Hunting Forum

Good Question! It all depends on what other food sources are available when you're hunting. If there's standing corn and/or soybeans all around deer will ignore acorns in favor of crops. Once they are gone then acorns may be the next to attract their attention. But remember deer are browsers. This means they eat a little here and a little there. So deer coming through your hunting setup may just stop by for a couple acorns and an arrow/bullet.

Posted By gutpile on 28 Oct 2012 11:57 AM 
But remember deer are browsers. This means they eat a little here and a little there.

I agree deer are browsers and they eat a little here and there.  But the term "Browsers" does not refer to their habit of only eating a little and then moving on.  It referrs to the type of plant life they eat.  Browse is a term used to define the type of food they eat.  It is the tender leaves and young twigs or stems of woody plants.  For the most part. deer do not compete for forage with livestock.  Deer eat the woody weeds and plants that livestock don't normally eat.

As for the acorns, I know the deer eat the acorns or mast from the trees in the area I hunt, but I tried what you're suggesting several years ago.  The deer never toched them.  They ended up staying out there all season.  I don't know if the acorns I put out had a different flavor or scent about them or what.  The acorns I collected were gathered from about 200 miles from where I was hunting.

http://www.whitetailfood.com/whitet...rowse.html

I agree with grandpops as the term browser is being compared to grazer (plant material compared to grass and grain) . They do like the candy (corn) but they must eat plant material to survive due to their digestive system . White acorn trees are the best and are hit above all others first because they are a bit sweet compared to the others , but they gobble up the protein from the red and other oaks as well . My observations over the years are they like them fresh on the ground and on a ridge will drop down following the acorn drop and then settle for the left overs after they all have fallen .

The problem with gathering acorns, or any other mast crop for that matter, is exposing it to human scent contamination. When I gather pears that have over ripened on the ground, I never touch them with my hands. I use a pitchfork and put them in a dump trailer that is left outside under a pecan tree all year long, then haul them whever I want to put them. I've never had a problem with the deer not eating them. I have to believe that gathering acorns from near a driveway or from the yard, would probably have some scent associated with a car or truck, lawnmower, or humans who have walked on them.

Also, deer will avoid corn fields, corn piles, and food plots in order to eat acorns, since acorns are the most natural food source and the animals have a preordained preference for them. Once the supply has been exhausted, they will return to the other sources.

It is all a bit baffling to me too. I have sat in stands and watched(and heard) deer chomping on acorns but it never seems to be the "preferred" food. One of my stands right now is set up in an oak tree. I am surrounded by several other white, red and black oaks and a bunch of persimmon trees. I have hunted out of it 3 or 4 times and haven't had a deer within 80 yards of me. I am hoping as the temperature continues to fall and more of the persimmons drop that the deer will start showing up.