Random Miscellaneous Questions

[HottyToddy]

Hi all,
Just moved to TN from south Florida and have spent the last two weekends scouting some land nearby. I have a few random questions about local plants, tracks, and noises.

1) today I spooked a deer (that I never saw the head of, just the butt as it was bounding through the woods), but right before I spooked it it made this aggressive bark/growl noise that made me jump. It was extremely loud. It made it 2-3 more times as it was running away. My buddy (who has been hunting deer way longer than myself) said it's called a "snort". I've had deer blow at me, but never make this noise. Is it safe to assume that was a buck? I can't imagine a doe making that noise, but animals do crazy things.

2) can you tell me what this… nut? is. I've seen them on both properties I've checked out. Don't appear to get eaten. Peeled one apart thinking it was a pecan but there wasn't much inside. What are they, and do deer eat them?

3) plant ID. Based on the leaves my guess is a maple, but not sure. Just seeing a lot of them.

4) track ID. I know the picture isn't great. I couldn't get a picture that was as clear as it was in person. I'm guessing big coyote? Small bear? Someone's dog? This in central TN. The whole track, pad and paws is about the size of the palm of my hand.

5) do the spiders that are covering every trail disappear in the winter when things get cold? Or is that just part of the TN woods?

6) how cold does it need to be for the ticks to die off? Was out for a couple hours this morning, mainly on trails, and pulled 5 off my legs.

Thanks!

 

[UCStandSitter]

Hi all,
Just moved to TN from south Florida and have spent the last two weekends scouting some land nearby. I have a few random questions about local plants, tracks, and noises.

1) today I spooked a deer (that I never saw the head of, just the butt as it was bounding through the woods), but right before I spooked it it made this aggressive bark/growl noise that made me jump. It was extremely loud. It made it 2-3 more times as it was running away. My buddy (who has been hunting deer way longer than myself) said it's called a "snort". I've had deer blow at me, but never make this noise. Is it safe to assume that was a buck? I can't imagine a doe making that noise, but animals do crazy things.

2) can you tell me what this… nut? is. I've seen them on both properties I've checked out. Don't appear to get eaten. Peeled one apart thinking it was a pecan but there wasn't much inside. What are they, and do deer eat them?

3) plant ID. Based on the leaves my guess is a maple, but not sure. Just seeing a lot of them.

4) track ID. I know the picture isn't great. I couldn't get a picture that was as clear as it was in person. I'm guessing big coyote? Small bear? Someone's dog? This in central TN. The whole track, pad and paws is about the size of the palm of my hand.

5) do the spiders that are covering every trail disappear in the winter when things get cold? Or is that just part of the TN woods?

6) how cold does it need to be for the ticks to die off? Was out for a couple hours this morning, mainly on trails, and pulled 5 off my legs.

Thanks!

1. Have to hear it to know for certain what you heard.

2. Looks like a hickory nut

3. Maple. We thick with em

4. Track is a mess brother. Hard to make much of it. Be easier if you place a dollar on the ground next to it for the pic

5. Spiders get slightly easier but never good. Plan accordingly

6. Invest in Permethrin treating your clothing. Ticks are no joke. In my area I tend to see fewer in October

 

[PossumSlayer]

1 chupacabra
2 chupacabra testicle ( you scare em they fall off)
3 devils lettuce ( we grow it bigger in Tennessee)
4 chupacabra rear left foot
5 mail live spiders to Ruger, he uses them for bluegill bait.
6 if cold killed bugs there would be no bugs, ask folks who fish in Alaska

 

[timberjack86]

1st picture is an aborted hickory nut and 2nd picture is a poplar tree and a bunch of small maples. 3rd Pic ain't great but I'm going to guess it's a big dog. The noise was probably just a snort. Some deer sound different than others. When it gets colder around November the spiders and ticks will go away.

 

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

Welcome to Tennessee. Who did you vote for in 2020?

 

[TNGRIZZLY_]

Welcome to Tennessee. Who did you vote for in 2020?

 

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

Want to make sure we set the tone, right?

 

[HottyToddy]

Thank you all! Looked up some snorts… a lot less intimidating on your phone on your couch lol. Hickory nut - deer food or no?

Side note, when's chupacabra season? Place was thick with sign apparently

 

[TNGRIZZLY_]

Thank you all! Looked up some snorts… a lot less intimidating on your phone on your couch lol. Hickory nut - deer food or no?

Side note, when's chupacabra season? Place was thick with sign apparently

Endangered species, no hunting or traping. TWRA get very angry if there new project are hunted.

 

[killingtime 41]

Good and bad news. spiders don't get any worse and the deer disappear in winter. And when winter comes your about to feel cold temps in the woods like you can't even imagine. When your Mountain Dew bottle is a block of ice and the sandwich you packed needs a microwave to eat. Makes you second guess the next day.

 

[BuckWild]

Thank you all! Looked up some snorts… a lot less intimidating on your phone on your couch lol. Hickory nut - deer food or no?

Side note, when's chupacabra season? Place was thick with sign apparently

Hickory nut not food for deer. You want to look for red oaks and white oaks. They will feed on the acorns as long as they can.

 

[Lost Lake]

1. Deer make a lot of sounds, like grunts, snorts, wheezes, bleats. Could've been any of those.

2. Hickory nut. The proper pronunciation where I grew up here is, "Hicker nut."

3. Maple.

4. Hard to tell what the track is.

5. Spider webs are a nuisance right up until late October/early November. They'll make you slap yourself silly in the early morning darkness. (Pro tip- always pretend to be lost so that your hunting buddy is first on the trail heading to your stands)

6. Ticks are bad in places here, and like someone else said, they are no joke. Alpha Gal, Lyme Disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are among the fun afflictions they are causing here. Permethrin is your friend.

 

[BSK]

You already have the answers (#1 snort, and all deer make them, even does; #2 aborted hickory nut, dropped early because of dry conditions, and no, deer don't eat them; #3 the tree trunk is a Poplar, but the leaves are Maples; #4 looks like a dog; #5 spiders go away with first frost; #6 ticks and chiggers vanish with first frost).

Welcome to TN! Be mentally prepared for the temps during deer season. My cousins from Central FL who would come up every year to hunt with me said that was the toughest thing to get used to (that and climbing our hills). And they said it really is just a mental thing as long as you have the right clothing. Once you've experienced cold sits a few times, you mind learns to expect them and learns to ignore them to a certain extent.

 

[Chickenrig]

Welcome to Tennessee. Who did you vote for in 2020?

Notice
He didn't answer that question

 

[TNReb]

Welcome to TN and the site. Hotty Toddy!

 

[BSK]

...and by the way, first frost in Middle TN is usually late October.

 

[BSK]

And if the property you're going to hunt is near Nashville, know that the rut is earlier there than in other parts of the state. For whatever reason, peak breeding is earliest around Nashville and due north of Nashville up to the KY line (peak breeding around Nov 8-18), and then the rut gets later the farther south and west you move from Nashville.

 

[clwg97]

Nothing will turn you into a ninja quicker than walking into a spider web in the dark. You will be doing all sorts of moves that you didn't know you could. Especially with a climbing stand on your back. I always try and walk with something in front of me like my bow or something to knock them down before I walk into them.

 

[fairchaser]

Grab a spider switch whenever you walk through the woods. A spider switch is 4-5 ft long about 3/8 inch in diameter preferably a green limb with some flex to it. I can be heard from hundreds of feet away whipping it like a bullwhip in front of me with ever other step at real or imaginary spider webs. This practice will make you proficient so you could flick a flea off a bull's ear without alarm. When you do smack that spider the size of a silver dollar square it's deeply satisfying. Deer and other critters have rightfully deduced the sound is a human who's clearing the woods of spider webs and they also are deeply thankful.

 

[agelessssone]

Hi all,
Just moved to TN from south Florida and have spent the last two weekends scouting some land nearby. I have a few random questions about local plants, tracks, and noises.

1) today I spooked a deer (that I never saw the head of, just the butt as it was bounding through the woods), but right before I spooked it it made this aggressive bark/growl noise that made me jump. It was extremely loud. It made it 2-3 more times as it was running away. My buddy (who has been hunting deer way longer than myself) said it's called a "snort". I've had deer blow at me, but never make this noise. Is it safe to assume that was a buck? I can't imagine a doe making that noise, but animals do crazy things.

2) can you tell me what this… nut? is. I've seen them on both properties I've checked out. Don't appear to get eaten. Peeled one apart thinking it was a pecan but there wasn't much inside. What are they, and do deer eat them?

3) plant ID. Based on the leaves my guess is a maple, but not sure. Just seeing a lot of them.

4) track ID. I know the picture isn't great. I couldn't get a picture that was as clear as it was in person. I'm guessing big coyote? Small bear? Someone's dog? This in central TN. The whole track, pad and paws is about the size of the palm of my hand.

5) do the spiders that are covering every trail disappear in the winter when things get cold? Or is that just part of the TN woods?

6) how cold does it need to be for the ticks to die off? Was out for a couple hours this morning, mainly on trails, and pulled 5 off my legs.

Thanks!

The nut is a pig nut.
Not sure if any animals like them for food.

I don't believe there are bears in middle TN, they are more so in the east.