here's a link to acidosis

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7...6508--,00.html

Its not rare at all - if corn is fed to hungry deer that have not had corn in their diet it will happen if they digest ample amounts.

Its never a good idea to switch foods quickly on ruminants. Its the bacteria in their stomachs that make digestion possible - and the bacteria is usually food specific. A deer feeding on Woody Browse can literally starve eating a bale of alfafa - because it cannot digest it. You must have heard of this before, google it and you'll get toms of studies/examples. The classic example is well minded people bringing in bales of hay to an obviously starving, winter deer yard - By the time enough of the right bacteria are present - it could be too late and death can occur - and the deer will have died with a full stomach of a food it could not digest - acidosis aside!

They would be much better off to fell some trees so the deer can eat the tops.

that said -

deer do just fine with a stomach full of corn if corn is a regular part of their diet.