Originally Posted By: N2TRKYS
Originally Posted By: CNC
Furflyin....I think the reason some people see deer eat a certain plant and other don't is a combination of a couple factors:

1) How much natural food is present in relation to the deer population. Deer will eat many things but prefer some plants to others. If there are a lot of deer and little food then they won’t be as picky. They will eat what they have to in order to survive. In contrast, if there is lots of food and few deer, then they will pick and choose what they want and need, being more selective. Its kind of all just relative.

2)To some extent I think the type and fertility of the soil plays a role in how palatable a plant may be. That being said, I think some plants can reach a palatable state more easily than others under less than ideal conditions while others may require a different growing environment to reach a fuller potential and become more palatable to the deer.

As an example....BSK's soil, probably having a higher natural CEC than mine, might just be able to hold more N than my soil and therefore wheat is able to grow better....so in turn its more palatable and he sees the deer eat it, while I see them ignore it. It might just be one slight difference in the growing conditions that keep it from really being an apples to apples comparison.

I tend to not buy the notion that we each have deer with different taste buds. I instead think that its something to do with other factors that we might just be unaware of.


I've seen deer eat rape at one place where the soil isn't very good and not touch it in good soils.


N2T…..I don’t know the answer but I do think there are several factors at play. Someone might see deer eat turnips one year but not the next in the same exact field and the reason be because one year there was a drought and as a result native browse was scarce. The following year the deer may have plenty to eat and totally ignore them.

Another factor too could just be the quality of the native food as much as the quantity. A deer out in the desert living off briars and brambles might walk a mile for a turnip…. while a deer in an environment thriving with diverse native plant life might not pay them any mind.

My point being that there are too many factors involved just to be able to point to one reason and say “This is why my deer eat seed X and yours do not."

Last edited by CNC; 08/22/13 04:25 PM.

We dont rent pigs