Fruit Trees for Deer & Food Plots

These are the fruit trees deer go after hardest. Apples, crabapples, applecrabs, plums and cherries all draw them in, and a few trees along a field edge or near a stand will feed deer for decades. Every tree here is a deer favorite, so plan on protecting it while it's young.

More about planting fruit trees for deer

Crabapples and applecrabs are the easy place to start. They're hardy, they crop heavily, and deer can eat the small fruit whole. Dolgo, Siberian, Hewe's Virginia, Transcendent and Hyslop crabapples, and Chestnut, Kerr, Centennial and Rescue applecrabs all fit.

For fruit that keeps dropping later into fall, add a few late-ripening apples. Mixing early, mid and late varieties spreads the drop over more weeks.

If you won't be out there often, pick disease-resistant varieties and full-size rootstock. Full-size trees take longer to bear but need less care once they're established. Our rootstock guide covers the options. Young trees still need water the first couple of summers, and drip is the way to do it.

Protect every tree until it's out of reach. Deer browse the leaves and buds, and bucks rub young trunks in fall, so cage or fence each tree for the first several years.

Most of these need a pollenizer, so plant at least two different apple or crabapple varieties, or two different plums. Crabapples and applecrabs are some of the best pollenizers for apple trees. For native plums, see our wild and American plum trees.

Questions We Get

Do deer eat apple trees?

Yes. They eat the fruit, and they browse the leaves, buds and young shoots too, so young trees need a cage or fence.

What fruit trees attract deer best?

Apples, crabapples, applecrabs and plums are the big ones. Every tree on this page is one deer go after hard.

What if I want to keep deer out instead?

See our deer-resistant plants and the deer resistance guide.

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