Deer not eating acorns?

[buckeye_hunter]

Anyone notice the deer not eating acorns? I have hunted 3 seperate areas with white and red oak acorns dropping in the area. To this point the deer aren't touching them. Even the squirrels seem not to be too interested. I watched several squirrels chew on bark and hickory nuts over the white acorns?

I was especially suprised they were not eating the white acorns? I thought they preferred them to just about anything else for food. I'm a little confused. There is corn near a couple of the areas.

 

[Bill Carlsen]

Do you have beechnuts in your area. They drop earlier than most acorns and are short lived and the deer here are on them immediately....we  just need less rain so we can hunt. In  every case where I have found acorns on the ground...they are not abundant in my area this year....they are eaten as soon as they hit the ground.

[stevewills]

alot of it has to do with the acid in the nut.we didnt have many hickory nuts this year squirrels have wiped out the beech and oak is being hit by everything here,it all has to do with preffered food source....

[Jerry Jeffer]

Moderate acorn crop in my hunt area this year. Deer are scarfing them up. Mostly red oak.

[leatherneck]

They are eating them as fast as they can drop in my yard. Although,out at the farm some flats are not getting touched and others are getting eatin up. Go figure.

[no]

I have been opening them up while squirrel hunting & they ar all rotten indside here in NY, to much rain? Mike

[Night Wing]

Where I live and hunt, too much drought and the acorn crop is very poor.

[Matthew Bolton]

We just about have to wear hard hats where we hunt and in the past 2 seasons out of 6 deer killed between me and dad i think only 1 or 2 of them had anything other than grass in their stomachs. I dont get it either

[John Scifres]

They'll likely get around to them.  They're eating something else right now.  Deer are weird.  Find what they are eating now and wait until they get on the oaks.

[adeeden]

The oaks are loaded here this year both reds and whites. I have seen deer on them eating whites every trip out so far.

The big issue is there everywhere so there just kinda wandering around eating at will.

[Troy Breeding]

Around here there is still alot of green soybeans. The deer I've been seeing are still in the soybeans. Even seen acouple yesterday in been that are starting to turn yellow. Not sure if they are eating leaves or the been pods. I've also seen ears of corn laying in the road. The corn is drying out somewhat and the ears in the road have only been eatten on one side. May be coons working on the corn.

Troy

[KentuckyTJ]

Charlie, around here the Chinkapins are the first to fall and their first choice. Maybe try and find some of those. I would think you guys would have them as well.

[Don Stokes]

The earliest acorns to fall are frequently the bad ones. They're falling here now, but the deer haven't fully shifted into them yet. There's still lots of acorns in the trees. The best ones come later.

[Jack Whitmire Jr]

Beeeeeech Nuuuuuuts ! Same here but they will be on the acorns real sooooon ! Took me an afternoon to figure that out .

[buckeye_hunter]

Good info. It just seemed bazaar that there were acorns on the ground and both deer and squirrels weren't touching them. I could see where the was extensive damage/feeding done in the soybeans. I didn't see any deer out in the fields, but they have obviously been there. They also may have been holed up in the corn field.

[Blaino]

Originally posted by Don Stokes:
The earliest acorns to fall are frequently the bad ones. They're falling here now, but the deer haven't fully shifted into them yet. There's still lots of acorns in the trees. The best ones come later.

i have believe that the best acorns fall after the first frost....

[30coupe]

Around here they are still in the cornfields, but that's changing fast as the farmers are pounding out the acres. That's one of the reasons I don't get real excited until the end of October. Might be earlier this year if this dry weather holds because the corn and beans are both coming out fast.

The area I hunted last weekend is full of acorns too, but the deer aren't interested yet. The squirrels are starting to go after some though. I think Don may have the answer. I don't know how they know it, but there are lots of acorns on the ground that the deer and squirrels are just walking over.

[bowmofo]

Seems like the healthy nuts are still hanging on in my woods the burr oaks are falling and are getting devoured!