Don't Feed the Deer: How Corn Can Be a Killer

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Originally Posted by GW11

On the other hand, deer that have fed on standing corn or hay all through the fall and winter months will not be adversely affected by eating either as their guts are already able to process it.

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You might be right, a great deal of Southern/Eastern Ont is agricultural. This is probably a bigger issue where deer are forced to eat Jack Pines all winter.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

You might be right, a great deal of Southern/Eastern Ont is agricultural. This is probably a bigger issue where deer are forced to eat Jack Pines all winter.

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Yeah exactly. In theory you could gradually introduce corn or hay to deer that have been eating browse all winter and their gut would make the necessary adjustments. They would be ok with it eventually. The problem is that deer can't regulate that for themselves and they'll just gorge on whatever new food source is put in front of them.

The best and safest way to feed deer in winter is to drop a few cedar trees if you own the property and have the means to do so.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

That was a question I had; I see a lot of standing corn around her (winter drying) but have never seen or heard of deer in them. I don't think they eat it come winter, like they know it's not good for them. Does anyone actually see them grazing in corn fields..are they eating the corn or just the stalks/leaves ?

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Yes l have. There was a standing corn field next to a deer yard and you would see around 80 deer in it until most of corn next to the woods was cleaned off of corn. Back then there was over 120 deer that we counted in that yard. This last cold spell including yesterday deer were digging for corn in a cut corn field that was covered in snow. This deer yard is mainly cedar. I think deer in our area have a choice of different foods that they can find all winter and don't need to feed off twigs and cedar.

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Originally Posted by tracker

This deer yard is mainly cedar. I think deer in our area have a choice of different foods that they can find all winter and don't need to feed off twigs and cedar.

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Thanks, that's what we see here in the East as well...I have about 20 acres of cedars on my property and the deer hunker down there. The surrounded farm area has corn and soy fields, so they do eat well (the detritus) even after the cash crops are harvested.