Winter Japanese Honeysuckle

[Native Hunter]

First pic is a place where deer can't get to the honeysuckle. Second pic is where they have access to it. The two places are 50 yards apart with the same amount of sunlight. This is vining honeysuckle - not bush.

 

[j-bird]

I don't see a lot of browsing of it here on my place. As such I transplant it along some woven wire fence to help with a screening project. Like you can see it is sort of an ever green here as well. I don't have a high deer density so that may be why I don't see a lot of it browsed here in farm country. I find it in other places trying to grow up trees as well, but I try to keep that from happening...and keep it in the reach of the deer in case they do decide they need a snack.

 

[Native Hunter]

I don't see a lot of browsing of it here on my place. As such I transplant it along some woven wire fence to help with a screening project. Like you can see it is sort of an ever green here as well. I don't have a high deer density so that may be why I don't see a lot of it browsed here in farm country. I find it in other places trying to grow up trees as well, but I try to keep that from happening...and keep it in the reach of the deer in case they do decide they need a snack.

it’s eaten hard in the winter here. The same deer that eat this wouldn’t touch a turnip.

 

[THE LLC]

Looks like all the honeysuckle at the farm—-at least within deer-reach.

 

[j-bird]

it’s eaten hard in the winter here. The same deer that eat this wouldn’t touch a turnip.

I have an issue with deer avoiding turnip as well....at least for the most part. It took a foot of snow on the ground here before my deer showed any real interest in turnips. I am sure my vine honeysuckle gets browsed some...but just not to the extent that you show. That may be some sort of regional preference, or t may be a difference in habitat make up and deer density...it's hard to say. The fact that you are watching what they do like is important and can help guide your efforts to ensure they have plenty of it.....might as well give them what they like.

 

[SwampCat]

Deer love honeysuckle at my place and disdain turnips. Hogs wont even eat the actual turnip roots - and that is saying something if a hog wont eat it.

 

[Native Hunter]

It might be hard to find a better winter food plot for deer than a place where young saplings are coming up with honeysuckle climbing them.

 

[Paradise725]

It might be hard to find a better winter food plot for deer than a place where young saplings are coming up with honeysuckle climbing them.

In my experience, I agree. However, a lot of the “native habitat” guys will tell you to spray out that honeysuckle and try to encourage growth of native species. I specifically asked on a forum what they would replace it with and no one had anything other than a generic answer. Of the list of non natives we deal with, I plan to spend zero time trying to get rid of honeysuckle. I just see it getting hammered too often to believe that it’s really that poor of quality.

I’ve watched many deer browse the honeysuckle in my edge feathered food plots rather than eat the wheat, rye, turnips, clover, etc that is right there next to it so I have a hard time believing that deer browsing honeysuckle is an indicator of poor habitat.


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[Native Hunter]

In my experience, I agree. However, a lot of the “native habitat” guys will tell you to spray out that honeysuckle and try to encourage growth of native species. I specifically asked on a forum what they would replace it with and no one had anything other than a generic answer. Of the list of non natives we deal with, I plan to spend zero time trying to get rid of honeysuckle. I just see it getting hammered too often to believe that it’s really that poor of quality.

I’ve watched many deer browse the honeysuckle in my edge feathered food plots rather than eat the wheat, rye, turnips, clover, etc that is right there next to it so I have a hard time believing that deer browsing honeysuckle is an indicator of poor habitat.


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I totally agree. My farm is covered with plenty of other native foods they could choose from, but the heaviest browsing in winter will be honeysuckle and greenbrier. We have lots of greenbrier in the woods, and the browsing is very evident like it is with the honeysuckle.

As far as working on invasive species, I have enough sweetgum to keep me busy for many years.

 

[George]

This was my work area yesterday and looking at the picture it is apparent the Jap honeysuckle is indeed being browsed. I probably squirted some of those stems with triclopyr. I may have to rethink, perhaps just burn it off and let it grow back closer to the ground.

I watched a Grant Woods video yesterday where he had a picture from one of his savanna areas that he created of an un browsed smilax shoot to say how wonderful a food supply he now has that deer don't target smilax anymore. He went on to show browsed smilax in a woods to say that this property doesn't have enough food available. So I guess that this means Native doesn't have enough food available on his farm?



G

 

[Native Hunter]

This was my work area yesterday and looking at the picture it is apparent the Jap honeysuckle is indeed being browsed. I probably squirted some of those stems with triclopyr. I may have to rethink, perhaps just burn it off and let it grow back closer to the ground.

I watched a Grant Woods video yesterday where he had a picture from one of his savanna areas that he created of an un browsed smilax shoot to say how wonderful a food supply he now has that deer don't target smilax anymore. He went on to show browsed smilax in a woods to say that this property doesn't have enough food available. So I guess that this means Native doesn't have enough food available on his farm?

View attachment 21281

G

That has to be the problem and must be why I'm growing such scrubby little old deer..................

 

[Native Hunter]

And I guess it depends of who we want to listen to:

Japanese Honeysuckle is Great Deer Forage (buckmanager.com)

JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE - THE FOOD PLOT YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE - J. Wayne Fears (ruralsportsman.com)

What Deer Hunters Should Know About Honeysuckle | Food Plots and Land Management | Realtree Camo

 

[George]

I could show Grant browsed smilax all over his property. Conversely, I could show Grant un browsed smilax on my heavily smilax browsed property, not today but in a few months.

G

 

[Native Hunter]

I could show Grant browsed smilax all over his property. Conversely, I could show Grant un browsed smilax on my heavily smilax browsed property, not today but in a few months.

G

Yep, what I've found is that in the summer both the smilax and honeysuckle rebound, because the deer turn to the nice, fresh green forbs in the NWSG fields. Then when winter hits again and the forbs go dormant, we are back to the winter food which has grown back nicely from the summer break - a very desirable natural cycle of intelligent design.

 

[Native Hunter]

I guess I had better get started cleaning this mess up................

 

[George]

My goal is to continue creating such a mess up on the ridge.

G

 

[Mennoniteman]

This is a good thread on winter deer food, in the winter when the woods are brown, anything green is trump, especially woody browse which is abundant in some areas, and non-existent in others. There's one big factor that determines how much the deer have to eat in the winter in any given area; having 60-80% sunshine hit the ground is all that's needed in most areas to promote these different species of deer food.

 

[Native Hunter]

My goal is to continue creating such a mess up on the ridge.

G

You're off to a good start.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is another winter plant that is being hammered. The browse line on this is very evident. It appears to be some sort of wild growing eunoymus that came up in this fence row. I've never been able to positively ID it. Some folks warned me to kill it because it would become invasive, but I decided to watch it for a while before taking any action. It is eaten like this every winter, but I've never seen another one come up anywhere on the entire farm. I first noticed it about 8 years ago.

 

[massey]

Native, that looks like a strawberry bush.


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