Big Timber Whitetail Food?

[375HHM]

What are some common foods up here that whitetails focus on through the season (Sept - Dec), other than ceanothus (snowbrush) & aspen shoots? People talk a lot about farm country & acorns, but what about in these coniferous forests/mountains?

[elkboy]

My brief characterization is based on your location (Spokane)- if there's another region that you want to know about, let me know.  A lot of this holds true for North Idaho, as well. 

Creeping Oregon-grape, ocean-spray, mallow nine-bark (post-fire shoots), mountain alder, star-flowered false-Solomon's seal, wild rose (especially Woods' rose), tall snowberry (winter or spring, not as preferred), serviceberry, willow, black cottonwood, redstem ceanothus, huckleberry, lupines, arnicas, western redcedar (winter), Douglas-fir (winter), sedges, grasses (spring-summer, but bunchgrasses are often browsed in fall as well in dry openings).  Arboreal lichens like witches' hair (Bryoria, Alectoria) or lettuce lichens (Lobaria) become critical "top of snowpack" foods in late winter.

Keep in mind whitetailed deer in the inland Northwest love winter wheat, garbanzo beans, and oilseed crops (and weeds like bindweed in those fields).   

You can use the Burke Museum website to look up these plants and lichens.  https://www.burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/   

Some good references:  (access through Google Scholar)
Hull, I.T., Shipley, L.A., Berry, S.L., Loggers, C. and Johnson, T.R., 2020. Effects of fuel reduction timber harvests on forage resources for deer in northeastern Washington. Forest Ecology and Management, 458, p.117757.

Keay, J.A. and Peek, J.M., 1980. Relationships between fires and winter habitat of deer in Idaho. The Journal of Wildlife Management, pp.372-380.

I hope that helps! 

[Mtnwalker]

Boom. Heck of a reply Elkboy!

[375HHM]

Awesome! Thank you! So, they pretty much eat everything lol.

I heard that they dont really eat snowberry or Oceanspray, that they provide good cover but not good forage. Same goes for grasses

[elkboy]

Boom. Heck of a reply Elkboy!

Thank you!  I love habitat stuff. 

[elkboy]

Awesome! Thank you! So, they pretty much eat everything lol.

I heard that they dont really eat snowberry or Oceanspray, that they provide good cover but not good forage. Same goes for grasses

You're welcome. 

Mule deer especially browse those "tough shrubs", but white-tailed deer do as well (see Thilenius and Hungerford 1967, citation below), although they are not the most preferred browse species (after fire, though, the fresh adventitious sprouts are great, even for the picky whitetails).  Grasses are going to be most important in the spring, of course, as they either germinate (annuals) or send up a new crown (perennials).  However, in late October and early November, or around springs that admit relatively warmer groundwater to the surface, some grasses will be green in the fall and attract deer.  I took a 2.5 year old whitetail over a spring hidden back in a timber stand that had green grass, even when the surrounding forest had a snowpack.  Why?  The groundwater coming to the surface kept the snow melted, and the perennial grasses there remained green well into December.  A good hunter looks for those wet spots and both the water and the browse they afford.  Bucks love food and water sources deep in cover, especially as they feel hunting pressure. 

Thilenius, J.F. and Hungerford, K.E., 1967. Browse use by cattle and deer in northern Idaho. The Journal of Wildlife Management, pp.141-145. 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3798368