This is definitely going to be an interesting year for acorns

[Teeder]

My son and I are driving across country this week. Coming across I-90, it really looked dry through Minnesota and Wisconsin. Spent today in the badlands and black hills. Finished up in Wyoming with a downpour for the last 45 miles.

 

[Tree Spud]

Despite the lack of rain, red oak acorns look good.

 

[SD51555]

The critters are gonna be extra fat by Ictober first. This crop is insane. Every oak in the forest is producing like this.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Mine are the same, which is good for the critters, but not so much for hunting. My food plots were less then fabulous, so this will help them out going into winter.

My apple trees had the best year so far, but they are all pretty young, mostly from 2014 until now.

 

[Tree Spud]

The acorns seem to be dropping earlier this year. May change feeding patterns.

 

[b116757]

My acorn crop locally will be pretty slim pickings this year. I’m glad some of you guys will be enjoying a good crop this year however.

 

[Barndog56]

My stand is in a Northern Red tree. If I was sitting in it tonight I'd have to wear a helmet!

 

[Teeder]

I'm Tacoma Washington now. The white oaks are loaded! Trying to get the boy to stop by one so I can grab a couple acorns!

 

[Barndog56]

Trying to get to my stand is like walking on marbles. Deer have a gazillion acorns to eat between their beds and my food plot. Might take a few weeks for them to clean them up, and get to my plot before dark.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[4wanderingeyes]

This is from my driveway.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

 

[b116757]

Walked my home place this evening after work brought my little binoculars with me. No white oak acorns of any kind I could see, very few red oak acorns only three trees near my ground blind had any amount of red oak acorns and those trees have been crown released the longest. The squirrels working over those trees pretty heavily be lucky to have many hit the ground this year. Pecan trees are a bust this year on my home place also very poor year for hard mast in my local area. One RO tree that is generally a pretty good producer the leaves were very sparse tree looked sickly and no acorns. I hope it’s just the drought effecting that tree and it doesn’t die several others looked to be in about the same shape. These trees are along a creek bottom but the creek bed has been pretty much dry for a year now.

 

[b116757]

Had to stop by the college my wife works at so she could pick up her laptop and noticed an oak tree. I walked over to it and was pleasantly surprised to find a Bur oak tree with some acorns not a lot but some and the acorns it did have were rather impressive. I don’t plant a lot of Bur oaks but I may collect some of those acorns.

 

[OakSeeds]

That, my man, is a serious bur oak!

 

[Teeder]

Monster Burs!

 

[SD51555]

I looked over the oaks around the cabin (didn't hunt this weekend, so no deep woods intel) and it seems the critters have put a good dent in the bur acorn crop. I wonder if the 48 hour drizzle will be enough to push the remaining acorns to either rot or germinate?

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I looked over the oaks around the cabin (didn't hunt this weekend, so no deep woods intel) and it seems the critters have put a good dent in the bur acorn crop. I wonder if the 48 hour drizzle will be enough to push the remaining acorns to either rot or germinate?

the bur acorns are almost all gone or soggy rotting at my place. Came across some spots where the carpet of red acorns approached what @4wanderingeyes showed on his driveway though!

 

[BuckSutherland]

^^^^ I visited some swamp white oaks today that I haven't seen in about 6 weeks. I wasn't impressed with those trees 6 weeks ago and thought they had a small crop coming. I had a much different impression today. They seem to all have a very respectable crop and the acorns on them are BIGLY. Big big big meatball acorns. They have not really started to drop yet, but the squirrels were starting harvest anyways. Most of the SWO that I have been follwing for a few years seem to like dropping in early OCT. They get cleaned up really fast from what I have seen. Wish I had more than 40 of them.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Was at the property yesterday and noticed an insane # of red oak acorns. One food plot lined by oaks is just carpeted along the entire edges of the plot. Its like no red oaks had an off year this year. There was an article in last weeks edition of MN outdoor news that mentioned a banner acorn crop so it must be at least a central MN wide thing. https://www.outdoornews.com/2023/10...ers-array-of-opportunities-in-the-deer-woods/

I guess next year will be a dud for acorn production at my place!

 

[Teeder]

The wife and I spent this past weekend wondering around the hills of PA looking for elk. Didn't find many elk, but the acorn production was off the charts. White, Red and Chestnut oaks. On one hike, I found a White and a Chestnut growing close enough together, that their branches were intertwined. By some freak accident, some of the acorns from directly under the co-mingling fell into my pockets. I didn't notice until I was home.
Possible Saul's oaks in the making?