Hey guys, made it back home. Hate to say it, but this was probably one of the worst hunting trips. I was totally skunked!!! I did not see a single deer from my stand for three days. Never got busted coming in or out either. The acorns are falling like rain! I've never seen so many acorns. Usually, this time of year the Sawtooth oaks are the first to fall, and the deer vacuum them up like candy. The Sawtooths have historically been an outstanding early season sit, but nothing, barely a track and I couldn't find one half eatin acorn. I moved to a white oak flat where I found a bunch of scraps. Almost needed a hardhat in there from all the acorns, sat in a gum tree just so I wouldn't get pummeled. I couldn't even hear squirrels over the sound of acorns falling. That got me thinking. Deer rely on sound, sight, smell and intuition for defense. With the acorn's falling, that took away two of their defenses (sound and sight). So, I spent Tuesday afternoon scouting and found a really nice funnel from a bedding area to the white oaks that had tons of tracks and larger rubs....still nothing.
I was hunting at Fort AP Hill, which is close to about 30000 huntable acres. None of the other hunters were seeing anything either. Most believe it was the harsh snows we had last winter and the die-off was devastating. I didn't see any carcasses or bones, so I don't really buy that. I think the food source is so abondant, that the deer don't have to travel for it. The warm weather didn't help much either. 85-90 highs all three days. Think I'm gonna kick back till the weather cools.