Narrowing down Florida food sources

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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SwampApe
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Narrowing down Florida food sources

Unread postby SwampApe » Sun Jun 28, 2020 4:54 am

Besides acorns, what food sources are you other Florida guys looking for? There is so much browse down here I feel like they can just walk wherever to find food throughout the year. I’m in southern/central Florida so there aren’t any persimmons that I’ve found. Do the deer Eat swamp hickory? Thanks for any input.


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Eddiegomes83
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Re: Narrowing down Florida food sources

Unread postby Eddiegomes83 » Sun Jun 28, 2020 12:07 pm

SwampApe wrote:Besides acorns, what food sources are you other Florida guys looking for? There is so much browse down here I feel like they can just walk wherever to find food throughout the year. I’m in southern/central Florida so there aren’t any persimmons that I’ve found. Do the deer Eat swamp hickory? Thanks for any input.

As you walk through the swamp....look at the undergrowth.....you will see what plants have been nipped off. You will start to see what plant they prefer to others. There is one plant in particular that i dont know what it is calles. It has broad spade shaped leaves. Seem to nip those alot.....that and they love BlackBerry bushes. Not the berries per say but the bush itself. Nothing beats acorns though...and not all acorns are equal or drop at the same time....around me the deer seem to prefer live oak acorns over others.
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SwampApe
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Re: Narrowing down Florida food sources

Unread postby SwampApe » Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:52 am

Eddiegomes83 wrote:
SwampApe wrote:Besides acorns, what food sources are you other Florida guys looking for? There is so much browse down here I feel like they can just walk wherever to find food throughout the year. I’m in southern/central Florida so there aren’t any persimmons that I’ve found. Do the deer Eat swamp hickory? Thanks for any input.

As you walk through the swamp....look at the undergrowth.....you will see what plants have been nipped off. You will start to see what plant they prefer to others. There is one plant in particular that i dont know what it is calles. It has broad spade shaped leaves. Seem to nip those alot.....that and they love BlackBerry bushes. Not the berries per say but the bush itself. Nothing beats acorns though...and not all acorns are equal or drop at the same time....around me the deer seem to prefer live oak acorns over others.


Okay I’ll do some more looking next time I’m out scouting. I’ve noticed the same with acorns here. First they hit the scrub oaks, then they hit the water, then once the live oaks drop they go to them. I have read that there is different acidity levels in the water oak vs the live oak and that’s why they prefer the live oak.
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PK_
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Re: Narrowing down Florida food sources

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:07 pm

Early season - Aeschynomene

Late season - Flag lillies or Gallberries.

There is a bunch bunch of other browse obviously but those are some that can impact where pockets of deer will be, also the freshest burn area is worth checking out depending...
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