Q.Late Season & Post-Rut
What do deer eat in December and January?
A.
Late-winter deer shift to woody browse (twig tips of maples, oaks, dogwood, greenbrier), standing crops where available, brassicas, cereal grains, and any remaining mast. Browse is the staple — most January diet across the whitetail range is twigs supplemented by whatever palatable food is still standing.
Brassica plots peak in palatability after frost and pull hard in cold weather. Standing corn and unharvested soybeans pull throughout the late season. South-facing slopes with brushy regrowth produce reliable browse.
See crop calendar pages on the farm site for brassica and cereal grain food plot timing.