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HottyToddy

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Apr 8, 2022
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178
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Middle TN
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!
 

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HottyToddy said:
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!
Click to expand...
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
 
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
 
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.
 
HottyToddy said:
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
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Endangered species, no hunting or traping. TWRA get very angry if there new project are hunted. 😂
 
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.
 
HottyToddy said:
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
Click to expand...
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.
 
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.
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
HottyToddy said:
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!
Click to expand...
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.
 
fairchaser said:
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.
Click to expand...
I could've written this post word for word!
 
I keep promising myself I'm going to buy a couple of those recreational whip antenna-flags people attach to the back of their ATV for playing in sand dunes and attach them to the front of my ATV to catch spiderwebs. I really hate riding my ATV through the woods this time of year. Spider webs in the face, and the occasional orb-weaver spider the size of a quarter in the face, are no fun. I've nearly crashed several times from wildly trying to swipe a big spider off my face.

Years ago, someone used to sell a big flexible "Y"-shaped spider catcher for the front of ATVs. I've looked and can't find it on the market anymore.
 
Lost Lake said:
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.
Click to expand...
Good advice here. Sawyer's Permethrin is available at Walmart or most sporting goods stores. It's in a yellow bottle. I've found the Repel Permethrin in the orange and blue can to be very ineffective. Keep one pair of pants and one shirt treated for anytime ticks will be a threat.
 
Looks like you got all your questions pretty well answered. Most permithern says its lasts on your clothes around 6 weeks, so I usually treat 2 shirts and 2 pairs of pants mid September right before the opener and wear those until mid to late October when the frosts hits. By that time you won't really need to reapply it in my experience. I also treat my rubber boots and always tuck my pants into the boots and tuck shirt into pants. ticks always work their way upward. so if your pants aint tucked in, they go right up your leg and end up in your no no special spot. Best day 0f the year every year is first frost. no mosquitoes, flies, ticks, chiggers. just awesome. good luck this year.
 
Spurhunter said:
Good advice here. Sawyer's Permethrin is available at Walmart or most sporting goods stores. It's in a yellow bottle. I've found the Repel Permethrin in the orange and blue can to be very ineffective. Keep one pair of pants and one shirt treated for anytime tick
Click to expand...
I get mine in gallon jugs on Amazon. It's a lot less expensive. I am in the field year round and have found ticks on warm days almost year round. Inspect closely as seed ticks can be so hard to see at a glance.
 
NO-SEE-UMS
All great advice above but they left out the one real mind bender! In Tennessee there is a force that exists so powerful it cannot be seen yet it can and will feed on your person leaving only the victim scratching and rubbing their hands, neck and any exposed areas feverishly like a madman having a breakdown!
Welcome to the woods, in Tennessee where it can be 20 degrees at dawn and 75 at 2 pm!
Dress in interchangeable layers and know that shivering is your hypothermic body making a last ditch effort to warm itself while exhausting your last energy…
Lol
 
I will also give a bit of advice. If you plan on hunting during early season or fishing creeks and rivers during warm weather, invest in a Thermacell if you haven't already. It will also take care of the Noseeums mentioned above. Welcome to Tennessee and good luck!
 
fairchaser said:
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.
Click to expand...
Been using this method my entire life but never knew the proper terminology. Thanks fairchaser, spider switch it shall henceforth be known as.
 

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