May have a mast problem...

[growalot]

Looks like I'll be moving cams off planted food and on mast trees...need to find a favorite oaks/travel routes..because they are dropping huge acorns...One Apple cluster is heavy in fruit . The cams on plots are dead,save in the oak flats. Need to hit the swamp...haven't been down there all summer...need to see how Apple's and walnuts are doing. I have stands near oaks all the way down the hill to swamp...need to check those stands for safety. I'm hoping It's not going to be another we have more than enough food no need to move year. We've been luckier than most on the rain front.

[growalot]

I put one cam in a mature oak corridor. I actually busted a doe and twins that had been feeding it the area...need to me at least two more...

[growalot]

So on the morning walk checked that cam placement from yesterday ...had to walk by it anyways...and I was correct on the mast...this is where 3 giant red oaks are ,20 pics in all.... The buck. has some large wht. rings around his eyes...Think he's an old timer?

PS.. look at previous post time then the time cam caught those fawn...I'm not sure I was out of sight when they came back to check out the cam....lol

 

Edited August 20, 2016 by growalot

[TreeGuy]

I'm not saying they aren't hitting mast, but staying out of the sun ! I've noticed alot of daytime activity to and from water and bedding. If you have a cam between those two you are sure to rack up pics, literally.

[growalot]

So pulled the card again on my morning walk....Ha! I know what your thinking...no I'm not messing up the area...110 pics of the same cam as above. 6 different bucks I haven't  seen before, seen lots of fawn and doe and they are on these acorns like wht on rice... not a single picture of deer on any of the plots...though fresh tracks walking around my pumpkin patch. They aren't even on the apples and those first trees are dropping heavy now.

So I'd be checking out the acorn crops in your area...and trying to figure out if they will still be plentiful during the first part of your bow season or northern ML season.

[kpkot]

My apples look good this year. If they want to hit the apples and give my plots a bit of time to grow, it wouldn't bother me one bit. Thinking back the best hunting year I can remember the apples were terrible. This forced them to find food and I saw more deer that year. 

[Rebel Darling]

I'm a bit concerned that the oaks on my property will have dropped all acorns by the time bow season starts.  The acorns have been falling for weeks, and within the past week, the dropped acorns are very, very fat.  My apple tree looks like it's dead this year, hit with a hard freeze in May, and then drought for the better part of Spring and Summer.  I think my chances hinge on the later parts of the season, if I can get some good throw-and-grow seed set in a clearing, or if I can pin them on travel routes to other sources (they'll likely be moving through pretty quick...). 

I think it's going to be a season for me to adapt.

[grampy]

As opposed to last year, when food was plentiful and everywhere. The deer, this year will have to move a bit farther to feed. This may work to the hunters benefit.

[growalot]

I Have to say we were much luckier than most this year...The kids were up from Big Flats And took a bunch of cell phone pics of the garden to send to friends...they couldn't believed I watered once....The acorns here always drop early with the hickories and beech nuts the earliest. The locusts and hop horn are heavy in pods right now as well. Our Apple's faired well with just a few getting hit with that late freeze. All that said I have to say one of the biggest factor in all this...bees...the neighbors went from 2 New hives last year to a build up of 7.... 4 of which have 3-4 supers...They have been buzzy buzzy buzzy around here

Edited August 22, 2016 by growalot

[growalot]

BTW look close at the 3rd pic ...one with the doe...so that little fawn?

[Rebel Darling]

20 hours ago, growalot said:

BTW look close at the 3rd pic ...one with the doe...so that little fawn?

Yeah, I noticed that too.  Tiny little creature...  I haven't read it, but I was recently told that the Farmer's Almanac suggests a mild, yet snowy winter.  Some good and some bad for that little one.

[growalot]

I'm hoping it's just one of the very tiny ones  I mentioned last week in a post...other wise we have a bit of a trend.

I have absolutely gorgeous clover alfalfa plots that I mowed  just last week to hit the weeds one last time. They are in flower already...growing like mad and young tender growth...not a single deer on them in over two weeks...the hemp beans and now the turnips are getting a little nibbling but maybe a deer or two at best The peas in the hemp and beans are 4 ft high and in pod!. The oak cams are getting no less than 86 pics a day....I do not know what this weather did but these reds must be sweeter than any other year...or have less worm problems. The mast here is great this year....

[TreeGuy]

BTW look close at the 3rd pic ...one with the doe...so that little fawn?

That fawn is tiny !!!

[growalot]

Crazy huh? Now you see,well almost can't see...Lol What I was talking about in the one post about two that stopped me and a neighbor's cars on the road. I've never seen fawn that small this late.

[growalot]

138 pics in those oaks ..not a single one near any of the plots,apples or usual travel corridors..Though now the big boys are showing up. Even in certain oak clusters the traffic isn't as busy as this and another area....The cams do help me to figure out the favorite feeding areas in the oak...these trees are not dropping as many as a few others...but I have zero on those and  the grounds is covered in acorn...not even raccoon nor squirrel are on them, and they are huge nice acorns??...I would have gotten some great pics...but a slug,snail or nose slimmed my  lens...

[wooly]

Apples are RAINING down around here already.

They'll have them cleaned up before the opener at this rate!

Also found two fresh scrapes and got a pic of a little spiker hard horned yesterday evening!

 

[growalot]

That's a lot of apples on the ground Wooly...Looks like a couple of my trees...Normally when they are on the apples I never see more than a few...Noticed yesterday they smell like fermenting cider...That buck in my last pic looks like he is very close to a "peel". Soon we'll see what all the impressive racks rally look like.

[wooly]

1 hour ago, growalot said:

That's a lot of apples on the ground Wooly...Looks like a couple of my trees...Normally when they are on the apples I never see more than a few...Noticed yesterday they smell like fermenting cider...That buck in my last pic looks like he is very close to a "peel". Soon we'll see what all the impressive racks rally look like.

This spot here is almost the opposite of yours then. Years with boomer apple drops at the right time in this orchard usually means deer will be bedding on the property and moving in and out of the orchard at all hours of the day from the creek bottom. They are very predictable in their movements up to the point the apples are gone. This early drop will put a damper on the action come October and it can be devastating if we get hit with another brutal winter. Right now the action is extremely hot as you would expect, but that will change real soon.

They really are the biggest draw this piece of land has to offer to hold deer. Shed season on this property could very well be a bust already from this alone.