Will deer eat berries?

Asked by: Jeff Branch

Deer eat berries frequently in the wild. Berry season is a short and highly competitive window for deer to gain precious calories. Often other food sources will win out over berries in favour of being more reliable and plentiful.

What berries do deer like best?

[7] Berries: Deer actually prefer the leaves, branches, and stems of raspberry and blackberry bushes to the fruit, which is usually gone by hunting season.

What food are deer most attracted to?

Deer are drawn to crops that are high in protein, such as kale, turnips, soybeans, peas, and alfalfa. A mix of plants that include clover and grasses, like wheat, oats and rye, will attract deer.

What should you not feed deer?

Corn is very hard for deer to digest, so it is recommended to not feed them corn at all.

What is the cheapest thing to feed deer?

An inexpensive way to feed deer is with corn. Deer love corn and many hunters rely on it for supplemental feeding. That being said, corn is not an excellent source of protein, which is essential for antler growth and the nursing of fawns.

What berries do deer eat?

Snowberries (Symphoricarpos albus) produce white berries, which deer enjoy. The showy blooms — which appear before the fruit — also attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Snowberries grow in USDA hardiness zones 4 through 10 and reach heights of up six feet.

What fruit do deer like?

Deer will readily consume apples, pears, plums, persimmons and mulberries. By planting a variety of trees, you can ensure at least one ripe food source throughout the season. Most fruit varieties are available in dwarf, semi-dwarf and standard sizes. Dwarf varieties mature around 8- to 10-feet tall and wide.

Are strawberries good for deer?

Strawberries are delicious fruits, so deer, widely known for their vast appetite, would gladly devour any strawberry orchard. They will feed on the fruits, leaves, stems, and everything, leaving a severely damaged plant in their wake.

What can I put in my deer feeder besides corn?

Some good fall food sources include hard mast (e.g., oak acorns, beech nuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, etc.), soft mast (e.g., apples, pears, persimmons, etc.), and agricultural crops (corn, soybeans, brassicas, cereal grains, etc.).

Do deer eat carrots?

Fruit & Vegetables. Although deer will eat apples, carrots, cabbage, etc., their use is not recommended. They are like candy to a child tasty but of little value in providing a well-balanced and nutritious diet.

Will deer come to sweet feed?

Deer will definitely eat sweet feed. Sweet feed can consist of a variety of things, but at its most basic is simply grains, such as oats or corn, bound together by molasses. It has a very strong aroma that deer can smell from far away, and it’s a delicious sweet treat.

Does deer like peanut butter?

Deer love peanut butter, so it is an excellent bait. You can use peanut butter alone or in a mixture to lure deer into an area for hunting or just to enjoy watching them. Peanut butter is much cheaper than most commercial deer attractants and works as well or better.

Is it OK to feed deer apples in the winter?

Deer eat woody browse in the winter. This can be leaves, berries, saplings, bulbs, or buds. In wintertime, they will take their pickings from the ground. They can also have some lush forage such as kale, radish, turnips, apples, or cabbage if it is available.

Will deer eat horse pellets?

Commercial deer feeds are available, including Deer Chow from Purina. Other things to feed are hay, apples, corn, horse or dairy sweet feed, pellets, or cubes. Food plots for deer forage can be a variety of plants like clover, corn, soybeans, and alfalfa.

Will deer eat alfalfa cubes?

Some people use alfalfa pellets for deer, which offer about 16% protein and a lot of fiber, but some deer can suffer from bloat when eating hay as they are designed to be a browsing animal rather than a grazing one.

Is corn bad for deer?

Corn is high in starch and a good source of digestible energy, but can cause problems in a deer’s digestive system. When deer eat too much corn or other high-‐carbohydrate food, many complex changes occur in the rumen. Some microbes proliferate while others die.