Do deer like pears?
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: wvbowbender
22-Sep-19
I use to put out apples & pears, and I thought the deer were eating them, But this year all I can get are pears. Nothing is eating them, not even the bears that are around. What results have anyone with pears? Bob
From: LKH
22-Sep-19
threw 2 out in the yard. Will see if they are gone in the am.
From: BullBuster
22-Sep-19
Like flies love poop
From: WV Mountaineer
22-Sep-19
Yep. My guess is there is a lot of soft mast they prefer in that area this year. Poke is ripe, grapes are falling, hard maple seed is falling, maple browse is sweeter then anything when it starts to die, etc.... White oak is starting to fall where it is, Whatever it is, you can bet it is related to the deer liking something else better they have available to them.
FWIW, feeding deer is the quickest way I have found to educate them. When they can get something they require naturally, they will treat it like the Plaque. Good luck and God Bless.
From: pav
23-Sep-19
Pears are like candy to whitetails.
From: Jack Whitmrie jr
23-Sep-19
I used to hunt an abandoned farm that had a pear orchard and have watched deer eat them and have slobbers from there mouth to the ground - yes they love them. Had a blind built out of the old outhouse :)
From: Trial153
23-Sep-19
Depends on the pears. Most modern day pears they will hit hard till they are gone. I have one spot-that used to be an orchard that has around 50-75 very old pear trees, they are a thick skin very hard variety. I been told by someone who knows more then me that no one grows that kind anymore, that they used to be used for canning and preserving. Long story short you can’t get a deer to touch them. They lay on the ground till they rot away.
From: wvbowbender
23-Sep-19
Trial, that must be the ones I've been getting. Bob
From: Copperhead
23-Sep-19
Yes, deer love pears even the old variety. I have four old variety thick skinned pear trees in my yard and the deer love them.
From: Bob H in NH
23-Sep-19
Weird, used to have an apple and pear tree in the yard. Deer hit the apple so hard they basically killed it and any apple that tried to grow.
Pear tree grew very tall and dropped tons of pears, none of which they touched
From: Trial153
23-Sep-19
Yea you can get a deer to eat these pears. They wont touch them. I can understand why to because they taste terrible
From: Single bevel
23-Sep-19
I have a variety of pears scattered on my property. Trees bear so heavily that the branches break. Deer eat every one they can get. They stand on hind legs to reach rock hard ones that aren't close to being ripe. Great thing about pear trees is they are very frost resistant. Every year we get hard freezes during full bud. Those trees are always loaded with fruit. Easier to care for than apples, too.
From: Habitat
24-Sep-19
I have found that alot of fruit either apple or pears is eaten by coyotes.I grow both and pears require alot less maintenance.Can you plant instead of just haul some out there?If so make sure and get fire blight resistant variety
From: LKH
24-Sep-19
Well, the 2 I put in the front yard got partially eaten but that's it. Still over half left when I threw them in to the alfalfa.
From: drycreek
24-Sep-19
Can I get a hell yeah ?
From: Screwball
24-Sep-19
I have found they eat my pears when they ripen and fall not when green.
From: timex
24-Sep-19
the first deer I killed with a trad bow I was standing on a limb in a wild pear tree on a ridge back in the mountain. shot her almost straight down at less than 10' eating a wild pear lying on the ground
