They eat some grass, but only when it is green and succulent. Sheep, goats and other big game exotic species compete directly with the whitetail for preferred deer foods. Deer food shortages usually occur during late summer and winter months.
Adequate forage is usually available during spring and fall seasons.
A variety of foods and habitat types are essential to good deer production and survival. The following plants are examples of some good native deer foods in Texas, which are readily eaten by deer when they are available. Ozarkgrass, fall witchgrass, panic grass, sedges and rushes. Deer in controlled situations have been known to live 15 to 20 years. It is unusual, however, for deer in the wild to live more than 10 years, because its teeth usually wear out during the eighth or ninth year.