Deer and honey locust pods

[jonsimoneau]

Has anyone actually hunted deer near honey locust trees and observed them feeding on the pods.  I have had a number of people tell me that they kill deer off of them.  My area has a lot of these trees, but I have never seen deer eating the fallen pods.  Anyone?

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Yes, But they usually don't start eating them tell after the first few frost for some reason around here.

I have seen them eat them many times and have some video of it.

Tracy

[jonsimoneau]

Really?  I had better start paying closer attention to that.  Will they actually come to the tree to specifically feed on them like they do with acorns, or just casually munch a few here and there?

[jonsimoneau]

Anyone else?

[Pat B]

A good friend's son killed(rifle shot) his first deer eating honey locust pods. Had one in his mouth laying under the stand.
  Honey locusts have a sweet taste to them. The frost may enhance the sweetness like with other natural foods.

[KentuckyTJ]

Jon, It's amazing I get home from hanging this stand and see your post. I did a little walkabout today and wondered under this honey locust tree. There were chewed open seed pods everywhere. Looks like the next favorable wind will be Monday evening. I'll climb aboard then and hope for the best. I'll let you know if I have any luck. The deer in our area love them. I've hunted them in the past.

T.J.

   

   

[Morning Star]

I think they use them when they are convenient in the early season.  Say, browsing through an area.  But I have seen them also be a major food source in the late season when all the fields are heavily covered.   A few years back I came  upon a tight group of locusts in early January.  It was a brutal winter and some of the most concentrated / heavy deer sign I've ever seen was around those locust trees.  You could tell the deer were bedding and eating at the same time.  
I always keep an eye out for trees with pods, just incase I could use them for a late season sit.

[jonsimoneau]

Wow do I feel dumb!  15 years of bowhunting and intense scouting, and I have never noticed this?  Wonder what else I have missed out there.  I'm going to keep an eye on them from now on!

[KentuckyTJ]

Jon, as many acts of nature this isn't a fool proof scenario. We have many trees they don't seem to touch just as some acorns from certain trees are left until last picking. Not sure why some are hit and some are not. May be the local deers palette, or maybe due to what else is available in the immediate area as far as food sources. Who knows, if I ever figure that out I'll be a miracle worker. This tree sits right on a huge soybean field. May just be the deer are there anyway and hit them passing through. Who knows. I hung a camera on the spot so when they hit them next I'll know.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

They eat them like mad after they have frozen at least once.The freezes concentrates the sugars in the seeds.
 They also will eat the white leaves of mulberry trees with relish. They usually only eat them at night feedings because they can see the white leaves at night and smell the honey locust pods.
I have a buddy I haven't heard from in a few years in Michigan that hunts out of a honey locust tree with a selfbow he made from one of it's branches.
Deer usually go from agricultural crops to soft mast(wild fruit) to white oak acorns, to secondary foods like locust pods, then to red oak acorns during bow season through to snow falls heavy. At least in my experience that is how it semms. I will add the caveat that just like most people don't like to eat the same meal everyday deer like a bit of variety and may vary this pattern and hit secondary and tertiary food sources as the mood strikes them. Not just when nessecity demands it.

[adeeden]

I don't notice the deer eating them much around here until it gets cold or there's snow on the ground. Then they go after them like all get out!

[Fletcher]

Yes Jon, I've seen them eating the pods before on a few occasions, but I've not had much luck setting up over them.  I suspect they are more of an incidental type thing.  Still, If I found a spot with freshly eaten pods, I wouldn't hesitate to hunt it.  Just might find out it was mostly skwerls; learn something new every day.

[Tom Mussatto]

Jon, here is some old video I took several years ago of a doe feeding on a bean tree. This was early November and the buck was sticking to her like glue. You can watch her munching on a pod at about 3 minutes into the clip.

   Doe eating bean pod

[Herdbull]

Jon, I think honey locust have longer pods, but I hunt property that is full of black locust. I have seen them eat black locust pods, but mostly like other have said, after a frost or late season when other food/ browse is less available. The same is said of osage orange (hedge apples), they will concentrate around these trees and eat the balls after they have been froze solid, especially in sub zero weather. I'm not sure of the nutrionla value, but during cold weather deer will eat all kinds of stuff to keep digestion and bacteria cultures going.

[Izzy]

I park to drink my morning coffee next to a fenced in area that encloses municipal  water lines.There are a few trees in the enclosure that I didnt really pay attention to.Late last winter I noticed that the village employees left the gate open and the whole enclosure was covered in deer tracks.I thought someone was feeding them but on closer investigation I saw that they were eating the black locust pods.They cleaned them out in 2 days.I think they are an invasive trees around here but where you can find them it seems theyre real good late season food source.

[Mike VanBuren]

I used to hunt a farm near Gettysburg, Pa. I've seen deer feed on them every evening like clockwork in early to mid October before frost. They had corn, soybeans and acorns available, so I think they are a preferred food. I guess they were honey locust. The tree was full of thorns.

[Longbowwally]

Yes - they are deer magnets...Usually November and later around here when they fall....I killed two bucks on the same hunt 2 seasons ago(November) eating the pods - I saw many deer eating them on that hunt...It may not look like a lot of sign under the tree when they are on the pods, but if you've got honey locust pods falling in an area that has deer, you can bet its a good spot to hunt...

[K.S.TRAPPER]

The deer that I have got to watch eat them eat the whole pod and leave nothing, They really seem to like them.

Mike, I have seen deer eat the hedge balls also and like you said after they have been frozen and soften up some. I have only seen bucks eat them not a single doe. Have any of you seen any does eat them?

Tracy

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

I have not seen deer eat the pods or the hedge apples, but the last couple of times out, the cows were eating the hedge apples.
They seemed to have a preference from one apple to the next as they  would nuzzle two or three before picking one.. Then occasionally they would spit one out and take another.
Obviously a difference even though they came from the same tree.

[Jack Whitmire Jr]

I saw deer eating them in late November here in 2007 and wondered what they were eating. After climbing down that morning I knew what they were. I hung a stand near there and a friend took a late season doe from the stand . I will be watching that place thsi year as the acorns were a total failure this year.

Jack