Patrick,

I have several plant identification books.  One that I use more than others is the Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses by James H. Miller and Karl V. Miller.  I believe this book is available through the Quality Deer Management Association.  I often use a combination of books and the internet.  If I think I know the name of the plant, I go straight to the web as it’s easy to find several color images and descriptions rapidly.  If I don’t have an idea of the plant’s name, I either attempt to key it out based on the standard scientific process (not much fun), or grab one or two plant identification books that have color images.  The problem with most books is that they only show the plant at a certain maturity.  A huge advantage of searching the web is that usually I can find images of each plant at multiple maturity stages.

Growing Deer together,

Grant