Browse preference discussion

[Hoosierhunting]

These graphs are supposed to represent browse preference in a study in my area (IN). My personal experience is a little different. What’s yours? Agree? If not where did they get it wrong.


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[MarkDarvin]

I see heavy bur oak browsing on my place. For every one that made it past the deer, there are probably 50 that don't. It's not a problem though because I have bur oak seedlings everywhere. I've actually cut even more down to pick a winner. There's a good next generation crop of them coming that are about 8' tall and an inch or two at the base.

Just when I think I've got browse figured out, I discover something new. On my place (wet and flat), when I clear an area, the hardest hit stuff is ash sprouts. When I started, red osier dogwood didn't stand a chance and I had no soft mast. I'm starting to get ahead of that. I go out and find flowering stuff in spring (chokecherry, juneberry) and mark it for clearing later on. I keep the oaks and birch, and knock down ash and poplar to turn them into stump feed and ground cover. Also save the balsam fir, black spruce, dogwood, maple (don't have much maple), arrowwood viburnum, hazelnut, and beaked hazel. If I find something I can't ID, and it's rare, I keep it.

Lots of flowers come when the sun starts hitting the ground too. Found a handful of new flowers for the first time this past summer in one of my select cuts. Skull caps, jewelweed, swamp aster, and willowherb come to mind.

 

[Okvet03]

This may have been posted in another area. It's a piece put out by the Noble Institute in Ardmore, OK so the results may be more applicable to native cross timber habitat. Either way it was an interesting read. If you prefer a google search for the .pdf, the title is White-Tailed Deer Their Foods and Management in the Cross Timbers.
http://oklaenvirothon.org/pdfs/wildlife/white-tailed-deer.pdf

 

[bearcat]

This may have been posted in another area. It's a piece put out by the Noble Institute in Ardmore, OK so the results may be more applicable to native cross timber habitat. Either way it was an interesting read. If you prefer a google search for the .pdf, the title is White-Tailed Deer Their Foods and Management in the Cross Timbers.
http://oklaenvirothon.org/pdfs/wildlife/white-tailed-deer.pdf

This is good read. I found it very helpful.
I’ve got a place that nearly borders one of the Noble ranches.


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[catscratch]

This may have been posted in another area. It's a piece put out by the Noble Institute in Ardmore, OK so the results may be more applicable to native cross timber habitat. Either way it was an interesting read. If you prefer a google search for the .pdf, the title is White-Tailed Deer Their Foods and Management in the Cross Timbers.
http://oklaenvirothon.org/pdfs/wildlife/white-tailed-deer.pdf

I've posted this one several times. Gives crude protein levels per month, preference, and palatibility (if I remember right). Really good info for someone looking at native deer foods. I've used it a ton when looking at managing plants on our place.
nf-wf-04-02.pdf

 

[Okvet03]

I've posted this one several times. Gives crude protein levels per month, preference, and palatibility (if I remember right). Really good info for someone looking at native deer foods. I've used it a ton when looking at managing plants on our place.
nf-wf-04-02.pdf

Thanks for posting! I'll check it out this evening.

 

[dogghr]

Personally I ask the deer. And the deer tell me that if I drop a maple they are on it like bees on honey. Next would b the Silkies. They chow down any not protected. The other Dogs are close attraction. And they rub the heck out of any Dog. Hazelnuts I’ve planted are browsed but not much. The other trees will be browsed on that list but they know the candy.
Feb/ March are good months to ck browse as they are in a high stress survival mode as winter comes to an end. Check browse and if they have eaten past the first knuckle of growth on your plants, you need to create more woody browse or reduce the herd.
Interesting charts tho. Thanks for showing. Doubt my deer have read them tho.


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[letemgrow]

Eastern Wahoo is definitely an ice cream plant on my place. It’s only found where deer can’t reach them.

They really pound dogwoods and buttonbush on multiple areas I’ve seen in MO and KS.


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[j-bird]

View attachment 18200

These graphs are supposed to represent browse preference in a study in my area (IN). My personal experience is a little different. What’s yours? Agree? If not where did they get it wrong.


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Can you send me that as a PM or in some means to clear it up please? I'm having a difficult time reading it... or simply add a link to the info.....

 

[Hoosierhunting]

Can you send me that as a PM or in some means to clear it up please? I'm having a difficult time reading it... or simply add a link to the info.....

https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ias/article/download/16115/16266/0

Tried to PM you and said I couldn’t start a message with you.


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[j-bird]

https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ias/article/download/16115/16266/0

Tried to PM you and said I couldn’t start a message with you.


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OK...thanks for the link....sometimes you have to have some sort of permission turned on by a mod to be able to add an image to a PM. Not sure.... thanks for the info.

 

[j-bird]

I have seen the deer nip off the ends of downed white mulberry here. I have seen them attack a downed tulip/yellow polar for it's leaves as well. They even left the stems of the leaves...tree looked like a pin cushion! I know the deer love to eat the soft new shoots of the white pines at my folks place as well. I also know they like the fresh growth of elderberry as well. They also like any of the new growth from my fruit trees as well. I often toss the pruned limbs out into a plot and the deer will nip the ends off of them. I have not seen any preference to my grey dogwoods....

 

[Chainsaw]

The deer population level here takes wide swings every couple of years and while the area population may be down it is at a very high level on this property. Thus it is currently impossible to tell what is the most preferred browse at this time. It is however easy to see that buckthorn, honeysuckle bush and multi-floral rose get a near complete pass from the deer.

Historically though Apple trees, red dogwoods, poplar regrowth, jewel weed and briars are among those shown to be heavily browsed here no matter what the deer population is.

 

[THE LLC]

Browse preference is TEN on anything I plant that I want deer to leave alone. I bet they’d browse sweet gum if I planted it.

 

[farmhunter]

In my area - we have no oaks.

For hardwoods the deer show preference for Apple, Sugar Maple, Yellow Birch, Red Maple - Hardwoods in the middle are Ash, Aspen, Black Cherry. On the far end - Our deer don't care much for Elm, Beech, Hawthorn. In fact before we started planting food plots - One section of our young woods became ELM dominate for hardwoods - Its a pretty ugly section now 50 years later as the elms are all dying back. Ash was taking over but now that is dying back, I think Cherry and Maple will end up taking over - but they are 20 years behind. The Beech and Hawthorn was able to grow in the Hemlock shaded woods because nothing else could get a foothold and/or handle the shade. We've seen that turn around some, especially in the young sections that have good mixture of cherry and maple. These were fields in the 1960s.