#2517287 - 09/11/11 10:01 PM
Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
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jmb4wd
8 Point
Registered: 10/03/07
Posts: 1043
Loc: Christiana, TN
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A couple of weeks ago, on the farm I was putting some plots on, there was a big hill side that had been covered in Kudzu. They had burned it off, and a dozer had cleaned it up down to the dirt. While I will admit, I have never had any experience with kudzu other than driving by it, I know it is an erosion control experiement gone wrong.
While spreading seed, I noticed kudzu starting to come back, and I got off and looked and man I was floored at how may runners this stuff produces, and now I know how quickly it can take over.
The whole reason for this post is that the deer had been hammering these kudzu runners and the more I looked the more I found. I guess it is just young tender growth. BSK, Quailman, others, any research on whitetails feeding on Kudzu?? [img] [/img]
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#2517321 - 09/11/11 10:54 PM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: jmb4wd]
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smstone22
16 Point
Registered: 01/11/04
Posts: 16269
Loc: Allardt, TN
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Deer love kudzu around here. Common to see herds standing all in patches of it.
_________________________
-QDM=Better Deer, Better Deer Hunting - Fentress Roots 200 years and growing
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#2517358 - 09/11/11 11:50 PM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: smstone22]
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TNDeerGuy
10 Point
Registered: 11/28/06
Posts: 4477
Loc: Old Hickory/Mt.Juliet, TN
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Deer will hammer kudzu because it is legume, just like any other bean. The only problem with it is generally the population isn't dense enough to control the growth of that extremely fast-growing vine—several feet a week in optimum conditions!
_________________________
Rammer Jammer, Yellow Hammer—Give'em Hell Alabama! Roll Tide!
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#2517434 - 09/12/11 06:42 AM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: TNDeerGuy]
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Bayou Buck
8 Point
Registered: 05/11/09
Posts: 2162
Loc: Spring Hill / Perry Co
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I've always heard that deer love it but I dont want any of that stuff around my place.
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#2517456 - 09/12/11 07:14 AM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: Bayou Buck]
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eastTN270
4 Point
Registered: 11/18/05
Posts: 460
Loc: Morristown
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Same situation here. We had a large area just overtaken with Kudzu. Had a dozer come in and take everything down to dirt, burnt everything we could, then the next year sprayed the whole area and killed it all. This year the stuff is still coming back. Deer will eat it, but from my experience only when it is young. When it is full grown for the year I would bushhog some lanes through it and the deer would be all over it when it started to regrow.
_________________________
"The only purpose for a pistol is as a means to fight your way back to the rifle you should have never laid down".
Vegetables are NOT food, vegetables are what FOOD eats.
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#2517551 - 09/12/11 08:30 AM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: eastTN270]
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DOC1187
16 Point
Registered: 06/14/08
Posts: 10384
Loc: east tn
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wow
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#2517565 - 09/12/11 08:35 AM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: DOC1187]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59555
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Yes, deer eat kudzu. The problem is, kudzu can grow almost a foot per day. It grows so fast, deer just can't eat enough of it to control it.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#2517588 - 09/12/11 08:57 AM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: BSK]
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Quailman
8 Point
Registered: 08/04/03
Posts: 1329
Loc: Winchester, TN
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I agree with what the others have said and yes, deer eat kudzu. However, because of it's invasiveness, I would do anything possible to remove it from my farm ASAP!
_________________________
Why work when you can hunt?
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#2517937 - 09/12/11 01:15 PM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: Quailman]
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BowGuy84
10 Point
Registered: 09/16/07
Posts: 4847
Loc: Nashville, TN and Louisville, ...
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Not nearly as much in KY and I'm thankful for it. Around Hardeman Co and parts of East TN I have seen acres upon acres upon acres covered and nothing else growing. I'd be terrified if it was close to my place.
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#2518313 - 09/12/11 06:06 PM
Re: Weeds deer need to eat MORE of!! KUDZU
[Re: Quailman]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59555
Loc: Nashville, TN
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I agree with what the others have said and yes, deer eat kudzu. However, because of it's invasiveness, I would do anything possible to remove it from my farm ASAP!
With whatever means necessary.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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