John, the bark that you see rubbed off or hanging in strips is from the bucks rubbing their antlers on it, to either scrape the velvet off or more likely mark their territory. Google whitetail rubs and you'll see what I'm talking about. They will feed on the ends of the twigs - that's called browse and in many non-agriculture areas that's their main source of winter food. Even in our agricultural areas, they eat a lot of browse.
Buck rubs 
