Crab trees

[Bowshotmuzzleloader]

All my years of hunting I have never seen deer eating crab apples ?? I would assume they would eat them like any other food source .. I have a opportunity to get some crab apples trees cheap for my property ,, was wondering if I should pick them up or pass ...

Thanks

[LetEmGrow]

Crab apple trees like Dolgo or Whitney that have large apples are the ones that QDMers seem to like the best.  I planted DOLGO on my property the past couple of years ago.  They fruited the second year (bent the trees right over) and they are very large crab apples (a little bigger than a golf ball and I think they will get bigger in time).  Bright red.

Whitney are big as well and I am going to plant some of them next year if I can find them.  They are not hard to find but not easy either.

 

I have seen the same thing as you - deer really do not seem to like the small crab apples on the property.  Many ornamentals are not really fruit friendly to animals as I have read.  Not even birds or turkeys seem to eat them.

I have done a lot of research on it, most of which from the QDMA forums.  Lots of info there.

Anyway, DOLGO and WHITNEY are the names that come up the most because they produce big apples and quick.  I am gonna keep planting them.

One thing with DOLGO and WHITNEY - they drop them early.  But there is a nursery in Potsdam that has a lot of crab apple that drop at different times (if you can find a popular one deer like).  Link below with more information.
https://www.qdma.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46541

DOLGO
https://www.google.com/search?q=dolgo+crabapple&biw=1600&bih=799&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI9orhj_XFyAIVVsFjCh2GcwSI

WHITNEY
https://www.google.com/search?q=dolgo+crabapple&biw=1600&bih=799&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI9orhj_XFyAIVVsFjCh2GcwSI#tbm=isch&q=whitney+crabapple
 

[G-Man]

I have an early dropping yellow crab that the dder eat before anything else, just like us deer have their preferences if it's not favored they will skip and go for something else

[First-light]

I've noticed them eating the apples later in the season for some reason. Maybe the apple breaks down while on the ground and is more palatable to them.

[greensider]

they eat them around my area but like other things it varies from area to area depending on what else is available

[Cabin Fever]

I have crabapple trees and wild pear in several areas. The deer love them! The trees near bedding areas will usually be their first stop in the evenings before heading out and the last stop in the mornings before heading to bed. Have pics at all times of the day in those areas too, as they seem to come out for a quick snack once in a while. Especially the fawns. Must be they have a sweet tooth and are like kids in a candy store! LOL

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[BuckThornBooners]

I seen this doe at my wild pear tree every time I walked by this tree to go to my stand so I thought I would see how often she was there and the pictures show her there all day returning to the tree within an hr of me walking by and it also seems she is fighting off other doe that try to seal her pears.. I have a few toringo crabs loaded not 50' from this tree they are small pea sized crabs that stay on the tree till late winter the deer don't seem to touch them.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Odorless

[Curmudgeon]

I get my Dolgos before the deer so I have no idea if they eat them. I have seen comments on this forum that deer will eat any apple. Maybe, however, deer like what is sweet. They pick and choose what is ripe, and prefer the sweeter fruit.

 

While the crab apples that hold their small fruit might not provide food for deer, they are a necessary food source for other wildlife in the winter. You may not observe anything eating them now. Check to see how many are left late in winter. Thrushes like bluebirds and robins depend on such fruit. While I haven't observed it, I suspect game birds eat them too - since they are so similar to hawthorn. 

 

Most of the deer here are not eating very high quality apples that are on the ground. They are still eating the salad of high quality grass that was not cut for second or third cutting hay. The apples they are leaving are improved varieties I have grafted onto wild trees.

[Bowshotmuzzleloader]

Thanks for the replies and the info on the Dolgo species,, I will try and locate some of those in the spring .. I may pick up a few of the smaller ones just as they are nice when they flower ..

My initial interest is they seem to produce fruit from a very early age..

Some informative replies

Thanks

[LET EM GROW]

I have crab apples all over our place in Steuben..not sure of the species... but the deer eat them as soon as they fall, and will eat the rotted/missed ones come winter...awesome early season setup!

 

Id purchase some, and will be next year. 

[Bowshotmuzzleloader]

I have crab apples all over our place in Steuben..not sure of the species... but the deer eat them as soon as they fall, and will eat the rotted/missed ones come winter...awesome early season setup!

Id purchase some, and will be next year.

Are your trees the "smaller" type apples what I would consider what you would normally see at someone's house or yard ?

[hunter]

Not only do deer like Dolgos but they hold their fruit well into December. I planted one in Spring and its doing great, unlike my cherry. Hoping for fruit next year and might try to get another planted before winter.

[monkeyman2269]

I have a few apple trees were I hunt but are old abandoned ones that produce big fruits

[Taylormike]

Deer definitely eat crab apples.  As some have stated, it all depends on other food sources and time of year.  I am not a veteran on this topic, in fact, quite the contrary, a novice.  However, I have began reading a lot on QDM and plan on putting in my first food plot next spring. 

 

Back to the question:  For the longest time I have a practice of opening up the stomachs.  I do this out of curiosity and to see what the deer graze on.  I have experienced crab apples in the stomach but it is usually long after the cold whether has been established and other food sources dry up.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Taylormike

[Rhwrhwrhw0426]

There's about 15 dif Apple trees in the backyard and deer def have their preferences. The true crab apple and the wild Apple tree with gold ball size apples fall in the middle somewhere. Two are store bought trees, variety has been forgotten, that are postcard pretty with giant unblemished apples. I find them bland and the deer seem to like others more too. Another unknown store bought tree is near the house and it is an annual producer of sweet tasting nice apples that I love and the deer will risk getting closer to the house to munch out. Another wild tree that grew up from seed makes these nice sized apples that stay green kinda like granny smith that are tart and delicious. Luckily the deer like other apples in this little orchard of wild trees and I get those. The woodchuck down there likes the green ones best too but as long as he stays out of the garden I figured he does no harm let him be. He is a porker u should see all the half eaten apples between the apples and the hole he has ten yards into the brush.

[LET EM GROW]

Are your trees the "smaller" type apples what I would consider what you would normally see at someone's house or yard ?

 

Apples galore, I have green and red apples the size of baseballs. Also, many of what I call crab apples, green in color and between the size of a golf ball and baseball..  Ive eaten them all, the smaller ones, not near as good as the bogger ones. But the deer seem to eat the smaller crab apples first.. bigger apples after they rot during winter.. i do not know why.

 

Ive got a camera set on a post of my back porch at camp pointing under a very old littered crab apple tree and it takes about 100 pics every 3 days... bucks & does, big and small, you name it.    They even eat the apples laying against the house.. Must not be too nervous haha. 

[Marion]

Apples galore, I have green and red apples the size of baseballs. Also, many of what I call crab apples, green in color and between the size of a golf ball and baseball.. Ive eaten them all, the smaller ones, not near as good as the bogger ones. But the deer seem to eat the smaller crab apples first.. bigger apples after they rot during winter.. i do not know why.

Ive got a camera set on a post of my back porch at camp pointing under a very old littered crab apple tree and it takes about 100 pics every 3 days... bucks & does, big and small, you name it. They even eat the apples laying against the house.. Must not be too nervous haha.

Instead of letting this guy grow, if you see him during the day let him die, that deer is a monster

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[LET EM GROW]

That pic was from a few years ago, As a matter of fact, That deer was THE MOST pattern able deer ive ever seen in my life. Long story short, @ 4.5 yrs, no shot at him with bow, always brush between us, i shot at him last day of gun season with the smoke pole (within bow range), grazed his belly after the bullet blew a branch apart... He lived, just a scratch(look close at his belly in the trail cam picture)..

The next year he was even more pattern able then before and of course bigger, but before i could even hunt him the neighbor gut shot him and never tracked him for anymore than a couple hundred yards.. (still furiates me to this day)... found him dead in a creek about 1/4 mile away

 

Plant them some apples, i would think the species would matter to deer, my trees have hundreds if not thousand some apples on them every year if mother nature cooperates..

 

 

Buck Netted 157" @ 5.5 yrs old

[LET EM GROW]

wouldnt matter*