White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) preferred browse and forbs yearlong, while cattle (Bos taurus) preferred grasses during the spring and summer and browse and herbage during the fall and winter, respectively. Dietary overlap, under heavy yearlong grazing, was similar to that under moderate yearlong grazing with half the cattle stocking rate, except on recent summer burns. Dietary overlap resulted from both species using small amounts of many taxa rather than large amounts of a few taxa. The main shared taxa were woody plants and forbs. Weather largely contributed to dietary overlap. The chances of competition are highest from late fall to early spring when green grass is rare and cattle have to consume browse instead of the unreachable graminoids. Late-spring to early-fall cattle grazing has the least likelihood of adversely impacting deer forage availability. During this time, cattle primarily eat grasses, while deer prefer browse and forbs.
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