Vet Judy

Before planning your next successful deer food plot, or as you evaluate your current plot, it will help to review the basic dining habits of deer.  In this blog, I’ll review some seasonal basics of nutrition.  The next blog will review the kinds of plants deer typically enjoy eating throughout the year.

            This will help you in the food plot planning process as you seek to identify what plants or nutrient needs might be lacking in your native habitat.

·         Four Stomachs, One Deer

            Just like cattle or sheep, whitetail deer are ruminants.  In common terms, this means that they have four stomachs—or think of it as four compartments that food goes for digestion.  In the main compartment, called the rumen, bacteria are present that help the deer digest cellulose—which is why deer can utilize woody plants and shrubs in cooler months.

            Rumination is why deer will rest at various times throughout the day, “chewing the cud.”  They essentially regurgitate their food after a given stomach compartment (including the bacteria that live there) does its job of digestion.

            This allows deer to utilize a variety of plants for food.  However, just because deer can eat many things doesn’t mean they will.  Where they eat is also based on the proximity of cover and how available similar foods are in their environment.  Nutritional needs of deer also vary by season. For complete seasonal planning information for different planting zones consider: Deer Food Plots Made Easy. Guaranteed or Your Money Back.

·         Knowing the dining season

            deer food choices aren’t about what holiday is around the corner.  Instead, food choices have to do with a combination of their seasonal food needs and how available their food sources are.  These seasonal needs vary for bucks and does.

            For bucks, antler development creates a large nutritional need.  Protein makes up almost half of antler tissue; another third is calcium and phosphorous.  Healthy bucks will access a high-protein diet in the springtime and very early summer to support antler growth.  Tender plants, especially those naturally high in protein like legumes like alfalfa and clover, help meet the buck’s protein requirements.

            Doe require maximum nutrition and protein while they’re pregnant and lactating.  The timing of the natural breeding season takes care of this, with lots of succulent growth in the early spring that supplies the needs for pregnant and nursing doe.

·         Incorporating Nutrition into Your food plot Design

            By now you’re probably thinking, “Sure, I already knew my deer nutrition basics anyway.”  But have you considered nutrition as you design your food plot strategy?  For example, if your ground is not abundant in grasses, legumes, and other early spring growth, some additional plantings that emphasize spring forage could help supply the natural nutritional needs of the deer.

            And deer—just like people—are much at home in a place where they’re able to eat well all year long.