West Virginia hunting update

DougMD · 10-23-2002, 11:37 AM

I went hunting Monday night and Tuesday morning, and between me and a buddy of mine, we saw three deer and kicked up about three, and saw one squirrel. The reason is that there are NO acorns whatsoever there this year. I had heard of a late frost that killed acorn buds, and that gets coupled with the gypsy moth damage of last year. The result is that the deer are lower in the mountain where acorns are everywhere, or where farmland crops are. When the guns go off and the rut pushes deer around, I reckon I'll have more deer where I am at. Next year should be a great year for acorns, but this one may be a tough hunt.

Pro-Line · 10-23-2002, 04:37 PM

Doug...That's the report I've heard from all over the state. We seem to have a fair acorn crop this year on our property. Not great...but fair. I couldn't find any early, but I found some now. I hunted in the wind/rain last weekend and they were falling all day. Mostly red, but some white also. The weather looks better for this Friday and Saturday, so I'm going down tomorrow. I feel confident in seeing deer...I just hope I see a dandy.

Grouse seem to be plentiful this year.

Good luck!

JoshKeller · 10-23-2002, 04:53 PM

Here in Berkeley County, there are acorns everywhere. The trees were heavy with them, and now u cant walk around without stepping on them.

royak · 10-24-2002, 06:58 AM

It is for sure a hit and miss thing with mash here in Mercer no acorns at all Yesterday evening I hunted on Bluestone River at a stand that I have taken several deer from the only thing I saw was a Bobcat and the deer sign was old nothing fresh I would have left but it was a long drive so I stayed and hoped. On the drive home all the fields were full of deer and that has been my experience all season find a field and find the deer.

DougMD · 10-24-2002, 08:02 AM

Al,

Good luck! I might be hunting through you this year, buddy! I hate not being confident in seeing deer when going to hunt. I hope that the two in custody are the snipers, so the gun season will reopen in Maryland.

I have seen an acorn crop like that one time since '97 when I bought the first parcel, and we had a bad winter that killed quite a few deer. The good news is that the trees needed to save the energy to recover from the gypsy moths anyway, and the future looks good.

Ken/WV · 10-24-2002, 12:37 PM

calhoun county has plenty of acrons. not a great deal of them, but we are not running low on them.

High Country Archery - "Driven to greater heights..."