Quality of Spring Deer Diets on Louisiana Pine-Hardwood Sites

Nutritional quality of diets selected by 3 tame deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during spring 1980 were determined on forested and clearcut, unburned pine-hardwood sites in central Louisiana. Diets were dominated by leafy browse from plants of moderate to high preference for wild deer. From mid-March to late May, nutritive values of deer diets decreased an average of 43.1% for crude protein, 56.9% for phosphorus, and 9.3% for digestibility. Deer diets from clearcuts were generally higher in nutritive value than diets from forests.