Acorns?

[Football Hunter]

Guess I never really realized the impact they have on the deer herd,but my area is/was way down,esppecially on whites this year.

The lack of buck sign between this year and last is quite remarkable,especially after gaining access to the 500 acres to the south of my place,I expected to walk down a ridge and see rubs everywhere.But after hours of looking,I never found more than some here and there,nothing like the concentration of last year.

I was sure this was a signpost rub last year,but as of monday,it has not been touched.

I also wonder if the lack of their favorite,and fattiest food has an overall effect on the chasing,and overall movement.

 

[BSK]

Herd health is closely linked to many aspects of deer behavior, including activity levels. In acorn-driven deer herds, the difference in behavior/activity from a bumper acorn year to an acorn failure year can be profound.

I conducted a rub density survey on my property every year for 10 years. The rub densities each year were closely linked to acorn production. Rub densities were also strongly influenced by buck population and age structure. In the below graph, both trends were generally upward as buck population and age structure increased throughout the study period, but good acorn years displayed rub densities more than twice as high as during poor acorn years:

 

[richmanbarbeque]

Great info! In the last week my place has exploded with rubs. BSK, you may remember that bottom we walked that had all the rubs well in the last week or so every sapling and small tree is tore up. Prior to that very little buck sign but now a few new scrapes and tons of rubs, crazy stuff!