(Looks like a good crop of acorns this fall)
The success of hunters often depends on the mast crop. When things are scarce in the woods, deer must be on the move to feed, where they become susceptible to 30:06 cartridges. When they are plenty of nuts on the forest floor, deer can eat and bed down without a lot of travel and it’s tougher for hunters.
Katie Martin of the DWR says that all things considered, it looks like a healthy mast crop.
Says Katie, “Acorn production across the state in 2024 can be categorized overall as variable with pockets of excellent white and red oak production, along with contrasting areas of poor production . Based on the annual hard mast survey, white oak routes rebounded from an all-time low in 2023 (3.3) to near average at 8.6. While the long-term median production from 2007 to 2024 is 9.7, the 10-year median of 8.9 is more reflective of masting conditions over the past decade. This year’s white oak index of 8.6 approaches this new “normal.” Red oaks surveyed nearly identical to their index of 2023 (19.7) at 19.3, which sits in line with the long-term median of 19.5 and above the 10-year median of 18.2.
White oak production was highly variable this year across all sites with little consistency across geographic regions. The best production was found in the southern Piedmont and southern mountains and the lowest production in the northern mountains and northern Piedmont regions.
Red oak production was average or above average in all areas except for the northern mountains and Tidewater regions (which both fell well below the long-term average). While red oak acorns are not generally preferred by many wildlife species due to their tannin content (and size), in years of poor white oak production, these acorns will often be readily consumed, especially later in the season.
As with all years, acorn production is highly variable and very site dependent. Many routes had areas of “bumper” mast production even if their overall site average was below average. This variability is due to many reasons (weather, insects, tree species), but for some of our survey sites we are probably approaching the biological end of production due to tree age. Unfortunately, finding “new” stands of mature oak in the 50- to 70-year-old age range is becoming more and more difficult due to aging forests and lack of sufficient regeneration. Replacing aging trees/survey sites could be quite a challenge moving forward. The drought experienced during the summer of 2024 early in the growing season, particularly in the northern mountains and Piedmont areas, could also have impacted production, particularly for white oak. It was noted at several survey sites that small, underdeveloped red oak acorns were found in abundance at the base of trees early in the survey period. This may have been a symptom of drought-stressed trees as well.
The annual hard mast survey has been an ongoing effort between the
