Do you think tree plots are a good tool?

By Grant Woods,

  Filed under: ,

← Grant's Answers — Habitat Management
Question
I have been given permission to hunt on a small farm with 7 acres of wood and 20 acres of soybean. I do not farm the land. I have put out food plots in in the past, but have been thinking about planting fruit trees as another possible source of food for the deer. Do you have any advice on trying fruit trees? Is it something that I should try?

Thank you,

Jason Medaugh

Jason,

I do believe tree plots are a great tool to attract bucks!  Often times when a quality food source is plentiful, it’s plentiful on a broad scale!  For example, you mentioned 20 acres of soybeans.  There’s probably soybeans on neighboring properties also.  This means that when the soybeans are attracting deer, bucks can feed at many places. This makes it very difficult to pattern deer.  

Buck’s love fruit and there’s rarely fruit available during deer season on most properties (except in the northeastern states where there are lots of apple trees).  Having the only sugary fruit available during deer season within a buck’s range is a GREAT attractant!  The folks at http://www.FlatwoodNatives.com have taught me a lot about which species of fruit will grow best where I live and how to plant and care for those trees.  I suggest you reach out to them at:   863-767-0446.

Enjoy creation,

grant

February 7, 2016