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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: jonsimoneau on October 10, 2009, 01:52:00 PM
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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?
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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
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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?
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Anyone else?
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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.
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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.
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/kyTJ/Stands/PA100677-640.jpg)
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/kyTJ/Stands/PA100675-640.jpg)
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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 (http://tmuss.tripod.com/bean.wmv)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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
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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.
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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
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I HAVE SEEN THEM EAT THEM BEFORE.1ST. TIME WAS ABOUT 5 YRS. AGO IN NOVEMBER.SMALL HERD OF DOES WORKING BY STAND PICKING ACORNS AND ONE CAME UP EATING ONE OF THOSE PODS.I ASKED SOMEONE AND FOUND OUT DEER WILL EAT THOSE TOO.
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Love to find a Locust tree. Around here the deer seem to only concentrate on them in the late season when there is not much else for them to eat. In years with lots of acorns the deer may not (hardly) touch the locust pods till after the season closes. Some years they are the best late season places there is.
Mike
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KS Trapper- yes I have seen does and fawns eating the hedge balls. Sorry Jon for taking the thread off locust a little bit.
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I have one stand that overlooks a couple of trails. Every year the same buck has come and eaten the locust beans. He's the only deer I've seen eat them.
He should be about big enough now that I might have to see if he wants to go home with me.
Mike
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Thanks for the info guys. Got in a little mid-day scouting in an area that I have not hunted in a few years. The place is full of Honey Locust trees. I really did not find too much evidence of the deer eating them, but the tree rats were going crazy over them. I'm going to keep tabs on them through winter and see what develops.
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After reading KYTJ's "Freak Nasty" doe thread I was wondering about Black Locust and Honey Locust bean pods.... ? He suggested I start a thread when I ran across this one so back to the top for a good read.
TJ, as soon as I get a break in the torrential rain I am headed to, " The Graveyard ", Mason and I found last year. I will scout / hunt it and see with this year's total mast failure if they are eating the bean pods. Could be a winner in lean mast years and teach Mason a lifelong lesson on how to adapt and overcome in years with no mast. I will also try to confirm if they are black or honey locusts that are in this grove. It is an area about 100yds square full of locust trees. Will post updates later..... :readit:
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NoCams brings up a good point and I really am not 100% sure our trees are honey locust. They may or may not be. I am just calling them what my Dad always told me they were. They could be another species for all I know. In my area it is a hit or miss with them. Seems they don't eat them from every tree. Not sure why either. Not even sure all deer like them. Maybe it is just a few deer that like them or have figured out how to get to them.
Any biologist out there????
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I watch deer eating them off a tree in the edge of my yard every year.They love them.
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i have honey locust tree at the end of my driveway across the road and sometimes have deer feeding on them as i go to work. they stop and look up and my headlights catch there eyes. makes it hard to go to work!
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I have watched several deer in late season walk by in Fulton county with the Honey Locust pods hanging from their mouth. It has never been bucks mostly does and yearlings.
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Honey Locust trees are generally covered with very long "spikes" or thorns, if you will. You couldn't climb one if you wanted to as the tree is absolutely engulfed with the thorns. Everyone I have seen has the thorns.
Also, the pods of the Black Locust are thought to be toxic. Obviously, the pods of the Honey Locust are edible.
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Honey Locust tree:
(http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh472/ishoot4thrills/Honey-Locust-tree3.jpg)
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Originally posted by ishoot4thrills:
Honey Locust trees are covered with very long "spikes" or thorns, if you will. You couldn't climb one if you wanted to as the tree is absolutely engulfed with the thorns. If it ain't got the thorns, then it's not a Honey Locust.
X2, Pretty easy to tell a Honey locust tree from the others.
Tracy
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The deer really seem to hit them hard after some snow, however several years I was hunting on opening day (Sept 15) and had 5 different bucks come into a locust tree to eat the pods. I have hunted near this tree several times since and have never seen any deer eating the pods in Sept. I don't know why that tree was so good the one year.
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My daughter is pre-med and she just told me from one of her botany classes that she thought, as ishoot4thrills said, " pods of Black Locust are though to be toxic. " I do know that locusts make fine fence posts and the Cherokee Indians around here made selfbows from Black Locust trees.
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I have a couple treestands in Honey Locust trees. I just take the extension saw and cut the thorns off before climbing. The bigger trees don't have them in clusters as bad as the above photos.
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Now Columbo is thinking........ would the deer have eaten in this grove of Black Locust and poisoned themselves by mistake last year ? Was that the reason we found, "The Graveyard", full of dead deer last Jan ? We had a HUGE mast crop last year so there were plenty of acorns to eat ??? I thought all these dead deer were from what we commonly call Blue Tongue disease that is caused by a gnat. Now I am wondering.....
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There is a honey locust without spikes.My neighbor has one in his yard.The pods keep falling in my yard each year.
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Originally posted by KentuckyTJ:
NoCams brings up a good point and I really am not 100% sure our trees are honey locust. They may or may not be. I am just calling them what my Dad always told me they were. They could be another species for all I know. In my area it is a hit or miss with them. Seems they don't eat them from every tree. Not sure why either. Not even sure all deer like them. Maybe it is just a few deer that like them or have figured out how to get to them.
Any biologist out there????
I've found I know absolutely nuthin about deer(from the deer themselves) They give me lessons all the time! :D
But honey locust are branching trees with 6-8" pods and 4-6" thorns in clumps on the bark of the trunk and on limbs, and black locust many times are straight with few limbs ,grow in groves and have shorter thorns and pods too.
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Sorry, slow typer here!
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Honeylocust, Thornless Gleditsia triacanthos inermis
A fast-growing tree with fragrant spring flowers. Its delicate, open silhouette lets grass grow underneath. Tiny leaflets turn yellow or yellow-green in fall. Pollution, salt and drought tolerant. Adapts to a wide range of soils. Prefers full sun. Grows to 30' to 70', 50' spread. (zones 3-9)
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Deer eat honey locust pods from the time the first one hits the ground until the last one does. There is a reason why they are called "honey" locust. They pods are sweet. There is no tree in the woods with pods anywhere resembling those of honey locust. The pods are large and generally dark or black in color by the time they hit the ground.
They are simply called "bean trees" here in the south and sought after by early season bow hunters. One variety is thornless. I've watched rabbits eat them as well. It is the sweet pod that is attractive, the bean just comes along for the ride. :)
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Could it be that the thorn-less variety is an exotic(non-native) species of honey locust brought here for decorative reasons and has since turned "wild"?
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Toxicity ; Black locust's pods are small and light, and easily carried long distances. Although the bark and leaves are toxic, various reports suggest that the seeds and the young pods of the black locust can be edible when cooked, since the poisons that are contained in this plant are decomposed by heat. In France Robinia pseudoacacia flowers are eaten as beignets after being dunked in batter and fried in oil. [10] Important constituents of the plant are the toxalbumin robin, which loses its toxicity when heated and robinin, a non-toxic glucoside.[11] Horses that consume the plant show signs of anorexia, depression, incontinence, colic, weakness, and cardiac arrhythmia. Symptoms usually occur about 1 hour following consumption, and immediate veterinary attention is required.
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I've seen deer go after them pretty good once their's snow on the groung.
doug77
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The thornless variety is native and has been cultivated for shade trees for many years. They can be as invasive as the thorned variety.
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Funny that I should run across this thread today. Just yesterday while scouting I came across a Locust tree and made a note of its location. I'm with the rest of you guys. Seems when the temps drop and the snow falls they come calling for the bean pods. Since I'm hunting flooded Missouri river bottom and all the crops were flooded, you can bet I'll be set up by the Locust tree when the time is right.
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Honey locust and Green briars are GREAT late season food sources especially when there is a good freeze or heavy snow fall. Feild crop/grains are mostly gone or frozen to the ground, The long pods can be pulled from the ground and the green briar stands above ground. I have "go to" spots that I love to hunt when the deer switch to this food source. Put your trail cameras up around these sources to see what has survived the gun seasons as well a good buck may hang back eating these waiting for dark before entering open feilds.
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It seems to me, Jon, in my area that they are not at the top of the list of food choices, so not really a destination in the early and mid season. That said, late in the year, when other food sources are tougher to come by (especially in this day and age of "clean" farming where there is little waste grain and most of that is covered up by disking the stalks down to practically bare dirt), the locust trees become fairly good draws for the deer.
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Post scouting report from, "The Graveyard" today.....
Even though it was still pouring rain I had to get back in there and see if. " The Graveyard", was full of Black or Honey Locust trees.... ? Well, they are all Blacks, no Honey. I would rather scout in the rain than eat when I am hungry ! Love being able to slip in their bedroom without any noise and rain to wash away my scent. Still wondering about why all these deer were found dead here last year and if they indeed did poison themselves by eating these Black Locust bean pods ?
I also found ZERO bean pods this year... Maybe a late frost got the beans like it did the acorns in my area this year ? Or maybe Black Locust only have beans every other year like Red oaks only have acorns every other year... ?
So, my theory of hunting bean pods since we got no acorns got shot to h*ll, go figure !!! However, this is still a heck of a thicket and is FULL of honeysuckle and deer beds. Also found rubs and scrapes too. Setting up to hunt it morning and evening a few times on a NW or SW wind and see... ?
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I have lots of them in the areas I hunt and rarely see any activity or interest.
I have seen them hit the Catalpa leaves pretty hard as well as Osage leaves that dropped due to frost..
(Basically still green)