# Will deer eat apricots?



## lg_mouth (Jun 7, 2004)

I have a chance to buy some fairly cheap (for fruit trees anyway) apricot seedlings and was curios if deer eat them? I would like to use them to hunt around whenever they matured. Thanks for the info.

Lg_mouth


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

I don't remember them eating them, though I'm sure one did occasionally. Regardless, they ripen long before season comes in. I'm thinking mid summer.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

They might not eat the fruits, but they'll probably eat the saplings before they get big..


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## Bonemann (Jan 28, 2008)

I've sat in my tree stand and watched deer eat 
brown dead leaves off the ground.
They snuck in behind me and when they started
crunching I about jumped out of my skin (lol).
I couldn't believe my eyes once one tried it the
other two joined in.

After seeing that I believe that deer will eat just
about any vegetation.(Weather they like it or not).


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## noweight (Mar 16, 2008)

One of the biggest bucks I have ever seen had a half-rotten apricot hanging from his mouth. I was visiting a farm that had a big apricot tree just outside the window of the guest room. Every afternoon for three days deer would trail in to eat the fallen apricots. It was a busy place. The buck (the huge buck) visited 2 of 3 days. They will eat them all right, if you can get them started.


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## NRA Guy (Nov 13, 2007)

get persimmons if they are avail.....


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## bajuski (Apr 9, 2004)

Apricots aren't easy to grow in Ohio, they are the earliest of all fruits to bloom in early spring and usually get frozen out by early frosts, although you're further south so you may be ok. And like mentioned by M.Magis, the fruit ripens in early July, so the timing is way off.
Apples I would say is their favorite, that's the first tree that they strip buds from and they don't bother plum, apricot or peach trees much because the buds are so much smaller. I would plant some late ripening apples like Granny Smith if I wanted to attract deer. I had to put an electric fence around my apples to keep them from damaging them, that's the only effective way I found.


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## Nikster (Mar 14, 2007)

Don't know about Apricots, but they sure LOVE pears. I have 6 Apple trees & 1 overproducing Pear tree. We get anywhere from 100 up to 300 pears a season. Can't keep up with them. Got to a point that a select few of my friends come & pick them & can them.
As a end result there are some that do (natural drop) fall, after a week or so on the ground they start getting mushy. Thats when the Deer really gobble them up.
Oh, Coyote's also. Drove in the drive this past Fall & counted 6 of them scrounging around & eating them.


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## lg_mouth (Jun 7, 2004)

Thanks for the info guys, that is all good to know. Yeah, they won't do me much good if they are gone by the start of the season. Thanks for filling in the info where my lack of research left off. 

Lg_mouth


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