The reason I ask is that where I hunt over the last two years the Oak Brush have had no acorn production. Usually we find the elk in the oak brush, but not the last two years. My hunting partner that has been hunting this area for 25 + years and can only remember only a hand full of times were the Oak brush did not produce acorns. He can’t remember ever having two consecutive years.
A lot of other variables as well, but some of it is also genetic....certain trees just put the nuts every year and in huge quantities and others just don’t.
Here are some reason's I found online.
1) Acorn production dramatically decreases when oaks reach a certain age and/or a certain diameter.
2) Some oak trees are genetically poor producers of acorns – absolutely nothing you can do.
3) If your oak is in the red oak family, then you can typically expect heavier acorn crops every 3-5 years.
4) If your oak is in the white oak family, then you can typically expect heavier acorn crops every 4-7 years.
5) Environmental conditions, such as heavy spring rains, growing season flood events, drought, and unusually high/low temperatures, can cause poor acorn pollination, acorn crop abortion, and complete acorn crop failures.
6) Early season frosts can severely damage oak flowers resulting in poor pollination success.
7) Pests or pathogens, confounded by weather-related phenomena, may also be responsible.
Never saw a bear on the hunt, very rare. But as Quinn said, no food, no bears. All pretty much the same story from others we talked to coming out, usually lots of bears.... nobody saw a one.
No matter, forest fires ran us out in a day and half anyway.... so much so we packed back out at night rather than risk it for the next morning. Ash falling on us all the way out. Pretty hike though....
