Do deer eat nettles?

[Brushpile]

I found a shaded area on a sandy flood plain that is dominated by nettles about knee high and all of them have been topped by something. Do deer eat nettles?

 

[Native Hunter]

Sounds like a place where woodland nettle would grow. I don't have them here, but have read that deer will browse them.

Doesn't make sense that they would, but probably not that much different than eating a thorny multiflora rose stem like I've seen them do many times.

 

[Brushpile]

I'm considering hunting over them! As dry as it is, deer appear to be eating nettles in the shade of river bank trees.

 

[Brushpile]

Sounds like a place where woodland nettle would grow. I don't have them here, but have read that deer will browse them.

Doesn't make sense that they would, but probably not that much different than eating a thorny multiflora rose stem like I've seen them do many times.

Great info Native Hunter, a quick Google search, confirmed it's Woodland Nettle and deer do browse it! I will work on a stand location... this is a great place for a 5 gallon bucket! Deer are concentrated in this area, so deer are less selective. It's like a nettle food plot!!!

 

[Native Hunter]

Great info Native Hunter, a quick Google search, confirmed it's Woodland Nettle and deer do browse it! I will work on a stand location... this is a great place for a 5 gallon bucket! Deer are concentrated in this area, so deer are less selective. It's like a nettle food plot!!!

Keep us posted on what you see Brushpile. Sounds like a great location.

 

[willy]

It is a great browse in my timber. Looks tore up every year and then when the acorns drop there, it is a hog yard. Good luck Brush.

 

[j-bird]

Right now I have several trail cam videos of does browsing the nettles and jewel weed along the edges of my logging trail where they get enough sunlight but the soil stays fairly moist and cool. The nettle plants they seem the most interested in the upper most leaves - I assume they are the most tender. I was really surprised to see how much the deer browsed these plants when they are available. The deer don;t seem to stop and feed they simply seem to eat and walk at the same time or simply grab a snack while on the move.

 

[Brushpile]

Right now I have several trail cam videos of does browsing the nettles and jewel weed along the edges of my logging trail where they get enough sunlight but the soil stays fairly moist and cool. The nettle plants they seem the most interested in the upper most leaves - I assume they are the most tender. I was really surprised to see how much the deer browsed these plants when they are available. The deer don;t seem to stop and feed they simply seem to eat and walk at the same time or simply grab a snack while on the move.

Yes, browse often indicates deer movement. Deer are not so selective when they move along a travel corridor.

 

[Brushpile]

Keep us posted on what you see Brushpile. Sounds like a great location.

New stand is up, need to clear shooting lanes tomorrow. This looks like a hot spot, and my young dogs need a track.

 

[j-bird]

Yes, browse often indicates deer movement. Deer are not so selective when they move along a travel corridor.

That was obvious on the videos I have.....they would seemingly just swing their head back and forth as they walked along and nipped whatever they seemed to find. I was surprised as typically they tend to seem to be more selective in what I have seen. In this case they seemed to feed more like livestock and less like selective browsers.....but again the food that was there was decent deer food as well....

 

[Brushpile]

I have a stand up over the nettles and will hunt from it in the morning.

 

[Brushpile]

I think that with this drought, deer are feeding along the river. I will see when it gets light in the morning.

 

[Kwood]

Some places people will eat nettles. I have seen where they make tea or boil and eat. There is some nutritional value to it. Not high in protein however.


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[Brushpile]

The stand is in place, but there hasn't been wind to facilitate hunting.

 

[Brushpile]

Browsed Nettles.

Stand is in place, but there has been no wind and no rain. Now there's wind but from the wrong direction. However these browsed nettles are evidence that deer are feeding along the river in the midst of historic drought.