What are some natural foods sources for Whitetail Deer?

[Wildlife]

IDK if this kind of topic came up before on 'TOO' or not and if so, I might have missed it, but regardless, I thought this would be a good topic for discussing now that many of us are out there hunting in this new season.
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A few of my setups are near some AG fields, but that what I’m after here, for instance corn & soybeans.

I hope that some of you would offer up good information based off of your knowledge and/or experience while afield hunting Whitetail Deer.

I know that deer will just about eat & drink anything that's available in a given area, however I'm more interested reading about what most deer try to seek out more than others as far as a natural food source goes.

I personally have tons and tons of the invasive ‘Japanese Honeysuckles’ surrounding all of my setups.

Just the other day while hunting, there was a feeding frenzy going on all around me where eight antlerless deer fed off those honeysuckles in the immediate area for about a half an hour, eating up plenty of the leaves and the red berries that they are produced this time of year from them.

I literally watched a mother adult doe specifically seek out those red berries, picking them off one by one. I also watched the others eat not only the berries, but in some cases, entire limbs, berries and the leaves altogether, just munching down.

Another one that I’ll mention, living in a creek valley in southern Ohio, are some of the mature thorny 'Locus Trees' that produce the long brown seed pods that we have in the area.

Soon, those seed pods will be dropping off those trees that the deer absolutely love to eat, kinda like how I love to have cooked bacon strips, in fact, that’s what it reminds me of when I see them eating it hanging out of their mouth.

(A short video clip of an example of deer eating honeysuckle leaves and locus seed pods in front of one of my hunting setups from last season.)

And one more that I’ll mention is the 'Alfalfa' that grows naturally around most of the AG & CRP fields that I hunt. I often see the deer feed from those locations usually when they first make their way out into those fields or just before they make their way into the wooded areas, specifically seeking out that kind of vegetation.

Those are just a few examples of what I have in or near some of my hunting areas. There are others as well in my area, but I hope that some of you will take part in sharing some of your knowledge and/or experience right here on this thread.

Hopefully, I’ll learn something new from you and perhaps others as well that may be new to the game of hunting.

Thank you ahead of time for participating & sharing!

Sincerely,
Wildlife

 

[Jamie]

both Black Locust and Honey Locust produce seed pods. I don't recall ever seeing a deer eating them until late in the season after more desirable foods are gone. Besides chestnuts and white oak acorns, one of the most productive natural food sources I've ever hunted is Persimmons. when they are on, deer gobble them up as fast as they hit the ground. It is not a common tree around Licking county where I live and hunt, but plenty of them in southern Ohio. Persimmons that are properly ripened are very good to eat.

Deer eat Dogwood berries and wild cherries, too.

 

[giles]

Find an old apple tree or pear tree.

 

[Wildlife]

Boy, I need a full time editor

My typing is much slower than my thinking obviously, no question about it. I hope at least I got my point across anyways.
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@Jamie , I don't believe I have any Persimmons in our area or I haven't seen any during any of my travels over the past few years, but thanks sharing that one! I'll keep my eyes peeled for them.

Acorns we do have, however they're located in an area that's just full of hunters this time of year and I usually don't get up into that area unless I absolutely have to, which would be much later into the season when most of the hunters are finished with their season.

In the past, I've hunted in or near plenty of large White Oaks that produced acorns and done well harvesting deer.

I've also hunted in some fruit farming nurseries in the past where the poor farmer needed much help from hunters to keep his fruit trees alive.

Thanks for sharing Jamie!

 

[Iowa_Buckeye]

They seem to eat the green shit in these parts. When thats all gone, they like the brown stuff.

 

[Sgt Fury]

Aside from acorns, mushrooms, fruit trees and AG fields, I’ve seen deer eat maple leaves like they were candy. Also see them eat the hard seed pods from sweet gum trees. They gotta be tough to eat one of those but it doesn’t seem to faze them at all. I’ve seen them vacuum them from the forest floor for a half hour before moving on.

 

[Big Weff]

I use to hunt a big clover field that was no more than 4 or 5 acres. It always seemed to hold no less than 15 deer in the evenings. During a harsh winter I always see them tearing up some briar patches as well. Just to mention a few that weren't listed yet.

 

[Wildlife]

I use to hunt a big clover field that was no more than 4 or 5 acres. It always seemed to hold no less than 15 deer in the evenings. During a harsh winter I always see them tearing up some briar patches as well. Just to mention a few that weren't listed yet.

Within the CRP fields around here, during the winter, find those briar patches in'em and you can almost garentee a few deer will show up at them at some point, however most are located way out in the open area. I have stalked deer a few times during the last few minutes of legal hunting in those open fields, using the darkness & the wind as cover and almost pulled it off more than once.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Chass]

I don't know if they always produce but my cherry trees in the back yard did this year. Only reason I noticed is cause the chickens and the deer were all over em. When they were dropping it sounded like it was raining.

 

[triple_duece]

I’m confused. In your first pic you talk about jap honeysuckle but pics look like American beauty berry. Honeysuckle is a vine and the beauty berry is a small bush/shrub. Deer do eat the leaves but rarely the berries here.

 

[Wildlife]

I’m confused. In your first pic you talk about jap honeysuckle but pics look like American beauty berry. Honeysuckle is a vine and the beauty berry is a small bush/shrub. Deer do eat the leaves but rarely the berries here.

I believe they're actually called, Amur Honeysuckle - Lonicera maackii and our area is littered with them, however the deer love them not just as a food source, but for concealment and/or cover 'TOO'.
I find deer beds within/underneath them often.
The leaves usually stay attached much longer going into winter months than most any other shrub species and/or hardwood trees in our area.

Growth Rate: Rapid
Mature Spread: 15'
Mature Height: 15'
Shape: Arching
Sunlight: Full sun to full shade
Soil Type: adaptable

X Amur honeysuckle is highly invasive and should not be planted in Ohio.

For additional information click the following link;
http://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/honeysuckle

Fruit

These give rise to small, dark green fruits that enlarge and change to orange-green then bright red by mid to late autumn, when they are either consumed by birds and mammals, or remain on the shrub into winter. Seed germination is abundant, and the subsequent spread of this shrub to nearby areas is prolific within a few years.

 

[triple_duece]

I believe they're actually called, Amur Honeysuckle - Lonicera maackii and our area is littered with them, however the deer love them not just as a food source, but for concealment and/or cover 'TOO'.
I find deer beds within/underneath them often.
The leaves usually stay attached much longer going into winter months than most any other shrub species and/or hardwood trees in our area.

Growth Rate: Rapid
Mature Spread: 15'
Mature Height: 15'
Shape: Arching
Sunlight: Full sun to full shade
Soil Type: adaptable

X Amur honeysuckle is highly invasive and should not be planted in Ohio.

For additional information click the following link;
http://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/honeysuckle

Fruit
View attachment 87762
These give rise to small, dark green fruits that enlarge and change to orange-green then bright red by mid to late autumn, when they are either consumed by birds and mammals, or remain on the shrub into winter. Seed germination is abundant, and the subsequent spread of this shrub to nearby areas is prolific within a few years.

Better pic. Thanks. We don’t have it down here.

 

[Wildlife]

Better pic. Thanks. We don’t have it down here.

Tomorrow, I'll share a couple more examples (better photos) of what I have on our property. They're all over the place around here.

 

[triple_duece]

Deer down here have a much more variety of greens to eat. Green briar, honeysuckle, beauty berry, black berry bushes, honey locust pods are chewed on and seeds eaten (bucks love them), persimmons are everywhere but coons and yotes are primary eaters. They also eat alligator grass in marshy areas, they will eat any oak leaf if a branch falls to the ground w green leaves. Deer are very opportunistic and eat what’s “in” over anything else, that’s growing grown naturally. They will walk over corn and beans to eat nature’s harvest first. Not a whole lot of abandoned farms down here w fruit orchards. They will eat pecans that grow naturally and ones in orchards late in the year. There is always green even through the worst winters as our severe cold won’t last long.

Typically if we have snow on the ground deer bed up until it melts off. Usually a day or so. They also will eat palmetto berries and just about anything else in season. Food is never a shortage around here. Getting them to move during daylight is the biggest shortage, getting lucky or during the rut is best time to see a mature buck.

 

[Wildlife]

Deer down here have a much more variety of greens to eat. Green briar, honeysuckle, beauty berry, black berry bushes, honey locust pods are chewed on and seeds eaten (bucks love them), persimmons are everywhere but coons and yotes are primary eaters. They also eat alligator grass in marshy areas, they will eat any oak leaf if a branch falls to the ground w green leaves. Deer are very opportunistic and eat what’s “in” over anything else, that’s growing grown naturally. They will walk over corn and beans to eat nature’s harvest first. Not a whole lot of abandoned farms down here w fruit orchards. They will eat pecans that grow naturally and ones in orchards late in the year. There is always green even through the worst winters as our severe cold won’t last long.

Typically if we have snow on the ground deer bed up until it melts off. Usually a day or so. They also will eat palmetto berries and just about anything else in season. Food is never a shortage around here. Getting them to move during daylight is the biggest shortage, getting lucky or during the rut is best time to see a mature buck.

That's some excellent information you shared, thanks!

 

[Wildlife]

Tomorrow, I'll share a couple more examples (better photos) of what I have on our property. They're all over the place around here.

My property is completely surrounded with these honeysuckles and here's the shrub that I'm talking about.

When they flower during the spring, the entire place smells beautiful, like honey smell of some sort.