What type of acorns do deer eat

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Sign me up for the latest Whitetail news. Signup Successful Your email address will need to be verified before you can log into your account. Knowing how to recognize the differentiating characteristics of each oak species and learning to identify those species in all seasons — for instance, in winter when trees have dropped their leaves or in summer when there are no acorns on the ground — aid in two things we care deeply about: Finding Deer Hunting Success Improving Rural Property Value Oak Trees: Red Versus White.

Post Oak. Red Oak Group: Acorn Profile 1. Northern Red Oak. Water Oak. Pin Oak. Bonus: What about the Sawtooth Oak? Select States. West Select All Colorado. Midwest Select All Illinois. North Dakota. South Dakota. South Select All Alabama. North Carolina. South Carolina. West Virginia. Let's say a deer eats grams of acorns 3.

For comparison, a boiled egg and a half cup of black beans each have 6 grams of protein also, but zero carbs. Whitetails prefer certain species of acorns over others. This is largely due to an acorn's level of tannic acid. The less, the better. The tannins are bitter and can make the acorn's protein more difficult for deer and other animals to metabolize. You can learn how to remove the bitter tannins found in acorns at hunt-food.

Photo: Hank Shaw. Native Americans depended on acorns as part of their diet, particularly the Yurok and Karuk tribes of California. The shelf-life of an acorn — which Native Americans would store up to two years to compensate for off years when the mast crop wasn't abundant — made these nuts useful as an insurance food staple. Not so much. But the tannin can be removed. Although deer eat acorns, their preference is based on the type of oak tree from which the acorn comes from.

This is because different oak trees produce acorns containing variable amounts of tannic acid. Tannic acid or tannins can affect the palatability of acorns. This is because the higher the levels of tannins present in an acorn, the more bitter it becomes hence the lower tannin-containing acorns are more palatable and preferred by the deer to the high tannin acorns. Deer can refuse to eat acorns for two main reasons. The first is if the acorn has a high level of tannic acid while the second is if the acorn has started to go bad especially after some days of falling.

In the absence of these, deer are normally known to feed on acorns. This little bit of knowledge can, therefore, serve as a guide for deer hunters during the hunting season since they can locate deer around oak trees or use acorns in their deer traps.

Deer lovers and wildlife conservationists can also key into this and plant a few white oak trees around to encourage the presence of the deer around their homes. Have questions or comments?

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