Habitat burning influenced white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) forage-class use more than cattle (Bos taurus) grazing, except in the winter. Yearlong cattle grazing resulted in less browse on grazed units, therefore deer chose more herbage on grazed units during the winter. During winter, diet overlap between the two species was highest due to a reduction in forage availability. Deer in this study were generalist foragers, eating small amounts of several plant species, rather than large amounts of a few species. This should be an advantage considering the impact of cattle grazing on forage availability. Deer and cattle, in this study, shared >/= 1% of the same plant species in their diets. This fact, coupled with the high diet diversity of deer, suggests that moderate grazing from mid-spring to early fall should not decrease forage diversity and availability for deer.
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