Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Goats don't eat acorns

No. I don't much care for goat or sheep. And the owner is an attorney. We hope we can keep the lease.... that bastard would sue you if you shot his goats.

We got questioned to death on a dead turkey carcass half a mile away from where any of us hunt, and 2 weeks before season was open.....

Freakin lowyers.

I have a few scattered but related stories that pertain to this thread.

My Grandfather told me that when He was running a small store here, way back but I do not know when, He took his team and wagon to Little Rock to get some supplies. The distance is between 40-50 miles depending on where in Little Rock and what route was there at the time. He said that it was normally a 3 day affair, go 1 day, gather things 1 day and return the 3rd day. Anyway, his horses did well and made good time, so at the livery he decided to reward them with some good alfalfa, but they had never seen it and would not eat. He had to buy some prairie hay before they would eat.

Back when baiting deer with corn became popular here, I tried it. My deer would not eat the corn, just coons and opossums. I finally soaked the corn in apple juice and got them started, and then they would eat the non-juiced corn. Lots of corn raised here now, but not back then.

We have a lot of hedge bushes that are a relative newcomer to the area and they are becoming a nuisance and spreading fast. They have some small hard seeds on them but I never paid them much attention because they don't seem to fall off. On day back in the 90's I was coming back from taking my Dad to the Hospital in Little Rock, when I saw a goat on the side of the road, on his hind legs, eating those seeds off of the hedge bushes. The next day I looked at the ones on my place and sure enough the deer had browsed them as high as they could reach. I keep a close watch on them now and some years they are some of the main browse and others not so much, depending on other food sources. miles

Many years ago before feeding corn became the rage, the owner of the timberland I hunt in East Texas decided to try it after hearing about folks using it in South and Central Texas. The deer wouldn't mess with it for about a year or two.

I wonder if adapting to a new food requires a gradual change in gut flora besides getting used to it being around.

Most likely. miles