Acorn transition

Still some around but it didn't seem like a banner crop this year anyway. I'm talking about natural browse here, no food plots, what do you look for them to concentrate on when acorns are through? Anything in particular or just whatever?

I'm not sure they ever stay on anything exclusively but I do think they will favor acorns to almost the exclusion of everything else when they're available. Is there something that follows acorns that is sweeter and tastier to them than anything else? NO CORN!!!

Cutovers with a lot of browse is going to be the best bet as far as seeing deer I would bet. Thinned pine (or hardwood) stands. Anywhere with "stemmy" browse. If you've never found natural funnels due to land features like lakes, bluffs, etc., now is the time to do so. Gonna be tough on those guys that have really never hunted anything other than food plots. Hate it for those really young kids that need a shooting house and a green field to hide movement, lower noise and get them interested in hunting.
I bet baiting tickets really go through the roof this yr.

They will eat the green briar ,,,,types of honey suckle ,,,honey locust ,,, kudzu even,,, actually they love kudzu...let me stop here,,,,

since deer are browsers they will eat what ever they may fancy,,,, like us if it smells good they most likely will eat it,,, they prefer the young tender leaves and shoots and vines of many types of vegetation found during the spring months but once summer kicks in they find it very hard to digest these same vegies,,, these plants have matured and toughened ,,,the leaves are tough to chew and digest,,,,,, so they'll keep looking for new growth to nibble on,

I always like to keep a sharp eye out for signs of what natural browse deer have been eating on ,,,in my area it's green briar and honey suckle and Honey Locust.. natural browse it what they will survive on,,,

Of course you have to keep in mind if your not feeding your deer something most likely your neighbors are ,,,

Privet.

More than likely, they will be hammering the closest corn pile.

Yes, they will fight over privet:

Our place is covered with acorns. Never seen so many but most are no good.

What type of honey suckle do they like? We have a good bit on our new lease in an area?

my privet has dried up to the point I couldn't imagine that they would eat it. The leaves are shriveled up and almost brown.

Great input but not really what I'm looking for exactly. I understand they will eat green briar, honeysuckle, privet etc., what I'm wondering is if there is a hierarchy of preferred browse? If acorns present they eat almost nothing but acorns. No acorns, they hammer green briar, no green briar they look for kudzu, no kudzu, next honeysuckle?

The whole premise is probably wrong because I imagine they want some variety no matter what is present. I love cheese burgers but I don't want them every day.

you're exactly right. Deer need variety in their diet. Even when the acorns are at there peak, they won't feed solely on acorns.

Basicly they'll travel from their bedding area to their main food source, whether it is crop fields, a white oak flat, or what have you, feeding on browse along the way. Whatever is edible, they'll eat. BUT, finding that primary food source is something only you can do. Put boots to the ground and locate heavy feed sign. Piles of poop idacates a primary food source. But if you're asking us to guess, that's where we can't help you I'm afraid. I would be looking for water. I'm betting right now the main food source will be close to water

there are about 20 types of honey suckle found in the U.S. ,,,it most likely could be Japanese honey suckle...since it's so invasive but could also be American honey suckle,,,

I'm sure most of us have seen the yellow flowered and white flowered and some red and some orange ,,,,these different colors could be the different types or could be what fall weather does to change the colors of the flowers,,, either way deer will eat it and it's fairly high in protein too.

The answer is, after the acorns are gone, a few heavy frosts hit, and they'll eat whatever they can find. Food can get sparse by the end of January.

This is one of the dryest years I ever seen where I hunt in Dallas County. We have a creek that cuts through the property that is almost dried up completely. There's only a few water holes left, and that is where the deer are. They bed in the tall grass next to the creek that is usually under water now. They're mainly eating the acorns and blackberry briars. The privet they usually eat is dried up. I even noticed they were eating the white balls off of a popcorn tree. I've never seen that before.

they eat acorns as long as they are available but they have to have green stuff for their rumen to work properly for digestion.
I was watching a powerline monday where a couple of poles were changed out in late summer. They did some bush hogging to and around the poles that were changed. The mowed areas were where the deer were feeding.I'll keep that in mind next summer and mow them some spots so they'll have more tender younger growth