Winter Food Sources

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Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Messages
117
I'm hunting eastern PA woods (not ag land) and was wondering what woodland food sources I should be focusing on through January? There are some oaks, but I don't think the Acorns are good anymore. Plenty of greenbrier everywhere. maybe someone knows of some grasses that I could take a look at. I'm hoping someone with more knowledge can pass along some wisdom. Thanks in advance!
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
2,895
Location
Western Iowa
Red oak acorns should still be good as they ripen later in the season and become more palatable to deer. The white oaks are probably shot. Just found this quote from the PA Gazette.

"Most experienced hunters can identify acorn-producing oaks, and walnut trees and grapevines are easy to spot, but many don’t know the shrubs and vines that deer eat during the late hunting seasons. In winter through much of the American Northeast, whitetails look for patches of Virginia creeper, multiflora rose, surmac, winterberry and poison ivy."
 

msalm

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
103
Any clear cut with low growing brush will be browsed on. Basically any area that has a lot of buds/branch ends within reach. White cedar is a favorite if there’s any around along with conifers for winter thermal cover.
 

Yoder

WKR
Joined
Jan 12, 2021
Messages
1,348
Last few weeks deer have been digging for acorns from red oaks in my area. I also hunt NE PA.
 
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