This weather...

[peytoncreekhunter]

I had buttercups blooming like crazy on February 7th at the farm in Carthage. That's the earliest I've seen them.

 

[TheLBLman]

Two good hard mast years back to back here in McMinn County, but this aint looking good for this years acorn crop.
I'm hoping for the temps to at least get back down to the"normal" range for a few more weeks at least.
Another couple of weeks of these temps and my Oaks will be in full bloom and I guarantee we will see a few more hard freezes before Spring.

Most of TN just didn't suffer the severe drought conditions last year, and mast failure, we had in western middle TN along the western highland rim. Believe the worst of it was Humphreys, Houston, and Stewart Counties. This was a hit to antler growth in 2022, and a bigger hit (already) to 2023. If we have a bad freeze soon and another mast failure this fall, this "perfect storm" greatly harms all aspects of herd performance, including "lifetime" for the fawns born last year, this year, and next year.

 

[Creek bottoms]

Humphreys was terrible last year. The Brentwood pears are in full bloom (useless tree anyway). My son and I were just talking that we need a cool down in a hurry so the white oaks don't bud/bloom. Been counting 100 deer on 70 acres of creek bottoms that were in beans last year. Some green up is helpful, but I don't know what they're eating. Food plots are gone.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Most of TN just didn't suffer the severe drought conditions last year, and mast failure, we had in western middle TN along the western highland rim. Believe the worst of it was Humphreys, Houston, and Stewart Counties. This was a hit to antler growth in 2022, and a bigger hit (already) to 2023. If we have a bad freeze soon and another mast failure this fall, this "perfect storm" greatly harms all aspects of herd performance, including "lifetime" for the fawns born last year, this year, and next year.

Add Hickman to that list

 

[tellico4x4]

Add Hickman to that list

Wayne & Hardin too

 

[Ski]

Im afraid we may be headed for black mountains this summer. Hopefully we avoid hard freezes. Trees had budded here two weeks ago, im not talking ornamentals, but hardwoods.

That's worrisome. I've seen the red maples & such budding, which is normal this time of year, but I've not yet seen the redbuds blooming purple. That's the official marker for spring, IMO. If we get a hard freeze AFTER redbuds have bloomed, the oaks are in trouble. Any freezing before that doesn't seem to matter.

 

[Ski]

Easier said than done....but I've heard Dr. Craig Harper say it...."land managers need to manage for no acorn years and when the acorns do develop it's a bonus"
So how? Forest Stand Improvement, open the canopy, hack-n-squirt to kill less desirable trees and where possible, create burn units.... studies show that opening the canopy followed by prescribed burning can create 10x the amount of forage for deer verses a closed canopy forest.....yes back to back years with a total acorn crop failure is terrible for wildlife....but they will survive....but how can we manage the habitat where they actually can flourish during the no acorn years?.... sunlight to the forest floor, prescribed fire, herbicide application, food plots....again, not always easy and and bigger more lush food plots get expensive quick.....and as for fire, I spoke with our local TN Forestry Technician Tuesday about assistance with creating burn units and prescribed fire on our property....he said I needed to get on the list and that they were probably one year out on the waiting list....so....for now we are going to try to create as much early successional growth as possible with the bush hog and herbicide application...and we will certainly plant warn season food plots followed by cool season plots as the budgets allow.

Got the saws tuned and chains sharpened already. They're going to see a lot of use between now and spring.

 

[Ski]

I thought so. I thought my food plot program was going to be an incredible magnet. That turned out not to be the case. The deer simply left the area and concentrated on nearby ag fields all fall instead.

Ugggg. Unfortunately I'm in a similar boat. My property is the head of a hollow that empties out into a river a mile away, and the other side of the river is rich soil ag fields. That usually plays to my benefit because after harvest the bucks shift up into the woods for acorns. This past season was lackluster, and if this season is another acorn bust it's going to be a tough season for me.

 

[TheLBLman]

Wayne & Hardin too

Oh, yes, but just saying I "think" the Western Highland Rim counties were hit the worst by the 2022 drought x mast failure. MANY other TN counties also had below average rainfall & poor mast production.

 

[tellico4x4]

Oh, yes, but just saying I "think" the Western Highland Rim counties were hit the worst by the 2022 drought x mast failure. MANY other TN counties also had below average rainfall & poor mast production.

Zero nuts for us. No acorns, no hickory & not even a single walnut & have 12 trees in a creek bottom. 1/4" rain in Sept. Squirrels cutting pine cones in Oct. Think they migrated to the Highland Rim in Dec to have something to eat

 

[RS]

I'm not sure why, but the deer on my farm in Humphreys County seem to be as healthy as they have in years past. We killed several does late December/early January, and they had just as much fat as I've ever seen. Even the majority of bucks I got pics of as of last Saturday are still carrying both antlers. With the severe drought and no acorns, I figured they would drop antlers in late December or early January.

They are definitely hammering my plots, which probably helped them through the rough spell.

 

[TheLBLman]

I've seen a single antlered buck in Stewart County since mid-January. Many had dropped both side before deer season even ended.

I didn't realize how bad it was until the bucks started dropping so early. Although there was mast failure, I think the overall decrease in herd health was more related the 2022 drought. But with 90% of the larger oaks cut (due to high price of timber) in the past couple years, there simply cannot be many acorns in the new few years. In most of the county, most of the former hardwood stands are now pine, and the remaining hardwoods have been either clear-cut or select cut down to about 12" or less.

 

[BSK]

For your situation I see what your saying....but hopefully the majority of the big agriculture bottom land will be in soybean's this year...that will give the local herd a great source of high quality forage and help them recover....

Luckily, the local farmers plant a mixture each year - some fields in corn and some in soybeans. Only downside is deer will spend all summer replacing lost resources from this last fall/winter and miss out on growth potential. We won't see deer "back to normal" until the 2024/25 season, and fawns born this spring will never catch up. Infact, even their offspring may never catch up.

But all of this is "Nature's Way." Can't change it so we live with it and do the best we can.

 

[BSK]

I've seen a single antlered buck in Stewart County since mid-January. Many had dropped both side before deer season even ended.

I didn't realize how bad it was until the bucks started dropping so early. Although there was mast failure, I think the overall decrease in herd health was more related the 2022 drought. But with 90% of the larger oaks cut (due to high price of timber) in the past couple years, there simply cannot be many acorns in the new few years. In most of the county, most of the former hardwood stands are now pine, and the remaining hardwoods have been either clear-cut or select cut down to about 12" or less.

There's been a ton of hardwood cutting in my area post-2019 hurricane. Plus, with timber prices so high, many of the BIG landowners in the area cut hard. We cut down to 10" DBH, but only 1/5th of our property.

 

[BSK]

I'm not sure why, but the deer on my farm in Humphreys County seem to be as healthy as they have in years past. We killed several does late December/early January, and they had just as much fat as I've ever seen. Even the majority of bucks I got pics of as of last Saturday are still carrying both antlers. With the severe drought and no acorns, I figured they would drop antlers in late December or early January.

They are definitely hammering my plots, which probably helped them through the rough spell.
View attachment 169502

I'm just shocked by that RS. Our bucks had almost all dropped antlers by January 10, with some starting at Christmas. Never seen anything like it. Doe we killed had zero fat, one resident buck zero fat. By the end of December our mature bucks looked like they were 2 1/2.

 

[RS]

I'm just shocked by that RS. Our bucks had almost all dropped antlers by January 10, with some starting at Christmas. Never seen anything like it. Doe we killed had zero fat, one resident buck zero fat. By the end of December our mature bucks looked like they were 2 1/2.

That is crazy. Our properties are probably less than 10 miles apart as the crow flies.

We had quite a bit of browse early summer from our logging operation right after the 2019 storm, but even a lot of that dried up and died later in the summer due to the drought. I was definitely expecting the worst this year, but was surprised.

 

[deerhunter10]

I would be shocked if that doesn't happen. Hope we can get lucky and it not. Our Hickman County/maury county place we only have a small handful of deer with horns all small. Most of our dropped before the end of January which is the earliest I have ever noticed. Our south east maury county places we got lucky and hit some rain and had am average acorn crop and deer by and large are in pretty good shape. Can't compete with mother nature she can be cruel. On the plus side last summer was the best turkey hatch I've seen in many many years.

 

[RS]

These two were sparring Saturday morning.

 

[megalomaniac]

We are 3 weeks ahead of schedule in south MS... just a few days away from peak azelea bloom... normally late March.

REALLY hope we don't get a hard freeze from this point on, but I'm sure we will. A few more days and my blueberries will be in full bloom... gonna have to cover them again this spring if we get another hard freeze

 

[BSK]

On the plus side last summer was the best turkey hatch I've seen in many many years.

Noticed the same on my place. Finally got flocks of turkey in the food plots, which I haven't seen in years.