Do mule deer eat this plant?

[COJoe]

This past elk hunt in October in Colorado, I noticed a couple areas I was still hunting through had this ground cover/plant growing and both times I also saw mule deer or fresh sign around. One area, at about 10,500 feet I was walking through some timber with a lot of beetle killed spruce trees so the sun was able to shine through to the forest floor which was covered in this plant. In that area I saw about five mule deer with one pretty nice buck which ran off like a runaway freight train. The couple does that were with him just continued walking slowly away while eating. Farther along I saw a couple more mule deer bucks. Later that day in a different area about a 1/2 mile away and starting at 11,700 feet, I made my way down a finger between two small drainages with more timber but more of a shaded area and these plants were growing there too. I didn't see any mule deer but lots of very fresh sign and trails where they were obviously walking through.

My question is can anyone identify this plant and do mule deer commonly eat it? There seemed to be a correlation between the two but it may have just been a coincidence. I am including a link to an interesting video on what do bear, elk and mule deer eat in the mountains but it didn't talk about this plant. Thanks for any input, now I need to put in for my mule deer tag for that area but it's a tough one to get.

 

[LongWayAround]

The plant is a vaccinium. I'm not sure whether deer eat it or not. I often see grouse around it and assume they eat the small berries from it.

 

[cnelk]

Yep. For sure. Elk like it too

 

[COJoe]

Thank you gentleman for the identification and verification of who eats it. I tried identifying it but was having trouble. Makes sense, after I looked up vaccinium and saw it was a type of dwarf blueberry bush. Heck, I know where to go for a snack for lunch while hunting now, lol. It's all over in THAT area..... and it explains the elk sign I saw too.

 

[Wapiti1]

Your first picture looks like what I call Whortle Berry. Super tasty little purple berries in the blueberry family. Grouse love it as do bears. If it's a good berry year grouse will actually taste like those berries.

Deer browse on it, but I have never seen them key in on it. Most of the time it is in a good bedding area, IME. It takes a wetter area to grow it, so that in turn means more other plants i.e. food.

Jeremy

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

^^ What he said.

Vaccinium Scoparium. Common name grouse whortleberry. It is a species of huckleberry, but the plant itself (and the berries) are smaller than the other huckleberry species. They taste good, but you’d need a million of them to pick a gallon.

It is incredibly common in higher elevation Subalpine Fir/Lodgepole/Spruce habitat types. It will grow all the way up to tree line and grow under Whitebark Pine, or in MT, it even grows around Subalpine Larch.

Animals browse on it for sure, but I would not key in on it as a high value feed that would attract game. If you are commonly seeing game in that area, pay attention to the other influencing factors of why they are there (time of day, time of year, temp, water, pressure, etc.). I don’t think they are flocking to that spot to browse on grouse whortleberry.

 

[Bull_n_heat]

Your first picture looks like what I call Whortle Berry. Super tasty little purple berries in the blueberry family. Grouse love it as do bears. If it's a good berry year grouse will actually taste like those berries.

Deer browse on it, but I have never seen them key in on it. Most of the time it is in a good bedding area, IME. It takes a wetter area to grow it, so that in turn means more other plants i.e. food.

Jeremy

Yep - looks like whortle berry to me too. Probably not the best feed for deer, but they'll eat it if other alternatives aren't around. And yep grouse, and grouse hunters, like it too!

 

[COJoe]

I did see a couple grouse and squirrels in the first area too. The first area is on a small flat top ridge between two small running creek drainages with terrible blow down on three sides of it with the fourth side entry area coming from the tree line at the base of an open grassy area so it's probably more of a safe refuge area than feeding destination. There are deep, well worn game trails in through it which is what I was still hunting on.

 

[taskswap]

Don't forget deer and elk change their diets with the season. You may not see them munching on it very much in early seasons when they can get grasses and so on. But those are one of the "forbs" they will switch to when the grasses dry up and wither in the cold.

 

[Wapiti1]

I did see a couple grouse and squirrels in the first area too. The first area is on a small flat top ridge between two small running creek drainages with terrible blow down on three sides of it with the fourth side entry area coming from the tree line at the base of an open grassy area so it's probably more of a safe refuge area than feeding destination. There are deep, well worn game trails in through it which is what I was still hunting on.

Off topic, but I'm digging the M1917 Enfield in your signature picture. The ugly duckling of the action world, but they make a fine rifle.

The description of that area sounds like refuge/bedding to me.

Jeremy

 

[COJoe]

Thank you Wapiti1, I have a description and short story on that rifle under the "Old Rifles" post. It shoots very well but kicks like a howitzer, lol. Maybe I need to carry it up to the bedding area, eat some berries and wait for an elk to walk through.

 

[robby denning]

@LongWayAround & @cnelk
I learn something everyday here

 

[Plainsman79]

If you have an IPhone, you can take a picture of the plant type and then when you get back into service open up the pic and hit the little i that is circled with stars. It’ll tell you what kind of plant it is.

It’s a very useful tool for identifying plant types that the critters are actively eating.

 

[spike camp]

We’ve always called it currant berrys.
Gald to know the actual name after 25 years lol.
They’re quite delicious, when ripe.
My buddy made muffins with them once, actually phenomenal.

But, I’ve never seen deer or elk feeding on the plant, even in areas where it’s super abundant.

 

[dtrkyman]

If you have an IPhone, you can take a picture of the plant type and then when you get back into service open up the pic and hit the little i that is circled with stars. It’ll tell you what kind of plant it is.

It’s a very useful tool for identifying plant types that the critters are actively eating.

I was just about to type the same thing .

 

[Mcribs]

We’ve always called it currant berrys.
Gald to know the actual name after 25 years lol.
They’re quite delicious, when ripe.
My buddy made muffins with them once, actually phenomenal.

But, I’ve never seen deer or elk feeding on the plant, even in areas where it’s super abundant.

Use that to get started on ID, but I have had issues with incorrect info. It’s a cool tool though to get in the ballpark.

 

[TaperPin]

I wouldn’t use that to determine where deer are, especially bucks because they are often not eating the easiest/tastiest stuff, but get into rougher higher terrain with more sparse forage. Food in the Rockies is everywhere at that time of the year.

Having said that, there are plenty of big bucks shot out of avalanche chutes - they aren’t there for the view, so it’s a combination of terrain and munchies, but the mountains are full of easier to get to food that does and fawns are more likely to be taking advantage of.

Within sight of a relatively lush series of avalanche chutes I’m familiar with, looking up a couple thousand feet there is a rather bare bowl rimed with Krumholtz brush that is a buck magnet for bedding down in. Looking across the valley to other high bowls and relatively bare mountain sides, the oldest deer are in what looks sparse with only a few krumholtz to hide behind.

Bull elk are more likely to be feeding near cows.

If you’re hunting an area with large unchanging terrain, I’d still expect does and fawns to be in the areas easier to access and the bucks will be where ever they are - glassing large hillsides of brush in Colorado or Utah I have yet to develop a good feel for why bucks choose one area and not others.

If you crack the code be sure and let us in on it! *chuckle*

 

[Divide93]

Yup! As mentioned, whortle berry! Tasty little buggers!