Finding where they are hitting acorns???

[mheichelbech]

I am thinking this is going to be a great acorn year based on what is already falling off the trees around my house. How do you guys approach locating which trees or groups of trees the deer /bucks are hitting without alerting them with your scent? I know, in the areas I hunt where the oaks are but of course you never really know which ones the deer are hitting without visual confirmation via sign, i.e., scouting. This of course involves walking around the very woods that the hunter doesn't want to leave his scent in. It seems like a catch-22 in some ways...we preach leaving the woods alone and unpressured, yet we cannot find where they are feeding during the season, especially on acorns, without doing exactly that!

How do you approach this?

[BassBoysLLP]

Best approach is to scout the area with a stand and sticks on your back. Find the best tree and hunt!

Alternatively, a pair of binoculars and monitoring squirrel activity from a distance can be helpful. Squirrel will often break branches on loaded trees. These can often be identified from a great distance.

Good luck!

[Edcyclopedia]

Listen for squirrels every 100 yards with a stand on your back.

Tracks, shells and droppings tell you they were there and chances are will be back.

[ Post made via Android ]

[BigHunt]

Best approach is to scout the area with a stand and sticks on your back. Find the best tree and hunt!

Alternatively, a pair of binoculars and monitoring squirrel activity from a distance can be helpful. Squirrel will often break branches on loaded trees. These can often be identified from a great distance.

Good luck!

X2 .....look for beat down trails leading to oak tree..also the gass will be matted down pertty good around the tree

[ Post made via Android ]

[cbigbear]

I am thinking this is going to be a great acorn year based on what is already falling off the trees around my house. How do you guys approach locating which trees or groups of trees the deer /bucks are hitting without alerting them with your scent? I know, in the areas I hunt where the oaks are but of course you never really know which ones the deer are hitting without visual confirmation via sign, i.e., scouting. This of course involves walking around the very woods that the hunter doesn't want to leave his scent in. It seems like a catch-22 in some ways...we preach leaving the woods alone and unpressured, yet we cannot find where they are feeding during the season, especially on acorns, without doing exactly that!

How do you approach this?

There is no absolute way of knowing a tree is being hit without actually scouting the tree or having a mms cam on it. However, you can determine if an oak is dropping without being under it or close to it. Sometimes as said above you can tell if a tree is dropping or is active from a distance by the sounds of birds or squirrels. Another method is the same type oaks at the same elevations usually drop at the same time. So if you find an oak in one place that is raining, check the elevation on a topo good chance other oaks in different areas at this elevation are also dropping.

[hunter_mike]

So if you find an oak in one place that is raining, check the elevation on a topo good chance other oaks in different areas at this elevation are also dropping.

Nice tip! thanks, never thought of it like that

[cbigbear]

So if you find an oak in one place that is raining, check the elevation on a topo good chance other oaks in different areas at this elevation are also dropping.

Nice tip! thanks, never thought of it like that

Another thing is the same species of oak generally drop the same time every year they make. For instance I hunt cow oaks that drop in the first couple weeks of Nov. So if I find acorns by glassing in Aug I can come back & hunt in Nov without scouting. I have 3 cows oaks I killed a 10 off of four yrs ago they haven't made since, but I check them late summer every year. Just waiting on them to produce acorns & I'll be set come Nov.

[Bigburner]

If you have time now like alot of the guys said take your bino's and check the trees. you will see the clusters. I always found it to be more of a hinderance if you had a big stand rather than a few isolated trees. When you have a couple big white oaks right outside the bed, game on. I've killed a mess of does and a few nice bucks in late September in that situation. good luck.

[headgear]

I try and focus on the oaks closest to the best bedding areas.

[Bowhunter4life]

Interesting topic here cause I have experienced some very tough years with acorns. There are oaks everywhere in the woods I have access too. I have always had more luck personally following the squirrels and watch for the trees they are the most active over. My dad has used this tactic and been very successful with it. He has always told me to understand what you are seeing in the woods. If the squirrel are hammering a certain tree it is for a reason. Set up on it then and get the job done.

[ Post made via Android ]

[mheichelbech]

Good idea about the squirrels..never thought about that!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[chasemukluk]

So, in this post I have learned to find the trees closest to bedding that squirrels are hitting. Sounds like some sound advice to me! I usually take the binocs into the woods in August and mark the trees that have nuts on my gps. Then, once season starts I use the trail cams on field edges and trails on field edges to find where deer are staging or coming from right before and after dark. It has been successful for doe, but not any mature bucks.

[Ghost Hunter]

Glass the acorns ahead of time an see which ones are turning brown. You can see a difference ahead of time. The red oaks drop first around here. They are dropping by middle of September. Check the crossings on old roads an see which ones are active towards what oaks. Check oaks closest to bedding area first.

[backstraps]

When I do my post season scouting, I am always making note of preferred acorn trees in the areas I hunt. Locally white oaks are preferred, so once hunting season comes around if there is an acorn crop I know where the ones that generally produce are located. I like to notate on field notes or a gps the acorn trees that are close to buck beds too.

That really doesn't have anything in response to your question... hahaha, but in my opinion in season scouting with a stand on back is about the only way to locate current acorn drop. I am typically in route to a stand site when I will notice or hear trees raining.

[Ghost Hunter]

Acorns hitting the ground are like a deer's dinner bell.