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Late Season and Acorns

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    Late Season and Acorns

    Rainfall over the past few years has led to a bumper acorn crop across the state. With the season 2/3 over and the peak of the rut now gone, the most productive areas will now be food sources.

    I have heard that during the late season, when deer have access to acorns they will eat them to the disdain of just about any other food sources.

    With that said, for you veteran public land guys, how do you decide WHICH oak grove to hunt? I have heard that deer prefer white oaks, then red oaks then bur oaks which all are dependent upon the level of acidity.

    But which oak thicket? Do you prefer areas that are close to thicker bedding areas? Do you prefer oaks near a choke point where bucks that are still seeking will come to eat beforehand? Or do you prefer oaks near fields where deer will congregate before dawn and dusk?

    Hopefully Garguy or some other guys will give some feedback.

    Currently, I am hunting a piece of public land with lots of big woods and swamps. There are lots of acorns! Its just figuring out WHICH oaks to hunt versus others!

    #2
    I'm curious too. Sounds like my same problem

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      #3
      Following

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        #4
        My neighbor has two smaller Red oaks that produce each year. I've been picking them up with my pecan picker-upper to feed with. They seem to tear them up in Dec when available. So I've been mixing with corn per hand feeding this year (starting early this week), to cut back on corn cost. In the past, I would put acorns in a pile. And they would eat the pile down before the corn was gone. Might have been due to a dominate doe chasing others off acorn pile for her self. So others, or fawns, would eat the harder to find corn that was scattered. I really don't know. But they do like them. And I've done the same with Live oak and other acorns.
        Hogs will do the same. And that is part of the reason you will find hog pushes under oaks all the time, almost any time of year.
        They are looking for buried or missed acorns. They also like pecans. And you can hear them eating pecans at night a long way on a still night. I had a lot of fun on a corporate lease I managed several years ago, with employees and vendors doing stalk night hog hunts in a pecan bottom that ran the length of that lease on a creek. Also, if pecans are crushed, turkeys will eat them up. And some deer will also. Witnessed that in a road that ran through that lease too. Pecans would fall in the road. And get run over by vehicles. Bagged a few birds doing that.

        Right now, if your allowed to hand feed where you hunt, acorns can still be got in public parking lots and landscapes. Take a broom and shovel or dustpan. And a trash bag. And a pecan picker-upper with 5 gallon bucket if you have one.

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          #5
          First of all id be looking for the oaks that have heavy feed activity signs over anything. If you cant narrow that down your big bucks arent quiet done chasing yet. Focus on the corridors that still lead from bedding to food. Obviously water is not a issue so focusing on his food source before he goes looking for late does would probably be nest. This time of year public land bucks unless they are immature will be found hiding most of the day from all the pressure unless on a hot does tail of course. So they tend to be seen just before shooting light and your last few min of day light. Ive only killed 4 mature public land bucks a few trash bucks and a few does. Been hunting shnf for 8 years now. Last year my 11 point came on the last day the last possible min of shooting time headed from bedding to feeding.

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            #6
            Will deer eat live oak acorns?

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              #7
              Originally posted by cashcropper View Post
              Will deer eat live oak acorns?
              Absolutely

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                #8
                Originally posted by cashcropper View Post
                Will deer eat live oak acorns?
                They ate a 30 gallon trashbag full two years ago. Dose that count?
                My folks have two very large live oaks in their front yard. My Pops swept them up off the drive, and saved them for me.

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                  #9
                  in general, as the weather gets colder the deer will bed near their preferred food source. Usually waiting until the day warms a little before hitting the breakfast table....with that being said, they will eat up all the white oak acorns first, then black or Burr oak acorns the red oak acorns.....if you can find an area that has acorns and another food source close by the deer will not be far away......I'll hunt the edge of where these areas meet depending on the wind

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                    #10
                    Do not discount the middle of the day during your moon phases. I have shot my last 2 mature public land bucks during the middle of the day, 1 at 10:58AM and the other at 1:00pm, the day before the full moon. Middle To late December.


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                      #11
                      If you go far enough in it makes coming out before dark pointless haha.

                      Some good stuff here! I had always heard that deer will avoid live oaks because of the high levels of tannic acid in their acorns.

                      I watched a 2 yr old 8 point running around today stop and nibble on some sort of marsh shrub for about 5 minutes before he went back to running.


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                        #12
                        HR3 has the preferred choice in top acorns right. They will eat what they can get as the food source diminishes.

                        I had a biologist that lived at Inks Lake SP tell me one spring, that deer have over 300 items for foraging on. She did stomach content studies of all deer that were killed or that died in the park. She said she had accumulated 25 years worth of data. That was back in 1999. I did a race there that weekend. And stayed in the park where the race started and ended (trialthon). Had deer steaks on the grill 10 foot from the pick-nick table that I was eating on. While I feed the local deer corn chips and such on the other end of the table. They were eating off the table too .

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                          #13
                          Just follow the poop. The more poop you can find under a tree, then I'd be hangin a stand pretty close.

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                            #14
                            Deer will eat the heck out of Live Oak acorns....learned that hunting public land in South Louisiana most of my life....but examining droppings will tell you all you need to know

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                              #15
                              My father in law saves me sacks and sacks of acorns he cleans up from his driveway and street. I scatter them as well as pour out in piles. Deer and hogs absolutely wipe them out in no time.

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