As deer hunters, we all know how excited we get during the summer in anticipation of the upcoming season. We establish and maintain food plots. We scout the property while constantly monitoring trail cameras. We do all we can to gain a better understanding of our deer herd in hopes of encountering a mature buck. However, as important as these preparations are, it can all change by the acorn crop that falls each year. Initially, a great acorn crop sounds like easy hunting, but it can also lead to some very frustrating early season hunts.
As bow hunters we set up our stands in reference to food sources and trails between feeding and bedding areas. This initially sounds great; however, a heavy acorn mast can result in a screeching halt in deer movement. If there are enough acorns on the forest floor, the deer simply have no motivation to browse and will abandon their previous food sources.
The problem with acorns is that deer love them too much. They are delicious to a whitetail and highly digestible satisfying their sweet tooth while preparing them for the hardships of the rut and winter. Acorns are packed with starches, fats and carbohydrates and with the rut only weeks away, the deer, especially big bucks, need all the energy they can muster.
At our privately owned property in Bath County, we have 4 Imperial Whitetail Clover food plots to which the deer take quite a fancy during the summer. However, when acorns start falling in early autumn the deer will leave the lush vegetation of the food plots and head to the hardwoods. Deer are nomadic animals that will shift their travel patterns to the most desirable food source available in their home range. The summer activity in the clover fields would get any hunter excited, but realizing that acorns are deer’s most desired food source will lead to early success.
Switching stand locations and simply hunting the acorns would sound like an easy solution, right? Wrong! Just because there is a heavy acorn crop does not mean the deer are easy to hunt. In some cases it can make them quite difficult. Since there is ample food lying on the ground, the deer, especially big bucks, have no motivation to browse for other sources of food. This means you can go all morning in a usually productive area and not see a single deer. As a hunter, it is essential to know which acorn lots are visited the most frequent and why.
As stated before, we do everything we can in the off season to increase our chances of taking a trophy buck; this is no exception. I am a scout-alohic, if you will. I strongly believe that if you scout properly you can not only double your deer sightings, but double your success rate as well. This is particularly true when scouting for acorns. It is important to know which acorns the deer prefer. While nuts of the Red, Black, and Chestnut Oaks may be the largest they are not the most desirable. Whitetails actually prefer the smaller, sweeter taste of White Oak acorns.
Several factors can influence when acorns fall (hurricane winds, early frost) but generally acorns begin to fall in late September. To avoid disturbing the property, I do a majority of my early season scouting in early to mid-September, when the acorns are still intact. Taking a pair of binoculars eliminates this problem. A good pair of binoculars allows me to scan the trees and lets me know which trees will produce the most acorns. After scanning individual trees, I can then focus on ambush locations, wind direction and the possible entrance and exit routes of the deer. I also take a rake along with me during my scouting trips. Why, you may ask? Once I have scouted an area and set up a stand or blind, I rake out a path down to the dirt which will enable me to sneak in silently when I come to and from my stand. I then leave the area completely untouched until opening day when I’ll venture back and try to score on a big buck.
Once I am in the stand or blind hunting an acorn lot, I become very, very patient. Realizing that the deer are there for one reason and one reason only, to feed, will greatly increase your chances of taking a mature buck. Once the deer arrive from their bedding area to feed they are in no hurry to leave. They will often spend several hours just browsing along. This should enable you to pick your spot, focus and prepare yourself to make a clean ethical harvest. If no ethical shot presents itself, then do not get discouraged. In my experience, the deer will feed heavily on the acorns; bed down where they are feeding, only to get up to feed again. I also attach a Hunter’s Specialties acorn scent-wick to my hat to further enhance the appeal of the area.
I hope this article has provided you with some information to become a better early season hunter. Acorn lots can be very tricky and frustrating to hunt, but if you scout well and are patient in the stand, then I can assure you that you will greatly increase your chances at taking a trophy buck.
