GaHunter19

Although I was fortunate enough to have a good deer season last year (4 does and a 10 point), I didn't see the vast number of deer that I usually do. I hunt public and private land around West Point Lake in west Georgia.

I correlate the lack of numbers with the lack of acorns. Last year had to have been the worst acorn crop I can ever remember. With the exception of a few water oaks, there weren't any acorns on the properties I hunt. I was just wondering what the acorn forcast looks like this year. i.e. Will I be able to return to my favorite White Oak stands that I was forced to abandon last year?

DougMD

We have had two years in a row with zero acorns, and deer sightings were more than halved. Hopes are high for this year's crop, though I am hearing about some kind of blight hitting the white oaks this year in some parts of West Va. Go check them bad boys before you wake up early on opening morning with hopes 'o high!

UncleNorby

Obviously, the acorn crop in the fall of 2003 had nothing to do with the deer available in the fall of 2003.

BUT, as you know the deer moved to areas where there was a good acorn crop, or some other feed, so you did not see as many where you were hunting. I take a pair of binocs into the woods in late summer and scan the tops of the trees to figure out where there will be acorns, and where there won't be any. I never rely on what "they" say about acorns or other deer foods, because you can find a localized stand of trees that differs from a regional forecast. Then you can have a real hotspot.

silentassassin

I have always found it to be exactly the opposite of what you are saying. I always found the years that were excellent acorn crops that I saw less deer. Mainly because the deer don't have to travel to find food. It's everywhere they look. On years with poor acorn crops the deer have to get out and move around more and when you do find acorns, you can count on deer being there. We had a rediculous amount of acorns last year and it looks like it's going to be that way agin this year, at least the conditions are right for a bumper crop. If you don't have acorns the deer are going to be congregated. You will just have to get out and find them but when you do find them it should be the motherload.

trophyhuntr

easier to pattern deer with a small acorn crop, this year will probably be a bumper crop year

rockytop

this is the kind of post I like to read and learn from.
We had a small acorn crop here in tennessee but in my area we don't have a lot of oaks and most of them are red oaks. The small acorn crop doesn't seem to effect our deer movement that much.

GaHunter19

Perhaps a little more detail about my hunting situation will help you understand.

Private Land-A small 50 acre tract 100% covered by planted pines w/ no food plots. This area is usually reserved for late season hunting because of the cover it provides. There is virtually no food source on the property. Although I did kill the 10 point and the doe he was chasing there during the rut.

Public Land-I hunt the core of Engineers land on the chattahoochee river and west point lake. There are two types of food sources. 1) Acorns 2) Tube grass that grows on the lake bed when the water is down. The vast majority of these 5,000 acres only extened 100-150 yards off the shoreline. There is not much cover. So historically, the deer bed on private land and come down to the water to eat acorns and tube grass. Last year the water level was up and I don't see that changing, so there will once again be no tube grass. Therefore I need acorns to draw the deer off the prive land where they are well fed from people baiting them.

Last year I would drive to camp friday night, spend Sat morning riding up and down the river looking for some kind of food source being used, then hunt Sat. evening and sunday morning because my usual honeyholes didn't have any food. It worked ok, I killed three does using this method.

What's my point? No Acorns+No Tube Grass=Deer standing over a pile of corn on private land

portable ladder

we should have an average acorn crop this year

Frost

I live in the SE and in my area we have had one of the driest, warmest springs on record. Both these factors are said to produce large acorn crops. I don't know how this will affect deer movement, but it will certainly help the survival rate through the winter which is deffinately a plus for future hunting of all kinds of game.

Tazman

Well this years acorn crop due to a very wet spring will probably be weak in my area, last year was bad to, we had a lot of rain, the year before was a bad drought and the acorns were thick, exactly the opposite of what you would expect.