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July rain and Acorns

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UCStandSitter

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Wettest late July I can recall on the plateau. To this point I've been pretty concerned about drought like conditions and the effect it would have on the mast this fall. Last year was epic as we all know. Heaven nuts droppin like rain and the deer were in em thick. Where I hunt these are always my target areas. I have a few micro plots but no ag fields.

Those here with more of a bio background than me (@BSK lookin at you). Do we feel any better about the acorn mast with this late rain catch up or still expect it to be a lil more sparse than last year?
 
Don't have a bio background but an observation of concern from middle TN....we hadn't had anything near record rain fall in our area...and pictured is what I saw in my yard under a red oak....and setting up camera's two weeks ago I found dried up dark color persimmons on the ground....seems that during the drought conditions some trees are shedding their fruit prematurely.
 

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DoubleRidge said:
Don't have a bio background but an observation of concern from middle TN....we hadn't had anything near record rain fall in our area...and pictured is what I saw in my yard under a red oak....and setting up camera's two weeks ago I found dried up dark color persimmons on the ground....seems that during the drought conditions some trees are shedding their fruit prematurely.
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Was afraid of that. Was just out back trying out stick and platform setups and noticed persimmons on the ground. Was hoping this wet late July might help us catch up but may be too little too late.
 
UCStandSitter said:
Was afraid of that. Was just out back trying out stick and platform setups and noticed persimmons on the ground. Was hoping this wet late July might help us catch up but may be too little too late.
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And it may be different in other areas?....but my guess is if you find a good crop of acorns on the ground this fall it will be getting hammered!
 
I'd say find some subspecies of white oaks, fertilize around the drip line and maybe that one tree will mast out well whereas I think most oaks are gonna produce much
 
For areas west of Dickson, I think you're in trouble. Middle, TN, hit or miss. I've seen Sawtooth Oaks loaded with acorns in Nashville. But I've also seen dropped bud acorns, hickories and persimmons in Nashville too.

At my place, this rain is too late. Not an acorn bud left in the trees, and all fruit trees dropped their underdeveloped fruit. It's going to be natural browse, food plots, or cut ag fields for food sources this fall.
 
BSK said:
For areas west of Dickson, I think you're in trouble. Middle, TN, hit or miss. I've seen Sawtooth Oaks loaded with acorns in Nashville. But I've also seen dropped bud acorns, hickories and persimmons in Nashville too.

At my place, this rain is too late. Not an acorn bud left in the trees, and all fruit trees dropped their underdeveloped fruit. It's going to be natural browse, food plots, or cut ag fields for food sources this fall.
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Trigg county, Christian county, and a lot of LBL IN south west ky mirror this and worse. Stewart county, Tn around Indian mound has been terribly hot and dry. If a tree has had a water source it stands a chance but the heat has made a lot of them drop what little they had
 
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BSK said:
For areas west of Dickson, I think you're in trouble. Middle, TN, hit or miss. I've seen Sawtooth Oaks loaded with acorns in Nashville. But I've also seen dropped bud acorns, hickories and persimmons in Nashville too.

At my place, this rain is too late. Not an acorn bud left in the trees, and all fruit trees dropped their underdeveloped fruit. It's going to be natural browse, food plots, or cut ag fields for food sources this fall.
Click to expand...
Same for my place on Wayne/Hardin line. Not a single persimmon or crab apple hanging when I ran cams Monday. No acorn buds either. Thankfully we have about 500 acres of thinned/5th row pines that are full of new growth. No one has set foot in these to amount to anything for 15 yrs.
 
BSK said:
For areas west of Dickson, I think you're in trouble. Middle, TN, hit or miss. I've seen Sawtooth Oaks loaded with acorns in Nashville. But I've also seen dropped bud acorns, hickories and persimmons in Nashville too.

At my place, this rain is too late. Not an acorn bud left in the trees, and all fruit trees dropped their underdeveloped fruit. It's going to be natural browse, food plots, or cut ag fields for food sources this fall.
Click to expand...
I think hit and miss is an accurate way of describing the plateau. I feel like where I hunt is in better shape than where I live 10 miles away. Trying to resist the urge to go investigate until I hang sticks but at the same time, that will dictate where I place the sticks. Decisions…
 
Popcorn said:
Trigg county, Christian county, and a lot of LBL IN south west ky mirror this and worse. Stewart county, Tn around Indian mound has been terribly hot and dry. If a tree has had a water source it stands a chance but the heat has made a lot of them drop what little they had
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Obviously seeing the same thing here in Montgomery County/Clarksville/Springfield area
 
tellico4x4 said:
Same for my place on Wayne/Hardin line. Not a single persimmon or crab apple hanging when I ran cams Monday. No acorn buds either. Thankfully we have about 500 acres of thinned/5th row pines that are full of new growth. No one has set foot in these to amount to anything for 15 yrs.
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Your fortunate if you're getting new growth in your area. In the same area and have been seeing significant deer mvmt in daylight hours in open fields. Multiple fawns dead in roads.
 
UCStandSitter said:
Trying to resist the urge to go investigate until I hang sticks but at the same time, that will dictate where I place the sticks. Decisions…
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And that's the rub. Gotta' know what the food sources will be to hang stands but don't want to go in stinkin' up areas to find out what the food sources will be.
 
Excuse my ignorance but this time of year what are you guys looking for on white oaks for reference to see if there going to produce. I figured if it had tiny looking little acorn cap/ bud clusters now, they would produce in the fall. Is that the correct way to identify?
 
NChunt1 said:
Excuse my ignorance but this time of year what are you guys looking for on white oaks for reference to see if there going to produce. I figured if it had tiny looking little acorn cap/ bud clusters now, they would produce in the fall. Is that the correct way to identify?
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Yes. But they should be more than just tiny little buds by this time of year. If they are going to produce a fully formed acorn this fall, the acorns should be at least dime-sized right now. If they are still little pencil-eraser sized buds, they will not mature to a full-sized acorn.
 
BSK said:
Yes. But they should be more than just tiny little buds by this time of year. If they are going to produce a fully formed acorn this fall, the acorns should be at least dime-sized right now. If they are still little pencil-eraser sized buds, they will not mature to a full-sized acorn.
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That's what I was thinking. I have noticed a few of the much older white oaks that usually produce have them but not much others
 
Bushape said:
Your fortunate if you're getting new growth in your area. In the same area and have been seeing significant deer mvmt in daylight hours in open fields. Multiple fawns dead in roads.
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Been seeing alot of midday movement as well but all has been in the thinned pines. Polk & ragweed
 

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