Deer Digesting Corn
Filed under: Ask Grant, Deer Biology
Grant, Last year we killed two deer that had corn in their stomachs. They were shot over a mile from the closest corn field. How long does it take for a deer to digest corn? Adam
Adam,
There are several factors that impact how fast food passes through the digestive system of deer. Other food items will determine the acidity, etc, in the rumen. A better indicator may be checking up the esophagus as food items move down the esophagus rapidly. If there is whole corn that doesn’t appear partially digested (regurgitated) in the esophagus, I might suspect a bait pile somewhere closer than the corn field a mile away.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
