What Do Deer Eat During the Late Season?

 

Knowing what a deer eats during the late season and where to find the food source is important during the winter months. If there aren’t any natural food sources for the deer herd near your property, you should place a Feedbank Gravity Deer Feeder or another food source on your property to make sure the deer herd can get the proper nutrition going into the cold winter months.

Hidden in the Snow

It’s possible that a lot of the deer herd’s natural food sources have been buried by snow. This makes it more difficult for the deer to find the food and makes it more difficult for them to get to the food if they do find it. A white-tailed deer’s natural food source this time of year consists mainly of woody browse. They tend to eat twigs and saplings for their high protein content. The deer have spent all of their nutrition and energy during the rut season, so they need to replenish their protein throughout the winter and gain back what they’ve lost.

Feed Them What They Can Find Naturally

A deer’s digestive system takes time to adjust to new food. Because they’re in survival mode and need to hold on to every bit of nutrition they can, you should make sure you’re feeding them the same thing they can get in the wild so their stomachs don’t have to adjust to the change. For example, deer love to eat corn, but corn doesn’t last throughout the winter in all areas of the country. If you live in an area where corn is available all winter, go ahead and keep providing the deer with corn in your feed. If the corn supply is long gone by the time winter rolls around, stop putting corn in your feeder. You should make sure the feed in your Feedbank Gravity Deer Feeder matches what’s available in your area. Supplemental feeding isn’t legal everywhere, so check your state’s regulations and make sure it’s legal before you do.

Move Your Blind Accordingly

So, knowing that deer will go to the easy-to-find food source, you should adjust the location of your Stump blind accordingly. If it’s been set up near a cornfield all fall, but that cornfield has been picked over, you should move your blind to a more fruitful area. Move to where there are lots of trees and bushes that offer twigs to eat. Make it easier for the deer to get the buds and twigs by chopping down higher branches and placing them at ground level for the deer to reach. Make sure your Stump blind is next to the woody browse food source you’ve created. Don’t put it right on top of the area, because you’ll scare the deer away if you’re too close. Place the blind near enough to the trees to be within range, but not so close that you run the deer off. Our Stump blinds, like the Stump 2 Scout ‘Phantom,’ are easy to move around thanks to the sled base.

Whether you make your own food source, use our Feedbank Gravity Feeders, or try to find the natural sources, it’s important to know what deer eat during the winter so you can plan your hunts accordingly and offer the right food in your supplemental feeders. If you know what deer eat during the winter, you’re one step closer to enjoying a successful hunt in your Stump blind.

How do you feed the deer herd during the winter months? How do you find their natural food sources? Let us know in the comments below!