Red Oak Acorns

[GoldenTriangleIL]

I've noticed for the last few years that the acorns from northern red oak are not consumed by deer or any type of wildlife on my property. All other white oaks, pin oaks, and shingle oaks are eaten but not northern red oak, which seem to be heavy producers. Has anyone else noticed this or have any thoughts?

 

[bigbendmarine]

In my neck of woods (North Florida) how much they hit them AND when they hit them is variable, depending primarily on whether or not the white oaks are in a heavy production cycle year or not. White oak acorns are generally going to receive preference due to lower tanin levels. Some red oak acorns usually do get consumed, just not first or as early if there are productive white oaks around. Actually a neat survival adaptation trick for the red oaks, since they don't immediately germinate and need cold to stratify, whereas the white oaks will germinate shortly after hitting the ground -- they NEED to sit around uneaten / unpreferred if new trees are going to sprout and grow.

Also will share that there is quite a bit of variation depending on the specific type of red oak, as tannin levels vary a bit among them and the deer will generally hit the lower tannin red oak species acorns first. Nuttall, water, shumard, northern, southern, pin, etc... all might get eaten at slightly different times depending on tannin levels and availability of other mast at the time. Then there are the oaks like sawtooth and live oak that get debated over how to be classified.

Will share this -- really interesting to split open and chew tiny bit of different types of acorns as you'll quickly see how much tannin versus sweeter taste some acorns species have versus one another! Some of the white oaks (and speaking to a different tree - chestnuts) are low enough in tannins / sweet enough to taste pleasant straight out of the shell.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I'm in northern MN about 100 miles from the Canadian border. I've got lots of red oak. They hit them really hard this year.

 

[Catscratch]

I'm still finding red oak acorns. They have more tannins in the lm than whites so they rank lower on the preference list. They'll get eaten if it gets cold enough late winter.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

The massive acorn crop and this insanely warm winter we’re having has left them laying for the eating way later than I’d expected in MN. Hopefully setting up for some healthy deer and good antler growth next year.

 

[Telemark]

My experience with red oak acorns is that they fill in when needed. There are typically many other foods available to deer that they prefer, but if something fails, or if winter hits early, there's usually tons of red oak acorns left that they can eat. It's hard to know for sure, but it seems like they hit the red oaks from late November all the way up to May in some years. But the feeding seems to be only a portion of their diet, no matter what the conditions. I'm really happy to have them, as they seem to be an important supplemental food that offers long-term availability for when more preferred foods are scarce.

 

[Brian662]

Do acorns ever spoil to the point that deer won't eat them? Soggy from wet snow/spring rains?

 

[Telemark]

Do acorns ever spoil to the point that deer won't eat them? Soggy from wet snow/spring rains?

That's a good question, and it's challenging to answer. I will try to be specific here and say that while it may be possible (or even likely) for individual red oak acorns to become inedible to deer, it seems like it is unlikely for all the acorns from the current season's production to become inedible. I think it depends a lot on how desperate the deer are and what the specific conditions were that year.

 

[TreeStander]

Do acorns ever spoil to the point that deer won't eat them? Soggy from wet snow/spring rains?

I can tell you this. Mother nature has made it so the white acorns start growing in the fall and the red acorns start growing in the spring. The red & white acorn are dormant throughout the winter months ( they are both deer food at this time.). If the acorn rots or doesn't grow, I doubt deer will eat them. I propagate a lot of oaks and I can tell you they will rip any oak seedling out of the ground to get at the nut attached to the stem.

 

[Brian662]

It's amazing they'd rather eat that nut than the fresh, luscious new growth of the tree.

 

[bigbendmarine]

It's amazing they'd rather eat that nut than the fresh, luscious new growth of the tree.

To that point, studies have shown tender red oak new growth to be on the top of the list of woody browse... and I can share first-hand that if you pick a tiny read oak leaf sprout just after bud-break and chew it, you won't believe how sweet it can be! I'm talking SUPER sweet.

 

[BuckSutherland]

My deer in northern MN love red oak. They love to eat the acorns, they love to browse younger tender saplings and the bucks love to make rubs on them and scrapes under the branches. I use red oak branches for my mock scrapes and they get hammered every year. I have lots of young naturally occurring red oak and they browse them extremely hard. I mow areas with my swisher where branches are starting to push over trails and they always make scrapes in those places. Awesome tree for the critters on my land.

 

[TreeStander]

Deer have geographical preferences. When food sources are low, they will eat almost anything to stay alive. I kinda chuckle when I see plants labeled deer resistant. Just when you think your plants are safe, they aren't.

A few miles away from my place the deer strip a homeowners flower garden bare. Hostas, Japanese Maple, arborvitae, sunflowers, and anything else that comes up. There are cornfields right next to her house. Why do they home in on her flowers? Fertilizer? A different diet? Something lacking in their diet? My wife has a hosta border garden that is no less than 200 feet long. The deer do not touch them here.

I was in the woods today cruising for timber and found a huge red oak. There were still a few acorns underneath it. These were huge for our area ( bigger than a quarter). Lots of deer dropping underneath . The turkeys don't even attempt to eat these they were so big. I made a mental note to check back in the fall to see if they are always that big.

My apple trees are a huge draw for them. No surprise there.

 

[Telemark]

A few miles away from my place the deer strip a homeowners flower garden bare. Hostas, Japanese Maple, arborvitae, sunflowers,

You mean her food plot? Those are all top choice deer browse.

But yeah, I get your point. Maybe your wife has a different variety of Hostas?

 

[TreeStander]

You mean her food plot? Those are all top choice deer browse. But good for her for keeping that going.

Her smorgasbord

 

[gjs4]

My experience has acorns like any other food source(s)- and parallel to whats mentoned here- some years theyre hot, others not so much. Since my brain is small, i just focus on them when they're a draw.

The biggest disconnect with skills between public and private land guys is valuing that MRI (with us deer farmers focusing on our improvements, expenses, etc). Its also valuable to know why things are what they are....but for my bandwidth, I know there is a flow patch mentioned in this thread that is where I would want to hunt, not a stand of oaks. Our Southern OH place has almost as many acorns as leaves....every kind....are there deer? for sure. Are they huntable there? Not so much. Are they eating all sorts of other things theyre supposed to be eating? Yup? Things theyre not supposed to be eating? yup. There is a reason we eat breakfast at a nearby diner but dont take our wives there for valentines day.

 

[Teeder]

I've noticed for the last few years that the acorns from northern red oak are not consumed by deer or any type of wildlife on my property. All other white oaks, pin oaks, and shingle oaks are eaten but not northern red oak, which seem to be heavy producers. Has anyone else noticed this or have any thoughts?

I wonder if they've already picked over the good acorns and left the non-viable ones?