Know Your Acorns

By Freddie McKnight

Look through almost any outdoors magazine these days and you are likely to find an article on food plots. After reading some of these pieces, you might think that you have little chance in getting a deer at all if you do not plant a food plot. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not undermining the value of food plots as I plant several small ones on our hunting lease each year. What I am just saying, however, is that you need to keep an eye out for other foods, as well.

Previously, in the weeks leading up to the bow season, I could be found scouting the field edges for deer activity. These open areas always had a few deer frequenting them, and I was able to observe activity for long distances in an open field. While it was great to see those deer, it took me a while to relate to the fact that seeing deer and having them within bow range was two different matters.

Just about the same time that Pennsylvania’s bow season came in, the acorn crop really started to hit the ground. While I would see deer during the first couple of evenings when on the stand, the number of sightings would then drop dramatically. I always blamed it on hunting pressure, but I have now reasoned that it had more to do with food sources than anything else.

Once the white oak acorns started dropping, the deer simply keyed in on this high protein food source as a way to build up fat reserves for the upcoming winter months. With these nuts being dropped in the woods amid some security cover, even the wisest of bucks would sometimes be drawn out into the open timber to feed. Once I started keying in on these natural food sources, my rate of deer sightings remained rather constant throughout the bow season, as long as I kept up with where the acorns were falling next. It took a bit of time to realize that one grove of oak trees dropped their nuts at a certain time each year; however, it does not take all that long for even the smallest herd of deer to clean most of them up. Simply put, the deer will feed in one area that is heavily laden with acorns, then move on to the next. They do leave behind some of the crop, but there are other areas where it is easier to feed without the work of pawing through the leaves. Once the weather turns harsh and food gets scarce, these leftovers will be sought out by the deer. This is good news for late season hunters.

Hunting whitetails in numerous states from September through January, I have found that in those years with good acorn crops, that single variable is the one which best determines where I hunt. I remember one year in particular, during mid-September, in the state of Maryland, it seemed that every deer on the mountain was feeding on a grove of seven white oak trees along a small creek. The trouble with this location was that there was a popular hiking trail running through the middle of it. While there was a good deal of human activity in that area, the deer were still determined to get to that crop. Getting to that stand for a morning hunt was tough because the deer were already there feeding, something that has to be considered if you are planning to hunt such a food source. You need to have a stand approach that will allow as little disturbance as possible to the area. Should you spook the deer away from this food source near daylight, they may stay away for the entire morning.

Using the hiking trail as my approach route, I kept to evening forays only for these hunts. The good news is that most of the hikers were gone before prime time hit. The bad news is that, in order to get out of the stand, I would usually bump every deer in the area as the trees were in a tight cluster. Actually, the trees were previously part of the front lawn of a farm that had long ago been purchased by the state. In five evenings of hunting that location, I filled one antlerless tag. I could have punched the second “either sex” tag I had for that location, but the amount of buck sign in the area made me hold out. I never did get to see a shooter buck from that stand, and the deer sightings dwindled during the last two days. The combination of my hunting (disturbing the area) and the fact that the crop had been picked over had the deer moving to other parts of the mountain to feed.

Keeping mobile and knowing which acorns the deer like best are two of the biggest factors to success when sticking to this pattern. I have relied on it heavily for years now, as most of the public ground that is hunted is consists of far more woodland than agricultural acreage. Deer in these areas rely on natural foods for survival. They will travel great lengths to reach agricultural areas only when all natural sources have been exhausted.

White oak acorns are by far the nuts of choice for deer. These are usually among the first to fall and the smallest of the crop. Those of the red oak family, while usually bigger, are bitter tasting to the deer. They will eat them, but they will walk through a mile of red oaks to feed on one white oak tree if it is kicking off its fruit.

The down side to this pattern is inconsistency, not only in the deer using them, but also in the trees producing the crop. Not every oak tree is going to produce acorns every year. In fact, it takes a red oak tree two years to produce mature acorns. Fertilizing a tree helps, but that is not a sure-fire method for making the tree produce. When it does produce, though, the trees that are fertilized will usually produce the preferred acorn crop. I like to use Triple-13 fertilizer spikes for this process. Placing them during late winter, I space them about two feet apart around the drip line of the tree branches. This is where most of the feeder root ends will be and the location most beneficial to the tree.

Knowing your acorns helps in finding deer in areas where they must depend on natural food sources. Knowing what trees are producing this year will help you eliminate areas where the deer won’t be. Knowing when those trees will drop their nuts is vital in knowing when to hunt such food sources. Knowing the lay of the land is vital to approaching your chosen ambush location.

Simply put, knowing your acorns and all of the hunting activity surrounding them is a great way to know your whitetails.