Do deer really eat hickory nuts?

[deerslayer333]

Hi all I was just wondering if anyone has seen a deer eat hickory nuts? I've read on several different sites that they will eat them but I just don't see how the can crack the shell to get to them! I have to use a hammer to do it and last I knew deer don't have opposable thumbs If they do they sure leave a lot of them on the ground in my hunting area.

[charlie 01]

I have often wondered that too. I have seen them eat mulberries, wild grapes, and black rasberries. It will be interesting to see if anyone has seen them eating them. I too don't see how they can.

[shaman]

I have not seen it. Around my place, the squirrels seem to eat all the hickory nuts. However, I know every book that is written on deer put hickory nuts on the cervid's menu. If they're eating them at my place, I sure don't see any sign.

[kellory]

Maybe they are a garnish, like that little sprig of parsley on you plate in them fancy places......

[msbadger]

Yes they do ...and don't ask me how but I have stands set up next to both pignut and shag bark hickory trees and have watched them...it's strange ...because they roll them around in the mouths and manage to crack them...they eat my hazel nuts and those are even harder than the hickory......They also walk off with them in their mouths...for I find them all over the property....bits and pieces of husk and shell on the deer trails...This unlike the remnants from squirrel and chipmunk

[w4sar]

Thanks Ms. Badger, good to know. The acorn crop is almost non-existent by my stands this year, but there are lots of hickory nuts.

[Deebz]

I think we'd be surprised at the things that deer actually do eat. Has anybody seen the youtube vid of the deer eating the bird? I seem to remember reading somethign along the lines that deer will hickory and other nuts with harder shells, but only after the more desirable and easier to eat foods have been mostly eaten.

[kellory]

yeah Deebz, I saw that video of a small deer eating a bird. They will also strip the bark off trees if they are hungry enough. That would be why our parks had to thin them out, they were killing a lot of trees!

[deerslayer333]

Wow I had no idea since I have never witnessed them eating those nuts myself. Well I guess my hunting spot should be good for a long time after all the acorns are gone because there are more hickory trees than oaks. Thanks for all the responses.

[Everyday Hunter]

I would suggest that deer eat hickory nuts, but not all hickory nuts. Some are, as mentioned above, so hard that you need a hammer to open them. Others have shells that are quite thin. I suspect deer favor some hickory nuts over others.

Steve.