Hazelnuts

[Novatrapper]

Hi everyone,

I came over from the other site and this is my first post on the new forum.
My question is, do deer eat hazelnuts or do they just browse the foliage? I was thinking about adding some to my food plots but I can't seem to find any information on whether deer eat the nuts or not.

Thanks

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Good question. I don't know if deer will eat them, but I'm going to guess not unless they are really strapped for food. If they're all like the wild hazelnuts I have they're probably to small to be noticed much by deer and the shells are hard to boot.
However, they do browse the leaves and they make great thickets. The squirrels, chipmunk, and birds will appreciate them too.
Oh, and welcome to the forum btw!

 

[dogghr]

Deer love hazelnuts both the nuts and the tree. Gotta protect to get them started. I planted another bunch this year. They are also supposedly easy to propagate from burying creepers on the ground. I think Native Hunter or Dogdoc showed this on past forum.

 

[Novatrapper]

Thanks for the replies!
I'm definitely going to Plant some and give them a try, I've been planting lots of other hard and soft mast trees but wasn't sure on the hazelnuts.