Deer Food Choice

[scarecrow]

Hickory nuts or walnuts? Any thoughts?

[lpcjon2]

people in Jersey use corn, grow a food plot.

[Vesty]

Hickory nuts are preferred by whitetails.

[Sam McMichael]

Do deer eat such hard shelled nuts? I have always relied on acorns or as lpcjon2 suggests, a food plot.

[Pat B]

Sawtooth oak or pecans

[Tajue17]

white oak acorns.

[tracker12]

White Oaks have always been king where I hunt.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Although I have never seen deer eat Walnuts, I also have not seen them eat hickory nuts much when other food was available.  With that being said, there have been several Hickory woods where I cut my teeth on hunting where deer were always traveling.

[Pat B]

White oaks take 75 years from acorn to acorn(planting to fruiting). A sawtooth oak will start producing acorns in 7 to 8 years and are very prolific.
Persimmons are a big draw also.

[ChuckC]

Walnuts have a very heavy / hard shell, normally surrounded by even more armor.  I'm not certain most critters besides skwerls can routinely crunch them.  

All of the other nuts / acorns seem to have less formidable outer coverings and likely, for that reason, might be more sought after by deer.

Now, if they are baking cookies.... definitely the pecans....

ChuckC

[Joey Ward]

There ain't no way I'd let deer have the walnuts.    

Even if they did eat 'em. Ha!

And I try to kill every squirrel that would rob me of those delicious nuts.

[Jon Stewart]

White oak is candy to them BUT if you are baiting and can afford to use them, potato chips.

Disclaimer:  My dad lived in the U.P. of Michigan and my son delivered potato chips.  My son gave the dated chips to my dad to feed the birds and he couldn't keep the deer away from them.

[scarecrow]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. We do food plots and corn. I was thinking of planting 2 persimmon trees for sure.

[Possum Head]

Pat B said it, Sawtooth is quick growing and first to drop in our area. WMA folks plant them anytime oak plantations are started. Persimmons are also a great choice, I've got a wild variety but should have planted the larger Japanese version 10 years ago.

[NY Yankee]

My in-laws grow grapes. They say they lose 40 percent of their grapes to deer every year.

[achigan]

Persimmon trees come in male and female, make sure you get both...
https://www.qdma.com/articles/sex-among-the-persimmons

[Fletcher]

Sawtooth oaks are native to Asia and are an invasive spices in North America.  A little Google research gives some insight that suggests we should think twice before planting them.  Chestnuts might be a better idea.

[Pat B]

American Chestnut hybrids and getting pretty reliable and were once 40% to 70% of the Eastern Woodland canopy. The good thing about chestnuts is their bloom time is later so late frosts rarely affect them, unlike the oaks.