How do deer decide which plants and trees to eat? When deer eat herbaceous plants, it’s called “grazing.” When they eat woody plants (trees and shrubs), it’s called “browsing.” Deer have browsing preferences — a spectrum from “preferred” browse species of trees and plants, to “non-preferred” species. The preferred browse species are usually species that are more palatable (tender, etc.), those that lack chemical defenses (like tannins) and those with higher nutrient content. Sight recognition ce