Complacency

Complacency -  A feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.   So I was complacent and now the question is... can this tree survive?  I had it sitting out for several weeks with no deer damage, but last night was 1 night too long.  So can it come back or anything I should do?   This makes me so angry at myself!   I could easily have had it in my fenced in garden (like I did last year), what a bonehead!  : )      Bill     (Getting old I guess.)

It sure can survive.  I'd guess 80+% chance of life.  Just put it in a protected place (from deer that is) and let it heal.  Hopefully it will put out new growth yet this fall.

Thanks Mike...does have a couple of leaves.  Just may set it back like a year, I guess.   I do know one thing, I won't let it happen again!

I don't think it'll even set it back a year, honestly. Trees, even young ones, are designed to get pruned back like that. Some of my young trees get eaten back by the deer a couple of times a season, and they grow back and thrive. Fall will be here soon enough anyway and it'll be nice and dormant

My feeling is it will be fine, and may even benefit from it.

My personal mistake with fruit trees is letting them fruit too early. The weight of the fruit bends the stems and then the tree can't establish a good structure. These days I prune quite hard in the first few years to make sure the frame is good. The deer have done that work for you

The branch with the most leaves on is from the rootstock.  Should I cut it back some, would that be beneficial in the scion's recovery?  I tend to leave one stem from the rootstock survive to keep it viable in case the scion fails for some reason.  Thanks for all the input!  Feeling better now.    

I guess I'd leave it for now and cut it off in winter, but that's just me, it might be better to cut it off now.

I may just cut off like half....I did that with another graft and the rootstock branch then just shot out new growth.   Some new leaves are already beginning to form on the "deer ravaged" scion.