Food for thought

According to Clemson-based biologist Richard Morton of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, food sources are the primary key in locating trophy deer almost any time of year, but particularly during the rut.

It’s not that trophy bucks care much about eating, but does do, and they will eat more, preparing their bodies for pregnancy. In fact, Morton said an excellent strategy is to find a substantial food source near a thick bedding area. Bucks will balance food, cover and avoiding hunting pressure by hanging out in a good area where they don’t have to move much.

“By November, deer have been hunted a while, they’re going nocturnal, and the bucks are wore out from chasing,” Morton said. “A lot of research says they’ll lose about 15 to 20 percent of their body weight chasing, so they’re wore out. They’ve been spooked and bumped and maybe even shot at, so they’re holding tight. They find a food source close to that bedding area, and that’s where they hang out. It’s not advantageous for a buck to spend a lot of energy out hunting down food sources, so they find a food source near their bedding area, and they sit tight.”

Morton said the best food sources to target this month are honeysuckle, red oaks and water oaks. He admitted that deer will favor white oaks over the rest, but they tend to be spotty in their production and don’t have a very long shelf life. When white oaks fall, they tend to be eaten quickly, which leaves little, if any on the ground in November.

“If you’ve got some honeysuckle around, you need to fertilize that honeysuckle,” Morton said. “If I’m a hunter and I’ve got my own land, that’s what I’m going to be doing in September is fertilizing my honeysuckle because it’s a natural food plot. Fertilize it, and you’ve got a great place to go hunting come November.”

“Your red oak acorns tend to have a lot more tannic acid in them; they won’t sprout like a white oak,” he said, “so those red oak acorns will lie there, and deer will still be utilizing those acorns come November where the white oaks may have gotten all eaten.”