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acorn drop timing

Obion County seems late. Some of the white oaks I hunt haven't dropped yet at all, usually the ground is covered.
 
Popcorn said:
Very few acorns of any variety in the Stewart and Trigg county farms I work. Low percentage of them viable.
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Basically, what I'm seeing Popcorn. I'm just praying some of the Reds/Blacks are still holding on to their viable acorns and they will trickle out of the trees over the next month or so.
 
BSK said:
We've got virtually nothing in westcentral TN.
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It's hit or miss here in Coffee Co. A couple woodlots have some good drop, not great, but others have almost nothing at all. My place in southern Ohio is a complete wash. Very few reds & blacks, almost no whites, and underdeveloped chestnut. Woody browse will be the ticket this season I'm thinking.
 
BSK said:
Basically, what I'm seeing Popcorn. I'm just praying some of the Reds/Blacks are still holding on to their viable acorns and they will trickle out of the trees over the next month or so.
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Non existent mast crop, drought ruined food plots, native browse absent …
Gonna be rough overwinter in some areas. It would be a good year to thin them doe!
 
SW TN - over the last three weeks, I've found red and white oaks with viable acorns on the ground. First few pics are from September 28 (bow opener) in hill country, and last few pics are from this last week, more in bottomlands.

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Popcorn said:
Non existent mast crop, drought ruined food plots, native browse absent …
Gonna be rough overwinter in some areas. It would be a good year to thin them doe!
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Something tells me whatever growth I get in my food plots (and they're doing OK so far, but a couple more weeks without rain and they'll be in trouble) is going to get mowed down pretty fast. One of the years where the plots are lip high all season.
 
Popcorn said:
With the already lack luster antler development/ lack of improvement year over year at best I may just wait till December and just consume some doe tags. I see nothing impressive on camera which also means any decent 3.5 year old will be taken out by others
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That's about where I'm at unless something really changes fast. I've not even seen a hint of anything I'd be interested in chasing yet.
 
They're dropping everywhere around my place. I've got a Red Oak in the edge of my yard that was full, and still dropping.
 
BSK said:
Anyone else seeing a weird acorn drop timing? We have a very, VERY poor acorn crop this year, but while out last Friday I noticed freshly dropping (although underdeveloped) Chestnut Oak acorns. That's about 3 weeks late. Normally, peak Chestnut Oak acorn drop in my area is around Sept 15-20. I'm seeing a few Black and Red Oak acorns on the ground, but most are full of weevils. However, deer are still eating them like crazy. I'm just hoping acorn drop timing is "off" by a couple of weeks this year, and somewhere there are still some acorns waiting to fall. I'm also hoping the oaks in the Red family do what they normally do, which is drop a few acorns over the whole fall season, unlike the Whites which usually drop at all once. We have a very few Reds with acorns and some Blacks as well.
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Listen to the podcast "Wild Turkey Science"
Two wildlife ecology professors have done some pretty good research on this.
The recent show that come out a few days ago talks about Oak mast and has some neat information.
 
woodsman04 said:
Listen to the podcast "Wild Turkey Science"
Two wildlife ecology professors have done some pretty good research on this.
The recent show that come out a few days ago talks about Oak mast and has some neat information.
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Thanks woodsman04. I will look that up.
 
BSK said:
Thanks woodsman04. I will look that up.
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Most of their research for these oaks seems to be done in South Georgia.
I cannot remember the entire dialogue, but I think they talked about the upland oaks we deal with of white and red. But they do talk about water oaks and i believe Laurel oaks?
 
woodsman04 said:
Most of their research for these oaks seems to be done in South Georgia.
I cannot remember the entire dialogue, but I think they talked about the upland oaks we deal with of white and red. But they do talk about water oaks and i believe Laurel oaks?
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I've got the podcast loaded and I'll listen to it in the background while I work.
 
Very interesting research. The takeaway: a lot of variability in peak acorn drop by species from year to year. A lot of variability in peak drop for individual trees of the same species in a given year. A lot of variability in duration of acorn drop between individual trees of the same species in the same year (some trickle out over a long period, some dump all at once).

Wildlife display species preference based on different factors. For squirrels and turkey, acorn size appears to be a driving force in acorn choice. For deer, acorn taste.
 

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