What are destination food sources in this snow?

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comeback_kid
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What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby comeback_kid » Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:11 pm

Got about 4" of snow on the ground here in SE PA here at the moment. Typically snow doesn't stick around for this long and we don't usually get cold snaps with temps this low. Tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be in single digits to teens which I believe will put stress on the deer and cause them to move to food earlier than normal.

The place I am hunting has cut corn that's basically been picked clean, lots of acorns, winter wheat and grasses. No beans left over.

In your experience, What is the most important food this time of year with the snow?


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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby Stanley » Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:47 pm

Acorns are a pretty good draw.
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby mauser06 » Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:01 pm

Acorns and browse can be huge.

Don't rule off the fields though. Especially if you can find standing corn or beans. If there's standing crops every deer from a long ways off could be near it.

My buddy and I found that today. Small corn field that wasn't picked. He said there had to be over 50 beds on the hillside beside it. The hillside was in the sun, out of the wind and right beside the corn. With the cold and wind we've been having, basically for the last...3 weeks or so, they are definitely feeling it..and they are doing everything they can to conserve energy and eat.


Yesterday I still hunted and tracked for about 6 hours. All the fresh sign was on the southern slopes in the sun. I had to cover some ground to stay in fresh sign to cross the valleys.

I find these conditions can be tough. You can go a long ways without finding much. Then all the sudden you find every deer around. The wind especially. They seem to seek areas sheltered from the wind when it's this cold. But they like to have a food source real nearby too...what that food source is will vary based on what's available.
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby brancher147 » Sat Jan 06, 2018 2:03 am

Acorns. Should be pretty obvious with 4" of snow where they are feeding. Season is out here, but hunting those very cold days last week I was seeing deer and several nice bucks feeding during the warmest part of the day or when the sun was out in the timber on acorns. Sunny high pressure days deer will feed all day in these temps if not being pressured much.
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sat Jan 06, 2018 2:00 pm

check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby ZA11 » Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:02 pm

Check some corn fields that were picked early. Where I live in PA farmers have been drilling in radishes a lot after picking the corn to help the soil compaction from no tilling and they leave good decomposition/nutrients for the soil versus sowing in winter wheat. Around me they have just been doing this for the last couple years and when they do it really impacts how and where the deer travel.
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby Rob loper » Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:07 am

ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.


I never thought that great tip man
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby PAHUNTER570 » Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:32 am

ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.


I was wondering why i was seeing that in my area. Thank you.

Pines cedar laurel is where I'm finding them now.
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:20 am

PAHUNTER570 wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.


I was wondering why i was seeing that in my area. Thank you.

Pines cedar laurel is where I'm finding them now.

good news too is they will walk around and browse all day when its nice out when they are yarding
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby Dewey » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:27 am

ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.

What does green pee mean? I have seen that in cedar swamps and assumed it was from browsing cedars late winter.
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:33 am

Dewey wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.

What does green pee mean? I have seen that in cedar swamps and assumed it was from browsing cedars late winter.

its the tannic acid in cedar mixing with other things they are eating and digestive bacteria in stomach same way you get black and green spots on a cedar deck
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:35 am

ghoasthunter wrote:
Dewey wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.

What does green pee mean? I have seen that in cedar swamps and assumed it was from browsing cedars late winter.

its the tannic acid in cedar mixing with other things they are eating and digestive bacteria in stomach same way you get black and green spots on a cedar deck
ive even seen blue pee from it
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:37 am

ghoasthunter wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:
Dewey wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.

What does green pee mean? I have seen that in cedar swamps and assumed it was from browsing cedars late winter.

its the tannic acid in cedar mixing with other things they are eating and digestive bacteria in stomach same way you get black and green spots on a cedar deck
ive even seen blue pee from it

its all chemical reactions from what they are browsing on
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS
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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:44 am

Blue pee is from buckthorn IIRC. It looks like windshield washer fluid in the snow.

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Re: What are destination food sources in this snow?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:47 am

ghoasthunter wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:
Dewey wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote:check their pee if its rust red they are in pines cedar laurel and brows the dark is from tannic acid in what they are eating.

What does green pee mean? I have seen that in cedar swamps and assumed it was from browsing cedars late winter.

its the tannic acid in cedar mixing with other things they are eating and digestive bacteria in stomach same way you get black and green spots on a cedar deck
ive even seen blue pee from it

its all chemical reactions from what they are browsing on

I wish I knew more you could target deer down to plant that way but I've never seen much research go that deep in on it
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS


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