Hard mast this year..

[G-Man]

Well after a extensive search of my property, the only hard mast i have in any quanity this year is american chestnut. No acorns, some hickory nuts, and no beechnuts this year. this tree consistantly drops its nuts the first week of october, drawing in any animal you can think of to eat its sweet nuts... I know where i'll be when season opens!

[SplitG2]

Gman, does that tree show any blight?

[erussell]

My area is loaded with Acorns, Beachnuts, and Hickory nuts this yr. I have my stand on a trail about 40 yrds from a white Oak that is absolutelly loaded. Ive never seen so many acorns on a tree before.

[Doc]

So does late frosts effect acorns at all?

[landtracdeerhunter]

Most of the acorns stress dropped early. Their are a few, still on the trees. Shag bark hickory have quite a few husks under. Animals are cleaning them up, quick as they drop. My chestnut trees died. Surplus of Walnuts.

Edited September 13, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[G-Man]

that tree does have blight pretty bad now, almost 1/2 way around, sending endomorphic sprouts out from under it. best tree i have is now 11in in diameter 40 ' tall or so and has no blight so far. but a bear keeps climbing it for the nuts every year scaring the bark pretty good..i fear its only a matter of time.... And yes a late frost will damage most nut trees, chestnut is an exception as it doesn't flower till july.

[erussell]

Checked my cam in the triangle of white oaks and boy was I suprised. I have two bucks on cam and a bear who decided to unplug my battery from the cam so the last photo I have is from end of last month. One tall racked 6 point and a wide racked 8 point all munching thumb size white acorns. There were a couple of broken branches laying on the ground around them from a few recent storms and they were absolutely loaded with acorns. The trees by my stand are dropping but the deer dont seem to be feeding around there ( mostly red oak ) so Im moving stand back over to these trees since they seem to prefer them ( white oak ). This just got interesting!! Will try to post photos this week in trail cams section. First bucks ive seen all yr besides a scrawny tinny spiker.

[growalot]

I don't have to worry about the deer preferring the whtn over red oaks...no whts grow on this side of the valley...may have once but long since logged...but out of all the mature reds I only have a few that are dropping...thankfully near stands...many others dropped pea sized ones this summer...drought was not good...but my hazel nuts are loaded and even though the drought caused a few of those to start dropping early and small...I gathered up a bunch...The shells are very thin and filled with meat...so actually very closed to regular size and fairly sweet...critters are clearing them as soon as they fall...the beech nuts have been great and still dropping...We kicked up a large flock of turkey in a beech ...blk cherry area...lots of cherries on the ground to my surprise...I found a little ground vine..new...but all over the woods it has a dark green rounded leaf opposite each other running length of vine and a bright red berry...have to research it.......Yepp lots of food available and scattered enough to make hunting fun

Partridge berry.....soils must be good for they like rich moist soils in shade to semi shade and the berries persist into winter....

Edited September 17, 2012 by growalot

[5.9cummins]

Epicormic Sprouting

Not

endomorphic sprouts

Hope you don't mind.

[Fantail]

I think after that storm that just passed, any loose acorns are down. Not that there was much to start with. Most of the apple trees are on vacation. Guess it's down to the plots this year.

[phade]

Apples are gone...a few white oaks are dropping and they are getting hit hard.

[growalot]

Went to close equipment garage door last evening...spotted a deer near the hazel nuts...went out todayand Darn it ...they stripped the bushes of all the still closed husks...there were chewed up hazel nuts all over a one acre area and all around the bushes.....I wanted to harvest some for us....10 bushes7x7ft and no nuts and they were packed this year ....

Edited September 18, 2012 by growalot

[Single_shot]

The biggest oak I have is only going on 3yo...so gonna be a while. I have 2 others but they are even smaller. The beach I have not checked yet.

[biggamefish]

Hey do you have any pics of the nuts G-MAN? I am trying to identify a tree and it looks like the one in your pic.

[G-Man]

if you think you have american chestnut, or a hybrid try this link http://www.acf.org/find_a_tree.php has pictures and decsriptions,amazing 1 of every 4 trees in the northeast was once a chestnut, amazing the loss of habitat and food that is for wildlife

[outdoorstom]

My hickory and bur oaks are loaded.....nothing on the whites or reds. Only 1 apple tree was loaded this year.

[Fantail]

Went to close equipment garage door last evening...spotted a deer near the hazel nuts...went out todayand Darn it ...they stripped the bushes of all the still closed husks...there were chewed up hazel nuts all over a one acre area and all around the bushes.....I wanted to harvest some for us....10 bushes7x7ft and no nuts and they were packed this year ....

Growalot; are those American hazelnut or the arbor day hybrid?

I am thinking of planting a 1/2 dozen next year. I mean if they take and yeild within 4 to 6 years seems like a good choice.

[growalot]

They are the American hazelnuts...you can train them as a tree or bush...I went with bush....and they produce a lot...protect young ones from rodent girdle