Whitetail food sources

Thinkin Rut · 02-14-2003, 02:42 PM

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 · 02-15-2003, 01:13 PM

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 · 02-15-2003, 10:34 PM

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 · 02-15-2003, 10:52 PM

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 · 02-16-2003, 10:26 AM

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 · 02-16-2003, 02:29 PM

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 · 02-16-2003, 03:27 PM

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 · 02-16-2003, 04:27 PM

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 · 02-16-2003, 07:15 PM

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. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Rackaddict · 02-16-2003, 07:50 PM

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!" [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] Same goes for bedding areas, but we'll save that question for another post.