Start with your goal, not the tree
Everyone has different goals, so the best trees for you depend on where you’re located (your hardiness zone) and how you want to use the trees to hold and feed deer. The fastest way to narrow things down is to decide which parts of the season you most want deer on your property, then pick trees whose fruit drops during those windows. Ensuring you choose the right trees is critical to success.
The core idea: diversity + drop-time stacking
Diversity is essential when planting for deer — and that means diversity between species and within a species. Variables that differ from one variety to the next include drop time, disease resistance, consistency, taste, palatability, and yield. By planting grafted trees instead of seedlings, you get to choose those variables and build a better, more dependable plot.
The heart of the strategy is drop-time stacking: plant varieties whose fruit falls in a planned sequence so something is always dropping when you want it. Then you can hunt over whatever is falling at any given time.
Match trees to how you hunt
| If you hunt… | Target drop window | Lean toward |
|---|---|---|
| Early bow season | September–October | Early apples, early persimmons, early pears, chestnuts |
| Peak / rut | October–November | Mid-season crabapples & apples, persimmons, pears |
| Late season | December–January | Persistent apples & crabapples, late persimmons, late pears |
| Year-round herd health | August–March | A mix of all of the above |
Ryan’s general guidance:
- Bow hunters: find trees of multiple species that drop in September, October, and November.
- Late-season hunters: stack your property with multiple species that drop December into January.
- For the most benefit to the deer, plant trees that drop from August to March, and place them strategically so you know what’s dropping when — and can hunt over the falling fruit accordingly.
Why multiple species AND multiple varieties
- Multiple species spread your drop times and your risk (weather, disease, and browse pressure hit species differently).
- Multiple varieties within a species let you fine-tune drop timing and, critically, provide cross-pollination (apples, applecrabs, and crabapples need a different named variety nearby to fruit — see the Pollination article).
A simple way to build a plot
- Know your hardiness zone and only choose trees rated for it.
- Pick your drop windows based on when you hunt.
- Choose 3–5+ named varieties spread across those windows.
- Include at least two different names within the apple family for pollination (a long-blooming pollinator like Grams Gift™ Crabapple covers the whole family).
- Add protection (tubes/cages, bark protectors, weed mats) — see Protecting Young Trees.
- Plan spacing and sun before you order (full-size trees ~20′ apart, 6+ hours of sun). Planting on Your Highest ground is always better than your low ground.
Tools that help you choose
- The Fruit Drop-Time & Maturity Chart shows when each variety matures and drops.
- The site’s product filters let you sort by variety, growing zone, drop window, and disease resistance.
- When in doubt, contact Ryan with your zone and how you hunt, and he’ll help you build a variety list.
Minimum order
Because of shipping logistics, there is a minimum of 4 trees (products) per order.