Deer Plant ID | Deer Hunting & Management

Texas Oak is Spanish Oak and Great for White-tailed Deer

Deer Food: Texas oak (Quercus texana)

Class: browse; highly preferred by deer

Description: Texas oak is type of red oak and typically a medium to small tree that rarely grows over 75-feet in height. It usually grows about 30 to 50-feet with spreading branches. Texas oak is found on alkaline limestone and neutral to slightly acid gravels and sands.

There are hybrids of Texas oak and Shumard Red Oak (Quercus shumardii). Texas oak is smaller, more often multi-trunked, and more drought tolerant than Shumard oak. The foliage of each turns bright shades of vivid red and orange in autumn. The leaves of both trees are relished by white-tailed deer and receive heavy browsing pressure where these species are found. In areas with an abundance of deer, seedlings are unable to grow because they are eaten immediately.

The bark is dark gray to black with platelike scales, although sometimes it is light gray and smooth.

Texas oak Photos:

Plum: A Highly Preferred Deer Browse

Deer Food: Plum (Prunus spp.)

Class: browse; highly preferred by deer

Description: A small tree with an irregular open-crown common on moist soil in forest understory and edges of openings. Plum fruit matures purplish-red in late summer and can be eaten fresh and deer will eat both leaves and fruit during the summer.

Bark is rough and scaly.

Plum Photos:

Hawthorn is a Great Deer Food

Deer Plant: Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.)

Class: browse; highly preferred by deer

Description: A perennial shrub to small tree with a broad open crown found in bottomlands and uplands. This browse plant is common in forest understory and upland slopes and twigs are sparsely armed with straight spines, so be careful around them. The flowers and fruits are small.

Note: Photos are from various species of hawthorn.

Hawthorn Photos:

Blackjack Oak is a Solid Deer Browse

Deer Food: Blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica)

Class: browse; moderately preferred

Descritption: A small to medium-sized tree (more shrubby as you go west) occurring on dry, sandy soil. This tree species is usually an indicator of sandy soil. A round topped tree with stout dead, drooping lower branches. The acorns are eaten by many species of wildlife.

The foliage and twigs may be browsed by white-tailed deer, particularly during periods of drought or during late fall to early winter. Blackjack oaks can display several leaf variations and acorns mature in the fall of their second year.

Blackjack oak Photos:

Rusty Blackhaw: Excellent Deer Browse

Deer Food: Rusty blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum)

Class: browse; highly preferred by white-tailed deer

Description: Rusty blackhaw grows as a shrub or small tree with irregular branches, a short trunk and a spreading, irregular crown. It occurs in forest understory and in open areas on moist or dry soil. It’s not uncommon in the Southeastern US and is a component of good whitetail habitat

Rusty Blackhaw is Food for Deer

The leaves of rusty blackhaw have short, rusty, hairy leafstalks and are rusty-hairy beneath, especially along the veins, turning red in the fall, and from this description you can determine that it’s aptly named. The leaves are used as browse forage by white-tailed deer.

The bark is rough, forming rectangular or square plates. The fruit of rusty blackhaw is bluish-black when mature and is eaten by some birds and mammals. It is also edible, the pulp having a sweet, raisin-like taste.

Rusty Blackhaw Photos: