Do you all have micro orchards or do you keep your fruit all in the final destination plot? I’m curious if you had a small 60x30 kill plot that serves a staging plot that’s in a primary scrape hub would you add a couple trees to make it all the more powerful? Or do trees have to be in those larger destination plots? Im listening to the Higgins group and want to get it right, trying to be open minded. I’m on 65 acres.
Do Fruit trees have a place outside of destination plots?
bwese
Well-Known Member
I have fruit trees orchards that border or are in middle of my food plots. I think the fruit trees are the biggest draw for deer once the fruit starts dropping. They make all the other plots just that much more of a draw. The orchards sizes are from 7 to 18 trees and there are 7 of them. If one doesn't have fruit trees planted and they have room and the time to make sure they get a good start, I'd be planting them this spring.
The biggest plot I have is just under 3 acres corn/bean rotation.. It has 6 fruit trees on the edge and 3 in the middle. All my other orchards are essentially part of alfalfa, clover/chicory plots. I currently have 75 apple/pear/persimmon/peach trees in said orchards. I am grafting/planting at least dozen new ones this spring. This is on 80 acres. The clover/chicory plots are 3 acres, alfalfa is 1 acre, and total corn/bean rotation is just shy of 5 acres.
My eyes and my cameras tell me the bucks will go to where ever the fruit is falling, for the fruit and for the does. It helps influence movement for sure. They are a major draw and I believe the more the better.
The biggest plot I have is just under 3 acres corn/bean rotation.. It has 6 fruit trees on the edge and 3 in the middle. All my other orchards are essentially part of alfalfa, clover/chicory plots. I currently have 75 apple/pear/persimmon/peach trees in said orchards. I am grafting/planting at least dozen new ones this spring. This is on 80 acres. The clover/chicory plots are 3 acres, alfalfa is 1 acre, and total corn/bean rotation is just shy of 5 acres.
My eyes and my cameras tell me the bucks will go to where ever the fruit is falling, for the fruit and for the does. It helps influence movement for sure. They are a major draw and I believe the more the better.
booneriverbucks
PMA Member
I think they do! Keeping/attracting deer to the general area is equally as important as any other reason! I even seem to have thousands of apples that go uneaten every year and still keep planting trees. I don’t think you can ever go wrong planting more. Things just take so darn long to get going/producing it never hurts to start planting more.
If I wasn’t old and decrepit…. I’d plant 25-50 every year for rest of my life. One year (as some on here would recall) - I did 4,000. So- that retired me. Stupid!!!!
Any normal person that’s not an idiot like me… add as many as u can be comfortable with every year & do it in an area u can keep up on them without bumping deer. So- like the edge of a plot where it’s not too close to timber for example.
Any normal person that’s not an idiot like me… add as many as u can be comfortable with every year & do it in an area u can keep up on them without bumping deer. So- like the edge of a plot where it’s not too close to timber for example.
I've been on more than one farm that had a Higgens consultation (don't think it was Don himself). There are some things I don't agree with in their philosophy, particularly on a bigger farm. Certainly more than one way to skin a cat and differing opinions arnt necessarily wrong.
As OP alluded to, they really push to congregate towards one destination plot. Where I think this hurts farms is you end up holding less deer. More food, more spread out, in theory makes it less predictable to hunt, however I think you can hold more deer, particularly more mature bucks. I am of the philosophy; the hunter only has to be right once so I am totally OK with the idea of hunting in one spot knowing the target deer may be feeding in another. At some point, done smartly, paths usually cross. I like my food spread all over the place where it makes sense, including fruit trees.
As OP alluded to, they really push to congregate towards one destination plot. Where I think this hurts farms is you end up holding less deer. More food, more spread out, in theory makes it less predictable to hunt, however I think you can hold more deer, particularly more mature bucks. I am of the philosophy; the hunter only has to be right once so I am totally OK with the idea of hunting in one spot knowing the target deer may be feeding in another. At some point, done smartly, paths usually cross. I like my food spread all over the place where it makes sense, including fruit trees.
I like this and for a bait state and my layouts it makes more sense. My west wind set ups just don’t work effectively, the destination plot has no setups unless I hunt a very high quality sealed blind. The backside of the farm also has tillable and sets up great for west. Thanks on this, needed to hear it.
I’m working on combatting against the dip stick neighbors sloppy skills and corn piles. It’s a losing/very uphill battle. There’s no one close putting in fruit like I am, for my yearly budget…I’m taking the Higgins and everyone else’s advice of give them what they can’t find anywhere else.
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Sort of off topic, but I agree with this philosophy. It seems like most mature bucks hate social pressure (from other deer) most of the year. I have had the opportunity to hunt some big farms in the past that went from garbage to great with the reduction of social pressure. Putting all the deer in one plot seems to go against this observation. I'm not sure what state the op is in, but most people I am talking to in Iowa are saying the population is down so much it would be a non issue, at least for awhile. I also have permission to hunt a few small farms near my house. One is in the highest population density area with a lot of deer. Another is a couple miles away with mixed cattle pasture/row crop and very little traditional cover. There are more mature bucks in the latter.
I think it will depend on the way the 65 acres lays out whether or not you can build 2 different isolated spots or are held to one to make it work. It is certainly possible to build a daylight deer movement on 30 acres with the right layout of access, terrain, cover, and food. Sometimes the situation just isn't conducive to it.