Question:

A number of areas that I hunted in 2G 10 years ago filled in with "beech brush" since the deer population declined. They are growing underneath the canopy of mature trees, and it is so thick, you can hardly walk through with a rifle in hand. My question is: how will this affect the forest in the future? Will these jungles of beech saplings eventually bare nuts? If so, when?It's spreading, and that doesn't seem to be a good thing.

No one has a comment on this?

Up here it is rummored that it takes roughly 30 years for beechnuts to grow from them. I doubt it takes that long as I have seen some smaller trees loaded with those beechnuts. Some of those small trees will be dying out in a few more years so that the healthier ones will be able to grow better..

Beech bark disease is running rampant in 2G. Trees that die from this malady, send up shoots from the roots. These shoots are also diseased and will never make nuts. If you are in an area with alot of dead beech, you can bet those shoots are worthless.

Even though beech is not a preferred browse species wouldn't those beech sprouts provide more browse than any other tree species for a longer time?

I don't know. But one thing I noticed in the areas where this beech is coming in so thick, is that there is no noticeable browsing going on that I could see.

If the deer have other more preferred browse available you won't see much browsing on the beech. Also, at this time of the year leaves make up a large part of a deers diet and they don't do near as much browsing as they do during the winter.

Up in this neck of the woods it is the main food supply for deer and bear as well as turkeys that we have coming around now.The beech nuts supply the fat that they need for the long winters.. Tall beech trees here always have deer moving in and out of them looking for those nuts.