Buckthorn, what’s the truth?

[North Lakes Farm]

is this buckthorn?

Is buckthorn bad for deer?

I know it’s invasive etc etc & takes over etc etc, but before I go nuts trying to control it, I’ve heard it stays green longer than other stuff & deer will browse it when everything is gone. Is that a small positive compared to the negative?

 

[Bucksnbears]

I know I'll be the odd man out on this... but...., I believe what I see, not what others tell me to see.

Where I live, the riverbottoms and (what's left) of abandoned farmyard are thick with buckthorn.
It's where deer bed when the pressure is on. Few people will penatrate a BT thicket.
One of my go to favorites is to hunt a nasty BT thicket. deer here will move freely at all times of the day in them.
My favorite hunting habitat is a BT thicket mixed with a few big burr oaks and boxelders.

 

[Hardwood11]

Buckthorn sucks in MN … but the deer do bed in it !