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The Long and Short of Corn for Whitetails

The Long and Short of Corn for Whitetails

By Bob Humphrey

Question: The deer food where I live is mostly acorns and leaves. Is it all right to just feed deer corn, or do they need something else? — Pery R.

Answer:  The short answer to both questions is, “Yes.” Now for the long answer.

You didn’t say where you live, but I suspect there is a lot more around for deer to eat. They will eat leaves, grasses and forbs until those fall and die off. Then they’ll switch to coarse woody browse (twigs, shoots and stump sprouts) and hard and soft mast like acorns, apples and persimmons. Deer have survived for eons without corn and could continue to do so quite well without it.

That being said, corn does provide an additional food source that can offer some benefit, particularly where other food is in short supply.

If your goal is to provide the best year-round nutrition for your deer, there are better ways. One is by managing the habitat through thinning, planting and food plots. Another is with a variety of supplemental feed more specifically designed to meet a deer’s nutritional needs. Feeding corn won’t hurt, if done properly, and can help.

If you do feed corn, make sure you begin early enough in the fall that the deer’s digestive system has time to adapt. Then, continue feeding throughout the winter, or gradually curtail your feeding before the onset of winter. If your goal is merely to attract deer during the hunting season, and it’s legal, go ahead and put some out.

– Photo by Ken Piper

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