Whitetail food sources

[Thinkin Rut]

I have to admit, this is a real weakness of mine. I'm not talking about corn, beans and acorns(even though I would love to know when the most favorite time in development that deer like beans). I'm talking about plants and natural vegetation in the timber.

If you want to add a few to the post, that would be great. Make sure that you add the timing also. A website or book would be of great help. THANKS!

[Old Buck]

Thinkin Rut,

Good question. I was hoping someone knew of a good source. I did a search and didn't find anything great. Maybe someone will still come up with something.

It's all about key food sources and you can never know too much.

Old Buck

[River1]

Two years ago, about a week or two after bow season ended (middle of Jan.) I happened upon a couple honey locust trees (within 10 yards of each other) which were the site of a massive feed. Two large locusts had an incredible amount of sign around them. It appeared that every locust bean on the ground had been eaten, with only small scraps left behind. The deer had bedded underneath the trees for what appeared to be many days. The amount of droppings, beds and wasted locust shells was incredible. This was a period that we had a lot of snow and cold temps. I would guess we had appx 8 to 10 inches of snow on the ground at that time.

One for the files.

[River1]

If you want good action during the first couple weeks of bow season, look for timber with only a handful of nut trees. One example would be the silver maple filled Mississippi River bottoms. With few oaks to choose, the deer will concentate on the few good masts available. Even red oaks will get hit hard in these areas. These masts will go quick, make your move fast. (First two weeks in OCT.)

[Old Buck]

Looks like no one can find an existing list so this will have to be done the hard way - everyone chipping in with their obervations.

I've found the same thing as River Bttm. Boy, acorns can be a great draw when they are having a good year. The catch is different kinds of oak are on different cycles and are responding to varying conditions from year to year so what you learn one year may not help for a couple seasons.

Seems to me that white oak acorns are the number one acorn and natural food. Last year in my area of SE Iowa they dropped during a heavy wind just before opening day.

As I reported last fall, they were cleaned up almost immediately by deer, turkey and squirrels so that by opening day my appointment with a certain big buck had been cancelled as he moved on to other food sources. There was so much disturbance under one group of white oak that a shed at least a couple years old was dug up with all the scratching and pawing being done.

Another favored whitetail food is poison ivy. I've found that areas with high deer populations usually have very little poison ivy. That is fine with me since I've already paid a high price for the first 35 years of nature study. (In my late 30's I finally developed somewhat of a resistence to the oil of the plant and have had only moderate reactions since)

OK, River Bttm. Boy has contributed some good info. Who else has observations they can share? Remember, we've got close to 2,000 years of experience out there!

Old Buck

[Thinkin Rut]

I'm taking notes and doing searches.

If I did my math right, we still have 1817 years of experience to speak up! Thanks

[mottspur]

Old Buck,I dont know if you already do this but,fertilizing your oaks on your hunting ground will make a big differance in your mast crop.I have been doing this back here in PA. the past few years.This past year we had a poor mast crop in our area and areas where I fertilized I had mast.I also do the apple trees on our property.Sorry to kinda get off the subject but I thought this might help.
By the way I hunted in your area in 2000,met some great guys at whitetail archery in Agency.Tad and Jason the owners, were very friendly and made me feel right at home.Cant wait to draw again,maybe this year.Sorry this post got so long.
Good Hunting, Mottspur

[Old Buck]

mottspur,

I've heard about fertilizing oaks for some time but haven't done so yet. I think it is a great idea.

I'm currently in the process of doing lots of tsi (timber stand improvement) on my place and fertilizing freed oak is part of the plan. It should also really help jumpstart understory development. So many ideas, so little time!

Thanks for the tip,
Old Buck

[iowabuck]

I've got a question that kind of pertains to this, do deer eat, what I've always called helicopter seeds; they fall to the ground twirling in the air. I just was taking a walk through some land and saw a stand of these trees and wasn't sure if deer eat these or not. thanks in advance. images/icons/rolleyes.gif images/icons/rolleyes.gif

[Rackaddict]

Here in S.W. Missouri we don't have the crop fields to hunt like you lucky ducks in Iowa so food source is always in question. Other than browse to feed on it's hard to say for sure what deer are eating. Of course when the acorns drop, they are eating them but they are quickly eaten and gone. I have noticed that the locust seeds seem to be a good source with heavy sign around the trees. The problem is that they are just about in every overgrown field or tract of timber we have. In the later part of the season the Hedge Apples are being eaten as well. I see alot of them smashed and spread all over the ground where the deer have been feeding on them. Same problem with them as the locust, they're everywhere. Every time someone suggests that I key in on the food sources I want to bang my head against a wall and tell them, "I'm from Missouri, SHOW ME....PLEASE!" images/icons/confused.gif Same goes for bedding areas, but we'll save that question for another post.

[Old Buck]

Richard,

I think you are talking about maple seeds, probably silver maple. I don't know how much they like the seeds but I have seen them feeding on freshly fallen leaves in the fall.

Rackaddict,

Outside of agricultural crops, food plots and acorns I can't think of many other food sources that I'd target. I have also seen them eating honey locust pods but not enough to be a hunting pattern.

Amazingly, twice I have seen deer eating hickory nuts. If I hadn't seen it myself I would be sceptical. It was fun to watch because I could see them apply pressure with the molars and then there would be a loud crack as the nut broke and the jaw closed.

Old Buck

[Ollie]

As River Bottom Boy mentioned, deer really like pods from honey locust. They grow like weeds all over my property so they really are not worth trying to hunt although I frequently see them pick them up and eat them. There is a small bush about knee to waist high that produces small purple-red berries called buckbrush. It grows in thick creek bottoms and along the edges of grown over fields. Deer really like to nibble on these berries when they are loafing around. I see them snack on them a lot late in the season around mid-morning. While I have not seen any on my place, honeysuckle has always been a very good deer food in the south during winter when acorns and crops are gone.

[jharrell]

Something you can pattern in Southern Missouri is persimmons. I have a couple of persimmon groves on my place and when they start to fall in October I can just about bank on the deer being there almost everyday. The only problem I have is patterning the crazy animals time wise, but that is another post also.

[sam shepherd]

There is one spot that I bowhunt where almost every doe that comes strolling through is chewing on a locust pod. Since most timbers in my neck of the woods have been logged out a time or two white oaks are pretty rare. I think that the locust pod has replaced the acorn as a natural food source. I have heard second hand of deer keying in on hedge balls. Has anyone seen deer making use of the big roundbales that you see out in the fields?

[River Rat]

Here is a great site for food sources and thier timing.

http://www.whitetaildeer.com/about/food.asp

[raven]

Hello,

Great question. Although I think it may be easier to list the vegetation that deer don't eat than the plants that they do....the list would be much, much shorter!

Like Old Buck mentioned: poison ivy is a great whitetail food. They eat the leaves in summer and the berries in the winter (along with birds). They do the same thing with staghorn sumac and they also like to rub the bark on these trees. There are so many other deer foods in the summer season that the list would likely be hundreds of species long. It may be impossible to say which they "prefer" as well, since deer simply take advantage of these foods as they become available. I'd venture to guess that the leaves and buds of 95% of trees and shrubs are browsed and eaten, depending upon seasonal and additional food availability.

About the soybeans you mention: I've found that deer really, really, like them from the time they first start appearing from the soil until the leaves start to turn brown in October. I would say the growth stages of June - August is prime deer food. After the leaves turn brown, deer often shift to other food sources for a short time span before returning to the beans to favor the seeds instead of the leaves.

In the winter time, as other have said, honey locust seeds are prime deer food. These trees often grow in old pasture country where the trees have sprouted via a cow manure pathway (seeds are also spread greatly by deer and birds).

One farm I hunt is virtually 100% honey locust trees (80 acres of honey locust, or so). This farm is jam packed with deer in the winter and the pods get pounded hard! Deer seem to snip open the pods to eat the seeds inside. They are an excellent food source in the late season! Also, the hedge apples of osage orange trees are prime deer and turkey grub in winter. Deer go out of their way to find hedge balls when snow is on the ground, I've found.

Great topic!...

Raven

[deerman]

Before the hard frost comes on I've seen deer eat sting nettles.First time I saw it I had to rub on my mouth.This past fall I bought some of that vanlla killa.After sawing some branches going up a tree with my climber I dropped some on them to cover my sent.It was silver maple.Low and behold a mature doe comes right under me and started to eat the leaves.It was a funny site.She was sniffing and pulling the limbs around.Things like this is what make bowhunting a blast.

[ironwood]

I don't see alot of sumac in My Iowa hunting areas but one of my brothers as had great luck around the sumac stands on his place in southern Minn. He is always telling me how they love the stuff and in thick stands it provides great cover.

[iowabuck]

With everyone saying that the deer like the persimmon bushes I was thinking about getting one at the local nursery (if they have them). With that said I was wondering if somebody could tell me if they start producing the fruit that deer love so much or does it take a couple of years?
Thanks Richard

[BuckHusker]

A couple of things I have notcied, in the spring and early summer, Mulberry leaves. Typically the young trees or shoots 6 foot tall or less are pruned like a shrubb, and you will notice a browze line on older trees, about the height a deer can reach. Late winter, when conditions permit, the big leaves of a Cataupa tree. My favorite early season, is fourth cutting alfalfa. If you can find a field in good deer country that they got a fourth cutting off of, the deer will almost yard on it in the early to mid fall

[Old Buck]

This is such a great topic I thought I'd bring it back to the front and see if anyone has any new additions.

Old Buck

[Central Iowa]

Old Buck, I would like to reinforce the Honey Locust. Last November my favorite rut stand was situated in a funnel with two Honey Locusts Within 20 yards. These trees Attracted alot of midday activity. Sometimes they would bed and continue to eat. They cleaned this place up over a couple weeks. Yet I have noticed some larger stands still have plenty on the ground. Smaller sources seem to be the key to sucessfull setups. These Deer where eating the pods whole as fast as they could. Does anybody know when they drop?

[NWBuck]

I'll throw this one in...a good crabapple tree. We have a couple of these on the farm I hunt and they are a magnet when they are producing. Trouble is...they are very inconsistent in their production from year to year and it also seems that deer only prefer them for the first few days they're on the ground. I'll never forget the first year I bowhunted (over 20 years ago) I sat in a stand next to a bountiful crabapple tree and passed on a beautiful 8 pointer who munched away at less than 10 yards. With 20+ years of hindsight, I should've shot him. Oh well... http://www.iowawhitetail.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bawling.gif

NWBuck

[trper]

I observed a few deer on my place eating pods in the early fall. Decimated my corn food plots in Jan and Feb.
Trper http://www.iowawhitetail.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/busted.gif

[OneCam]

ttt

[cacrawfo]

depending on the size of the trees, persimons will produce fuit in 2-5 yrs..I have planted some trees 4-6 feet tall that had a few persimmons on them the first year, but they where bitter and there weren't many.

[SaskGuy]

They hammer the heck out of the new growth on wild pincherries up here, they don't touch the fruits, they're SOUR but when the trees are small they get destroyed so do lower limbs on the big ones. Ones on the perimeter of my yard haven't grown in 3 yrs, get a natural pruning from the deer. They also eat the wild saskatoon's that grow, new growth and fruit in the summer. Crab apples are dynamite too, they don't grow wild but the come right into the yard where people have them growing and eat them, that's why I've planted 5 of them in the last 2 yrs!!!