How's the acorns lookin?

[Treestand Troubadour]

I ain't looked, last year we were covered up with them I didn't know how it looked so far this year.

 

[catman529]

I dont know yet, chinkapins are small and hard to see till they are ripe. Need to take a good look at the big trees I'll be hunting behind the house this year. Hope they drop a few

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

I have seen where squirrels have been cutting a few

 

[Planking]

Looking good here.

 

[7mminatree]

White and redoaks are spotty in the mountains, chestnut oaks seem to be loaded around 2500 ft. elevation.

 

[TboneD]

We are already finding a few on the ground that squirrels have cut on they all have been pretty good size trees looked pretty loaded from what i could see

Same here in Wilson county. Mainly red oaks.


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[FARMTOFIELD]

Red oaks and whites are freaking covered here

 

[Treestand Troubadour]

Red oaks and whites are freaking covered here

that ain't good, that bumper crop killed me last year

 

[mfisher]

same here, where I hunted had a drastic reduction in movement form what I observed.

 

[TheLBLman]

. . . . . where I hunted had a drastic reduction in movement . . . . .

Often the case, and where I mainly hunted last year, maybe the least deer movement I've ever seen (believed to be mainly from a bumper acorn crop, but also because of increases in other food sources and security cover).

However, we had a super-bumper crop of red oak acorns, and wouldn't expect that to happen 2 consecutive years. The whites were also bumper, which meant the deer hardly touched the reds before December, then they lasted until Spring. That really put the hurt on the post-rut deer movement.

But until the acorns start really hitting the ground in October, I'm not counting on a good crop of whites no matter how many I may see on the trees. What you see on the trees can be misleading, as sometimes, most can be rotten inside while they look nice and plentiful hanging high in the trees.

 

[TheLBLman]

One other issue regarding deer movement: Rainfall.

When spring/summer rainfall is above average, fall food sources will likely be greater than normal. This has a similar effect to a bumper acorn crop adversely effecting deer movement, and may even contribute to that bumper acorn crop (sometimes a bumper crop of "rotten" acorns). But unlike the acorns dropping mainly in more open "woods", excess rainfall may mainly produce more food sources in heavier cover areas, causing the deer to stay even less visible than a bumper acorn crop which typical has movement from bedding to feeding areas.

During the 2013 deer season, even without a bumper acorn crop, deer movement was decreased more by heavy summer rains producing huge quantities of deer food (much of it honeysuckle) in such heavy cover areas I wouldn't have previously believed there was enough sunlight for it to happen. With the food being mainly in the bedding/cover areas, was hard to see a deer, as there was no typical movement from bedding areas to field and oak woods.

Year-to-date, most of my hunting area has experienced 110% (or more) of average annual rainfall, and it's been very consistent. Deer should have plenty to eat (there) even without acorns. That's great for the deer, maybe not so great for the deer hunting. Although I do prefer to hunt healthier deer (fatter deer, larger antlered bucks), which should be the case following last Fall's bumper acorn crop, and this years above-average rainfall.

Granted, some areas of TN did not have a good acorn crop last year, and some areas have had below average rainfall this year. Conditions can vary greatly even within a single county.

 

[Poleaxe]

Spent the last 2 weeks looking through binocs at way over 50 trees and spotting scope and ain't seen a white oak yet. Ain't no science behind my findings.

 

[Simpleman.2]

Behind my house the ground is covered.

 

[backyardtndeer]

As wet as the spring and early summer were it should be a good crop. I have seen quite a few, not looked real close to compare to past years

 

[TheLBLman]

Oak flowers are wind pollinated, so a wet spring can sometimes reduce pollination.

I've yet to figure out a way to accurately predict whether there will be a bumper crop of "good" acorns, until many of them are hitting the ground after fully ripening. Just seeing loaded trees means it's a good chance.

 

[ridgehunter]

was down on my place saturday in Jackson County and saw some red oaks starting ot drop.Went down to put up a stand and some low life had stole my camera.

 

[MMHunter]

There definitely load pretty good here in Wilson....

 

[TboneD]

There definitely load pretty good here in Wilson....

MMHunter, I've forgotten my binoculars last couple times to the woods. Have you noticed if the white oaks have many?


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[Winchester]

Appears the Reds are decent at best and the Whites are very poor in the areas I have checked.

 

[Land Between the Lakes]

There are not nearly as many Acorns in the KY Lake area this year compared to last year.

 

[landman]

Been seeing some Red Oaks, but really haven't
been looking