Introduction
For the hunter, understanding where and how whitetail deer live is crucial to experiencing regular success. My goal is to equip you with the right information about whitetail deer habitat so that you can increase your hunting productivity and enjoy more meat in your freezer.
Whitetail deer are found in almost every part of North America. As a species, they are highly adaptable and thrive in almost any habitat. Although they can be found almost anywhere, there are general truths that apply to all deer. In this article I will give an overview of different whitetail deer habitats and how they use each type.
What is Whitetail Deer Habitat?
Asking “what is the habitat of a whitetail deer” is hard to answer because deer are so adaptable. Deer can live in a wide variety of terrain, from suburban areas to deep woods; this is why whitetail deer are found in almost every area of the United States.
Whitetail deer habitat is simply the terrain and topography in which deer live.
Types of Whitetail Deer Habitats
Woodlands and Forests
Woodlands and Forests are probably what most people think of when they think of “deer habitat.” In a lot of ways they are right. Deer love the cover and food sources that the woods provide.
Why deer thrive in the forest
There are basically two ways that deer use trees: food and shelter. Understanding how deer use certain types of trees allows you to hunt them more effectively. Let’s narrow down the huge amount of information on trees by generalizing them into a few categories.
Hardwood: (e.g., Oak, hickory, chestnut)
Fruit: (e.g., Apple, crabapple, persimmon)
Coniferous: (e.g., pine, hemlock, spruce)
Depending on the time of year, deer will eat something from each of these types of trees. They will eat the mast (acorns, beech nuts, hickory nuts, etc..) from hardwoods, the fruit off of fruit trees, and the branches and needles off of the coniferous trees. The coniferous trees, depending on how tightly they are growing, can also provide great cover which makes them even more valuable to deer.
Deer thrive on variety. Woodland monocultures of any one of these categories is less desirable to a deer than a flourishing diversity of all sorts of different vegetation.
Tree density and age can greatly impact the way deer utilize a wood plot. For example, a section of saplings with thick undergrowth can be an ideal bedding area. In contrast, a mature hardwood bottomland can be an excellent feeding location.
Identifying these areas and, more importantly, the transition lines between land features, is critical to hunting success.
How seasons affect deer movement
Deer are incredibly adept at adapting to changes in their environment. The changing of the seasons is no different. Preferred food sources change weekly and the deer seem to intuitively know when a new food source has come into season. Remember deer thrive on variety, not only in habitat but also in what they eat.
Deer are browsing animals and their diet is much wider than we often give them credit. As reported by Matt Ross for the National Deer Association:
“According to Dr. Dave Hewitt from the Ceasar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M- Kingsville, on an annual basis and averaging across regions and seasons, the white-tailed deer’s diet is dominated by browse (46%), followed by forbs (24%), mast (11%), and crops (4%). The remained includes various other food items such as mushrooms and lichen.” – read the full article
This “browse” changes all the time as different plant species come into season. Elsewhere in the aforementioned article, it is reported that in the fall, when deer are most huntable, their diet grows from 11% mast to ~25% mast. This is good for hunters because the change in diet makes deer easier to pattern.
Browse and forbes are everywhere, which makes it very hard to tell which individual food source is hot at any given time. In contrast, it’s relatively easy to tell when deer are feeding on acorns at a producing oak tree or apples on a fruiting apple tree. You will naturally see a concentration of tracks and scat in these areas. If you find these conditions during hunting season, mark it on your map and plan to hunt it very soon.
Grasslands and Open Fields
As important as the woods and forests are, grasslands and prairies are just as important. Forbs, which are flowering broadleaf plants, are a major spring and summer food source and can be found abundantly in open grasslands. It is not uncommon to see deer in the evenings grazing on these high-protein and palatable plants.
Deer also bed down and lounge in these tall grass fields during the daylight hours as they ruminate. Tall grass is great for deer cover, it gives them a sense of security knowing that they can’t be seen. It’s important to know that a lot of daylight hours are spent in these tall grasses where they can see, smell, and hear would-be predators from far away. Trying to approach deer in this type of situation is extremely difficult and should be avoided.
Whitetail deer behavior patterns in open areas
Deer do a significant portion of their traveling at night across open spaces. Deer are not nocturnal. It’s important to note however, that strong hunting pressure can temporarily push deer to move almost exclusively at night. This is especially true for bucks.
Swamps and Wetlands
Swamps and marshes are places of great security for deer. There are many reasons for this but a the most notable are:
Limited human access
With less human access it is understandable that hunting pressure is significantly reduced.
This fact is particularly important for Whitetail bucks who can live in relative peace and rarely have to leave their sanctuary. The rut is usually the one time during the hunting season that bucks would be inclined to leave their safety and risk the dangers of more accessible terrain.
There are several types of swamps and wetlands found in North America. Each of these have different characteristics that make human access challenging. Whether it’s deep water, thick cattails, cypress knees, or thick vegetation, all of these features are relatively easy for wildlife to access yet difficult for humans.
To be blunt, most hunters do not have what it takes to endure the difficulties of the swamp and be successful.
Increased security cover
Marshes typically have tall grasses and other plants like cattails. These plants usually grow close together and very high, making it virtually impossible to see deer from even a few feet away. These areas are great for deer to hide from danger and travel through.
Wetland water sources
Water sources for swamps and marshes ebb and flow. They may be the result of a river swollen with seasonal rain or an unusually high water table coupled with poor soil drainage. They are not always the same from year to year and, as a result, deer patterns can be altered.
Challenges in swamp habitats
For those willing to risk the difficulties, hunting the swamp can be incredibly productive. Often large deer can be found there under relatively little pressure. This can put the hunter in a position of significant advantage to catch his prey unsuspecting. Chest or hip waders are a must when venturing into the swamp or marsh. A small boat like a canoe can really come in handy as well, especially for the pack out. Killing a deer in the swamp is one thing but extricating it can be an even greater challenge.
Agricultural Lands
Agricultural lands are extremely significant to a deer population. They are usually excellent sources of food and can be beneficial even in the hard winter. Standing corn is a food source and security cover. Even when cut, a corn field can be an abundant food source all winter.
Impact of crops on deer nutrition
Deer, being highly adaptable and versatile, constantly change their preferred food source depending on what’s in season. As it relates to crops, in the summer it may be the tender shoots of soybeans, in the fall and winter it may change to corn. The point is that deer reliably prefer whatever food source is most palatable and nutritious.
How farm activities affect deer
Farming also makes a difference in how deer use agricultural land. Obviously if the crop field is harvested, it lessens in value to the deer feeding on it. During the actual harvesting of a corn field, the combine can put on an effective deer drive for you. Deer that are bedded in the corn are pushed out to the nearest security cover. A hunter in the right position can use this to great effect.
Other farming practices such as cover cropping can provide excellent late season food. It’s not uncommon to have farmers plant brassicas, like turnips, to improve the nutritional quality of the soil. Deer absolutely love turnips and this can be a great opportunity for the hunter as other food becomes less available in the hard winter.
If you pay attention to what the farmers are doing, you can set yourself up for success and harvest a freezer full of meat as a result.
Factors Influencing Deer Habitat Selection
In addition to what we’ve already covered there are other factors that influence deer behavior.
Topography
Not only is the vegetation covering the land important but also the lay of the land itself.
Topography is defined as the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area. Different land features, even slight ones, can make a huge impact on deer. A topographical map is an essential tool to the deer hunter and can make hidden deer-holding land features or travel corridors obvious.
How deer use topography
Woods, underbrush, swamps, and fields are definitely sources of cover, but so are hills and valleys. Even when there is no distinguishable source of cover, like a brushy tree line, a depressed swale can be a hotspot for traveling deer. A comprehensive explanation of how land features impact deer could be a whole series or even a book and is outside the scope of this article. I will give a brief description on some common terrain features and how deer generally use them.
Deer Funnel Examples
Funnels are any land feature that would force deer into traveling through a narrow passage way. This could be a ridge, a saddle, or a vegetation funnel. We will cover all of these and more in this article.
As you read, keep an eye out for how these features create funnels and how you might use this to your advantage when hunting.
Ridge
A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated land feature separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides.
On a topo map, a ridge looks like a long high spot with parallel lines descending from each side of it.
Deer usually do not travel along the top of ridgelines. It’s generally understood that this is because they do not want to be “skylined” or have their silhouette exposed from the sky behind them. Instead, deer tend to travel just below the ridgeline to mask their movements.
Saddle
A saddle the lowest point connecting two peaks. These “peaks” don’t have to be pronounced mountain peaks, they can be only slightly higher than the land around them. The saddle also doesn’t have to be deep to be significant, a slight depression is enough to be valuable to deer.
A saddle is a great travel corridor for deer. It provides a path of least resistance for them to cross. Saddles that connect different destinations, such as bedding and food sources, should be noted and considered high priority in scouting efforts.
Point and Spur
A spur is a sloping ridge that runs down to lower ground.
A ridge generally runs at a level elevation. The point where the ridge begins to slope downward is a spur.
Deer tend to bed on the end of a point where they can look down the spur. This is especially true when the prevailing wind is running down the ridge toward the point. This position gives them significant advantage over a predator as they can see below and smell anything behind.
A spur can be a place where many trails come together. As we learned earlier about how deer travel partially down the slope of the side of a ridge, a spur is a natural meeting place for these travel paths. Spurs also provide the path of least resistance to the lower elevation as they usually have a gentler slope compared to the sides of the ridge.
Important Note:
By looking at our examples, you can also see how to find deer bedding areas on a topographic map. With the assistance of satellite imagery, you can find destinations that are attractive to deer. Perhaps a ridge line (travel corridor) leads to an open cornfield. Trace the travel corridor backwards from the destination and look for thick vegetation. That is a possible bedding area to scout in-person.
This is just one example of how to apply these techniques to improve your scouting.
Vegetation
Funnel
Up until this point we’ve been identifying how the terrain can create funnels for deer traffic. Not only can geography create funnels but vegetation can as well.
Deer do not prefer to travel in the open during the day. They will often go out of their way to travel under cover. Narrow wooded alleys which lead from one destination to another are perfect travel corridors. It can be hard to predict how a deer might travel in the open woods, but these narrow areas funnel deer into a tight path. These funnels can be excellent places to encounter deer traffic during daylight hours.
Edges
When different types of terrain come together, the line where they meet is called an edge. These edges are another great place to catch deer moving. They don’t have to be hard obvious lines either. Some highly productive edges can be as simple as where a patch of brushy undergrowth meets an otherwise open woods.
Edges create another form of a least-resistance travel path, where it’s easier to walk alongside a perceived barrier than it is to go through it.
Other common examples of edges are:
- A grassy depression in a crop field.
- An unmanaged brush field connecting to a woodlot.
- A creek bed running through the open woods.
Human Activities
The truth is that deer are wildly influenced by human behavior, especially hunting pressure. Some areas experience more pressure than others. Pressure can affect an area as small as a specific woodlot up to an entire county. Understanding how hunting pressure influences deer activity is also vital to experiencing regular success as a hunter.
John Eberhart is an expert at hunting pressured whitetails. Mr. Eberhart is a tremendously successful hunter, especially in areas with high hunting pressure. He has written an excellent book (affiliate link) detailing how he meticulously and methodically pursues these pressured deer. I would highly recommend reading it. Eberhart’s books have definitely given me some great insights into gaining a tactical advantage in hunting. I credit him to much of my personal success as a hunter.
How does human presence affect deer behavior
Deer have incredible senses. The most powerful is their sense of smell, which they trust above all else. Next is their eyesight. It’s debated on how much color they can actually see, it’s generally accepted that they can see some color but they can especially pick out movement. Last is their hearing, which is useful but not as trusted as the other two.
How good can deer smell?
Human odor doesn’t necessarily leave the woods when the hunter does, it tends to linger, which is perceivable by deer. Even if the hunter is never seen and never spooks a deer, his presence is sensed some time after he leaves. This is why odor eliminating products have continued to be high sellers amongst the hunting community.
The following are some facts behind a whitetail deer’s sense of smell:
“The whitetail epithelium is reported to have 297 million olfactory receptors. (The human epithelium has only 5 million.) These receptors translate the scent signal as electrical impulses up through nerves that extend through the roof of the mouth and into the part of the brain known as the olfactory bulb.
In another study, it was demonstrated that a whitetail’s olfactory bulb is about four times larger than that of a human. This means deer have a greater capacity to both detect and transmit scent signals to their brains.” – Read full article
A deer’s sense of smell is powerful but it’s important not to overstate its power. This can lead to paranoia and take the joy out of hunting; something I’ve struggled with over the years. A common sense approach to reducing the scent left behind in the woods, paired with using the wind to your advantage, will cover the vast majority of hunting situations.
What camo do you need for deer hunting?
Hunting clothing manufacturers are constantly churning out new camo patterns. As mentioned earlier, deer are especially good at detecting movement. No camo in the world will make your movement undetectable. The most important aspect of a camo pattern is how well it breaks up your outline. Don’t fall into the hype of expensive camo that looks cool.
As deer encounter human activity, especially in bedding and primary feeding areas, they begin to change their daily routines. They limit their daytime activity, preferring to stay in security cover until dark. This makes these deer difficult to hunt. In areas where deer are under intense hunting pressure, you must adapt your scouting to find where the deer feel secure.
Conclusion
Deer live in a wide variety of different landscapes, from the deep woods to swamps to prairie lands. The available food sources, terrain, and human pressure have the greatest impact on deer. Understanding how all the factors work together to influence the routines of a deer population is vital to success as a hunter.
For the new hunter this can all seem quite overwhelming. This is what makes hunting for whitetails so exciting! There is always more to learn about these incredible creatures and where they live. It’s an honor to play a part in the conservation and management of such a wonderful animal. I encourage you to take the time to learn as much as you can about the area you hunt and the quarry you pursue.
Get out and hunt!
Feature image by Magda Vrabetz on Unsplash
