While the wife was cooking dinner she said, did you know deer love to eat pumpkins? Me no, she said look it up.
I did the G search and they all came back saying deer really like pumpkins, just smash them on the ground and dinner is served.

Does anyone else chunk pumpkins or other non standard things out there for the deer to eat?

I’ve done it and they ignored it.

Had a neighborhood big 10 up on my porch eating pumpkin out of the antique wheel barrow years ago. Put pumpkin out by a feeder, in front of a trail cam, and nothing touched it.

My neighbor feeds pumpkins now daily. She says she has to cut them open or smash them first, but the deer really seem to like pumpkin!

Of course, this is in a seriously overpopulated deer herd in a residential area devoid of almost all natural predators: they're hungry.

She also puts out dry dog food, and I've seen her hand-feed it to one of the nicer-racked bucks.

The dog food tends to also attract raccoons, foxes, and stray cats as well, but she seems to be fine with that!

FWIW, the lot that my house sits on has several dozen live oak trees, and they rain down acorns all over the driveway.

One year, after an especially robust acorn crop, I swept them all up and hauled them down to my dad's little McMullen County ranch. I spilled them out in a large scattered pile at the intersection of two senderos, with corn trickled farther out in either direction for 150 yards or so. I was somewhat surprised to see multiple deer walk right on past the acorns to snarf up corn in the road and up at the feeders.

It took several days for the acorns to disappear. But, this was in the middle of mesquite and black brush country, so I guess acorns weren't a typical or particularly recognizable food source for those south Texas deer.

I've tried the pumpkin thing at two places with no luck at all. Also, no luck with apples, Guess there not a Texas thing for deer.

I chopped up a couple of small pumpkins and the deer ate them. I’m in NW Tarrant county.

I have tried pumpkins and acorns from my neighbor's trees and deer ignored both.

Always dump my acorns from house around feeders.

My deer will plow down the red oak acorns that I have dumped in feeder pens, also the big burr oak spiny acorns. Surprisingly, the don't much care for the oak green acorns. That said, their preferred table fare is corn followed by protein.

Same.

A few months ago I picked up about a 55 gallon drum of pears and put them out for my deer. They sat undisturbed for several weeks. I did catch several coyotes coons and even foxes carrying them off on trail cam. The deer did eventually eat them.

Deer in the panhandle have never seen an acorn, or pumpkin. Tried both and they rotted away.

Not sure they have seen alfalfa, but they smoke it.

Apples and pears that we consider edible are too green for deer. Fermentation makes it taste better to them. At least that's my experience in the hill country. And the wax coating slows it down, so poke some holes in the fruit to let some air in.

I picked up a bunch of Spanish oak or red oak acorns as a kid and took them to our lease poured them out at the feeder and newer ate corn around them.

years ago, I took a bunch of leftover pumpkins from a Sunday School Halloween party that had a carving contest. I dumped all the pumpkins and seeds beside one of my corn feeders. Nothing seemed to care for it and they rotted away. The next year, I had pumpkin vines going everywhere, the deer loved the blooms but that's about all they ate.

My dad had a prolific pear tree by his shop, all the pears that hit the ground with bad spots, he tossed in a 5 gallon bucket and took out to our ranch, the deer loved them and all would be gone within a day or two. One of our leases NW Llano, had an old dilapidated home place with several pear trees, when the pears started dropping, no need to hunt over a feeder, just hunt the pear trees.

I've noticed the deer love watermelon rinds. But we get more pumpkins so we'll give it a try

Had a buddy that lived right by Amon Carter lake and they had a pear tree in their yard, deer loved them!

Yep, we do it too! have some old grapes that are nasty, some old bread, old noodles, reallyt
kitchen scrapes and such, i dumped under a old oak tree near the house, put out old camera there,,,
at times some does show up for a snack! i keep them around the house.... still no bucks show up
yet!
Now i have one big beaver showing up at times..... not sure where he comes from!

I have a couple pear trees and take the ones that fall to the ground and place them around my feeder. The deer will clean them up quickly. Deer love persimmons too.

They love rose bushes too.

Jack in the Box Secret Sauce

Lead.


We have gourds and watermelons growing, that they can’t kill off it seems.

No matter what I try the pigs get there first.

Order of preference in my part of the world:

1 - Beech Nuts
2 - White Oak Acorns
3 - Whole Corn tied with Apples - My camp property has 300+ wild apple trees so hard to bait until the apples are cleaned up. I hunt the best trees until that happens and always bring home a few baskets for mother to make pies.
4 - Red Oak Acorns
5 - Soy Beans
6 - Alfalfa
7 - Purple Top Turnips - Once ground is frozen this moves to number 2 and everything else moves down a spot.

Won't touch pumpkins or carrots in my area but i know in some parts of the world those are go to baits.

One of my go to trees that is still holding a few (pic is from a week ago):



Filled a doe tag here last week with the bow.