Corn in winter can kill whitetails?

[PABuck_HNTR]

I just read on the PGC (Pennsylvania Game Commission) website the following about Whitetail deer. I have never heard this before as I know many people who have feeders out ion the winter and use corn.


WHITE-TAILED DEER

The whitetail, which had virtually disappeared here by 1900, has become a common sight across the state through careful management, including regulated hunting. Male deer, or bucks, shed their antlers yearly and grow a new set each spring. Well nourished females (does) often have twin or triplet fawns every year. In spring and summer, deer eat green plants; in fall and winter they switch to acorns and other nuts, twigs and buds. If fed rich food such as corn in winter, they may get sick and die. Like cattle, deer are ruminants. The whitetail is our State Game Animal


I can't hardly believe this. Does ayone know anything about this?

[No Mercy]

I dont think its true. Where did you get that from?

[PABuck_HNTR]

I told you on the Game Commission website:

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=458&q=150720

[axp117crow]

i put out corn in my backyard all year long for the deer, all 4 seasons and no deer have ever died

[Schobs]

I learned about this in my fish and wildlife management class. There have been cases of deer dying of starvation with full bellies. The problem isnt deer are eating foods that are too rich, but rather the opposite, and are gorging themselves on foods they dont get any nutritional value from. Then theydont feel hungry any more, but dont get anything out of it. Kind of like filling our stomachs with water in place of meals for a week straight, then wondering why we dont have any energy.I'm not exactly sure what type of food this would include, maybe hay or something like that, but i would think corn would be nutritional enough for them that if they had a constant supply they would be fine, if not better off than other deer feeding on twigs and whatever they can find. If you find a skeleton in the spring and there is no flesh or obvious signs of death, you can cut a leg bone in half and check out the marrow, i believe if its reddish/pink, then the deer did not die of starvation, but if it is yellow/white, then it did die of starvation. I could be wrong about the marrow thing, but im pretty sure about the food thing. hope this helps

[Icedragon]

Thats kind of strange, I put out corn frequently during the winter months and ive never noticed anything like that! That is interesting though, I would like to look into that more!

[sparky858]

I've read this. I think it relates more to feeding starving deer corn. The article where I read it said that it is not good to give starving deer in a deer yard corn to eat. Once they are starved, they can't properly digest the corn.

[North Texan]

Feeding them corn really isn't the problem. It is when they are relying solely on corn that is the problem. It would be like one of us eating only toast all day every day. Even if we could eat all the toast we wanted, we still need other nutrients from other foods to survive.

Some people blame people feeding the corn for the deer dying, but I don't think that is case. I think the real problem begins when the deer run out of the other menu items on their diet, and are forced to replace them with only corn. This will happen whena population approaches orexceedscarrying capacity. If that is the case, putting a halt on corn feeding isn't going to solve anything, because the deer will starve anyway. That's nature's way of maintaining balance in the ecosystem.

[JimPic]

as long as deer are feeding on other food stuffs--corn in the winter time will not hurt deer.But corn as the only food ingested can cause problems

[younggun308]

When I saw the title, I fogged up my glasses laughing!!!!

(They're anti-glare glasses, for computer only.)