Locust Pods as a food source?

[Buckfever]

It sure does seem from the evidence I've observed that the deer are eating these. What is the affinity of deer for these?

[ncboman]

Locust don't grow around here but I've read on other forums that deer sometimes eat the toxic beans. I don't think it's a primary food source.

How much activity/sign are you seeing under those trees?

[freedomrules3]

heres an article on soft mast that mentions hedge apples and locust pods among others.

www.dto.com/hunting/article.jsp?articleid=700

[Buckfever]

I was specifically thinking about the Honey Locust which is what I'm focused on as there is good density of those over here at this one park. Those pods I've read are sweet and highly sought after by deer. The thing that got me thinking about it was observing the seeds in the droppings last winter and then looking for the source of those seeds. Also I was finding them coming to browse in December in a thicket where there was an abundance of these Honey Locusts. The interesting thing that I'm observing is the diveristy of food sources in this federal park. I'll hunt the White Oaks and observe the deer eat voraciously away from the white oaks seemingly uninterested in the acorns. So my presumptions about food sources at this park are really being challenged.

I need to educate myself on food sources. Some of these bucks are finding nearly impenetrable thickets and have little reason to leave, because of the variety of the food sources, the White Oaks don't hold enough appeal to make them vulnerable. They're not interested in such sparse cover.

[Buckfever]

Oh to your question. This one spot, has both the Hedge apples and the pods in this one area. The fresh droppings right there in this area are shall we say robust the 2 times I've been in there. I've been very careful about picking the right wind and day to go in there. It's a very hard deal to get in there often and not impact them. But it is so thick in there and the foliage so diverse, that I feel rather clueless as to what may or may not be food sources. I just know that good bucks are making a habit of living in this thicket and am trying to decifer exactly why, beyond the obvious attractiveness of the cover.

[freedomrules3]

I agree about learning more about some of the alternate food sources that they may use a lot more than we may think. some areas of the woods have everything they need right there. they are lazy creatures at heart so they may not leave a specific area much. sort of like islands which seem to always hold enough goodys on them most types of wildlife can survive on them . I hunt 2 different islands that have a wide variety of food sources. many times I overlook the obvious when it comes to uncommon food sources, something I need to address .

[Buckfever]

Here's a picture of the trees:
www.washington.edu/home/treetour/hlocust.html

I actually set up in one last December and I'm pretty sure that I won't do it again. I slipped a little at one point and I swear it felt like the thorn was going to go through my hand.

Speaking of everything they need, there is a watering spot that I observed, with big tracks right there off of this area with excellent cover all the way to the creek.

Five years ago I would not have been able to find his staging area, without a chain saw anyway. There are other hunters hunting outside the thicket, setup in the "openings". As a matter of fact last year there was a hunter setup on the south east end of the thicket and the whole group 6 does an 8 and a huge 12, skirted past him around 50-75 yards from where he was setup. I backtracked as they did past him as well, this is what led me to discover the thicket. I talked to him afterwards. He never saw the deer.

It is an absolutely fascinating thing to observe their adaptation on the well pressured public land deer.

It's like the biologist keeps telling me. They're in there. Very few guys(I think there are like 2-3) are consistently successful. Mostly guys hunt this park a bit, and maybe get lucky before moving on. But for me it is absolutely fascinating to be able to study the adaptation, in an area where there are absolutely an abundance of trophy deer.

[txm]

The Honey Locust bean is an important food item for wildlife in the Northeastern part of Texas.
It grows in small thickets and a few trees will get 100 ft. tall, most are much shorter.
One interesting thing is that during severe drought it will shed some limbs to conserve moisture.
Most trees have serious thorns and some have none at all.
It causes many flat tires and we avoid driving near a thicket of these trees.

[BillCartwright]

I first learned about honey locust as a food source on a forum hunt a couple years ago. I found an area where there was abundant deer sign with no tell-tell signs of why. At the time I did not know about deer eating the pods. I kicked it around at camp and it was either ncboman or Davehawk that said that was why the sign was there. It was also during a fall where the mast crop has poor at best.

Then last season during January I turned my attention to one on a lease I have and we killed 3 January does coming to feed on the pods during the morning before going to bed.