Whatever they can reach. Most likely buds on trees and shrubs and the new growth on the ends of twigs. YUM!!
With that much snow on the ground and it being Dec, I would think they should be starting to bunch up... Standing corn as you mention is tops if it's available. Can also look for areas with livestock... Deer will often times go in and clean up any silage, hay, etc. left behind. If there aren't any food sources that stand out look for the best cover...
Other than browse from trees and shrubs... Look for green brier and horsetail. A place that I hunt, they demolish the horsetail when we have snow accumulation. I have looked into horsetail before and they claim it has no known food value to wildlife... But, they sure get into it once the snow piles up here. I correlate that to it being palatable to the deer and it is easy "pickings" even in deep snow. Just something to help fill their stomach.
I know where a huge honeysuckle bush is and I have been waiting for the other browse and the cold. It's quite a hike back but, now that firearms is over (tomorrow) we may have to make a run at it.
Scott.... I have had good luck with green briar leaves ..... I think I will try that tomorrow afternoon
They've got good pickings here. Corn and soybeans but they browse on certain grass for fillers/roughage. Not sure what the grass is but it is spotty here of little patches. Great spots to find sheds. They will graze it to the ground. Tim
We have honeysuckle in NY Scott, so def not only a southern thing. It typically springs up in areas a couple years after logging, and the deer and bears hit it hard. In northern zone NY, where there is no agriculture and only beech for mast, they are all over the briar all year round. That's the primary food source in those parts, they bed in it too.
After I thought about it. Bols has honeysuckle out in IL where we shed hunted.... Wonder why we don't have it around here....
Consider youself lucky with not having any honeysuckle. It has completely taken over most of our farm the last few years to the point of it being a nuisance.
Besides what has been mentioned, the deer here key in on stands of buckthorn still holding their leaves. They will also pluck the buckthorn berries from the tree and eat them. You'll know if they are doing this as there are numerous purple pee spots in the snow, which means they are doing a great job of spreading the seeds too
raisens man.....grapes that havnt been picked, wild, whatever. tons of sugar, tons of energy, and accessible to them
we have it around up here Scott. it is fairly environment specific though slashings, open flood plains etc.
