Today's Lesson: Red Oaks

[quiksilver]

I was just doing some research for next season, and I figured I'd share some findings with you guys.

Crash Course: Most people don't know the difference between a red and a white oak, and what makes each tree unique. This little distinction can be the difference between you tagging out, and you eating tag soup. So here we go... For now, we're just focusing on the Reds.

Red Oaks have pointy leaf tipsand rounded acorns.





White Oaks have rounded tips on theleaves and oblong acorns.




Red Oaks do not produce acorns on an annual basis. Instead, a red oak mayexperience a2-7 year hiatus between solid bumper crops. So, one hot red oak stand won't necessarily be a heavy feeding area year-in, year-out. Acorn production is highly variable, and is rarely predictable. The reasons are many:tree age, diameter, crown characteristics, genetics,rainfall, and the natural acorn production cycle all play a certain factor. This is where preseason scouting pays dividends. Pay attention to where the reds in your deer woods are producing. There may only be a few trees in the area that are sporting a heavy hard mast. If this is the case - you're in business.

Start mapping your areas out now - know where the reds are located and make notes. Next summer, take an inventory of those trees and see which ones, if any, are producing.

Red Oaksabsorb significant amounts of tannic acid during those long gaps between acorn production, and thoseacidic flavors are passed on to theRed Oak's fruit.That makes them more bitter in taste than the whites,which also makes themthe second choice of hungry whitetails. If you've ever tasted a red oak acorn and a white oak acorn - the difference is easily distinguishable. Red acorns taste bitter. White Oak acorns, in contrast, aren't bitter at all. There is no real difference in nutritional value - just taste.

Maximum acorn production occurs in reds that are 40-60 cm in diameter, and between 50 and 100 years old. Those trees with the wide, dominant crowns and receiving good light and moisture will be the heaviest mast producers.

If a given stand of oaks, for some reason or another, enters a period of non-production or limited production, the regeneration of that stand will suffer. Red Oaks require significant consistent acorn production over the long-term to re-seed the area successfully.

Seriously... Nothing makes my heart skip a beat like beating the shoeleather all day, scouring a huge expanse of hardwoods, seeing tree after tree after tree with no fresh mast and a forest floor of nothing but ancient, half-rotten caps, thencruising intoan isolated point or bench, and seeing those fresh green caps strewn all over the ground like a barnyard. That's where the game starts.

More info: Check this link out.

http://ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/1995/nc_1995_Dey_001.pdf

[virginiashadow]

Thank you quik-I was just talking to someone today and was telling them that I was weak in identifying trees and acorns. This will help.

shadow

[GMMAT]

Questions, then:

1) Do White oaks produce acorns, annually?

2) I've always heard deer prefer white oaks. Is this untrue?

[mobow]

Red Oaks do not produce acorns on an annual basis.

My dad has a bone fide red oak in his yard that drops loads of acorn each and every year. I know red oak acorn take 2 years to mature, but I think they produce new acorns each year....

What I mean is, the acorns that set last spring won't fall until next fall, but the ones that set last spring dropped this fall....

This tree IS a red oak....well, it's in the red oak family.....I believe it's actually a scarlet oak....but regardless, it drops each year.

[quiksilver]

Yes Jeff - Deer prefer whites. If you ever have the opportunity, eat one of each and you'll see why. Reds are bitter, and they taste wretched. Whites are a lot more palatable.

Whites, like Reds, can produce acorns annually - but here again - it's governed by external factors. From what I understand, it's not as rare to find a wild white oak (compared to a red)that produces annually.

Mobow - you're right - some trees will set anddrop somefruit annually, but there's usually a gap between bumper crops. "Yard trees" are a bad example to follow, b/c they are perfectly crowned and recieve much more sunlight than your average tree in a hardwood forest with a high, heavy canopy. The competitive stress causes many reds to abort the seeding process, and conserve the nutrients to nourish the plant internally. From what I gather, acorn production really depletes the tree's nitrogen supply, and that puts the tree at risk of death if it overproduces.A wild tree in the forest is subject to significant amounts of competitive stress, which make it behave substantially different than, say, a lone tree in an open lot.

That's why reds along field edges are sometimes the best producers in a woodlot - their crowns are lush and can reach out over the field to collect light along the edges.

Frosts during the flowering process can really damage the acorn crop, as well.

Here's some more raw linkage for anyone interested in such nerdy things.
http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/wfiles/W126.pdf

Another interesting tidbit: Every oak tree will produce both male and female flowers, so it does not need another tree to pollenate.

Female Flowers

[align=left][/align]

Male Flowers
[align=right][/align]

[mobow]

Great info quick....thanks. I've often wondered exactly how all this works.....

And Jeff, the reds are FAR more bitter than whites.....But um.....if you decide to partake in a white....be ready to pucker up....While they're not AS bad, I wouldn't call them sweet either....[:'(]

But the Native Americans used to make bread out of white oaks....They would grind them up and boil them to remove the tanins.....making them MUCH more palatable.

[Bullet Hole Bailey]

Very nice Quick!

Thanks man

[mj23]

Some may not find this very politically correct, but this isthe way that I was taught years ago to remember how to identify the two. It helps to keep the leaf shapes seperate.

"White men shot round balls and Indians (redmen)shot arrows."

[HuntingBry]

If you're really good you can also distinguish a white oak from a red by the bark. I myself cannot but I know some guys that can. I can also say from personal experience that if you have a mixed stand of oaks and you can find a white that is dropping put a stand there right away. I doesn't matter how many red oak acorns there are if whites are available that is where the deer will be.

[quiksilver]

Bry - a white oak's bark is soft and flaky, whereas the reds are harder and more woody. You can definitely tell from the bark alone (in the winter, once the leaves are already off).