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In late December while bow hunting this past year, I am sitting in the tree stand with a small pile of apples 30 yards away. I look across the field to the next fence line and there is seven or eight Apple trees still with all kinds of apples on them, but not just here. there are apples still on the trees everywhere. I have never seen apples on the trees that late in the year and there are still apples on the trees right now. is there a reason the apples are on the trees so late this year?
In many parts of Ontario it was a huge year for apples. Not all of them fall particularly if the tree is wild and the apples are small.
Some trees hold their apples late. The old timers used to have "winter apple trees". They have smaller hard apples that only ripen in late October. They are frost resistant and will stay on the trees into December. If you store them on a shelf in a cold cellar, they will get a bit rubbery as they dry out, but will still be okay to eat through to march/april. I've got a couple of these up at my bush lot.
I have a lot of apple trees on my property. Some hold apples almost all winter. One year, after a crust formed on the deep snow making it hard for the deer to get food, my son and I knocked maybe 500 apples off several trees using a long stick. The following day ALL the apples were gone, deer tracks everywhere. This year I did the same with a tree that was loaded, same thing. I also noticed the deer are eating wild grapes along a fence row. There is a cut corn filed on the other side of the fence, I guess they prefer the flavour!
We used to pick Russet apples, green leathery skin and sweet.Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
ive been knocking apples down on a property I hunt to ensure the deer can get to them lately as well... figured why not... my trail cam is getting pics of a doe and her two fawns who seem to be enjoying them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ouzel
have a few trees that were so loaded with apples I just knock 20-30 down every time I'm in the woods..
I guess that's Mother Nature's way of taking care of her little friends ? I wonder what kind of a crop we will have this year ?
It depends on the variety of apples, not all trees drop their apples right after they ripen. We have one at the hunt camp that holds its apples into deer season but the bow hunters usually have it picked before that.