Sitka Gear
Akerns
Connecticut
Contributors to this thread:
drslyr 23-Sep-23
Blood 23-Sep-23
drslyr 23-Sep-23
Wilgabeast 23-Sep-23
Brian M. 23-Sep-23
Dank 23-Sep-23
Blood 23-Sep-23
murphy3142 23-Sep-23
Dr. Deer 23-Sep-23
longbeard 23-Sep-23
Dank 24-Sep-23
Blood 24-Sep-23
2Wild Bill 24-Sep-23
Brian M. 24-Sep-23
longbeard 24-Sep-23
Dr. Deer 25-Sep-23
Toonces 25-Sep-23
CTBobcat 25-Sep-23
From: drslyr
23-Sep-23
I see on the mass thread their talking about akerns everywhere including whites. I live in western part of the state and not seeing any. How bout some reports on whites dropping!

From: Blood
23-Sep-23

Blood's embedded Photo
Looks like this in many spots.
Blood's embedded Photo
Looks like this in many spots.
They are everywhere. Every spot I’ve been. NW CT. Central CT. S CT. Raining. It’s awesome. Love it. Trees are loaded. Deer are going to be roaming all over this fall. :)

From: drslyr
23-Sep-23
Thanks

From: Wilgabeast
23-Sep-23
Yea nuts are abundant for sure this year .

From: Brian M.
23-Sep-23
I'm with Blood, everywhere in NE corner, it's awesome. Now to be in right place at right time.

From: Dank
23-Sep-23
Yup makes it tough now but come the rut the deer should be fueled up and putting on the miles.

From: Blood
23-Sep-23
Dank, I have to ask, why is it tough now? Last year we had ZERO acorns and it was THE toughest season ever to try to hunt the hardwoods. I feel with the abundant crop, it’s just find a nice ridge that’s littered with acorns right now and you’ll have deer all over. Thanks for your reply.

From: murphy3142
23-Sep-23
I'm in 4a and it's hit or miss. One spot has some then across the road there's none. Even the spots that have some it's not crazy. I wish they were everywhere

From: Dr. Deer
23-Sep-23
zone 11, heavy crop

From: longbeard
23-Sep-23
IMO the deer move less when there is a bumper crop of acorns. They find the tree they want to feed on and they bed close. Not much movement at all. If you have access to large sections of hardwood, you can do some legwork and adjust to that specific area. That’s the definition of hunting for sure. But when you hunt on 4 acres or less, this type of year will be challenging at best.

From: Dank
24-Sep-23
Longbeard exactly

From: Blood
24-Sep-23
Well, statistics will show a correlation with high acorn crops and low harvest numbers……but I have always done waaayyyy better with acorns.

Think of last year….there were zero acorns. One of the worst years I’ve ever seen for mast production. The deer left all their traditional areas in the hardwoods and took up residence in people’s backyards, eating bird food and hostas. And bedded tight to the houses. They never moved. State land was almost devoid of deer activity. The only people who hammered the deer - hunted them over green fields and agriculture last year. So….easy pickings with gun. That’s why I think think the stats don’t hold water with the acorns charts.

This year, all my cams have movement almost daily. There are so many acorns that the deer just roam and roam. They don’t camp out under any one tree, because all the trees are dropping. Find a good ridge or funnel and you’ll have a great season. You can look back at this post in January and see if my wisdom holds water.

From: 2Wild Bill
24-Sep-23
White acorns don't go to waste. You may bump deer going to them, but they will come back.

From: Brian M.
24-Sep-23
Overall, I have to agree with Blood again. I see way more with acorns than without. Last year the fields were full of deer, been seeing hardly any in them this year. I try to hunt transitions from feed to bed, and not look for that one hot oak. It's a bonus when they coincide.

From: longbeard
24-Sep-23
Blood and Brian I agree with you also. If you guys are hunting big pieces of hardwood you should see much better movement than you did last year because all of their preferred food is there. However, where I disagree is that they roam in years of high mast production. I’ve experienced just the opposite. There is so much food in the woods the just eat and lay down and repeat. No need to travel when it’s all right there like a buffet.

From: Dr. Deer
25-Sep-23
One year I spent half a day picking up every acorn on a property and bagging them up, then left them in a pile 25 yards from my stand. Didn't work.

From: Toonces
25-Sep-23
Mixed bag for me. My favorite spots seem to not have any. I have walked other parcels and found a ton.

From: CTBobcat
25-Sep-23
Dr. Deer what town(s) you seeing acorns in zone 11?

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