QDMA Articles :
Managing Native Vegetation for White–tailed Deer
By: John Johnson
For many years hunters and outdoor
enthusiasts have planted food plots to improve the nutrition available
to their deer herd and increase their chances of harvesting a
quality buck. While this is a good practice, food plots typically
represent only 1–5 percent of the available habitat on most
hunting properties. What about the other 95–99 percent? Clearly,
food plots are only one piece of a total management program. The
purpose of this article is to introduce you to a relatively new
management concept—total vegetation management. This program
involves managing native vegetation and supplementing these forages
with planted food plots during critical periods of the year.
According to Mississippi State University’s
wildlife department, “The white-tailed deer is a herbivore
and is characterized as a browser. It is also a ruminant (four–chambered
stomach), which helps with the digestion of various foods, making
it versatile in its feeding habits. It consumes a variety of leaves,
twigs, bark, and buds of trees and shrubs, plus hard and soft
fruits, vines, forbs, lichens, mushrooms, cultivated crops, and
some grasses.” The majority of the above food items are native
plants available throughout much of the year. However, most hunters
and managers pay little attention to native vegetation or ignore
it all together.
Whitetails’ food preferences
change considerably throughout the year in response to their changing
nutritional requirements. There are three key periods of the year
that should be considered when attempting to maximize the availability
of native forage to white–tailed deer. These include spring
when deer are trying to recover from the stress of winter and
the rut, summer when antler growth occurs, does are lactating,
and newborn fawns are growing, and fall/winter when deer are preparing
for winter and the rut. The whitetail’s diet is significantly
different during each of these periods. Therefore, by managing
the native vegetation on your property during these periods and
implementing good herd management practices, like those suggested
by the QDMA, you can significantly increase your chances of producing
healthy deer and quality bucks.
Spring
During early spring when whitetails are recovering from the
stress of winter and weight loss due to the rut, they need a diet
high in protein to help regain lost condition. Luckily, this is
also the time of the year when Mother Nature provides us with
“first green up,”—the time of the year when plants
start putting on new growth. This new growth is readily available
in most areas, highly preferred, and, if managed properly, can
be highly nutritious with crude protein levels exceeding 16 percent.
Spring Management Techniques
“Fertilizing woodlands and patches of native vegetation is
an effective but underused method of attracting deer,” says
Dr. Lee Stribling of Auburn University. Fertilizing with Scotts
new 36–3–7 Timed–Release, Native Plant Fertilizer,
can increase nutritional content and production of native plants
like Japanese Honeysuckle. This is possible because the nitrogen
contained in the fertilizer has been coated with a proprietary
timed–release coating enabling the nitrogen to be gradually
released to the plant over several months. The recommended application
schedule is one application in the early spring followed by another
in late summer. For those who like a more hands on approach, they
can make light, periodic applications of a complete fertilizer
every 45–60 days from spring through late summer. Be sure
to perform an annual soil test and lime and fertilize accordingly.
Dr. Stribling goes on to say that
these natural food plots become excellent areas to hunt during
the early fall because, “Deer are attracted to these natural
food
plots by the improved nutrition and taste of fertilized plants.”
Southern Native Plants and Preference
Levels
Japanese Honeysuckle (non-native)
H
Blackberry, Raspberry H
Greenbrier H
Strawberry Bush H
Wild Grapes H–M
Common Persimmon H
Ashes H
Southern Crabapple H
Oaks H
Hollies H–M
H = High, M = Moderate
Fertilizing mast producing trees and
shrubs during the spring is often overlooked by hunters because
they are not utilized by wildlife until late summer or early fall.
However, spring is the best time to start a tree fertilization
program. To make fertilizer application easier and more effective,
Scotts has developed “Tree Tablets” or compressed fertilizer
discs that are inserted into the soil around the perimeter of
the tree’s root zone at a rate of 4 tablets per 1 inch of
tree trunk diameter. Like their other fertilizers, these tablets
are also timed–release so they provide gradual fertilization
for up to two years with a single application.
Summer
Summer is one of the most critical, but often overlooked times
of the year for managing wildlife habitats. This is the time mature
bucks are producing antlers, does are lactating, and newborn fawns
are growing. Late summer is also one of the two times of the year
when native food sources are least available and/or low quality.
Consequently, supplementing native vegetation with food plots
at this time of the year is critical for optimum nutrition.
Summer Food Plot Options
Crop Planting Date*
Soybeans April–June
Cowpeas April–June
American Jointvetch March–June
BioLogic Summer
Management Blend March-June
Rape April–July
Lablab April–June
Corn March–May
Millet April–July
Grain Sorghum May-June
*Forage species should be planted progressively later from southern
to northern climates.
There are many options in addition
to those listed above that can be used to provide nutrition to
your deer herd during the stressful summer months. Late summer
is also the time to make an additional applications of fertilizers
to native plants. This will ensure these plants grow well and
provide good nutrition well into early fall.
Fall
During fall and early winter, the whitetail’s diet switches
to high carbohydrates as they prepare for winter and the stress
of the rut. During this time deer feed heavily on mast crops such
as acorns and soft fruits. It is very important that you have
properly prepared these trees/shrubs during the early spring,
as mentioned earlier in this article, for maximum results. Fall
is also the time of the year to prepare winter food plots (traditionally
cereal grains like wheat, oats, and rye as well as clovers), since
winter is the other stressful period of the year when native plants
are least available.
Fall Food Plot Suggestions
When deciding what to plant for your fall food plots, it is generally
best to plant a mixture of cereal grains and legumes or forage
plants such as those recently introduced by Biologic. This will
provide nutritious forage during the winter, spring, and early
summer. Scotts suggests using a single application of their 28–10–10
Timed–Release Food Plot Fertilizer for these plantings. This
eliminates the need to make multiple fertilizer applications and
saves time, effort, and money.
The most important thing to remember
when instituting a total vegetation management program is to manage
your native vegetation and food plots to meet the nutritional
needs of your deer herd. Native vegetation provides the nutritional
basis for your deer herd but food plots are generally required
to maintain optimum nutrition during the critical stress periods
of late summer and w
inter. A total vegetation management program coupled with good
harvest management practices, like those supported by QDMA, will
ensure a healthy deer herd and greatly improve your chances of
harvesting that “buck of a lifetime.”
John Johnson is the Vice President
of Sales for The Scotts Company. John is also an avid deer hunter
and strong supporter of QDM and the QDMA.
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