pawpaw trees

[catman529]

anyone else noticed higher fruit set this year? early this spring I saw a few in one hillside that were absolutely loaded with blooms. More recently I have seen another patch down by the river that had far more fruit than usual. Maybe there will be a few left when archery season opens. Is it worth hunting around these? Fruit set usually goes from late August through early October with most fruit dropping in September. If they aren't early this year like everything else has been, my thinking is there will be some for the very beginning of deer season. Worth hunting the pawpaw patches or no? Bet I could find one on the WMA pretty easy.

 

[Good time Charlie]

Just follow your nose..you would do better in a grove of persimmons,Not saying they have not eat one ,but I hunt where they are plentiful and have never seen them eat one .Now others on here will tell you different,Might be the same bunch that has seen them eat hickory nuts....I still cannot see how that happens...never seen a deer carry a Stanly hammer.

 

[timberjack86]

Just follow your nose..you would do better in a grove of persimmons,Not saying they have not eat one ,but I hunt where they are plentiful and have never seen them eat one .Now others on here will tell you different,Might be the same bunch that has seen them eat hickory nuts....I still cannot see how that happens...never seen a deer carry a Stanly hammer.

Yep just the opposite here, Coons and coyotes eat most the persimmons and deer love the pawpaws. Also seen deer eat hickory nuts many times in late winter early spring when all the acorns are gone.

 

[Chaneylake]

Just follow your nose..you would do better in a grove of persimmons,Not saying they have not eat one ,but I hunt where they are plentiful and have never seen them eat one .Now others on here will tell you different,Might be the same bunch that has seen them eat hickory nuts....I still cannot see how that happens...never seen a deer carry a Stanly hammer.

our deer seem to stand and wait for the pawpaws to get ripe, on the other hand I have never seen a deer eat a hickory nut and we have our share of them on Chaney

 

[horn master]

never seen a deer carry a Stanly hammer.

LOL

 

[bowriter]

Seen deer them plenty of times in the last year or so. In 50-plus years of hunting, never seen a deer eat a hickory nut but I guess in a starvation situation they might try.

 

[timberjack86]

Seen deer them plenty of times in the last year or so. In 50-plus years of hunting, never seen a deer eat a hickory nut but I guess in a starvation situation they might try.

BW when I bought my new place back in febuary the deer where wearing out the hickory nuts. I have also seen this a few times at work around feburay early march. It seems to me there must not be much on the menu at that time and the deer really take a liking to them. As for how the eat them I dont know unless the shells are weakend from laying on the ground a few months.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

Deer do eat hickory nuts. Year before last a buddy was telling me that they were eating hickory nuts before walking into the clover plot, I thought he was crazy and so I inspected. he was right, later in the year I heard them doing exactly what he said. This year I looked at the same hickory trees and found a white oak good enough to climb. Worse case scenario I kill them when they walk into the clover plot, if they stop to eat hickory nuts I will kill them there.