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Acorns

East TN Bowhunter said:
I was hunting an East TN WMA last year during the early bow quota hunt and was set up on the back corner of a standing corn field and had a decent sized rub right underneath me. I watched 14 does and yearlings come out into the corn and munch away without a care in the world 30 yrds from me for over 2 hours before dark. About 20 mins before complete darkness I saw a nice 7-8 point buck come to about 8ft from the edge of the field across from me about 75 yards away and he completely froze up. For those last 20 mins of light he stood in the exact same spot and looked both ways up and down the field edges, almost like he was watching over the does and also waiting until complete darkness to come out and join them in the corn. When it got almost to dark to see him, he slowly made his way out. It was a very cool experience that I wont forget just how still he was being for so long and just how cautious he was. I almost thought I was imagining seeing him he was being so still for so long but everytime he turned his head I knew I wasn't dreaming. LOL Thanks for the story JCDeerman! I need to take more detailed notes on wind directions and sightings and stand locations as well.
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To echo both experiences mentioned about a buck standing still....and even your mind playing tricks on you.....few years back I was hunting from my climber stand up in the saddle of a big ridge...mid morning, warm sunlight making me sleepy, light breeze in my face.....I was just sitting and looking down the ridge almost in a daze....when all the sudden my eyes focused on what appeared to be the tip of an antler tine....and looking through the binos I could almost make out the top of a deers head through the leaves....looking through two beech tree limbs that were blowing in the wind I couldn't be certain?....what I saw through the binos and the tine I thought I saw with my eye never moved...not even a twitch for over 20 minutes....and I told myself that if that was a tine and if that was a deers head....the rack would be so tall....it can't be real?....I stared so hard and long my eyes watered.... finally convinced myself it was my imagination....but I continued to sit and stare and daydream....when all the sudden what I thought was a tine and a portion of a deers head moved together in perfect unison....my heart rate exploded...I couldn't believe my eyes...got on the gun and got on the deer....looking through the beech tree leaves...with sun shining in my face...I could make out legs walking and just for a brief second I saw the rack....super freaking tall main frame 8pt...and he just quietly slipped off side of the ridge and disappeared...never could get on him....but the main point is how long he stood motionless surveying his surroundings and how deliberate he was walking away....he knew something wasn't right....but no blowing and stomping....just quietly slipped away....an amazing experience and very educational and eye opening.
 
Since switching almost all my trail-cameras to video over the last three year, what I find interesting is just how "normal" mature bucks I get on video in daylight act. They often act just like any other deer. However, here they are, moving in daylight during deer season yet have reached maturity. Obviously, they know something about moving around that has kept them alive so long!
 
BSK said:
Since switching almost all my trail-cameras to video over the last three year, what I find interesting is just how "normal" mature bucks I get on video in daylight act. They often act just like any other deer. However, here they are, moving in daylight during deer season yet have reached maturity. Obviously, they know something about moving around that has kept them alive so long!
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Leads me to a question, since you are exclusively video, what does your battery life look like? Are these cell cams? I notice on my Reveals, the less video I can capture the better. Sending is pretty bad as well but the constant video captures really drain battery for me.
 
UCStandSitter said:
Leads me to a question, since you are exclusively video, what does your battery life look like? Are these cell cams? I notice on my Reveals, the less video I can capture the better. Sending is pretty bad as well but the constant video captures really drain battery for me.
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Nope, have zero use for cell cams, as I visit and move my cameras frequently. Plus, every video is 50 MB. Imagine trying to send hundreds of those by cell signal (which doesn't exist on most of my property). So far, for these cams in particular (Browning Dark Ops Pro Duo, HP4s and HP5s) I get a full season (Aug to early January) out of a set of 8 lithium AAs (12 for the Duo). That's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of 10 second videos per camera. Although I did have one camera that was getting low towards the end of December last year. Kept cutting night videos short, but day videos fine. Must have been the power demand of the flash at night.
 
BSK said:
Nope, have zero use for cell cams, as I visit and move my cameras frequently. Plus, every video is 50 MB. Imagine trying to send hundreds of those by cell signal (which doesn't exist on most of my property). So far, for these cams in particular (Browning Dark Ops Pro Duo, HP4s and HP5s) I get a full season (Aug to early January) out of a set of 8 lithium AAs (12 for the Duo). That's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of 10 second videos per camera. Although I did have one camera that was getting low towards the end of December last year. Kept cutting night videos short, but day videos fine. Must have been the power demand of the flash at night.
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Makes sense. Accessibility is an issue for me and luckily there is good VZW signal where I hunt so cell cams are a must. If I were in there often checking them, it's so remote that my intrusion would definitely be noticed. If I cut down my video time, limit my flash distance, and use lithiums I can get to late December if starting in archery season. Hoped you'd found the magic cell cam bullet! lol
 
UCStandSitter said:
Makes sense. Accessibility is an issue for me and luckily there is good VZW signal where I hunt so cell cams are a must. If I were in there often checking them, it's so remote that my intrusion would definitely be noticed. If I cut down my video time, limit my flash distance, and use lithiums I can get to late December if starting in archery season. Hoped you'd found the magic cell cam bullet! lol
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Intrusion into a remote area is a major concern. But I did find an answer for that, although the answer will sound strange: intrude constantly, all year round. I will only place a camera where I can drive an ATV right up to the camera. Then I go in there all the time, all year. Deer will become accustomed to the intrusion and learn to ignore it. I will still be getting mature bucks on cam at scrapes late in the season that I've driven to cross-country dozens of times during deer season. But I will also intentionally drive through there with my ATV all year round just to keep the deer conditioned to it.
 
UCStandSitter said:
Leads me to a question, since you are exclusively video, what does your battery life look like? Are these cell cams? I notice on my Reveals, the less video I can capture the better. Sending is pretty bad as well but the constant video captures really drain battery for me.
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Videos drain my Reveal XB as well. I was doing one pic + one 10 second video every 3 minutes with Rayovac Ultra alkalines. They would only last 3 weeks maybe so I went back to 1 pic only every 3 mins and they are lasting at least 6 weeks or more now. I've also realized Energizer Maxx's drain a little faster compared to the Rayovac Ultras. Have yet to try Duracells.
 
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BSK said:
Intrusion into a remote area is a major concern. But I did find an answer for that, although the answer will sound strange: intrude constantly, all year round. I will only place a camera where I can drive an ATV right up to the camera. Then I go in there all the time, all year. Deer will become accustomed to the intrusion and learn to ignore it. I will still be getting mature bucks on cam at scrapes late in the season that I've driven to cross-country dozens of times during deer season. But I will also intentionally drive through there with my ATV all year round just to keep the deer conditioned to it.
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I have thought about that and know that would work well but, it's almost impossible for me to get there frequently due to location and time availability. Wish it were my property behind my house or something. Would make it much easier.
 
East TN Bowhunter said:
Videos drain my Reveal XB as well. I was doing one pic + one 10 second video every 3 minutes with Rayovac Ultra alkalines. They would only last 3 weeks maybe so I went back to 1 pic only every 3 mins and they are lasting at least 6 weeks or more now. I've also realized Energizer Maxx's drain a little faster compared to the Rayovac Ultras. Have yet to try Duracells.
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Those Duracell Lithiums and the 1 every 3 schedule is where I'm at. I really try not to deliver video at all if I can help it. I've noticed the battery in my Reveal X lasts at least a 1/3 longer than my XB and I think that is the difference. Since I've stopped delivering video over cellular except in only the rarest cases, it lasts much longer.
 
East TN Bowhunter said:
So you still get pics delivered but not video? How do you do that if so?
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I have to request the video each time. I've never known of another way. I didn't think there was a way to do auto video delivery because it's $5 per 50 for vid or HD pics. When I request, I just request the photo unless there is something there I'm not expecting (like a massive hog).
 
UCStandSitter said:
I have to request the video each time. I've never known of another way. I didn't think there was a way to do auto video delivery because it's $5 per 50 for vid or HD pics. When I request, I just request the photo unless there is something there I'm not expecting (like a massive hog).
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Oh okay gotcha thats how I do it also.
 
As someone else had mentioned recently, I'm finding fully-formed acorns dropping from Northern Red Oaks in southwest Nashville.

Also saw a hard-horned 9-point this morning at Edwin Warner Park. Buck was feeding in an opening and let me walk around him for several minutes. He paid me no mind. Park deer... 🤦‍♂️
 
These are the acorns I'm getting. I usually get a very few like this but I got a ton on the ground several weeks ago. I don't think I'm going to get many, if any, ripe acorns; they usually drop in another week or so.

Acorns 2022.jpg


(It is nice when an oak drops a set of Toyota Tundra keys but I need to know where the truck is parked to do me any good.)
 
DayDay said:
These are the acorns I'm getting. I usually get a very few like this but I got a ton on the ground several weeks ago. I don't think I'm going to get many, if any, ripe acorns; they usually drop in another week or so.

View attachment 148128

(It is nice when an oak drops a set of Toyota Tundra keys but I need to know where the truck is parked to do me any good.)
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I had acorns this size falling in July, during the peak of the drought. We lost our entire red and white crop.
 
BSK said:
Sawtooths in Nashville are loaded. Native oaks hit or miss. Farther west, say west of Dickson, acorns are few and far between. Unless you can find an oak in a bottomland wet area.
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My sawtooths have been dropping for a couple weeks...
 
Buzzard Breath said:
The red oak in my yard was dropping those little tiny ones at the first part of August, but has now started to drop some more regular size ones.

August
View attachment 148132

Today
View attachment 148131
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That first batch of tiny ones was the nuts the tree did not have the resources to fully developed, so it dropped them to save resources for the ones it could fully develop. Very common for nut-bearing trees.
 

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