Osage Orange - Deer eat it?

[LanceS4803]

Something is eating the osage orange balls that have dropped. I find some that have been broken into and parts apparently eaten.
Internet search showed that horses eat them (hence other name of Horse Apple), but nothing on deer.
Any idea, as no horses on this land?

 

[catman529]

I doubt deer eat it but I could be wrong. Squirrels will shred them in half to get the seeds out to eat. That's all I've seen... evidence of squirrels eating them. They are lying there with half of them chewed out and little shredded pieces lying around the fruit.

 

[Boone 58]

havent read where deer eat them but the wood from the osage orange was used by the indians to make Bows............

 

[ttf909]

deer eat the hedge apples all the time.

 

[hunter drew]

Yeah when food source start going down. They well step on them (almost like softing them up). And eat them on the cold days

 

[Lincoln Co Archer]

Yes they will. The bucks that have been killed on our property this year have been full of them.

 

[ttf909]

in our area they seem to love them. we have lots of ag and food plots so the herd seems pretty healthy. they also eat the locust pods like crazy.

 

[pressfit]

Never seen one even look at them.. BTW around here most people call them bodock trees..

 

[TN24081]

This is an exert from hedgeapple.com

Am interested in white tail deer and horse apple . Do whitetail deer eat them?
I can only speculate and that they do not. I have not heard of any reports other than squirrels, cattle and horses eating hedgeapples. A deer's mouth would seem to be to small for hedgeapples and they can't rip them apart like squirrels. However once they freeze and thaw, the offensive taste disappears and they become soft enough for a deer's mouth. In this condition, a squirrel will pass up a nut tree for hedgeapples.

 

[MossyOakChick]

I have found these and am sure its deer. Our mast was way down this year. I may hunt here this weekend and see if I can catch the deer at them. They are alot of them around this area on the deer trails and a new rub there too.

 

[BSK]

Osage Orange is not high on a deer's food preference list, but yes, they will eat them.

 

[Homebrewer]

Yes, they eat the Osage Orange and like UT said they love the Honey Locust pods. I have seen does come in on my oats and go stright to the locust pods.

 

[jmlost]

Raccoon seem to really like them... I have heard that if you put a few under your house they will repeal bugs....not sure if that's true or not had an old farmer tell that years ago.

 

[buckhorn40]

Yep they eat em!!

 

[BowGuy84]

I've goat a stand set next to a thicket of them for late season. Its terrain, but the sign in late season the past two years has shown feeding sign and lots of poop.

 

[Football Hunter]

If they are starving.