Go for the Goldenrod and hazel catkins

BRAINERD -- When Minnesota's 2009 firearms deer season opens one-half hour before sunrise Saturday, some of the approximately half-million orange-clad hunters will have a plan that will place them in proximity to a whitetail.

Many hunters will climb into a deer stand overlooking a farm field -- corn or soybeans -- or a deer food plot. Others who have venison on their minds will take a perch in a saddle between two oak ridges where for the past week acorns have been tossed to the ground by late October winds.

"Find 'em where they feed," is an old deer hunter's adage. This proverb holds true even now when the most rut-crazed bucks are too busy with procreation to eat since they will check feeding areas while searching for available does.

What if you hunt remote areas of the state, especially the far northern sections, where oak trees are few and farm fields non-existent? What food sources attract whitetails in those regions?

I believe the leaves of goldenrod plants to be the No. 1 deer food in areas absent of farm crops or mast. Goldenrod is a forb that grows in open meadows across the state. The plants vary in height but are roughly 3 feet tall. During late summer goldenrod sports attractive yellow flowers, thus its name.

The fact that goldenrod is fed upon by deer might be difficult for some hunters to realize; I know it took me years to discover and to accept just how attractive these plants are to whitetails due to two prevailing mindsets: one, most books tell you deer don't feed on goldenrod. Two, deer will not touch the plants until the leaves have frozen and turned brown.

I'm not a botanist but as I understand it, during summer and early fall goldenrod leaves that are still green are not palatable to deer. Some suggest they are actually mildly toxic. But once the leaves freeze, the cells burst, and a fungus converts those cells to a sugar. That's when deer begin to feed on the now brown leaves. I can't prove the botanical aspects of this but I do know for sure deer relish the frozen brown leaves, and that in areas where other foods are not available, goldenrod is a whitetail favorite.

Another preferential fall deer food that is often overlooked by hunters is the catkins of hazel brush. The catkins themselves resemble army worms -- about 1 1/2 inches long and approximately 1/8-inch in diameter. Hazel plants growing in sunny spots such as openings or forest edges sport the most catkins.

It is somewhat difficult to determine if deer are feeding on hazel catkins because the deer pull loose the catkins without nipping the twig. To determine if catkins are being eaten by deer look at the center branches of the thickest and biggest clumps of hazel brush. Deer are reluctant to "push" their way into the center of the tangle to reach, so the perimeter catkins will be missing but not buds sprouting from the center catkins.

Another plant deer utilize in the northwoods is raspberry. Whitetails prefer the stubborn leaves that often cling to the stems into December, but will also eat the spine-covered stems.

One more wild food attractive to deer is horsetail. This perennial grows about 18 inches tall and has dark green stems that form in sections. As kids we enjoyed pulling the sections apart and then joining them together. Horsetail prefers damp areas, sometimes even growing in shallow standing water.

If snow covers the ground it is relatively easy to determine what plants deer are feeding on. Without snow, watch for piles of deer droppings among the aforementioned plant species, and tracks, trails, rubs, and scrapes in the area.

Hunt these areas just as you would a farm field or oak ridge. Place your stand or blind downwind of the food source. The more remote feeding locations offer a better chance of intercepting a deer during daylight hours.

Bill Marchel, an outdoors columnist and photographer, lives near Brainerd.