The Right Food at the Right Time

By Matt Harper

In our modern society, we’re taught to be more tolerant and open to opinions that vary from our own. I’m better at that sometimes than others.

Take, for example, those who believe a healthy diet has no room for meat. They argue that meat is too high in fat and other nasty compounds and is the root of our obesity epidemic. They don’t tell you meat is one of the best sources of protein — specifically the amino acids our bodies need for growth and maintenance — not to mention being a great supply of minerals and vitamin B12.

Granted, some cuts of meat and certain species of animals can be high in fat, and overconsumption in the absence of burning calories can result in a swollen waistline. Then again, so can the overconsumption of pasta, sugar, starches and other foodstuffs. If people were not supposed to eat meat, I argue, why do we crave it so much? Why do almost all civilizations aspire to have the wealth that lets people eat meat? Even those who abstain from eating meat try to make meatless concoctions that are supposed to mimic the taste of meat. Funny, you never see someone try to make a lettuce-flavored steak. Almost everyone loves the taste of bacon, which is largely fried pork fat. The best tasting, juiciest steaks are those with marbling, which is otherwise known as intramuscular fat.

My theory is that people naturally crave high-calorie, high-energy food such as fat because it’s built into our DNA. When we had to chase down our food or at least physically exert ourselves to obtain food, we burned enormous amounts of calories to do so and, in turn, craved high-calorie food to replenish energy. You can’t continually burn more calories than you consume or you will eventually die. If you ate a couple of Big Macs every day while never leaving the couch, you’d build up energy stores at a high rate. But if you had to sprint around McDonalds a few dozen times to chase down a Big Mac, you’d probably keep your beach body.

Although I can’t communicate with a whitetail deer, I’m certain they don’t worry about getting too fat. There’s little chance that would happen anyway, as a wild whitetail burns enormous amounts of calories evading predators, breeding, fighting, raising fawns and simply trying to survive. Therefore, deer seek food sources that supply nutrients they need for survival. Throughout a deer’s yearly cycle, those nutritional demands change based on biological functions and environmental conditions. For example, the nutritional needs of a buck or doe are different in summer than they are in the winter, so to maximize nutritional supply, you should manage your deer nutritional program to meet each demand.

Late Winter, Early Spring 

I like to begin the discussion of a deer’s yearly nutritional cycle with the relatively brief but extremely important time when winter is waning but still holds an icy grip on the whitetail’s world. The exact timing varies based on geographic location and annual fluctuation of temperatures, but it involves the final few weeks leading to spring green-up. In the Midwest during a typical year, that encompasses the latter part of February through early April.

That’s a small window, but it can be one of the most stressful in a deer’s annual cycle. Quality food supplies are typically in short supply — in fact, lower than at any other time. The nutrient-rich vegetation that accompanies spring green-up has not yet sprouted, and in most cases, winter food sources have all but disappeared. Does are entering their last trimester of gestation, which is when the most fetal growth occurs. Early in gestation, poor nutrition can lead to fetal reabsorption or abortion, but during the final weeks of pregnancy, nutrients consumed and from body reserves are routed to the unborn fawn — even to the detriment of the doe.

If good nutrition is not available, a doe’s health and body condition will suffer and can cause low birth weights and decreased post-natal milk production. Those conditions dramatically decrease fawn survivability. Also during this time, newly formed antler buds are just starting to appear on a buck’s pedicles. Although protein requirements are not as high as they will be during the peak antler growing season in late spring and summer, protein needs increase from winter requirements to support the new antler growth.

A shortage of protein during this stage can stunt early antler growth and negatively affect eventual antler size. Like does, bucks are often in poor body condition coming out of winter and in need of high-energy food sources. Increased nutritional needs combined with the lack of those nutrients present a serious threat to the health and quality of a deer herd.

However, you can take steps to help manage the problem. One option is to use a free-choice supplement (where they are legal) that contains highly digestible protein and energy sources. Typically, these supplements also contain minerals and vitamins, which are nutritionally important, although not to the extent as they will become in late spring through early fall. It’s important to use a supplement that has been scientifically developed and formulated specifically for deer and for this time frame. Whitetail Institute’s Imperial 30-06 is a great example.

You can also plant enough winter forage to supply a food source until spring green-up. To do so, you must have a good estimate of the herd size, the amount of tonnage the forage will produce and how long you need it to last. Plug those factors into your equation and you will arrive at the acreage required. For example, let’s say your estimated deer herd size is 50, and you think each animal will eat 2 to 3 pounds per day.

If you average 4,000 pounds of forage per acre and want to supply food from Oct. 15 through April 1, you will need to plant about 5-1/2 acres (50 head times 2.5 pounds per day times 170 days/4,000 pounds per acre). Of course, that’s not an exact science and can be affected by forage production, year-specific temperature and climate, attracting more deer from adjacent properties and other factors; but it provides a good rule of thumb.

I will go into more detail on what to plant when we discuss fall and winter nutrition. Finally, the sooner spring green-up occurs, the better. You can do nothing about the timing of natural food green-up, but you can con-sider that factor when planting food plots. For example, Imperial Whitetail Clover and Imperial Whitetail Fusion are extremely cold tolerant, which means they will stay green longer in winter and also green up sooner in spring.

Spring and Summer 

Spring and summer are a time of plenty in the whitetail’s world. Natural vegetation is at its highest nutrient level, as most plants are vegetative and growing. It’s nature’s design to have the most abundant food supplies coincide with the birth of offspring.

This is also when nutritional needs are at their peak. In most parts of the country, does give birth in late spring, and milk production drives the need for the highest quality and quantity of food sources. Protein requirements for a lactating doe are about 18 percent, and the energy needs are at the highest in her yearly cycle.

Mineral and vitamin needs are also at their highest levels. Doe’s milk is extremely nutrient dense in that it has a higher fat and protein content than cow’s milk. If a doe’s diet is lacking in quality or quantity of nutrition, it will not change the composition of the milk but rather the quantity she produces.

Optimal milk supply is critical for fawn survivability, especially for the first few days and weeks after birth. A healthy, strong, growing fawn has a far greater chance of making it through those first few days when mortality rates are at their highest and the critical factor is optimal milk production.

Beyond survivability, weaning weights and yearling weights are directly correlated to mature body weights and in turn linked to antler size. Essentially, lower yearling weights show a trend to lower mature body and antler size.

For bucks, spring and summer encompasses the peak of antler growth, but before that can occur, bucks must first regain body weight losses they suffered in winter and early spring. Antler growth is a secondary function compared to body weight, so the faster a buck regains lost weight, the faster more nutrients can be directed toward antler growth.

For immature bucks, nutrients are not just used for body maintenance but also for muscle, skeletal and overall body growth. That’s why immature bucks never have full antler growth ability com-pared to mature bucks: Nutrients are directed toward body growth and antler growth. But for that age class of bucks, optimal body growth is vital to produce the optimal antler growth at maturity.

In general, bucks require about 16 percent protein during the antler-growing season, plus high amounts of digestible energy. Bucks also require high amounts of minerals and vitamins during the antler-growing season to support what’s basically a skeletal formation outside the body.

For bucks and does, minerals used for lactation or antler growth are pulled from the skeletal system. If optimal amounts of minerals are not available in food, milk production and antler growth will be diminished. Deer — especially bucks — will not pull more minerals from their skeletal systems than what they can healthily support. Almost every soil has some kind of mineral deficiency, which is why supplementation is so effective for antler growth, doe lactation and overall body growth. For years, Imperial 30-06 has been proven products that produce consistent and excellent results.

In fact, for more than 20 years, tens of thousands of hunters and deer managers have seen great success with those products. For protein and energy needs, food plots have become a management staple. The amount of quality natural vegetation is generally high in mid-spring, but as plants mature, nutrient levels decrease along with digestibility. Even in spring, a compilation of natural vegetation most often doesn’t supply the 16 to 18 percent protein levels the deer herd requires.

To supplement natural food sources, food plots planted with highly digestible high-protein forages can fill the nutrient gaps. For example, Imperial Whitetail Clover, Alfa-Rack Plus and other White-tail Institute perennials can provide more than 30 percent protein but the duration of digestibility and high nutrient content are also important. As mentioned earlier, most forages decrease in nutrient content and digestibility as they mature. The perennial foods plots from Whitetail Institute are designed to stay vegetative far longer than other varieties of the same families. That’s critical, as deer need high-quality nutrition throughout spring and summer, not just in spring.

Fall and Winter  

Fall and winter represent another big transition period for deer. In early fall, deer are still packing on weight in preparation for winter and the breeding season. As soon as the velvet starts to peel, revealing the finished hardened antler, a buck’s habits begin to change. First, bucks split up from their bachelor groups as they become more aggressive toward one another. As the rut nears, bucks begin to move more and eat less, and during the heart of the breeding cycle, bucks move almost constantly and burn huge amounts of energy chasing does, fighting rivals and breeding. Having better body condition before the rut can determine a buck’s breeding success and also determine their chance of survival when breeding ceases.

A doe’s body condition is also important before and during the rut. We’ve all seen trail-camera pictures of does that appear shrunken because of the high demands of lactation. For better odds of copulation that results in pregnancy, does must regain body condition and, in extreme cases, even to cycle properly. High-quality food sources containing energy, protein and minerals need to be abundant in late summer and early fall to help ensure that bucks and does are at their physical peaks before breeding begins. As summer turns to fall, nutrition requirements begin to shift. Protein and mineral needs start to decrease while energy needs increase. That’s not to say protein and minerals are not important. Rather, the levels needed are simply lower. After the rut, bucks again begin eating with a passion as they try to pack on fat.

When winter arrives, bucks and does of all age classes go into a semi-dormant stage in terms of digestion. Everything slows, including the rate of food passage, consumption and even mobility. That’s a natural way deer deal with the lack of food. Protein and mineral needs decrease even more, but energy still remains important to fuel their bodies through winter.

Fall and winter nutritional management is all about providing enough quality food supplementation to help deer get through this time in as good a condition as possible.

To accomplish that, you can use high tonnage-producing yet highly nutritious and digestible food plots. These forages should be high in carbohydrates but must also have the physical characteristics that will let them be available even in snowy conditions.

One of the best methods is to plant plots that target fall and early winter and also those that target winter specifically.

For example, Whitetail Institute’s Pure Attraction is a combination of Whitetail oats, winter peas and WINA brassicas. The oat variety is winter hardy, nutrient-rich and highly attractive, which provides the added benefit of producing a good hunting plot.

The brassica portion of the blend supplies food late into winter, giving the blend the unique ability to provide quality nutrition in fall and winter. Winter-Greens, Tall Tine Tubers and Beets & Greens are great nutritional tools for food plots designed for the coldest months. All can produce an incredible amount of tonnage and are excellent sources of energy, and they can be available even in deep snow. As discussed, it’s important to plant enough for the deer herd you’re managing. Use the equation that accounts for herd size, consumption rates and the desired duration of the food supply to come up with the acreage needed.

Conclusion

A whitetail deer’s nutritional needs are ever-changing, but at least they’re predictable. Knowing when and what to do to nutritionally manage your herd will ultimately result in healthier, higher-quality animals. You’ll encounter innumerable variables when managing natural biological systems, but that does not mean an educated, thoughtful approach should not produce favorable outcomes. For most, that means producing a quality deer herd. A quality deer herd translates to deer that exhibit the optimal characteristics we seek. We desire the ultimate phenotype. In other words, we want highly productive fawn rearing does; healthy, growing young deer; and those big-racked bucks we all dream of.