From what I have seen in my area this year could not be any more different as far as food sources are concerned from 2023 than I would have thought possible. Last year we had an unbelievable mast crop. There were acorns everywhere, including from both red and white oaks. There were also lots of wild grapes and cherries and just about every other type of wild food imaginable including hickory and beech nuts. The neighbors' fields were also planted in corn. This year those same fields are nothing but weeds with the supposed plan by the farmer who leases them is to plant winter wheat which hasn't happened yet. My small orchard also had tons of apples last year.
This year the only place I am seeing any acorns are on the ridge tops and those are only from a few of the red oaks. No white oak acorns at all which is not a big surprise since they only seem to produce acorns about once every five years or so and last year was one of those in spades. And I have yet to see any other plentiful wild food sources. My orchard does have a decent amount of apples and pears but nothing like last year. I just hope we have another mild winter because, if not, the deer could be in serious trouble.
Speaking of deer, this season looks to be another great one and I attribute that to all the food they had last fall and winter. Lots of new fawns and some really good looking bucks. Next year could be a totally different situation due to the lack of food this fall and for the upcoming winter. Again, a lot of that probably depends on how bad the winter is.
On the bright side, there are some corn fields again this year, just none within a mile of my property. I am still seeing lots of deer on my property right now and I'm hoping they don't head for those corn fields anytime soon, or at least not until after archery season. LOL
I did plant one small food plot in Buck Forage Oats recently and that seems to be doing okay and attracting lots of attention. I also planted a small white clover plot beside the orchard back in early June but the lack of rain in July and the resultant emergence of crab grass pretty much destroyed that. I might try replanting that but it's probably too late now and those plots aren't big enough to make much of a difference anyway.
Right now seems to be a good time to get out and literally put boots on the ground. There's only so much you can learn from your trail cameras. For example, those cameras are not going to tell you how many or where there are any acorns. In this area there is still another month before archery season opens so you're probably not going to be spooking those big bucks too close to the season by being out there right now and there are already a few acorns on the ground. That could actually be a good thing this coming season as it should concentrate the deer in smaller areas.
Good luck everyone.