Starting to scout out some public land in the summer to get a feel for the area, and main trails. What are the best food sources to look for now, that deer will target in the fall? Need to brush up in my plant ID to find the best trees/plants to hone in on.

White oak acorns, that’s all you need.

After last years bumper crop of acorns, most folks figured there would not be any.

From what I saw last week, there will be plenty this year.

What they are eating now will not be their diet in the fall.

Don’t overlook Osage trees. When the leaves hit the ground, you’ll want to be there.

persimmon trees

This, they will walk over other acorns to get to the White Oak ones.

NE TX, White oaks, persimmons and honey suckle. Not all white oak trees are the same either

I don't know about public land stuff ...but, If it were me, I would look for last years rubs and old scrapes...near water. Trails are good but if there are no old rubs, not good! I agree with white oaks. I would ask a biologist as they get paid to know those things as that is part of knowing what deer density to shoot for. Also, look for Hedge Apple trees.
Good Luck !

Hedge Apple also known as bois d'arc trees.

Find the White Oaks and secondary is any other acorn tree throughout the season along with persimmons. Early season look for Locust tree’s with beans and Beautyberrys, our deer will walk past everything else available to eat the beans and berrys,

I know others have said B’Arcs but don’t waste your time on those IMO, we’ve hunted with thousands of them and never once seen a deer even look at one and we’ve piled up tens of thousands of them and again no deer interested. I guess it’s possible a deer is starving and will eat them but I’ve never seen it in my 40 plus years of hunting all around them.

That’s been my experience too. I’ve seen squirrels eat them, but never deer. I had one that dropped fruit on the ground every year, put a camera on it and saw deer walk by it with fruit on the ground, never saw a deer eating one or even smelling it.

LOL!! I haven't seen a deer eat hedge apples either...however, I do believe they do. I think deer eat different in the wild brush than they do eating corn on the ground near my blind. If you look it up on the internet you will see deer eating hedge apples. So, I will say deer sign is where I would start. I would look in low areas near water and look for tracks in the soft dirt. Look for rubs and scrapes. Liking branches over scrapes and droppings. If there are deer around you will see something. I would hunt around water somewhere.
I have been hunting for 57 years and enjoyed every minute of it. I like the stories from all the other hunters. I like the challenges and all the work that goes into hunting.

You can add Wild Youpon and American Beauty Berry to the list.

A friend of mine killed a record breaking buck on his land hunting the bodarks. He said that was where the biggest bucks gathered and ate.

I have hauled a lot of the apples to my place and set up cams. No deer showed up.

Seems as I remember that the deer splits open the apple and only eats the middle core..if I remember right..but I'm not sure. Might find some info on the net.