What do deer like to eat?

[tonywtc]

What do deer like to eat? What plants, What trees or tree parts.... etc. etc.

[Alone in the wildernes]

Ever thing thats in the flower & veggie garden.

[tonywtc]

Ever thing thats in the flower & veggie garden.

what about in the forest?

[kennyj]

What area do you live in?
kenny

[ruger#1]

They love to eat ferns. Blacktails. Just go for a walk and look for plants with the tops chewed off. That might give you a better idea.

[tonywtc]

What area do you live in?
kenny

Okanagan, Kelowna

[tonywtc]

They love to eat ferns. Blacktails. Just go for a walk and look for plants with the tops chewed off. That might give you a better idea.

thanks, I've just had a few people say "Look for food sources" and am not sure what is considered a food source to deer.:(

[M.Dean]

Okanagan, Kelowna Your deer should be eating grass as it starts to grow in the spring. Deer eat most any thing thats green. They love eating in farmers Alpha fields, but I've also watched them eat the furry stuff that grows off Fir tree's, the black witch's hair stuff, I was amazed when I watched them eat it, there was lush green grass all around, but there they were, eating that stuff! I was sitting on my Quad a few years ago, having a coffee and a smoke, the wind was just a howling, I heard a tree come down just around the corner with a hell of a crash! When I finally drove around the corner, there was two twin fawn's gorging them selves on the black furry stuff! I got some great photo's of them eating, I'll try to find them on my P/C and post them here.

[GoatGuy]

Depends on the time of year.

If you see a bunch of these bushes you're in business.

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=I_SB42737&res=640

[tonywtc]

Your deer should be eating grass as it starts to grow in the spring. Deer eat most any thing thats green. They love eating in farmers Alpha fields, but I've also watched them eat the furry stuff that grows off Fir tree's, the black witch's hair stuff, I was amazed when I watched them eat it, there was lush green grass all around, but there they were, eating that stuff! I was sitting on my Quad a few years ago, having a coffee and a smoke, the wind was just a howling, I heard a tree come down just around the corner with a hell of a crash! When I finally drove around the corner, there was two twin fawn's gorging them selves on the black furry stuff! I got some great photo's of them eating, I'll try to find them on my P/C and post them here.

Thanks! :-D

[Lone Ranger]

I'm pretty well convinced that they're about as bad as black bear when it comes to diet, they will eat/try just about anything. We had an incident up Harrison Lake a few years back where we saw a deer walking around with toilet paper hanging from its mouth - apparently someone didn't bury their shit tickets too well and the deer just considered it a snack :???: They definitely seem to like the lichen growing on trees too, I've had them come right into camp to eat it off deadfall that I've dropped for firewood. LR

[The Dawg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQdBLHrLk

:mrgreen:

[Ogopogo]

u can also look for scrapes, crap, prints, water source, bedded down grass imprints, etc.

[steelheadSABO]

Birds......

[tonywtc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQdBLHrLk

:mrgreen:

thats wierd... lol

[Buck TraX]

In regards to the wiches hair they do love that stuff as last year there was a fresh slash and they wouldent leave it alone (all does)even when we spooked em away they just slowly sauntered back and kept eating i guess all the stuff they couldent reach before when the trees were standing is like a smorgasboard for them once dropped cause by the next morning it was pretty much all stripped off the downed timber pile, it was later in the season with some snow on the ground so easy pickens i presume

[knighthunter]

Dandelions, the blossums off wild strawberry plants, fireweed, the buds from prety much all scrub growing in the bush. Alfalfa if they can get it, apples, carrots, beans, pea's, most plants and flowers in peoples yards and gardens

[brian]

Deer eat a wide variety of stuff depending on what is available and at what time of the year. So learn to look for the signs of deer browsing. Keep in mind they do not have upper incisors... so they will not 'clip' their food neatly, it will have a mangled shredded appearance. As you go out more often, stuff that has been browsed on will leap out at you. Fresh browse will been green and old browse will turn brown with time. Overtime you will be able to develop a map of what they are eating and when.

[CanuckShooter]

http://www.ehow.com/way_5418196_homemade-deer-bait-peanut-butter.html



Deer love peanut butter, so it is an excellent bait. You can use peanut butter alone or in a mixture to lure deer into an area for hunting or just to enjoy watching them. Peanut butter is much cheaper than most commercial deer attractants and works as well or better.




Read more: Homemade Deer Bait With Peanut Butter | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/way_5418196_homemade-deer-bait-peanut-butter.html#ixzz1Fy6XfTdD) http://www.ehow.com/way_5418196_homemade-deer-bait-peanut-butter.html#ixzz1Fy6XfTdD

[tonywtc]

Thanks for all the info guys, also, I have heard somewhere that deer like some kind of acorns, does anyone have any info on that?

[brian]

mast is a huge part of their diet if they can get it. When the acorns drop good chance that the deer will be there to pick them up. Same goes for apples and pears if you happen to be near old fruit orchards.

[tonywtc]

Is it legal and is it ethical to... plant some apple trees in an area to attract game to a desired opening or something? (of course after several years of tree growth.)

[fowlweather]

corn corn and corn, probably their favorite food besides apples, everything loves corn bear, elk, geese, and ducks

[Blainer]

Lead,I have witnessed it thru my scope.

[KillBill]

Here is a great report written by BC scientists following a multi-year study. It lists not only what they ate, but when they ate it, and how much they ate... http://web.unbc.ca/~michael/Pubs/Parker_et_al_1999_Wild_Monogr.pdf Report Title: "Energy and protein balance of free-ranging black-tailed deer in a natural forest environment."

[eaglesnester]

Deer are also browsers. They will eat the tips and tops of alder, willow, and other assorted woody bushes. When U are in the bush look at these scrubs and U will see where the deer have been nibbling. THen there are the mineral licks. I have seen places where the deer have eaten an entire bank away.

[Lever Hunter]

Yes Deer love acorns and in some parts of the Country that is one of their main food sources in the fall.