Oh no! Not again.

[Captcurt]

I hate to admit it, but it looks as though I am going to have to rely on the old ways to hunt deer this year. We have white oak acorns everywhere at the farm. What few pictures that I have of deer at the feeders is at night and not many deer then. I know that they are there. Had 5 bucks in one picture before the acorns started falling.

Today I checked cameras and had nothing but turkeys. After checking some places that I have taken deer before under the same condition, I found a fresh scrape line and a rub on a big hardwood. This line is along the edge of a steep hollow filled with brush and cedar. I had to go down there. In the bottom is an old logging road with a deer trail, scrapes and 3 1/2" tracks. Guess where I'm going next Saturday? Don't know how I will get one out of there, but I'm going to try.

 

[Duster340]

Yeah, we had an amazing mast season up I. Northern WI where our property is. Heaviest in the 10 years we've been there. Lots of deer activity in the woods and driveway thanks to a layer of acorns.

 

[Armored farmer]

You gotta go!

 

[Bullet Bob]

Hunting instead of just ambushing - sounds great, have fun.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I live in Washington State forty miles north of **** hole seattle.
We are right at the foot hills of the Cascade Mountain range. I take my grandson shooting every week, it is a thirty mile drove then another five miles in the Federal DNR land.
You are lucky to see two or three deer all year going there and coming home.
Washington State average deer kill is 26,000 deer a year.
New York states average deer kill is 220,000.
That is why I fly across the country to go deer hunting.
I take a month off of work just to hunt the entire deer season. I generally get five deer tags and fill them every year.
Last year the Oaks were almost bare of acorns.
I'll have to call my brother and see if there are any this year.
It sure make a big difference when acorns are abundant.

I leave here November 15th and return December 13th.

 

[Rebel Dave]

Dusternut
What county in Northern Wisconsin is your property in. I hunt Vilas county.

Dave

 

[buck460XVR]

Yeah, we had an amazing mast season up I. Northern WI where our property is. Heaviest in the 10 years we've been there. Lots of deer activity in the woods and driveway thanks to a layer of acorns.

Yep, same here in West Central Wisconsin. Local County agent contributes it to the early rains we had in the Spring, despite the extreme drought we had during the summer and early fall. He also claims that Oaks have cycles of boom and bust, about every 3-5 years. Why, nobody knows.

Hunting instead of just ambushing - sounds great, have fun.

Deer hunting is always an ambush, even if one is Still Hunting/Sneaking thru the woods. The whole reason for any success at all is because the deer are not aware you are there to kill them. While I am not a fan of sitting over a bait pile/feeder(ain't legal here anyway), sitting in a tree stand, blind or just with my back against a tree is still an ambush point. I remember a half century ago sitting in a bar with single friend and he told me....."Picking up girls is like hunting deer, You find a good stand and wait for them to come to you!".