Killing Apple Trees?
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Julius Koenig
28-Dec-22
Any of you ever killed an old apple tree to help encourage deer to go else where? I have a couple old apple trees I found last year on my rear property line. This year they produced few apples. There is hunting pressure on this neighboring property and it is newly approved to become a subdivision. I want to remove these and encourage the deer to utilize other apple tree and mast crops (or food plots). We have lots of apples on the property.
Anyone done this?
From: goelk
28-Dec-22
axe or chain saw
From: Pat Lefemine
28-Dec-22
No, I treat every producing apple tree like gold. even the ones that may not be in the best spot. I had over a thousand on my NY ground but lots of them got crowded out by maples and other trees.
From: Swampbuck
28-Dec-22
Wish I could have apple trees, wild persimmons is what I get, like Pat said Gold, I stake around the them so they don’t get nicked when mowing
From: scentman
28-Dec-22
No, I would never abate a natural food source.
From: Julius Koenig
29-Dec-22
Thanks for the input guys
From: Missouribreaks
29-Dec-22
Apple trees are good for pollinators, think beyond deer.
From: DanaC
29-Dec-22
Trim around them, make them so open the deer only feel comfortable feeding there after dark. Meanwhile provide more secure locations where you want the deer during daylight.
From: t-roy
29-Dec-22
Chainsaw and some Tordon on the stump. Sounds like you have lots of other apple trees on your property, so cutting a couple down isn’t going cause any catastrophic population crash in your area.
From: cnelk
29-Dec-22
A few copper nails driven into the trunk will kill any tree
From: WV Mountaineer
29-Dec-22
I’d simple take a saw and girdle them. Think emarald ash borer and how they kill trees. Just cut through the bark and phloem layers of the trunk. Bows the time to do it too.
From: Teeton
29-Dec-22
Well you got some ideas, but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say they wanted to kill apple trees.
From: Grey Ghost
29-Dec-22
You want to kill apple trees to discourage deer from getting too close to a neighboring property? Wow! What the hell have we hunters become?
Matt
From: Buckdeer
29-Dec-22
I think he is thinking since it's going to be a subdivision. How big of tree?It may be worth having a bigger tree spade move them usually isn't that expensive.
From: Zbone
29-Dec-22
cnelk - "A few copper nails driven into the trunk will kill any tree"
Is that true?
From: Buckdeer
29-Dec-22
Trees are easy to kill whats hard is getting them to live and grow.
From: woodguy65
29-Dec-22
If you decide to go through with it. At least utilize the wood, its great firewood - has a very high BTU/heat value as firewood. Also its a very popular wood used for smoking. Wish you lived by me I'd cut it down and make it disappear for ya.
From: Medicinemann
29-Dec-22
Woodguy65 X 2......great smell while burning, too.
From: cnelk
29-Dec-22
To Zbone - "A few copper nails driven into the trunk will kill any tree" Is that true?
Yes. An old timer who worked for the power company told me that trick. They would get rid of problem trees near power lines by doing that
From: Bow Crazy
31-Dec-22
I have never done it, but I absolutely would do it. You have a couple in the wrong spot, with plenty of others throughout the property. Why not? It is a great smelling wood when burning, use in your smoker you won't regret it at all. BC
From: fuzzy
31-Dec-22
I'm with Grey Ghost on this one
From: btnbuck
31-Dec-22
People buy property and want to improve it for their hunting success, not they’re neighbors. Some of you want to give him a hard time because he wants the deer to congregate away from the property line further onto his own land.
How many of you others have done this exact thing? Do you think anyone puts in a food plot against the neighbors property line? Maybe next year Pat will open a thread about planting a food plot next to his Amish neighbors and let us know how it works out.
Like someone above stated...just ring the tree’s trunk and it will die, or cut it down and utilize the wood.
Good hunting.
From: fuzzy
04-Jan-23
Apple is great firewood and smoker wood. I'd love to get hold of a clear trunk section to throw on the band sawmill
From: APauls
04-Jan-23
I really don't understand the aversion to cutting it down if it's doing the opposite of what he wants. Go plant another two instead somewhere else on the property. Big deal. Sounds like a spot you'd never ever want to draw deer to.
From: Catscratch
04-Jan-23
All about supply and demand. I have zero native apples so everyone I plant is on purpose and with direction. There are some oaks around me and I've cut a few down because they didn't serve my purposes. I've been ribbed a little for cutting down oaks. Mostly from people who don't have oaks on their hunting properties. I wouldn't hesitate to cut down an apple if a I had a bunch of them and they weren't helping the goals of my property.
From: fuzzy
07-Jan-23
Apauls, apple trees take years to grow out to productive age, and the last for decades with a bit of care. They are super productive of deer movement from the time the immature fruit starts dropping right up until the last few withered hangers on fall. Depending on the variety and latitude they can draw deer from June to January. Once a tree is gone its gone and it takes at least a decade to replace it. I understand that some guys want to try to control deer movement. Their land, their choice. For me I like for deer to be moving, on my place, through my place, or near my place. That said, the OP can and should cut the trees if that's what he wants to do. I wouldn't want to
