I've read two articles, now, in the last two weeks.....touting NOT overlooking Maple trees (when the leaves turn red and fall) as food sources. The last article said deer would forego a green bean field for these delicacies.
Do you know where these trees are on you land? I have NO FREAKIN IDEA.....lol. Never thought of it.
Deer do eat maple leaves. I don't know where they fall in their order of preference though. Maples are pretty easy to identify, the leaves are obviously different than oaks, ash, hickory, beech, birch, etc. I'm sure an on-line search will find you some ID info.
You'll find maples mixed in with other forest trees on some drier sites, and you can find stands dominated by maples (red maples) on wetter sites. Then again, your hunting area may have few to no maples. If that's the case, and you have deer in your hunting area, don't worry about maples. They're always eating something, so key in on what they are feeding on.
For the first couple weeks of my archery season, it seems white oak acorns are the preferred food.
The author was talking baout hunting while there were still green bean fields. He said the deer would, for a short time, leave the still green beans and feed on the leaves if they were abundant. Then....they'd go back to the beans.
I know what a maple looks, like..lol....but I've never viewed them as a food source for the deer I'm hunting.
Once the beans turn brown which is by fall and before the leaves fall they dont hit them much until late season if they are still around and other food sources diminish.
Hey sport you been catching any big bass this year?
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TONY I.D. 1416
(Kenosha *BRATWURST* Killer)
I have most definetely seen them eat them. Mainly on immature trees that still have the leaves on them (green and red). I don't ever remember seeing them eating leaves off the ground though after they have fallen.
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"I do not Hunt animals to Kill them. I kill animals because I Hunt." Roger Rothhaar
One of my favorite spots is an inside corner with a stand of maple trees. I see deer cutting this corner all the time, but I've never once seen them eating the leaves.
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1995 Ford Ranger XL
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They love maple leaves. I've mostly seen them eat the green sugar maple leaves off of the smaller saplings. It must have something to do with the sugar content of the leaves. This is well before leaf drop.
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Quote:
So there I was, Nov 12th 1996, flying down the highway, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, windows down for scent control.
The article was saying (most recent one I read in D&DH) that it was due to the sugar content.....and that the most sugar was in the ones most recently fallen. It even went into how they could tell the difference in color (I "think"....but could very well be mistaken....but they were believed to like the red ones, best.....meaning already turned) between the brown/yellow-ish and red leaves (actually not worrying about color, come to think of it...). I think they said they could tell the ones they liked by smell, alone (based on sugar content). Amazing.
It's an interesting article if you get the rag and have a few minutes. It's pretty short. They said deer would frequent these trees to find the most tasty leaves....then move on. It also said fallen leaves were a food source for most all whitetails. That's something I've never considered.
Leaves
