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Food Preferences of White-tailed Deer

Ever wondered about the food preferences of the deer on your property? It’s something you should know if interested in managing for good deer habitat and a healthy whitetail herd. White-tailed deer actually eat a wide diversity of plants, with seasonal use varying with the availability and palatability of the plants found in their habitat.

Whitetail seek out the best foods at all times. That is, they want high quality foods as less time spent foraging means using less energy. Deer diet varies by location because of the environmental and plant diversity found across the whitetail’s range.

Food Preferences by Forage Class

Seasonal food preferences of white-tailed deer in have been developed based on identification of stomach contents in deer harvested during all seasons of the year. In whitetail food studies, plant preference are typically determined by comparing availability of the forage in the habitat versus the percent it comprised of deer stomach contents.

This allows researchers to determine the deer’s preference for particular foods, as well as their relative value. The importance value of a particular species quantifies the volume of a particular plant species in the deer diet. Native plants that had a high importance value made up a higher percentage of the seasonal or annual diet.

Deer Food Habits by Plant Category

For those that are not familiar with white-tailed deer, a knowledge of deer use of food items by general forage class is as important as knowing the specific plants species eaten by deer. The forage classes identified during the study were defined as:

Browse: This classification refers to the growing soft portion (stems and leaves) of perennial woody plants, trees, shrubs, vines and plants typically referred to as “brush” fall into this category.

Forbs: These are plants that are often called “weeds” by farmers, ranchers, landowners, and those that love well-maintained urban lawns. These plants are herbaceous (non-woody, normally broad-leafed, flowering plants. Forbs include all flowering herbaceous plants that are not grasses.

Mast: Refers to the fruit of the plants defined as browse species. Mas includes things such as oak acorns, mesquite beans, prickly pear fruits, berries, and similar items. As a group, mast is seasonally important in deer diets and can vary greatly from year to year.

Grasses: This includes grass and herbaceous grass-like plants such as sedges and rushes.

Grain Crops: This food class includes forage items that are planted for farming, grazing, or specifically for wildlife in the form of food plots. Cool season crops typically include clover, vetch, wheat, oats, and ryegrass. Common warm season crops include peas and other legume varieties, mile, and millet.

Commercial Feeds: This includes sacked feeds such as true supplements or those simply considered deer hunting attractant. The most common sacked supplement is a deer pellet that is at least 16% protein and is distributed through free-choice feeders. The most common deer hunting attractant is whole corn distributed with timed deer feeders prior and during the white-tailed deer hunting season.

Deer Diet: A Texas Example

Data collected in west-central Texas from over 230 deer in 6 counties indicated the average annual diet of white-tailed deer consisted of 36% browse, 20% forbs, 20% mast, 12 grasses, 7% planted agricultural grain crops, and 5% commercial feed.

Are the results form Texas similar to the food preferences of deer in your area? Although the specific plant species consumed by deer in your area will no doubt be different, deer preference by plant category will likely be very similar across the whitetail’s range, with the exception being the consumption of additional crops in areas dominated by row crops.

Browse and forbs are the key plants required by white-tailed deer. They also use mast and agricultural crops when available. Deer are very selective foragers and shift their focus to the best plants available to them as the seasons change.

Deer Density, Buck to Doe Ratio, and Harvest Rates

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the impacts of habitat quantity and quality on white-tailed deer harvest rates. Habitat quantity does not necessarily impact the harvest rate itself, but a property that provides a smaller amount of habitat must harvest fewer deer than a property that provides a larger amount of habitat in order to keep the deer population on the ranch stable. Habitat quality, however, can vary between properties that provide the same quantity (in acreage) of deer habitat, which in turn impacts the health and productivity of the ranch’s deer population.

Habitat quality impacts deer harvest rates because herd productivity will vary between properties. If deer density is held constant, deer on a property that provides good habitat will be in better condition than deer on poor habitat. This superior body condition can be measured through increased body weights in animals and improved antler quality in every age class of bucks. Today, I will discuss how fawn survival, as effected by deer density and the buck to doe ratio, can significantly impact the annual harvest of white-tailed deer populations. Continue reading “Deer Density, Buck to Doe Ratio, and Harvest Rates”

Big Buck Harvested Near Grosvenor, Texas

If you have spent any amount of time driving around Texas then you know that there really are good, native white-tailed bucks scattered across the state. You don’t even have to be a deer hunter to realize that the Lone Star State harbors some photo-worthy whitetails in every region, although some places seem to have more than their fare share.

This triple-beamed, Brown County buck is a testament to Texas’ great whitetail habitat and the many ranches involved in very successful deer management programs. The bucks is a good deer without the extra beam on it’s right side, sporting numerous points and good mass overall.

Brown County has long been a favorite place of many hunters looking to set their sights on white-tailed deer. And deer hunters love Brown County for good reason, because there is some amazing deer country out there! Although this area produces solid whitetail bucks year-in and year-out, it seems one lucky hunter really got even more than he could have imagined this season. Let’s just say the results are, well, non-typical.

Here is what I received via email:

Big Non-typical Whitetail Buck from Brown County

“Attached are photos of a freak whitetail buck that was supposed to have been killed this morning between Thrifty and Grosvenor. I received two calls this morning telling me that the non-typical buck was at Weakley Watson Sporting Goods. Since I was already in town, I stopped and took the attached photos. The buck had been scored at 208 and had 27 points. There was quite a crowd gathered to see this big whitetail buck.”

I believe that big whitetail bucks can be produced just about anywhere where high quality deer habitat is found, Texas or otherwise. Time and time again I’ve helped managers on private ranches increase the antler size of bucks on their property by improving habitat, regulating harvest, and implementing good all-around deer management techniques.

Sure, it never hurts to have a genetically exceptional buck make a place look good, but there are certain things every hunter can do to improve the quality of every deer found on their land. The easiest way to ensure the deer found on your deer hunting property are healthy is to shoot enough of them, but allow the buck part of the herd to attain and maintain good age structure. If there are some old ones there will always be some good ones!

Factors that Influence Deer Harvest Rates

When it comes to white-tailed deer management—at any scale—the most important factors are deer density and buck to doe ratio. These two numbers are usually indicative of habitat condition and the reproductive potential of the deer herd. Most hunters continue to talk about buck harvest criteria, and although important, they fail to have a good handle on the deer density and buck to doe ratio in their hunting area! In addition, many landowners overlook habitat conditions and factors that limit fawn production and survival.

White-tailed deer harvest rates are important because they determine not only the number of animals you will shoot this year, but more importantly the number of deer that will survive into next year. This is especially important for the doe population because these animals, depending on deer density and sex ratio, can increase the total deer population prior to the next hunting season by 50% or more. This article discusses population and environmental factors that influence white-tailed deer harvest rates on an annual basis.

Harvest rates can vary annually by habitat quantity, habitat quality, fawn production, and white-tailed deer management objectives. Hunters and landowners looking to maintain healthy age structure in bucks should never harvest over 20% of the buck herd. This holds true whether the buck to doe ratio is 1:10 or 1:1. Of course, if the deer density in the area is held constant, many more bucks can be harvested when there is 1 buck for every 1 doe compared to when there is 1 buck for every 10 does. Many hunters fail to realize that from a population standpoint the types of the bucks being shot is less important as the total number of bucks being removed from the herd. In short, limit buck harvest to less than 20% of the buck population.

Doe harvest management is more important in determining the overall dynamics of a white-tailed deer population in a given area. The doe population determines if a deer population declines, remains stable, or grows. However, the doe population is dependent on, as mentioned prior, habitat quantity, habitat quality, fawn production, and management objectives. Because the doe population in an area depends on these annual factors, so does the annual harvest rates.

Habitat Quantity

This is a measure of the total amount of deer habitat available. Does your property have 100 acres of deer habitat or 1,000 acres of deer habitat? Obviously, more deer habitat correlates with a larger population size. Hunters on 100 acres of habitat can not expect to harvest as many deer as hunters on 1,000 acres of habitat, assuming the deer density in that habitat is the same. If both ranches have the same harvest strategy in place, then the 1,000 acres of habitat can harvest 10 times the number of animals. It’s not because those hunters are greedy, it is just that the total deer harvest for a property should be related to available deer habitat, not just property size. In this example, both ranches could have been 1,000 acres in size. We only discussed available deer habitat on those properties. Property size will not effect the harvest rate, only the total number of animals harvested (because of available habitat).

Habitat Quality

Habitat quality is measured by an area’s ability to provide food, cover, water, and space for white-tailed deer. Deer found on high quality habitat have higher reproductive rates than deer found on low quality habitat. Here is an example of how habitat quality impacts harvest rate: Let’s say that there are two ranches 1,000 acres in size. One provides high quality habitat and the other provides low quality habitat. If we assume that the deer density is the same, then fawn production on the high quality habitat will be higher because there is more food per animal. This high quality habitat means more food per doe, a higher reproductive rate, a higher fawn survival rate, and more bucks and does available for harvest each year. In short, properties with high quality habitat must harvest does at a higher rate to keep the deer population stable.

In Summary

Without a doubt, both habitat quantity and quality impact the annual harvest rates of a deer population. Property size does not impact harvest rate, but smaller properties will harvest fewer animals than larger properties based simply on habitat quantity and differences in the sizes of the deer populations. Habitat quality can vary by property depending on habitat management practices (or lack thereof) and deer found on high quality habitat have higher reproductive success. Because of this habitat effect, properties providing high quality habitat must harvest does at higher rates than properties providing low quality deer habitat. Next week, I will discuss how fawn survival, density, and buck to doe ratio also impact white-tailed deer harvest rates.

Doe Harvest with Caution?

Not all that many years ago it was considered unsportsman-like to shoot a doe deer. Since then, however, wildlife biologists and hunters have realized that proper doe harvest is an important part of white-tailed deer management, although I suspect there is a small percentage of landowners that still do not allow doe to be harvested on their properties. After all, a landowner has the ability to be more conservative than the law and choose not to harvest antlerless deer, even if hunting regulations permit it.

But is a no doe harvest really justified? Maybe, but then maybe not—particarly if the only reason holding someone back is the “old school” philosophy of not shooting female deer. It is true that the shooting of does may not be justified in some areas. Not every deer whitetail population can sustain regular doe harvest. Some deer herds may allow periodic doe harvest, such as every other year or every third year, for example, while others need regular (annual) doe harvest to thrive. So why does the harvest of whitetail doe vary by area? Continue reading “Doe Harvest with Caution?”