5 Easy Steps to Better Deer Forage and Cover

January 22, 2025 By: Lindsay Thomas Jr.

One of the easiest ways to quickly improve forage and cover for deer is to remove a plant that doesn’t belong here. Whether it’s a non-native tree, shrub or vine, the space and resources it is stealing can be freed up for native plants that produce more benefits for deer, like the blackberry plant in the photo above.

Whether you know it or not, there are non-native plants in the woods you hunt. One good way to identify these invaders is to look for the first green of spring. A Penn State University study led by Erynn Maynard-Bean learned invasive shrubs leaf-out earlier and go dormant later than native shrubs. This gives invasive plants up to 77 more days of growth in the South and 30 days more in the North, a competitive advantage over native plant species.

This non-native bush honeysuckle leafed out on February 15 in north Georgia, far ahead of native plant species in the same area. This is one of many competitive advantages that non-native plants have over native species.

Worse, deer don’t prefer to eat most invasive plants, another advantage they have over preferred native deer forages. Native plants have to compete against non-natives for space to grow and compensate for being eaten by deer. It’s not a fair fight.

Worse still, people are still planting non-native invasives. The plants are still sold at many home-improvement centers. Some non-native plants are even marketed to you, a deer hunter, as a way to improve deer habitat. Deer thrived in North America with native plant communities for a few million years before we showed up. There’s no plant imported from another continent that will improve their health or habitat over the native forages, cover species and plant communities they are adapted to.

An Easy Approach to a Difficult Fight

I say it’s “easy” to fight for native plants and help them flourish, because the steps are simple: kill non-natives, then watch as seeds of native plants in the soil respond to the open space. But the scope of the task can be intimidating if you stand back and look at the whole thing. Plus, it’s not a one-and-done project: non-native seeds also will continue to respond to open space and require continued control. I’ve heard many overwhelmed deer habitat managers say there are just too many non-native plants out there and it’s pointless to try to fight them.

If you want to give up and just live with the non-natives and invasives, that’s certainly a choice you can make. But you can do so much better for deer. Yes, deer will eat a few non-native plants, but that’s usually a sign of limited forage choices. Native deer forages offer more crude protein and are more digestible. Native cover species produce higher-quality cover. Both have numerous benefits for other wildlife species. It’s within your reach to encourage all of them. The trick is to take it one easy step at a time.

Step 1: Stop Planting Non-Natives

If you’re still planting shrubs or trees from another continent, stop. Learn the better native alternatives and encourage them. Most of the time, you don’t even have to plant natives, as the seeds are already in the soil waiting to be released. What can be easier than simply ceasing a practice that doesn’t help?

Step 2: Learn to Spot Common Non-Natives

Learn to identify the common invasives in your area so you can evaluate the situation where you hunt. As the Penn State study showed, just looking for the first plants to green up this spring will reveal many non-natives. Last February, one of the first plants leafing out in my Georgia woods was a non-native bush honeysuckle species (photo above).  

Additionally, download an app on your phone like “Seek,” by iNaturalist, which can help you identify plant species through photos. Talk to a local forester or biologist for additional guidance on the common non-native plants in your area.

Step 3: Pick a Fight You Can Win

Select one species to tackle first. Maybe pick an invasive tree that’s more manageable than a small vine or grass that’s more widespread and difficult to control.

I’ve had luck beating back an invasion of Chinese tallow tree on my family’s land because we caught it early. It’s relatively easy to simply cut down the saplings with a chainsaw and spray the stump with a squirt bottle containing a Craig Harper Cocktail. Larger trees can be easily girdled and sprayed, and small seedlings can be pulled by hand.

Controlling invasive trees and shrubs, like this autumn olive, requires no heavy equipment and can be tackled one at a time as they are spotted. The stumps of such species must be treated with herbicide or they will grow back.

Also, break down a large infestation into sections of the land you hunt and take on each area one at a time. If you use prescribed fire, you may have already drawn your hunting land into burn units, so tackle your non-native plant problem one unit at a time.

Step 4: Arm Yourself With Herbicides

Get the right herbicides for the species you are fighting. Yes, you are going to need them. It’s a nice goal to avoid using herbicides where you can, but cutting down or girdling most invasive trees and shrubs without applying herbicide just pisses them off. They’ll grow back with a vengeance and continue producing seeds. You must kill them, and in most cases that means herbicide. 

Japanese climbing fern cannot be effectively controlled with fire or mechanical methods. Herbicides are necessary.

Step 5: Call For Backup

For really bad infestations, look for help. Many state and federal agencies have cost-share programs for helping you fight the most wanted invaders. My family’s land is enrolled in an NRCS conservation easement, and we’ve gotten excellent assistance controlling Chinese privet and Japanese climbing fern. Not only cost-share but the programs sent contractors to do mulching and spraying operations that worked well (photo below).

A federal program to control non-native invasives paid for a mulcher to clean up Chinese privet followed by area spraying of herbicides as the stumps began to sprout.

Where these two species were controlled, native plants responded and plant diversity increased. Forage and cover species grew where they were previously being suppressed. These two infestations in particular would be difficult for us to tackle alone, but the cost-share assistance put effective control and ongoing management within reach. Contact your county Extension agent, NRCS office, and Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) biologist to learn about these state and federal programs.

Like most aspects of habitat improvement, fighting non-native and invasive plants may be an ongoing task with no finish line. But like those other aspects, every small improvement makes a difference for deer. Start the fight this year by keeping an eye out for the first green of spring.

About Lindsay Thomas Jr.:

Lindsay Thomas Jr. is NDA's Chief Communications Officer. He has been a member of the staff since 2003. Prior to that, Lindsay was an editor at a Georgia hunting and fishing news magazine for nine years. Throughout his career as an editor, he has written and published numerous articles on deer management and hunting. He earned his journalism degree at the University of Georgia.