Alsheimer: Follow the Whitetail’s Stomach to the Best Deer Hunting

By Charles J. Alsheimer

Charles J. Alsheimer on Deer & Deer Hunting
To bulk up as winter looms ever closer, deer can eat as much as 10-15 pounds of food per day in September and October. (photo copyright Charles J. Alsheimer)

Though testosterone is beginning to drive bucks by the first of October, their stomachs still control their activity. The amount of food a whitetail consumes from Sept. 1 to the end of October is amazing. In early October “he who has the food has the deer” because deer are eating every 3-4 hours, and consuming 10-15 pounds of food per day.

Whitetails gravitate to any food source that has high sugar content. If an area has apples, wild grapes or other sugar-producing fruits, deer will literally bed right in the food source. In the case of apples, an adult whitetail can easily consume 30 or more tennis ball-size apples per day. In most cases an adult deer will eat five to eight during each feeding session – in only about 10 minutes if the picking is easy.

Here in western New York we have had the best apple-producing year in recent memory. The fallen apples in both of our farm’s orchards are so numerous they are almost completely covering the ground. Consequently, the deer have shifted their primary feeding from food plots to apples.

So be sure to keep an eye on the various food sources in your deer hunting area during this time of transition, and keep tabs on what is most favorable to their taste buds at any given time. That can make all the difference between successful stand vigils and boring sits without a deer in sight.

– Charlie

Keep tabs on the food sources in your deer hunting area and the big bucks using them! 

Moultrie Game Spy LX-50IR CameraThe Game Spy LX-50IR is Moultrie’s most affordable camera featuring Plot Stalker time-lapse mode. This 5.0 megapixel infrared game camera gives you three operational modes, allowing you to choose how your game camera functions.

The LX-50IR can function as a regular IR-triggered game camera capturing images and videos day and night. Setting your camera up over a food plot or large field? Choose the Plot Stalker time-lapse mode to capture pictures at preset intervals throughout the day. Or, get the best of both worlds – Plot Stalker during the day and IR-triggered game camera at night!  Other features include:

 

  • Night range up to 30-ft
  • Moon phase, time, date and camera ID stamped on every photo
  • Three photo resolutions
  • Picture delay 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1-30 minutes
  • Multi-shot pictures
  • SD memory card slot – up to 32GB (not included)
  • Operates on 6 C-cell batteries (not included)
  • 90-day average battery life
  • Includes USB cable, mounting strap and Plot Stalker software CD
  • External power port for optional Moultrie PowerPanel

 SHOP WHERE THE PROS SHOP: THE DEER STORE! 

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