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The Tale of a QDM Club by Dave Edwards
Own Your Own by Virgil Peritts
What Is TSI? by Matt Ross, QDMA
Native vs. Non-Native by Gabriel Karns, M. Colter Chitwood, Chris Moorman, and Dr. Chris DePerno
Oaks For Bucks by Chris Moorman
Deer Season: A Time For Kids by Stephanie Mallory
The Need For Minerals by Brian Murphy, QDMA
Perlitz Ranch Hosts Youth Camp by Kelly Haydel
Timing the Rut With Fawns by Gabriel Karns, M. Colter Chitwood
Ecological Reasons For Hunting by Dr. R. Larry Marchinton and Dr. Karl V. Miller
What percentage of a buck's antler development potential comes from the doe's genes? by Realtree Whitetail Team
Where were the bucks? by Team Realtree
Growths on Deer? by Team Realtree
How Many Teats? by Team Realtree
Why No Oaks? by Team Realtree
Special thanks to:
Quality Deer
Management Association
Land Management
Oaks For Bucks
Where oak forests are prevalent, acorns are a critical food resource for numerous wildlife species. White-tailed deer, wild turkey, black bear, wood ducks, woodpeckers and gray squirrels all depend on acorn production during a portion of the year. Most hunters recognize the value of acorns as a food source for deer during the fall and winter months and therefore are keenly interested in ways to increase the number of acorns produced on the properties they hunt. Below, I describe some simple principles to consider as you manage the oak trees on your property.
Acorn Basics
• Acorns are high in carbohydrates and an excellent form of concentrated energy.
• Oaks are divided into 2 general groups – red and white. Commonly occurring red oak species include water, willow, southern red, northern red, pin, black, and cherrybark. Commonly occurring white oak species include white, post, chestnut, swamp chestnut, and bur. White oak acorns develop on the tree within a single year, whereas red oak acorns require 2 years to mature. Therefore, red oak trees have 2 age classes of acorns present each fall – mature acorns and small, immature acorns from the immediate past spring’s flowers.
• Both groups of oaks produce acorn crops, also called mast crops, unpredictably. Most research shows that only 1 or 2 years out of every 5 is a good mast year, with very low acorn production in between. However, several species of red oaks tend to have fewer complete crop failures than white oaks. The potential reasons for mast crop failure are numerous and include late frosts, poor pollination, drought, and insect damage.
• No matter the species, some individual oak trees tend to produce acorns more consistently than other individuals. Most oak species do not begin to produce acorns until they are 15 to 20 years old, but there is substantial variability with some individual trees producing acorns earlier in life and/or earlier in the season than others.
• Acorn production is related to crown size, so trees with larger, broader crowns have the capacity to produce more acorns than those with small crowns.
Managing for More Acorns • Identify the individual oak trees on your property that produce acorns most consistently. I recommend keeping records while walking in the woods or hunting each fall. A good pair of binoculars will help you observe acorns still on the tree. Collect data for at least 3 years before marking the best producers with flagging, paint, or a metal tag. Most hunters with experience on a tract of land often recognize the best acorn producers without realizing it.
• Release those individual oaks identified as good producers from adjacent trees with crowns touching by removing the competing trees or killing them by girdling and spraying the wound with herbicide. It is best to reduce crown closure to approximately 40%, which will allow additional sunlight to reach the forest floor and stimulate the understory for increased browse, as well as nesting and fawning cover.
• It's a good idea to promote a diversity of oak species. Also, it is not necessary (or desirable) to remove all non-oak species. In fact, other hard- and soft-mast-producing tree species will provide deer and other wildlife with a greater diversity of foods through the year.
• Although fertilization of oak trees is commonly recommended as a strategy to improve acorn production, there is no scientific evidence to support this management practice. Very little is even known about what oak trees require in the form of nutrients, and a one-size-fits-all approach to fertilizer application is likely to fail because individual species of oaks on different sites will have different nutrient needs. Lastly, fertilizing oak trees that are poor producers or growing in a closed-canopy environment would be a waste of time and money.
• Acorns from native oak species, such as those mentioned previously in this article, provide an excellent source of preferred food for deer and other wildlife. Therefore, there is no need to introduce the short-lived sawtooth oak from Asia or other non-native plant species onto your property.
About the author: Chris Moorman is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program at North Carolina State University. He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and an avid hunter.