Saturday, July 18, 2009

It's All About The Food

"Find the food, find the game", my dad and uncles used to always tell me. During September in Missouri the fox squirrels and gray squirrels are already cutting hickory nuts, it sounds like rain when the shells hit the leaves on the way down.


Pic courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickory

In early bowhunting season in Missouri the preferred deer food is persimmons. Deer flock to eat the tasty fruit when it hits the ground, the same for ripe apples. I've seen deer about break their necks standing on their hind legs trying to reach the highest apples on a tree.



Come rifle season in November white oak acorns are the tasty morsels the deer want. Many times I watched does feed all day long near my stand in Rothville MO. One small buck I shot one year was so engrossed in eating white oak acorns we walked right up on him as we tracked another deer my uncle Larry had shot just minutes earlier.



Last week my hunting partner Rick (Westy) and I were checking on a local spot for some varmint calling. As we turned to leave we spotted these band-tail pidgeons dive bombing some scraggly looking trees along an old abandoned orange orchard.

"Hmmmm", we wondered, they can't be loafing in those trees in the 102F heat. What are they doing?

A closer look with the binos gave up their secret, fresh fruit was hanging on some Blue Elderberry trees.

1 comment:

Holly Heyser said...

I like that! And I'd add to it:

Find the food. Find the game. Find your food.

Another interesting thing I heard recently is "If you find ticks, you'll find game" - the ticks go where there's somethint for them to feed on.

All good info!