James M. Wentworth

We sampled forage and browse and made spotlight counts to study seasonal use of clearcuts and food plots by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the Southern Appalachians. Browse production was greater in clearcuts than in adjacent forest. Deer used clearcuts most intensively during the summer when green leaves and herbs were abundant. Use of clearcuts was very low in winter. Browsing intensity was higher in clearcuts than in the forest in summer but not in winter. However, less than 4% of all twigs were browsed even in clearcuts in summer. Food plots, especially those containing...

We examined the influence of acorn abundance on fall and winter diets and on nutritional and reproductive status of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the Southern Appalachians from 1983 to 1988. When acorns were abundant, they dominated the diet; when they were scarce, leaves of broadleaf evergreen species, primarily rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), largely replaced acorns in the diet. When acorn production was poor, kidney fat indices in winter were significantly lower for most sex and age classes. Also, reproductive rates of yearling does were significantly lower...