How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

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Thomasj1107
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How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby Thomasj1107 » Thu Nov 05, 2020 1:34 pm

So the pic is of a spot I tried today and had a big buck chase a doe by me but didn’t see anything else. I expected the deer to come out of the clear cut to the East but not anything at all.

My question is, most of the game land I hunt is around a lake and the problem continues to be that it all seems uniform, it’s like there are acorns everywhere and I don’t understand how I can possibly sit in a spot with predictable movement? The terrain isn’t “hilly” enough to be hill country.

Everywhere is some pines interspersed with oaks, sometimes more pines, sometimes more oaks. If I see something that looks like bedding, I get there and it’s just normal pines with no undergrowth, if it looks like open, sometimes I get there and it’s a few random pines with 5-6 foot tall under growth. Can anyone help?
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oldrank
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Re: How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby oldrank » Thu Nov 05, 2020 1:59 pm

Where the lake Peter's out looks good. Lake points make funnels n pinch points. Should see bedding and cruising on clear cut transition. I also like the valleys. I see hill bedding structure also. I would look at the bedding hill points that are in the clear cut. Access is always big and so is where does human pressure come from?

Sometimes the little thick stuff where your stem count goes up pays off. They have to move and they will use whatever advantage they have
Thomasj1107
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Re: How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby Thomasj1107 » Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:08 pm

Just to the north of where the lake peters out, I tried looking there but it’s super thick like 5-6 year old growth. If I was in a tree, couldn’t see a deer through it. The clear cut is private, that’s why I sat to the west of it, but there is a logging road between the clear cut and the public spot I hunted. Not sure if that would deter them from coming towards the public

But even if they do come over my way, I can’t figure out where to sit, I’m only covering a 60 yd spot/kill zone, but there’s food everywhere so idk how to determine where they will come by or why
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oldrank
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Re: How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby oldrank » Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:20 pm

If it were me I would hunt the spots I listed above. I could careless about food. I would hunt the terrain.
Thomasj1107
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Re: How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby Thomasj1107 » Thu Nov 05, 2020 3:13 pm

So since the lake funnel point and north is too thick to hunt, you say the clear cut transition? So basically the public/private border on the west side of the clear cut? Is it an issue that there is a logging road between the clear cut and the public woods?
mheichelbech
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Re: How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby mheichelbech » Thu Nov 05, 2020 3:17 pm

In a sea of oaks, deer will have their preferred trees. This is often indicated by areas around them being browsed down a lot more with evidence of them pawing the ground. Look for the areas with the most squirrels...similar to deer. On a place I hunt I’ve seen them leave acorns on the ground and never eat them...other trees they are like a Dyson vacuum.
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
Thomasj1107
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Re: How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby Thomasj1107 » Thu Nov 05, 2020 3:25 pm

Squirrels everywhere, deer, not everywhere. Lol
I really am trying to pay attention to the details. I went two miles and only found two small rubs through this area. Did something similar another part of the game land, went 7 miles... one scrape. Just can’t figure it out
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brancher147
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Re: How to hunt when there are acorns everywhere?

Unread postby brancher147 » Thu Nov 05, 2020 11:43 pm

If you are not seeing scrapes or rubs I would move on unless you are seeing deer. I am hunting areas with lots of acorns also but I do have a lot of terrain to hunt but it’s tough because the deer will bed right out in the open in the acorns and getting to bow range is hard. I have never seen deer have a preference for different trees other than ones close to bedding. I have seen them leave acorns uneaten but if you break them open you will probably see they are rotten. Maybe try still/ground hunting on a windy or wet day that’s what I like to do if I know there are deer but can’t get any pattern or pinch point to hunt.
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