Acorns

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adrenalin
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Acorns

Unread postby adrenalin » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:04 pm

When do you all think is the best time for the deer to eat acorns over other food sources?


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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Goober » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:35 pm

Whenever they start dropping untill they are gone. Acorns are a great food source, as long as they are pletiful enough so the deer don't have to "hunt" for them, I have seen very few foods they will pick over acorns!
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Southern Man » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:28 am

As soon as they start dropping. In my end of KY the post oaks are the first to drop (mid September) and the deer are all over them, they love em. White Oaks start about October 1st and peak in mid October. I've never seen activity as high on Red Oaks as I have on the other two but they eat them.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby dan » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:06 pm

Sept-thru early October.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Spysar » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:19 pm

As soon as the white oak acorns hit the ground deer eat them like candy. In my area they fall in Sept and if your lucky they will be around in Oct. For those that don't know, the white oaks are the ones with the rounded leaves, and the reds have pointy leaves, and there are quite a few varieties of each.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Basinboy » Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:21 pm

We have very few oaks in my area. Which could be a good thing if I can find one producing! I found some mature Red oaks this hunting season while scouting and I will be checking them this September.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Dabowhunter » Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:13 am

In four seasons, I have yet to get a decent crop of acorns on my property. Even the big mature oaks seem to drop tiny acorns early. I thought at first it was from stress due to drought, but I am now wondering if it is disease.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby basspro05 » Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:00 am

I have recently scouted a ridge and found a couple of buck beds from the previous fall. The ridge over looks several large crop fields.

When I sat in the bed and looked around, I noticed that behind me, up the ridge about 15 yards, there was several more rubs. In front of me, there was a distinct rub line heading down the ridge that led right to the back corner of the crop field.

I walked up to the rubs behind me, and the ground was littered with acorn shells and had been severely beat down from deer traffic.


This buck is going to be hunted as soon as the season opens, should I assume that if the acorns are dropping on opening week, he is going to travel up the ridge to those oaks right before sundown, and the trail leading from the bed to the crop field will be only utilized after dark in early season and then his trail of choice after the acorns are done dropping later in the season?
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Stanley » Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:34 am

basspro05 wrote:I have recently scouted a ridge and found a couple of buck beds from the previous fall. The ridge over looks several large crop fields.

When I sat in the bed and looked around, I noticed that behind me, up the ridge about 15 yards, there was several more rubs. In front of me, there was a distinct rub line heading down the ridge that led right to the back corner of the crop field.

I walked up to the rubs behind me, and the ground was littered with acorn shells and had been severely beat down from deer traffic.


This buck is going to be hunted as soon as the season opens, should I assume that if the acorns are dropping on opening week, he is going to travel up the ridge to those oaks right before sundown, and the trail leading from the bed to the crop field will be only utilized after dark in early season and then his trail of choice after the acorns are done dropping later in the season?


If they are white oak trees and dropping nuts I would set up for a bed to acorn pattern. If they are red oak trees I think the crop fields may be a better bet.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby dan » Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:35 am

basspro05 wrote:I have recently scouted a ridge and found a couple of buck beds from the previous fall. The ridge over looks several large crop fields.

When I sat in the bed and looked around, I noticed that behind me, up the ridge about 15 yards, there was several more rubs. In front of me, there was a distinct rub line heading down the ridge that led right to the back corner of the crop field.

I walked up to the rubs behind me, and the ground was littered with acorn shells and had been severely beat down from deer traffic.


This buck is going to be hunted as soon as the season opens, should I assume that if the acorns are dropping on opening week, he is going to travel up the ridge to those oaks right before sundown, and the trail leading from the bed to the crop field will be only utilized after dark in early season and then his trail of choice after the acorns are done dropping later in the season?

Sounds like a reasonable assumption to me.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:18 am

dan wrote:
basspro05 wrote:I have recently scouted a ridge and found a couple of buck beds from the previous fall. The ridge over looks several large crop fields.

When I sat in the bed and looked around, I noticed that behind me, up the ridge about 15 yards, there was several more rubs. In front of me, there was a distinct rub line heading down the ridge that led right to the back corner of the crop field.

I walked up to the rubs behind me, and the ground was littered with acorn shells and had been severely beat down from deer traffic.


This buck is going to be hunted as soon as the season opens, should I assume that if the acorns are dropping on opening week, he is going to travel up the ridge to those oaks right before sundown, and the trail leading from the bed to the crop field will be only utilized after dark in early season and then his trail of choice after the acorns are done dropping later in the season?

Sounds like a reasonable assumption to me.

X2. Around here if white oaks aren't dropping the older bucks will be on the red oaks before heading to any crop fields. Even when red and whites are both dropping mature bucks will usually hit a red oak near the safety of his bed rather than head straight for the nearest white oaks. For some reason it took me several years to get this through my thick skull because I was always stuck on the idea that whites were sooo superior because what I had read in magazines over the years about whites being sweet and reds being bitter.

They will bed by a white oak dropping acorns when they can, but safety always comes first and they seem to like reds plenty good around here.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby gjs4 » Fri Feb 07, 2014 12:52 pm

It dawned on me scouting last weekend- we had a ton (like best year ever) of white and red oaks, as well as butternuts and others...but we never saw a fury or even constant feeding. deer would bed adjacent and walk through on their way to green fields or corn occasionally picking up a nut or two. WHY? Ive always thought acorns were the cats pajamas and finally having them seemed to have no significant deer draw.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Fri Feb 07, 2014 1:02 pm

When they start falling out of the trees. They will hear them an find them that is a dinner bell. Just might be night time snacks a lot of times.
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Bigb
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby Bigb » Fri Feb 07, 2014 2:46 pm

Its amazing how stands can change from one year to the next depending on acorn crops. Three years ago we had a number white acorn crop. We had a stand between two GIANT white oak tress with many smaller white oaks around it, this area was right below a thick doe bedding area. We sat in that stand about 10 times that year (yes,we over hunted it but I was still learning the land) and 9 times we saw at least 6 deer out of it. 3 of those 9 we had 130ish bucks come in with no shots. The last two years our acorn crop has not been as good and that stand is basically a ghost town during shooting hours. It has only been hunted four times in the last two years but the deer just don't come by early because of the lack of acorns. We'll know around late August if it will be a good year for it this fall.
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Re: Acorns

Unread postby darenative » Fri Feb 07, 2014 3:37 pm

Bigb wrote:Its amazing how stands can change from one year to the next depending on acorn crops. Three years ago we had a number white acorn crop. We had a stand between two GIANT white oak tress with many smaller white oaks around it, this area was right below a thick doe bedding area. We sat in that stand about 10 times that year (yes,we over hunted it but I was still learning the land) and 9 times we saw at least 6 deer out of it. 3 of those 9 we had 130ish bucks come in with no shots. The last two years our acorn crop has not been as good and that stand is basically a ghost town during shooting hours. It has only been hunted four times in the last two years but the deer just don't come by early because of the lack of acorns. We'll know around late August if it will be a good year for it this fall.



Those oaks sound like good candidates for fertilizing before green up.


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