Driving home at dusk after a quick scouting mission on Sept. 7, a huge buck and another younger buck made their way across the gravel road a few hundred yards in front of the truck.
The bucks had been bedding in a little patch of brushy cover not far off the road that was surrounded by standing corn. The corn is a food source itself, but it’s also an extra layer of security that makes these tiny pockets of brush, small sloughs or grassy fencelines places where big bucks will spend their days in late summer and early fall.
An additional draw in this specific situation (and why these bucks were likely here) was a second food source that is a rarity on the landscape in this area of Minnesota – bright green alfalfa. That’s where those bucks spent the last minutes of light feeding.
In the early bowhunting season, food is often king. But what that looks like depends on where you’re hunting and can fluctuate from year to year.
With Minnesota’s Sept. 19 bowhunting opener this weekend, let’s dive into what those best food sources might look like based on where you hunt and what whitetails need to focus on this time of year to build strength for the rut and winter ahead.
This map doesn’t look like much in terms of providing traditional deer cover – just wide open crop fields with a few tiny patches of brush and a little tree line. But this is where the author saw a huge buck and another younger buck on Sept. 7. The bucks were bedded on the west side of the gravel road (brown waypoint) in a small pocket of brush surrounded by corn. Lush alfalfa was another draw as a food source on the east side of the road. (Map courtesy of onX)
Understanding the basics
Matt Ross with the National Deer Association published a story in 2022 that takes a deep look into the seasonal food habits of whitetails based on the average findings from more than 50 studies conducted across different regions.
The research shows that a deer’s diet throughout the year consists primarily of browse (46%, leaves, twigs of woody plants), forbs (24%, leaves, stems of non-woody broadleaf plants), mast (11%, hard and soft), and agriculture crops (4%).
Deer will focus on high-protein green foods as long as they remain on the landscape. Near water can be good areas to look for them where moisture helps plants remain palatable longer into the fall. These areas are especially important where oaks and agriculture don’t exist.
“Deer need natural forages in every season, whether it’s growing plants in spring and summer or dormant twigs and buds in winter,” said Lindsay Thomas, Jr., the chief communications officer with the National Deer Association.
“But as summer transitions to fall, they will seek any high-energy foods like mast that become available, which helps them build up fat for winter. Mast like acorns, persimmons, crabapples and other fruits will be highly attractive to deer at this time. They are still foraging on any growing plants still available, especially broadleaf forbs, but many of these are now mature, less digestible, and lower in protein as fall approaches.”
MORE WHITETAIL COVERAGE FROM OUTDOOR NEWS:
Tom Bahti: Time to reassess our priorities as deer hunters
Patrick Durkin: Crossbows help Wisconsin set third highest arrow kill last deer season
Three weather conditions bowhunters can use to get more aggressive
The pulling power of acorns
So will green foods (bean leaves, natural forbs, alfalfa, etc.) trump mast and other agriculture crops like corn if all exist on the landscape?
It’s hard to beat the pulling power of acorns. “White oak acorns usually outrank agricultural crops and food plots when they start falling,” the National Deer Association’s Lindsay Thomas, Jr. said. (Photo by Eric Morken)
“It always depends on what’s available in any given location, and in any given year,” Thomas said. “Deer will switch from using a good food source almost overnight when another more preferred source becomes available in the area, even though the first source is still abundant. The best example is when white oak acorns start falling. They usually outrank agricultural crops and food plots when they start falling.”
Red oak acorns contain more tannins than white oak acorns, and are more bitter immediately after they drop. Red oaks may not have the same pulling power of white oak acorns until later in the fall, but that too can depend on what other food is available.
Blane Klemek is an avid bowhunter and the Minnesota DNR’s Region 1 Wildlife Manager. He vividly remembers his first bowhunting experience in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula.
Klemek found a small section of red oaks that were raining acorns on a ridge. Fresh deer droppings and worn trails were everywhere.
Klemek set up in one of those oaks with his portable tree stand. In less than an hour, a spike buck provided a good shot opportunity and Klemek went home with the meat he was seeking. He stopped at a buddy’s house, who was perplexed that he had shot a deer in the UP over a natural food source instead of bait.
“Few, if any, natural foods outperform acorns as a go-to food source for white-tailed deer and other wildlife,” Klemek said. “Acorns are high in fat and carbohydrates, and deer are drawn to these natural ‘superfoods’ like no other.”
Tony Peterson, who lives in Minnesota and is a content creator for MeatEater, always starts his bow opener with his daughters in southeast Minnesota.
“We almost always focus on soybeans, alfalfa, or acorns,” Peterson said. “I often try to find a field edge for them with white oaks that are dropping in the same spot. That gives the deer two really good reasons to swing though for our evening sits.”
According to the DNR’s Sept. 8 Drought Conditions Overview map, much of eastern and northern Minnesota remain in severe or extreme drought, while many parts of central, western and southwestern Minnesota are seeing moderate to severe drought. (Image courtesy of Minnesota DNR)
Drought impact
Early-season bowhunters should also consider the impact of drought conditions that are impacting more than 70% of the state.
The drought is drying up a lot of natural forage. That may concentrate deer where those foods still exist, as well as push more deer to mast and agriculture crops.
Nicholas Snavely, the DNR’s Fergus Falls area wildlife supervisor, said that is the case in his work area of Wilkin, Otter Tail, Traverse, Grant, Douglas, Stevens and Pope Counties where dry conditions have pushed deer to the few remaining green food sources in irrigated soybeans or shaded river-bottom areas. Acorns and soft mast (apples, wild plum thickets) may draw deer on opener, as will agriculture (regrowth alfalfa fields, corn, beans, etc.).
Bob Schmidt, the DNR’s Baudette area wildlife manager, said high protein green forage and hard and soft mast is where it’s at in north-central Minnesota this time of year. Much of that green forage will be alfalfa or clover regrowth or fresh regrowth of a cereal grain field. Areas where deer are transitioning from private agricultural to public forests can be spots to target.
“There is plenty of mast in the forest, particularly along rivers,” Schmidt said. “So that could be a place to focus. Another area to focus on would be an area that’s had a fresh disturbance where new forbs and such are growing in. This could be from a fresh logging or another habitat management treatment, a flood, or even a fire.”
Penny Backman, the Tower area assistant wildlife manager, said the impact of the drought should be top of mind for archers in the northeast.
“Targeting lower-lying cuts or edges with the potential for more moisture in the vegetation would be helpful,” Backman said. “Bedding areas are also probably more likely to be in swamps where there is still moisture to help the deer keep cool and provide better feed during a drought.”
The National Deer Association recently published a story by Ben Westfall titled “How much water does a deer drink?” Westfall details how deer get much of their water needs through the food they eat, especially in spring and summer when lush vegetation is more available.
Drought conditions can add to the probability that deer will seek out standing water.
“They’ll use surface water more than normal,” Thomas said of drought years. “If surface water sources are limited where you hunt, you may see a concentration of sign and activity around a water source that you can use to your advantage.”
Peterson said hunting around water is one of the consistent early-season patterns he targets.
“If we can sit close to a pond that also has some oaks or green ag nearby, we will,” he said. “Even when the rain has been consistent, deer just get into the habit of going to water sources, and there is always lush browse around water. In dry years, that can be a huge benefit.”
Don’t sleep on mornings
Evening hunts get most of the attention during the early season, but mornings can be productive under the right conditions.
“For our morning sits, we tend to get in the cover and play the hard mast game,” Peterson said.
An oak ridge near bedding, or getting within security cover along the bank of a river can work well in mornings. Those riparian areas usually hold the lushest remaining browse options.
Rivers or creeks tend to provide great access opportunities in the dark for those willing to put on hip boots or use a kayak to slip into a setup through the back door. Mornings also often offer the coolest temperatures of the day this time of year.
Deer will get on their feet, browse short distances and bed back down. Hunt a wind where your scent is blowing over the water or another safe zone behind you and there is an opportunity to catch those short movements throughout the morning.
Dining and Cooking