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woodsrunner
Senior MemberPosts: 2,725 Senior Member
Everything That Makes A Living In The Woods Eats Corn
Don't know if this totally accurate or not, but I'm going to run some tests and see what results I get. I'm pretty sure it is probably right though. Close friend and former classmate in forestry school told me this a day or two ago. He specialized in wildlife management and my specialty was forest management---natural environment, not commercial forestry. Anyway, we were talking about deer coming to my corn hull pile big time apparently due (I thought) to a high sugar content in corn grain hulls. My friend, Jim, says the deer are after the non-gmo aspect of the hulls, and not the higher sugar content. He said if I wanted proof, to get a 50 pound bag of WalMart deer corn, dump it out on the ground and 20 or so feet away dump out 50 pounds of my non-gmo corn that I use in my grits business. He says that without fail the deer (squirrels, coons, birds, everything) will eat every grain of the heirloom corn before touching WalMart corn or any gmo hybrid. I'm going to check this one out!
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Paddle faster!!! I hear banjos.
Reason for editing: correcting my auto correct
HvyMax....I understand what you are saying, but I'll offer this minor correction for your consideration. We have been assisting, so to speak, Nature by SELECTIVE BREEDING for thousands of years, and corn is an excellent example of this. Results have been great and not harmful! BUT....we have not been physically and chemically maneuvering individual genes within an organism for much over 25-30 years now. Monsanto is the industry leader in this. (Remember Agent Orange?...Monsanto). GMO corn has been genetically infused with genes from shellfish (I've read) to build resistance to glyphosate (RoundUp). To date 63 countries of the world have outlawed this, but your president has decreed Monsanto total protection from GMO related lawsuits. I wonder why? Selective breeding, what you are referring to, pays dividends big-time in either plants, animals and people, so let's keep it up!
Ned....It is the corn, I'm pretty sure. Old heirloom stuff that produces a big, flavorful kernel through the selective breeding that HvyMax refers to. As for White oak acorns that you reference, remember I've beat my drum and pounded my tambourine for several years here on the Board pointing out that deer will search out white oak acorns FERTILIZED with a custom blend of 17-17-17 fertilizer! (12-12-12 will work if you don't have a source of the other). This is one of the cheap and simple tricks we've used in wildlife management to draw in deer to localized areas. Simply scatter about a cup of fertilizer per inch of tree diameter at ground-line in late February-early March, and again in August. Works on the black oak species also, but white oaks are a little better.
Your suggestions WILL be used! Remember, though, you're dealing with an old dumb Georgia Mountain Country Boy, but I do have a strong background in forest and wildlife research projects with the USFS and Auburn Univ. But more importantly...."my edjukation ain't replaced my Awareness" and that's just as important :tooth:
Mainly what we have here in Southern Texas is Live Oak. The deer here will take live oak acorns over any corn or grain. This is like candy to them and on years when we have a bumper acorn crop in the late summer-early fall, we can't seduce deer out in the open until most or all of the acorns are gone or rotted in December usually. I've thought about picking up a couple of tow sacks full when they first fall and saving them in a cool dry area and putting them within my fenced in feeder in December. I think this would be too much for Mister Bucky to resist no matter how much he's been shot at.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
That's why my turkey feeders have warning signs:
TURKEY FOOD ONLY! DEER FEEDING HERE WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT!
Jerry
Yeah I do that too, I have a sign that says Hog food only, but deer are hard headed critters so I have to shoot a couple every year to show em I mean business.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
If you want to attract deer find White Oaks, and especially Swamp Chestnut Oaks, and fertilize them as I suggest and get ready! I swear the deer will stand around close-by waiting to HEAR an acorn hit the ground!
Well no white oaks around this close to the salt. They have a deep tap root that will find saltwater and kill itself. Live Oaks as you know have relatively short roots that go out more than down.
Back in the 80s and 90s I had a Burr Oak in my yard I planted as a little sprig. Now about 30 years later that's a sizable tree. I ride by that old house now and then and look at it in wonderment, thinking how little it was when I planted it. I believe the Burr Oak is a member of the white oak family.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.