[Bwana Earl]

Art Asked: Do you know whether the "growies" within "semi-mature" pulp pines actually provide food for deer? (Herbs and forbs, of course; deer are browsers, not grazers.)

If the annual moisture is adequate , we see deer feeding in these areas on low growing browse that includes young dogwood and willow, poison ivy and sumac, autumn olive and privet. Some vines including muskedine (spelling?), honeysuckle, and ivies manage to catch hold and their fresh growth is pruned regularly. Wild grasses and planted strips of clover, rye, wheat and oats are opportunistically "grazed". Fungi abound and are favored in season. Any struggling broadleaf plant (shrub or grass) has its new growth pruned. It appears almost barren, until you look closely. We have a fairly large lease that is almost entirely pine plantation and it supports a herd of 80 to 100 deer per square mile (after fawning census). We are trying to manage that at closer to 60 per sq mi for a healthier herd, but we don't harvest enough does.
Yes there is mast in the creek bottoms, but they are cutting that too. The honeysuckle and privet remain green all year, but food value drops in winter.