If I was to start over I would go with all crab apple trees. For my zone they just do much better. Disease resistant is another big deal but most crabs are. Drop time is the other big one. Again if I was starting over I wouldn’t plant anything that drops before the last week in October...
I have a property 450’ wide by 24 acres deep. Deer primarily cross through the middle of the property. I plan on having the property logged and push all the tops to the property line making it only possible for the deer to cross at the each end of the mess.
Maybe they have a camera on you. They sit in your sanctuary looking at pics saying “ Dave thought he had us patterned” and laugh. Keep after it, one of them will slip up for you sooner or later.
Holy bucks Batman. Can you tell them to look at the camera. I made a quick trip up today as we popped up in the 20”+ zone on the weather this morning. Closed everything up in case I can’t get back in the driveway. Weather does not look good for next few days. I will be hunting southern zone...
I had does with fawns walking around all weekend with no bucks looking for them. I had 4-5 bucks on camera in the last couple nights but all in the middle of the night.
I would like to see you plant corn for one year with your current numbers. The reason being shed hunting. We planted three acres of corn one year when I was I high school just for the deer. I found sheds of 12 different bucks the next spring. It would be a cool experiment.
You can probably leave them out all winter at those temps. If possible I would put them in a group and cover them with leaves or dirt. I wouldn’t put them in garage while they are green.
Do they even eat the corn? Do they roll in it? Bears are starting to take over my place as well. Multiple piles of bear crap under my apples. Luckily they have only broke one tree so far.