How do deer find white oak acorns?

[BigHunt]

how do you guys think deer find white acorn trees?? do they just know were they are? do they smell them out? can they hear them drop? i was thinking about this today at work!

[Dewey]

I think they can smell them. Only explanation I can think of after watching them walk right over piles of red oaks to reach a single white oak tree.

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[BigHunt]

I think they can smell them. Only explanation I can think of after watching them walk right over piles of red oaks to reach a single white oak tree.

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ive also seen this too! they must be able to smell them

[dan]

I am sure they can smell them from a very long distance.

[Dewey]

No different when they dig into deep snow to reach buried corn or winter wheat. I'm sure they smell it as well and know exactly what it is.

Kinda like stories I hear in Canada where honey burns can draw a bear in from miles away downwind.

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[Stanley]

Last year I killed my Halloween buck on a white oak acorn pattern. I found where the turkeys were scratching for the acorns and ambushed the buck going to feed on White oak acorns. I hunted the same spot two days in a row which is something I rarely do. I passed a nice 9 pointer the first day.The next day the wind conditions were perfect so i hung the stand in the same tree I did the day before. On Halloween day the 10 pointer was in route to feed and I arrowed him.

I am very sure they can smell the acorns and they also hone in on turkeys and other animals feeding on the white oak acorns. They can also smell the fresh turkey scratchings from long distances.

[PLB]

Yes to all the above plus the noise they make dropping attracts all kinds of animals....

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[Timmy]

This is interesting.. I did not realize they prefer white oak acorns over red oak. Do they not eat red oak acorns?

[PLB]

This is interesting.. I did not realize they prefer white oak acorns over red oak. Do they not eat red oak acorns?

They love Red oak acorns too! But given a choice they prefer white oak because they are less bitter tasting. We have huge stands of red oak with no white oak in my area and all the animals gobble them up!

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[Crazinamatese]

Red Oaks are high in Tannic acid. Deer will still feed on them, but not in abundance.

[Southern Man]

This is interesting.. I did not realize they prefer white oak acorns over red oak. Do they not eat red oak acorns?

They love Red oak acorns too! But given a choice they prefer white oak because they are less bitter tasting. We have huge stands of red oak with no white oak in my area and all the animals gobble them up!

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We have White oak, Red Oak, Post oak. and Sawtooth oak. They seldom all drop at the same times. You can follow the deer feedin patterns around the woods by the types of oak trees. Pretty interesting really. All things bein equal, they go to White oaks first tho, every time.

[Stanley]

This is interesting.. I did not realize they prefer white oak acorns over red oak. Do they not eat red oak acorns?

From my experience they may feed a little bit on red oak acorns. Red oak acorns are smaller in size and much more bitter tasting. Everything loves white oak acorns, squirrels, turkeys, ground hogs, mice. So they are the first to be eaten up. Red oak acorns are much more abundant as the trees produce many more of them. If you can find a huge timber of red Oaks that is a great place to hunt late season. Deer will yard up close to large supplies of red oak acorns when other food sources have been eaten.

[Southern Man]

This is interesting.. I did not realize they prefer white oak acorns over red oak. Do they not eat red oak acorns?

From my experience they may feed a little bit on red oak acorns. Red oak acorns are smaller in size and much more bitter tasting. Everything loves white oak acorns, squirrels, turkeys, ground hogs, mice. So they are the first to be eaten up. Red oak acorns are much more abundant as the trees produce many more of them. If you can find a huge timber of red Oaks that is a great place to hunt late season. Deer will yard up close to large supplies of red oak acorns when other food sources have been eaten.

X2 ........Red oaks are a prime when the White's are gone. Down here the Red oaks are the last to drop and that usually is just before rut.

By the same token, if you can find a huge old mature White oak, it will be a hot spot every other year in the early season.