Deer are very predictable. It is easy to predict they will make you look like a fool.

I only have one rule when hunting the elusive whitetail - follow your instincts. We all been there, sitting in our spot, and a feeling hits us that this is just wrong. Personally I go with it, many times that feeling has hit me and I've moved spots just in the nick of time.

Dad was a fisherman and he used to say that big fish didn't get big by being stupid. That same logic plays well with deer. Especially here in Oklahoma where if it's got antlers, it's going to get hunted/shot at.

After fifty plus years of hunting deer, about the only thing I can state with certainty is that" If buck's only mated at night, there wouldn't be many shot".

Douglas, Very interesting comment. Have never heard of this theory. I always thought browsing was an instinct to stay one step ahead of the predators. This is why you do not see deer parked all day on a corn pile. Instinct tells them to keep moving before they can be easily stalked.

The digestive system of a deer is far beyond my knowledge of deer but I do know they can be patterned based upon the food source available for the time of year. I know of a leafy green vine which grows in the fields which deer crave when most green browse has turned brown. I wonder if the change in diet affect the digestive system.

buckhunter,
There is a recent article online you might want to check out titled "Unintended consequences of deer feeding" by Paula Piatt in the NY Outdoor News.
www.outdoornews.com/New-York/

Douglas - Though I have a pretty good background with deer, an article by Dr. David Hewitt, a deer nutrition expert, may shed some light on your question.

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Basically, what it boils down to is deer need a wide variety of foods available to them throughout the year to remain in top-notch health. If corn or hay is the only thing deer have to eat, that's generally a bad scenario.

As for seeing deer in fields during thaws, once the snow comes off the fields, a whole buffet of foods are available...mostly in the form of young forbs which are full of protein. Deer need protein to build their bodies up after several weeks of feeding on low nutrition browse and combating the full brunt of whatever nature could throw at them. Think of it like this...a freshly thawed field is the equivalent of a gourmet buffet laid out in front of you after several week of eating nothing but cardboard.

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As far as I know, the “more harm than good” PSA campaigns deal more with people continually putting food out for the deer in their backyards throughout the winter. There would be two reasons for this concern. A) Providing a continual food source so close to dwellings engender further deer/human conflicts (car accidents, garden destruction and the like. B) A continual concentrated food source will unnaturally concentrate the deer herd. This could cause the deer to become dependent on humans for food, and if they would be deer feeders were to stop, it would mean the entire herd was cut off from its food source. The other issue with concentration is CWD. The causes for CWD are not fully understood, but it is believed that it is transmitted through deer urine that other deer pick up when feeding in an area where there are many other deer urinating. Putting out deer feed could engender this situation
I don’t know if any of this is actually true, but this is the sense I get from these campaigns. Bioguy would certainly know more about it than me. In any case, I doubt that the occasional hay bale or some loose forage in a farm field would have entirely the same effect. I suppose that it is possible though.

Smart bucks die of old age. Too smart and they get caught where they don't belong. big bucks don't get big following rules,they get big by staying unseen and doing the opposit of what they should by our rules.50 seasons account for many mistakes of being taught what to expect.The unexpected

Dave, any good books on deer behavior? Always on the look out for new things to learn.