apple trees in bear country

[borrowed time]

anybody here have luck planting apple trees in bear country? I have stayed away from such plantings because of deer browse, but I now think apple trees are a good thing, look at the old homesteads, apple trees are there for a reason. Fences keep the deer out, I am afraid that once the trees are mature and have apples, it wii be hard to keep bears out. Anyone have suggestions, other than shoot them?

[243dave]

You need a good dog !!

[efremtags]

It's the circle of life, you plant apples, deer come, you shoot the deer, you now have 2 things to eat...

Fence it in, unless your area is polluted with bears, should not be a problem. My co-workers all live in an area in NY with a lot of bears, garbage marauding is an issue during the early spring. In the fall, they rarely see bears around the house. Given that's when apples come into season, that should be a good indicator. The fall is rich with food sources, so animals tend not to get into trouble with sources close to homes. 

[1sourdough]

 We planted some apple trees in bear country this spring. This is out in the bush in the U.P. of MI. I'm going tomorrow to fence them for now & wire mesh the trunks. Any fruit is years away & if a bear were to damage them, it wouldn't be to bad as long as the continue to grow. Our main hazards are deer,beaver, & bear.

[bilmac]

If it were feasible I would use a tall electric fence to keep the deer at bay and I think that the bears would learn to respect it too. They make solar fence chargers that seem to be very reliable.

[borrowed time]

I've seen apple trees in the Crandon area in Wisconsin that were old trees from 30's and 40's homesteads and when the apple crop was really good the bears literally destroyed the trees to get the apples. Every year now we have more bears, hardly see any fawns except in lake country where the deer live near the cottages. I wonder if any repellent would keep them away.

[no guns here]

Electric fence or a .30-'06... one is temporary and the other is permanent.


NGH

[243dave]

Hey, did I mention that a good dog works pretty well !! 

[teddy12b]

I'd plant the trees.  If they get destroyed sell a guided bear hunt on your property to make up for your losses and then some.

[borrowed time]

Dave, the dog idea does not work unless you live there. The wolves also go after the dogs barking, many bear dogs in Wi lost their lives already.

[243dave]

Ok, the dogs are a bad idea. You might have to get a solar charger and run the electric fence.

[Travis Morgan]

Fences keep the deer out,

Since when?

[arky65]

Do not know if this will work for bear but so far it has worked for deer, if you have electricity. The guy I purchased my trees from gave me his surefire deer repellent.

String electric wire at about hip height around your orchard, using heavy duty aluminum foil make a pouch, fill pouch with peanut butter and attach to the electric wire and energize. The deer now give my orchard a wide berth.

arky65

[fknipfer]

I wonder how pit bulls and wolves do.  Hmmm interesting thought.  Might lose a pit bull but I'm sure he would get his licks in.  I agree with fella who said a 30-06 works well.

fknipfer

[workin man]

Dogs seem to keep bears away from my house and there is no shortage of bears here ( and plenty of things to attract them to the house). No wolves here, but lots of coyotes. They only seem to come around at night when the dogs are indoors though.

[The Hermit]

Apple fed bear is mighty tasty.


   The Hermit

[deadrabbit]

I dont have bear in my area but have deer and have 7 apple trees from 10-12 years old, lots of apples.

Rutting was a big problem at first on my apples and my hundreds of other young trees.  The sprays do work but I just didnt like it as I have so many trees.  I tried hanging CD's (the music ones, not the money ones lol) in my trees and the reflection from them keeps them away to a point, and the neighbors will know you are crazy.  The main thing I had luck with was taking dirty stinky socks and tying them around branches on the trees.  You need to change them with new dirty ones, one pair a day.  Human urine will help too if you dont have neighbors that will see you peeing.  I really didnt do anything this year except shoot my guns a lot, and I think that makes deer scared of the area.   I did seem to stop the rutting by keeping a plastic cover or hardware cloth around my trees up to the bottom branch.

Even if the deer get to the tree and eat apples, they likely wont get the ones up high and that will leave you more than you will use.  They will get on their hind legs to get them.  Dont plant dwarfs, plant semi-dwarf or standard if you want a 30 foot tree.  The dwarfs are short and the roots arent as strong.  Plant way more trees then you need.  Even if you waste some, they are still pretty.  Just my 2 cents.