Is this red osier dogwood or...

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

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410E9225-E7EE-4003-B435-E4F041015AB6.jpeg

Hey guys, so I’ve been putting some miles on and busting through the snow and water. I used to hunt marshes a lot and I would see ROD shrubs that were huge all over. The deer liked em a lot.
In the Bigwoods here I haven’t noticed em but along this travel route of a particular buck I was following today I notice a lot of tiny red twigs growing under black spruce or from under fallen trees. It’s all browsed off to 12” height or less and pencil diameter or less. Not a plant went unbrowsed.
It’s a high deer density area and the plants are mostly where they don’t get much light so maybe they just never get any size. Or is this some other type of plant possibly?

I know what the plant is doesn’t really matter, all I need to know is if they want to eat it or not. Are there other red bark trees or shrubs like that?

Just curious, I like to know what I’m looking at.

[Hawthorne]

Yes

[Wetfoot]

For sure. One thing about deer, the list of what they won't eat is much shorter than what they will. Makes big woods tough as deer can change food sources almost daily. In season scouting and honing your observation skills is critical.