly as there are no apple trees around there. Well I found a crabapple tree this week, not 75 yards from that same stand. It is loaded too... and tracks are all over around it and under it. The apples are still quite green, so here's hoping they will start falling around early-mid October. I will be hanging a stand there this week Anyone ever had success hunting over a wild apple tree?
Muzzy, I hunted in a club in Lowndes Co. in the 88-1990. They had a road named Crabapple Road with at least 100 crabapple trees in an area. Several good deer taken in that area each year. Good luck with it.
Apple trees are one of the best stand locations, deer will come to it from miles away. Always set up to play the wind from the tree and from the direction the deer are coming into the tree also. If there is thick cover around the tree, the mature deer will most likely be coming in down wind also. But once the apples are gone , so are the deer. So you get a short window. A little trick I do is stomp on a few apples with my boots when I am walking in to help cover the smell of the boots and to get the aroma in the air.
I have a dozen apple trees some up in the pasture where I hunt, there is even an old wild apple tree in the thick woods, and some in the yard. I have never had to pick up a single wind fallen apple the deer clean them up
If you put your stand close enough to the crabapple tree, run a line from your stand to a branch full of crabapples. After being on stand for a while give a tug so a few apples fall. If there are deer near by, the sound of the falling apples will help entice them.
I will be about 20 yards away. There is a thicket with heavy trails going through to the tree and into the woods. This spot has been hit or miss for several years... maybe I know why now. Some have been real nice.
A lot of good things stated...I like hunting this morning, because I've found many mature bucks will sometimes guard apple trees, bedding close to them...and can be bumped off beds if hunted in afternoon. All depends on terrain make up around the tree(s) but apple trees are amazing finds!
I am in the process of planting apple trees and pear trees that ripen from Oct to Nov for that very reason. Goes back to build it and they will come.
