Deer require several things to survive, including food, water, shelter/cover, and space to move about and find their daily requirements. Here are some more details about each of these needs:

• Food: Deer are herbivores and their diet is composed of plants. They receive most of the water they need from the plants they eat. Deer eat a great variety of vegetative material, but not all plants or parts of plants are good deer forage. Deer are capable of recognizing these nutritional differences and select food accordingly. A general listing of preferred and non-preferred foods would be an oversimplification of the complex nature of deer diets. Deer food requirements also vary with sex, age, and season. During the critical winter period, the average adult deer should have about 5 pounds of dry-weight forage daily.

• Water: Deer maintain much of the water they need to survive from the foods they consume, but they will also drink free water from ponds, creeks, rivers, and springs.

• Shelter/Cover: Shelter and cover are necessary for a deer to survive for a number of reasons, including hiding young fawns from predators, protection from severe weather, and escape from hunters. Generally, white-tailed deer prefer wooded areas intermixed with openings.

• Space: Each deer must be able to find all the food, water, and shelter/cover it needs within the area it travels. This area is referred to as its home range. Seasonal changes in food and cover availability, as well as hunting pressure, can cause deer to shift their home range.

Deer populations are not static and continuously change in response to many factors. Some of these factors include disease, predator/prey relationships, habitat destruction and degradation, food availability, hunting pressure, and weather conditions. Limiting factors prevent deer populations from reproducing in greater numbers than their habitat can support. When limiting factors are in excess, it may lead to a reduction in population levels.