This weeks freeze?

I would be prepared for no acorns this fall. I remember in April of 2007 we hit the 20s after green up. All the leaves turned black, not a single acorn that year on my place.
 
I don't know if the oak blooms have formed yet. The late green-up MIGHT save us, but it's not looking good.
 
I'm in Carroll county, my red oaks have long blooms everywhere...
The White oaks are just beginning to come in.

My latest area forecast is showing 1 - 2 hours of freezing temps early Wednesday morning (4-6 am). I'm hoping this won't hurt anything.
 
buckaroo said:
Apples can take 25 degrees for couple of hours the best I can remember.
Click to expand...
Yes. I have posted that chart before that lists the % kill. With Nashville calling for 28, Im afraid the mountain will be below 25. Hope not.
 
Most of the oaks here near Fairview are blooming heavy. It will probably be a good year to plant some corn (to leave standing)if the temps do get in the 20's. There is one positive thing about a poor mast crop, the deer will have to move more to find their groceries. This will make hunting much easier for those who like to watch green fields.
 
ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER said:
i hope everything makes it
Click to expand...

They won't. Not with the forecast temps. Expect at least a very poor fruit year. Acorn crop will be iffy. In Middle TN, most oaks are already blooming.
 
Farm manager said:
There is one positive thing about a poor mast crop, the deer will have to move more to find their groceries.
Click to expand...

That is the one positive of an acorn failure. Deer have to move more and farther to feed, which increases deer sightings and kills by hunters. Kill numbers generally take a jump in poor acorn years.
 
I guess it had to happen. We've been lucky locally, as we haven't experienced an acorn failure since 2007. Past history (the last 30 years) shows a very poor acorn crop occurring in 2 years out of every 5 year period. But in the 6 years since 2007, only 2010 was close to a very poor year.
 
I agree that low acorn years are definately better for seeing and killing deer on the hoof. But, IMO, I like big acorn years. But I am more worried about the health of deer and wild turkeys for now and the future than I am about killing them.
 
BSK said:
I guess it had to happen. We've been lucky locally, as we haven't experienced an acorn failure since 2007. Past history (the last 30 years) shows a very poor acorn crop occurring in 2 years out of every 5 year period. But in the 6 years since 2007, only 2010 was close to a very poor year.
Click to expand...
THAT SAID, it will not surprise me should we end up with a bumper acorn crop this year! I just don't think we can say much anything with certainty (at this point) regarding this fall's acorn crop?

Ironically, last year's poor acorn crop really HURT my deer hunting, never mind we had some pretty nice food plots. What we also had was a super-abundance of other deer foods (particularly honeysuckle) brought on by the consistent and above-average rainfall during the 2013 summer and early fall. So the deer didn't have acorns, but they had honeysuckle instead, and seemed happier with that than our food plots.

2013 was a very poor acorn crop in my areas of Stewart County, just a hop & a skip from where you had a pretty good crop.
Go figure.
 
Looks like we will have back to back years for a mast failure if we do indeed have a hard freeze. Last year hard mast was non-existent where I live.
Personally I have much better luck and more deer sightings when we have a bumper crop of acorns as my property is 90% hardwoods surrounded by a 13 year old clearcut. On a good mast year my Oaks pull deer out of the clearcut like a magnet.
Most, if not all of my Oak's are in full bloom, doesn't look good at all.
 
I'm encouraged by the temps I'm seeing reported. Nowhere near as low as forecast. Most stations reported lows of only 28-30, and then only for a couple of hours. I'll know more in a couple of days, when I can assess plant damage.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top