Whitetail Late Season Orchard (4 Trees) | Spring 2027

Four full-size apple trees picked for whitetail in the fall up north. Two are Kerr Applecrab, which doesn't drop its fruit and stands up to very late frosts, and the other two are Haralson and Frostbite, which ripen late September into mid October.

Full-size trees usually take 5 to 6 years to bear. That's the trade for a tree that gets up out of browse reach and lasts for decades.

Protect Them

Deer, elk and moose browse young plants hard, and bucks rub trunks in fall. Cage each tree until it's out of reach: a welded-wire cage about 5 ft. tall and 3 ft. across works for deer. Where elk come through, MSU recommends an 8 ft. fence with a top rail. Trunk tubes alone won't stop rubs. Water with drip the first couple of summers.

Bear country: fruit draws black bears and grizzlies. Plant well away from houses and outbuildings, and use electric fence where bears are around.

Is Planting This Baiting?

Growing plants is habitat work. Rules on fruit or nuts you pick, move or pile up vary by state, so check your state's hunting regs before you hunt over it.

For the full how-to (why these plants work, spacing, protection and timing), read our whitetail deer orchard guide.

See our other wildlife bundles on the wildlife orchard bundles page.

Photos: white-tailed buck by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.