Of course they do, why would the deer browse on matter that has very little nutritous value(hemlocks), when they have the option of feeding from nutritionally superior matter only a few feet away?Deer are very capable of deciding which foodsprovide the most nutrition, and will always eat those first when avaiable.That is the reasonwhy most people plant small food plots in the manner you chose. As far as hunting over them that isobviously a different agenda.