Mast Failure

[Trapper John]

I did a search to see if this has been covered but didn't find exactly what I was after. Our property is in Decatur County and it appears the oak, hickory, and walnut trees all had a failure this year. Anyone else seeing the same? I figure the late freeze back in April in conjunction with the brutal wind and storms in West Tennessee did them in. We lost a lot of quality timber during that storm that hit a lot of West TN.

Just curious. Normally we're slipping and sliding on acorns and this year we've got nada. And just another observation...squirrel sightings are also at a minimal. Ten hunts, four squirrels total spotted. Just seemed to go hand in hand. Turkeys are also scarce.

 

[vanleerbuckbuster]

We don't have any acorns on my farm this year. Still have plenty of deer though.

 

[Omega]

Had a bunch here in Montgomery County, at least in the places I looked.

 

[DaveB]

I live in Shelby County since 1994. My white and red oaks and those in the neighborhood, are having a bumper acorn crop. I have thousands and thousands on the ground. We rake into piles and then shovel them into bags. There is a white and red in my yard and my neighbor has three younger whites. The volume is the second or third highest ever. I was wondering if the miserable gall wasps had killed my white but that is definitely not the case.

 

[Snake]

Not in east Tennessee my big white oak here at the house has killed me with the acorns . My property has plenty of acorns out there too.

 

[jm1981]

Not in east Tennessee my big white oak here at the house has killed me with the acorns . My property has plenty of acorns out there too.

We don't have any acorns on my farm this year. Still have plenty of deer though.

Our oaks didn't produce much of anything this year. This is in Lewis and Perry county.

 

[dgolden]

I've seen more acorns at our place in Whiteville than I've ever seen. Usually this time of year they have all been eaten up. The deer and squirrels are still hammering them!

 

[backyardtndeer]

Plenty of acorns and hickory nuts here in this part of west Tennessee.

 

[rmmonty32]

Not in east Tennessee my big white oak here at the house has killed me with the acorns . My property has plenty of acorns out there too.

Same here plenty of mast. However hunting aedc this weekend didnt see any deer but also very few squirrels seen which i found odd. Back home they are everwhere. So im not sure what that means?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

The places I hunt in Hickman and Jackson counties were very similar and did not have many acorns at all. The red oaks were about the only ones with acorns and they had quite a few

 

[Volbuck777]

Red oaks would beat you to death if you stood under them this year here. White oaks were decent.

 

[Sako]

In Fentress county where I hunt, we have never seen the acorns so thick.... more than any of us have ever seen.

 

[BlackEagle1]

Another Hickman vote.... there's nothing on our lease. That late freeze even burnt all the leaves off the trees.

 

[cmn]

Cheatham county my lease no mast, but deer ok

 

[Safari Hunt]

Lots of acorns where I hunt.

 

[TboneD]

Cheatham WMA has very little in acorn mast this year, and where I hunt here in Wilson county there WERE some red oak acorns but very few or no white oak acorns. There are very few, if any, red oak acorns left that the weevils haven't ruined already in the areas I've been hunting. My question is whether the red oak acorn crop will be even worse next year, since they take two years to mature. ???

 

[JeepKuntry]

Huge acorn mast this year in Morgan. I blame part of that on lack of sightings. They don't really have to travel for food.

 

[Bone Collector]

It has been hit and miss here in Mid TN. Not many whites, but the Reds had some. It was weird, because you could be in a red oak grove and some trees were loaded and others had 0 acorns. It wasn't a bumper crop IMO, but we had a decent amount. Most are gone now from my recent observations.

 

[DaveB]

My White Oak had an infestation of gall wasps---there are threads someplace---and no acorns the next two years and then just a few dozen per year until this year. I wonder if these nasty wasps are the cause of white oak mast failures elsewhere? Here are a few pics of the eggs on my back patio.....which is not under the white oak canopy. there were thousands and thousands of these things. .

Before the wasps i got hit on the head by a falling white acorn and it drew enough blood to run down to my collar. I swear it was the size of an english walnut. Ones this year are half sized but they made up in volume.

 

[BSK]

Trapper,

In the areas I have data from (western Middle TN: Cheatham, Dickson, Humphreys, Perry, Hickman, Benton counties), VERY poor white oak crop, a few red and black oak acorns.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Trapper,

In the areas I have data from (western Middle TN: Cheatham, Dickson, Humphreys, Perry, Hickman, Benton counties), VERY poor white oak crop, a few red and black oak acorns.

WOW.......I love seeing you here!!

 

[timberjack86]

Bumper crop in South Cherokee

 

[timberjack86]

Trapper,

In the areas I have data from (western Middle TN: Cheatham, Dickson, Humphreys, Perry, Hickman, Benton counties), VERY poor white oak crop, a few red and black oak acorns.

Welcome back BSK!

 

[NumberOne]

Our property in Humphreys county has very few. Normally its loaded up but last year we had zero acorns and this year had very few. Deer hunting has suffered because of it.