collapse

Advertisement


Author Topic: Big Timber Whitetail Food?  (Read 1092 times)

Offline 375HHM

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Pilgrim
  • *
  • Join Date: Dec 2020
  • Posts: 13
  • Location: Spokane
Big Timber Whitetail Food?
« on: October 08, 2025, 12:16:39 PM »
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?

Offline elkboy

  • Political & Covid-19 Topics
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Sourdough
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2010
  • Posts: 1863
  • Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Re: Big Timber Whitetail Food?
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2025, 01:55:15 PM »
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! 

Offline Mtnwalker

  • Political & Covid-19 Topics
  • Trade Count: (+2)
  • Sourdough
  • *****
  • Join Date: Aug 2015
  • Posts: 2442
  • Location: Selah
Re: Big Timber Whitetail Food?
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2025, 02:17:37 PM »
Boom. Heck of a reply Elkboy!

Offline 375HHM

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Pilgrim
  • *
  • Join Date: Dec 2020
  • Posts: 13
  • Location: Spokane
Re: Big Timber Whitetail Food?
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2025, 02:36:45 PM »
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

Offline elkboy

  • Political & Covid-19 Topics
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Sourdough
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2010
  • Posts: 1863
  • Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Re: Big Timber Whitetail Food?
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2025, 02:48:35 PM »
Boom. Heck of a reply Elkboy!

Thank you!  I love habitat stuff. 

Offline elkboy

  • Political & Covid-19 Topics
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Sourdough
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2010
  • Posts: 1863
  • Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Re: Big Timber Whitetail Food?
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2025, 02:56:11 PM »
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 

 


* Advertisement

* Recent Topics

Arrow preference by Longfield1
[Today at 02:42:39 PM]


Spokane valley archery by hughjorgan
[Today at 02:40:16 PM]


Hoof rot by jnichols
[Today at 02:29:30 PM]


Free 1-Hr Seminar for Deer Hunters by silverdalesauer
[Today at 02:03:42 PM]


Cage Trapping Bobcats by Katalla
[Today at 01:33:04 PM]


66 lbs beaver by Katalla
[Today at 01:28:57 PM]


Shake down time.... What's in your elk pack? by Sliverslinger
[Today at 01:07:01 PM]


me and my son headed east for our 2nd turkey season by TheYoungSelfStarter
[Today at 12:42:00 PM]


turkey hunting series question 9 - preparation for April by TheYoungSelfStarter
[Today at 12:40:59 PM]


whitetail scouting by kodiak06
[Today at 09:18:30 AM]


Springer season getting close, who's going by Crunchy
[Today at 08:07:16 AM]


Heavy metal (Kenworth C500's) by 3boys
[Yesterday at 10:33:44 PM]


European skull personalized wall state mounts by fire*guy
[Yesterday at 07:40:56 PM]


Muzzleloader Supplies by MADMAX
[Yesterday at 06:55:09 PM]


Custom rifles by Sakko300wsm
[Yesterday at 05:27:09 PM]


Beaver OK for Lent by Kingofthemountain83
[Yesterday at 05:13:50 PM]


Blacktail Trophy Tactics Hunting Event: Free for Veterans/Active Duty by silverdalesauer
[Yesterday at 04:29:58 PM]


RV floor repair, have you done it by Happy Gilmore
[Yesterday at 04:16:37 PM]


Elk Tracking Tips by WapitiTalk1
[Yesterday at 03:45:28 PM]


Looking for Your Help - Donate Used or New Gear by silverdalesauer
[Yesterday at 11:52:45 AM]

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2026, SimplePortal