Oaks already dropping, next best option?

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NE Public
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Oaks already dropping, next best option?

Unread postby NE Public » Tue Aug 27, 2019 12:50 pm

Acorns are already coming down heavy in my area, with more than a month left until season. At this rate i'm not too sure they will be holding much come hunting time. I hunt primarily in big woods where acorns are obviously a very popular food choice, and really drives deer movement in my area. So my question is will there still be enough acorns on the ground that they will still be coming to these areas to feed? Or should i look into a secondary food source, and if so, what would be good early season food sources to key in on? Thanks.


EllieTheChubb
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Re: Oaks already dropping, next best option?

Unread postby EllieTheChubb » Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:01 pm

Are they dropping mature acorns or are they on the small side? It has been extremely dry in my part of the country this summer and the oaks have been slowly dropping nuts for a month. The reality is that the trees are just self thinning to ensure the nuts that do ripen are fully matured.
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elk yinzer
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Re: Oaks already dropping, next best option?

Unread postby elk yinzer » Wed Aug 28, 2019 3:17 am

Not sure how NE you are, but I doubt the acorns are going to be done dropping anytime real soon. If it is a bad acorn year, you're generally onto browse in the NE.

We don't hurt for oaks here in PA and rarely experience a depletion of the acorns during hunting season. We have some years they fail, but most years they remain the primary big woods food source all throughout the season. Less abundant years are generally better because you can find good patches of acorns somewhere. More abundant years hunting can be tougher because the deer can bed wherever they want and move 10 yards to put the feed bag on.

Every year about this time they start losing some acorns that aren't ripe yet. Just the trees shedding bad nuts. Ripe white oaks will start falling in about 2-3 weeks. Chestnut oaks and red oaks follow that.

As far as deer preference its all about the tannins. White oaks have less tannins and go bad the quickest. Deer target those pretty heavily through October. You can get a good feel for tannin levels just tasting acorns. It's the bitter astringent taste. Chestnut oaks (technically in the white oak family) seem to vary in tannins and they'll really nail some of them as they fall, some they let sit awhile. Red oaks they generally let go awhile until some of the tannins naturally leach out. Mid Novemberish is when I usually start seeing them shift attention to the reds, if whites are still available. They feed on those through winter until next spring.
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