Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

[TiggerLueb]

So I was talking to a friend this summer and he was trying to get some chestnut trees to survive the heat and dry weather. I was curious about why the chestnuts and he said that whitetail deer love chestnuts. I dismissed this as a fluke deal and went on about my way. Then talking to my cousin at a Thanksgiving party, he has some chestnut trees going as a food plot replacement. I typically deer hunt around certain oaks in mid-Missouri because deer eat the acorns when they are available.

What do you know about chestnut trees and the chestnuts?
What time of year do the chestnuts fall?
Any information about this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[toytruck]

I have four Chinese chestnut trees in my yard that I planted around twenty years ago. They were supposed to be dwarf trees no bigger than 8 ft. tall, they are now over 30 ft. tall. I can't reach the top to spray them. Chestnuts are bad to get worms in the pods, even on the tree. Japanese beetles love the leaves also.
When I do spray them it sounds like rain when the dead beetles fall. The pods open up in mid September to late October and fall off the trees, the wind helps too. The pods are spiney and look like a velcro ball, you will have to rake them up if you don't want the mower to chew them up and have those spines all over the yard.
I grew up with chestnut trees on my parents place so knew what I was getting into, but the wife loves them, so you know how that went....
As far as deer I'm sure they would like them, but the mess they create is a lot of trouble. Now after all these years the trees are dying an should be topped off.
Native chestnut trees used to be extinct due to worms eating the wood. (wormy chestnut wood is valuable)
If I was you I would look into persimmon trees, deer love them too!