2nd Most Overrated Deer Food

[The_Fit_Ness_Monster]

Whenever I find a wild orange tree I hunt it religiously, it’s crack to deer.

 

[2Sloe]

Our persimmons seem like a real slow burn from my experience in KY. Some trees will begin dropping in mid- late September and often still be holding some fruit well into December. Deer eat them, but there's not the sense of urgency like when a white oak is real hot. I don't remember ever intentionally killing over a persimmon. Seems like a different scenario for the guys in the South.

Same here. Persimmons seem to get ignored by both the deer and crap ton of hogs. White oaks have that sense of urgency because the whites have less tannins than the reds, which makes them sweeter and favored over the reds. With less tannins, which is a preservative, they also spoil much quicker, especially if they get wet.

 

[raisins]

Around here, I think hunting food is overrated in general, in a sense (unless you have planted or baited something irresistible in a spot with security cover).

I say this because security is higher on the deer's list of immediate needs than is food (can't eat if you're dead). Very few mature bucks will expose themselves in an unsafe area during daylight to eat white oak acorns. They will, however, ignore acorns and seek cover as needed.

If you happen to find good bedding/security cover with a preferred food source, then you're money, but browse is so common here that I find it better to target cover and travel routes and let the sign tell me where the deer are likely at.

This will obviously vary some place to place and time of year.

 

[mattpsu1]

So back in Jersey, when I was a kid, we did a lot of baiting in the Pines. The deer loved apples. There wasn't an apple tree for miles and miles but they loved them. Close to home we got permission on a farm that had pear trees but no apple trees. We'd pick them up and use them for bait. The deer tore up the pears. We had bait piles in both locations w/ apples and pears. On the farm, they would eat the pears and not the apples. In the Pines, they would eat the apples and not the pears.

I know an older fellow who called them pineapple trees. Says the deer loved them.

 

[BTaylor]

Our persimmons seem like a real slow burn from my experience in KY. Some trees will begin dropping in mid- late September and often still be holding some fruit well into December. Deer eat them, but there's not the sense of urgency like when a white oak is real hot. I don't remember ever intentionally killing over a persimmon. Seems like a different scenario for the guys in the South.

Where I was there were a lot of trees right together, all dropping ripe persimmons. Not a single deer track, no partially eaten fruit, no nothing. Coming from hunting river bottoms here in AR where persimmon are a major draw for lots of critters, it was really odd to see. I have heard plenty of folks say deer wont really mess with honey locust but here if you find one dropping good pods they will be a shooting gallery.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Around here, persimmons are #1 overrated. I just never find a persimmon tree that has any fruit on it, and I have looked a lot. I see lots of persimmon trees. Just none that are worth a darn.

 

[BTaylor]

Around here, persimmons are #1 overrated. I just never find a persimmon tree that has any fruit on it, and I have looked a lot. I see lots of persimmon trees. Just none that are worth a darn.

Probably finding male trees. Here, the males will generally have a little wider crown than the females. I have found a few trees I suspected to be female that have never produced too though. When you find a female bearing it will produce most years.