BSK
Well-Known Member
I haven't been able to check any White Oaks, but in the Nashville area, Sawtooth and the Red family of oaks have acorns this year.
Acorns
- Thread starter BSK
- Start date
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
But still too early to assume there will be any "good" acorns?
BSK
Well-Known Member
Correct. The killer of acorns already set is a late summer drought, particularly August and September.
Noticed red oaks last week in Wayne & yesterday at home in NW AL.
I haven't checked anything. Don't really want to in this heat.
Carlos
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2014
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- 5,472
Around here it's cooled down to 78 by 19:30.
Creek bottoms
Well-Known Member
Things look promising. We'll need some summer rains. It's been 2 1/2 weeks now in my neck of the woods.
I know acorns are great for my deer, but I'm a food plot guy so I hate heavy acorn years. Last year was near record acorn crop on my white oaks even as dry as it was in late summer/early fall.Typically when I have a big acorn year the next year doesn't have many. Thats my hope. I love watching em walk into those plots instead of eating acorns from their bed.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
It has been very wet here so far. Several of my white oaks are loaded again this year.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
The past 2 years I've discovered I know nothing about deer. We've had both extremes - 2022 was the driest year I can remember and the first year in my life I never found 1 acorn (on 600+ acres). I thought they'd be all over the place looking for food. No, they didn't even leave their summer range in my area. In contrast, 2023, more acorns I can remember in my life. I thought they'd have an abundance of energy chasing does all over. Nope, didn't move at all - didn't have to. I now just hope for average acorn years.
BSK
Well-Known Member
This is what we experienced, and to extremes. My place is rugged ridge-and-hollow hardwoods surrounded on almost all sides by huge agricultural bottomlands. In 2022, the deer never left the bottomlands. hardly a deer on my place, primarily because our food plots failed from the drought. And no acorns. Not one.
We had the largest acorn crop I can remember last year, but we DID see a lot of movement. In fact, we experienced the highest sighting rate of older bucks we've ever experienced in almost 40 years. We didn't necessarily have that many more older bucks using the place (a total of 24 instead of the average of 18, but 24 is not a record), but they were moving like crazy. The strange thing was, even with all the acorns, they were hitting the food plots like crazy.
BSK
Well-Known Member
If I hunted an area of hardwoods surrounded by hundreds of acres of similar hardwoods, I would hate big acorn crops too. Nothing to concentrate deer movement and deer wouldn't need to move far to feed. But being a big patch of hardwoods surrounded by agricultural bottomlands, I love a big acorn crop! Once the crops have been harvested in the bottoms, all those big-antlered ag deer flood my acorn-producing hardwoods!
Every time I've thought I knew something about deer, I was proven a fool. Almost all of the deer "common knowledge" is loose tendency, not concrete. I think that's why so many people can have such drastically different opinions. I know for sure on my property there is almost never a repeated, exact, predictable pattern. Every season is completely different.
BSK
Well-Known Member
This time 10,000! Every time I think I have deer figured out, they prove me wrong. That's what makes hunting and managing deer so frustrating and enlightening.
I'm seeing very small and dropping on this big white oak at the house , they are all over the house and driveway. Is there something wrong with this tree ? We've had enough rain .
We are pretty dry in southern middle tennessee. I have been seeing big hickorieswell loaded on my daily runs but cant telll sbout the oaks yet. We really need a good rain here
Trees are loaded here in the east again, while good for the deer sure makes for tough hunting when they dont have to move to eat
BSK
Well-Known Member
Like in the past couple of dry summers, I'm seeing hickories drop nuts now. The trees can't carry to maturity what they set due to the dry conditions.
Biggun4214
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you guys need bears to help eat the acorn crop so deer will move more. 
