Richie, I love hunting out of stands, but sometimes the blinds are just better. I have found that when you hunt around food, the blinds are better and if you are hunting in areas with swirling or unpredictable winds, the blinds are also better. I appreciate the comment and the support. Have a great day.
My wife studied Ecology, Evolution, and Behavioral Biology and did a 5-year study on our property starting in 2015, the year after we bought it. She marked the oaks trees that held good numbers of acorns in early August each year. In 2021, we cut about half of our oaks based on her findings. One of the trees that surprised me was a below-average sized red oak in the NW corner of our backyard, just inside the forest edge. It produced a decent crop just about every year, even though its canopy was a bit lopsided and while the ten other red oaks around it all produced poorly. They are all gone now and the good producer is still standing. It was hard to cut those oaks but there was more browse afterwards. Good luck on your property.
Shingle Oak are winners this year loaded but they usually are. Red white and black Oak not much in my timber. Bur oak close to my yard one about medium and one not much. Red Oaks just two in my yard have nothing but early yet. Last few trees are 15 to 20 yrs after I planted them. Luv your show!
We had tons of shingle oak on the southern Iowa farm, but none up north (interesting that they are so regional). Knowing what is dropping is a big key to early season success. Good luck.
Definitely a good thing that it will most likely be a light acorn year. Now we can key on the trees that will be producing as opposed to last year, which was sitting on an oak ridge hoping a shooter would stroll bye only to realize that most likely they were only feeding on the trees closest to bedding in daylight. With acorns everywhere they never really changed their feeding patterns much leading to much frustration trying to pattern them. Mid September scouting and charting those oaks holding the acorns a definite must this year! Thanks for bringing this up Bill. 👍
Good thinking Steven. I never realized that acorns were such a factor in behavior in October. I used to always just wait them out and eventually, toward the end of the month the combination of the rut approaching and the acorns being mopped up would bring them out of the cover to the fringes. Well, it never happened last year - not even in December.
Yes, it was amazing. I have never seen anything like that either and we may never see that again, but now maybe we can scout out specific trees and specific areas to hunt early rather than the deer literally finding food in their bedding areas.
Thank you for sending me information on aging deer , also in my area north east Tenn was covered up with acorns! I got lucky with soybeans and rashes in my garden after my garden was done cause don’t have but 3 areas to hunt in thanks again sir!
Me either and I have been paying attention to stuff like this for a long time. We had one year back in the mid-2000s in southern Iowa where the white oaks were really loaded, but I don't remember that the red oak family were also producing that same year. Last year everything produced.
Very helpful. I will check out properties this summer based on this. Please do another update later if you would. Even if it is just a mention in different video.
My dad was a very good deer hunter he swore by oak trees and was very successful. I, as well last 5 years, 25 years experience realized how damn good them select oak trees are. Im sure you've seen it as well around Oct 10th. Big boys start showing up .In the past, I know you've always swore against mornings till late oct, but you have been missing out on good encounters. My best oak spot was not the greatest last year, so I'm hoping for it to be strong this year. History Scrapes as well can be fire start of season if u have a cold front. Good luck to you this fall.
Mark, you are probably right about that. I always avoided mornings in October because I didn't want to burn out those areas before the rut because I just didn't think the deer were moving much back in the timber in the mornings until late October. But the acorn patterns will definitely change that. I need to get better at morning hunting in October. Good input.
@bill-winke monitor your cams even if you're only getting 120" deer or multiple tiny bucks on camera at your oak trees doesn't matter. The big 1s are around or a few days from taking it over. Get downwind and hope for the best. Not tryna act like I'm a know it all I know you're 1 of the goats of hunting. Just tryna help is all.
In my area of NY we have very few acorns this year which is good for foodplot hunters. Also we received a late frost which got a good deal of the apples and crab apples. It will be an interesting season for sure
Kind of that way here too. About 1/10 the acorns (at best) and about half the apples of last year. The deer will definitely be looking for other food sources this year. Good luck.
There were white oak acorns on the ground around trees this spring yet that the deer clean up typically within a week of dropping in the fall. Plus the mouse population exploded last winter in combination with mild weather here in Minnesota. They and their spent acorns were everywhere-even in my pickup cab. Never set mouse traps in my truck until last year.
Jack, it was an amazing year, but it doesn't look like this year will be anything like that. Maybe we are going to see more typical movement patterns this year (where the deer actually have to go look for something to eat rather than just stand around their bedding area eating). Good luck.
We still had them on the ground during Turkey season this year. It definitely changed early season patterns, but late season they did find my beans and we had good success considering.
For sure. Still acorns on the ground here this spring too. They never did hit any exterior food sources during the season last year here. Even in the winter they were still eating acorns.
We have a few around here, but not many. I planted a few thousand (maybe 25,000) on the farm when we did the acorn plantings over the past couple of years. Will be interesting to see how they do.
We really have a lot of Oaks here and when there are acorns, the deer simply don't have to move much...Like last year!...Hopefully there won't be any this season.
My white oaks are booming again.. Ill have to start looking at red oaks but I was expecting another big crop down here in the south. Red Oaks for sure will be full next year based off this spring we had.
Have you ever noticed a pattern to what oak species that deer prefer? In North Missouri White Oaks seem to be the favorite and red oaks at the bottom of the list.
That does seem to be the case. The deer do hit the white oaks harder. I see them eating all varieties, but whites are their favorites. Experts say this is because the white oak acorns have less tannin so they aren't as bitter.
I hope u took my advice that i commented on a previous post about driving pvc pipe in the root systems of your oaks , fruit trees etc.with gravity fed fertilizer inside the pipe ! Everytime it rains it will release fertilizer into the ground root system and u can also broadcast by habd also helps !
I have not had the time to do that yet. I would have to figure out which trees to fertilize because I have tons of them near my stands. That is good advice though. I appreciate it.
@@bill-winke yeah like I said before I learned of this from my daddy and his daddy & so on ... thats how they fertilized pecan orchards etc. ! It was a pleasure to talk with you and I hope you carry on the tradition lol 😂
Have you or would you do any videos on fruit trees? Or do you recommend planting them I just planted a few I’m 21 years old so I figure by the time I’m older the persimmon and pears will be heavy bearing trees but just thought I’d ask. Great videos thanks!
I have done several in the Dream Farm series about apple trees. You should take a look. Videos on pruning, grafting and just overall growing apple trees. The farm has a bunch of wild apple trees on it, so I am very blessed to have hundreds of trees that are self-sufficient on the farm. Apple trees are a great addition to any land, whether a hunting property or not. Good luck.
Red oaks produce every other year. When red oaks produce above average along with the other oak species we tend to call it a “bumper crop”. Red oaks that produce this year, actually germinated last fall.
Bill, with your experience do you think some oaks are most oak species are like pecan trees and only produce real good every other growing season, and depending upon weather patterns growing seasons might not equal years, if that makes sense. Thoughts?
The experts that study this stuff have some thoughts on that. It is interesting to me that they don't all agree and they don't seem to know why some years are really good production years and others are not. They do agree though, that the oaks have cycles like you mention. They don't produce every single year. I believe it is every other year for the red oak and I am not sure the cycle on the whites. But keep in mind that they aren't all on the same cycle. One tree might produce next year while the one next to it (of the same subspecies) might produce this year. Thanks for the comment. Have a great day.
I had wolf acorn everywhere by my stand but deer didn’t eat them big yellow acorns I was told they were wolf acorns lol idk name of them but they were raining on ground unreal
I don't think there are wolf acorns, but there are wolf trees - big old oak trees that stand alone and have wide spreading limbs. I think they were the original trees in that area and grew outward as well as upward because there was no competition. I have seen a few around, but they have a life cycle like all other trees and it is kind of sad to see those giants die. Good luck.
I think if you had tons last year, you will likely not a repeat performance, but it is always good to take a look, if possible. A short trip along the edges of the fields or along a lane in the timber will give you a good idea. Good luck.
@@bill-winke will give that a try gonna start here in the next week or 2 and see what I see already been out driving and seeing what's around nice bug bucks in the field in the evenings but like you said they might not always be there come hunting season so gotta find we're there headed to..
Thing is acorn production changes area to area and region to region . Keeping track of them in every area we hunt is important for all hunters .They will eat them when they hit the ground every year so few or many they play a factor especially early in the seasons !
Very good point. They play a role in the strategy regardless and is always worth knowing where we stand (acorn-wise) going into a season. Thanks for the comment.
Kevin, this farm is full of feed trees. I bet there are 30,000 mature oak trees here and on the bordering neighbors. Maybe even more. It is primarily an oak forest so there are feed trees all over the place.
Don, they sure eat them here. They are in the white oak family and I have never seen the deer in this part of the country shy away from them. I used to have one dropping in my yard in southern Iowa and the deer would come in every night and clean them up. All I ever saw was piles of the fuzzy caps (they don't eat the caps). Could be the deer there were not used to that as a food source and didn't notice it. Strange.
@@bill-winke you could not walk under that tree for those giant borough acorns felt like you were on rollerskates and they did not touch them till February
Bill this is way off subject but I just found out. I got drawn for zone 7. Plan to hunt public land from Oct 27-nov10. Any advice on which areas to hunt? I’m watching the video now so thanks Dan Ps Bill also in Ohio red oaks have lots of acorns but whites have none. How is it in Iowa? Ps2 guess I should’ve watched the video first haha
Dan, there are some good public areas in that zone, probably overlooked by non-resident hunters. Most of the non-residents go for the zones on the fringes of the state, but there are some good spots in the middle too. Just a hint without giving too much away to everyone, anything you can access with a boat will likely be better than those areas that are easy to walk into. There are several in this zone that you can use a boat to get away from a lot of the other hunters and find deer that are moving more naturally. I would definitely scout it ahead of time to make sure you have four or five good areas to hunt because you never know when someone else will show up to hunt "your" best spot. Ideally, have a lot of Plan B's. Good luck.
Less here too. I think it was cool here when they were flowering so not as many bees out pollinating. Some of the trees that produced big last year have almost no apples this year.
@@bill-winke I fed protein,corn,dry roasted soybean mixture one year. As soon as the oaks dropped they quit eating it. Acorn protein is on another level.
Your the KVD of deer hunting, always providing information based on hard earned knowledge, appreciate your efforts and style in these presentations.
Thanks Kenny. I appreciate the comment and the kind words. Have a great day.
Bill, you got a beautiful piece of property, looking forward to seeing how your season goes this year!!
Thanks Mark. Much appreciated. Good luck to you too.
No rest for the Legend Bill Winke. God bless the U.S.A.
Amen, keep the content rolling. Have a great day and God Bless the USA.
Love watching you in a stand instead of blind. Will enjoy watching you change plans during the rut like last year if needed.
Richie, I love hunting out of stands, but sometimes the blinds are just better. I have found that when you hunt around food, the blinds are better and if you are hunting in areas with swirling or unpredictable winds, the blinds are also better. I appreciate the comment and the support. Have a great day.
My wife studied Ecology, Evolution, and Behavioral Biology and did a 5-year study on our property starting in 2015, the year after we bought it. She marked the oaks trees that held good numbers of acorns in early August each year. In 2021, we cut about half of our oaks based on her findings. One of the trees that surprised me was a below-average sized red oak in the NW corner of our backyard, just inside the forest edge. It produced a decent crop just about every year, even though its canopy was a bit lopsided and while the ten other red oaks around it all produced poorly. They are all gone now and the good producer is still standing. It was hard to cut those oaks but there was more browse afterwards. Good luck on your property.
That makes a ton of sense Richard. It is interesting to see what nature does. Not always what we expect! Thanks for the comment.
Shingle Oak are winners this year loaded but they usually are. Red white and black Oak not much in my timber. Bur oak close to my yard one about medium and one not much. Red Oaks just two in my yard have nothing but early yet. Last few trees are 15 to 20 yrs after I planted them. Luv your show!
We had tons of shingle oak on the southern Iowa farm, but none up north (interesting that they are so regional). Knowing what is dropping is a big key to early season success. Good luck.
Definitely a good thing that it will most likely be a light acorn year. Now we can key on the trees that will be producing as opposed to last year, which was sitting on an oak ridge hoping a shooter would stroll bye only to realize that most likely they were only feeding on the trees closest to bedding in daylight. With acorns everywhere they never really changed their feeding patterns much leading to much frustration trying to pattern them. Mid September scouting and charting those oaks holding the acorns a definite must this year! Thanks for bringing this up Bill. 👍
I saw the same type of behavior. I typically thrive early season in isolated oaks but I couldn't find any last year.
Good thinking Steven. I never realized that acorns were such a factor in behavior in October. I used to always just wait them out and eventually, toward the end of the month the combination of the rut approaching and the acorns being mopped up would bring them out of the cover to the fringes. Well, it never happened last year - not even in December.
Just a THANKS for keeping the information coming Bill Always knowledge gained or just keeps us thinking about the season. Thanks
Thanks Shane. I appreciate the comment.
Same here in mich. Spotty crop. Seem to cycle every 2 to 3 yrs. Reds seem to start in one yr and drop the next.
I think spotty is good because then you can hunt specific areas or specific trees rather than having all the trees dropping at once. Good luck.
Thanks for the update bill. Yes I heard the late frost in the spring helped us a lot
I think that made a big difference on knocking back both the acorn and especially the fruit tree (plum and apples here).
Great video Bill! I will be checking this weekend in North MO.
Thanks for the comment. Good luck.
Last year was a marvel, never saw so many acorns from so many different species - bumper crop was real lol!!!
Yes, it was amazing. I have never seen anything like that either and we may never see that again, but now maybe we can scout out specific trees and specific areas to hunt early rather than the deer literally finding food in their bedding areas.
@@bill-winke Sounds like a plan! 🙂
Great info, as always, Bill!!!
Thanks Jason. I appreciate it. Have a great day.
Thank you for sending me information on aging deer , also in my area north east Tenn was covered up with acorns! I got lucky with soybeans and rashes in my garden after my garden was done cause don’t have but 3 areas to hunt in thanks again sir!
You are welcome and good luck this year.
Perfect vid ! Never saw anything like last year
Me either and I have been paying attention to stuff like this for a long time. We had one year back in the mid-2000s in southern Iowa where the white oaks were really loaded, but I don't remember that the red oak family were also producing that same year. Last year everything produced.
Kinda humble about your hunting style bill, you got some nice deer on the wall.
Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it.
Very helpful. I will check out properties this summer based on this. Please do another update later if you would. Even if it is just a mention in different video.
I will probably do a second one sometime in September as we start to prepare for opening day. Have a great day.
Looking forward to another season.
Thanks. Much appreciated.
My dad was a very good deer hunter he swore by oak trees and was very successful. I, as well last 5 years, 25 years experience realized how damn good them select oak trees are. Im sure you've seen it as well around Oct 10th. Big boys start showing up .In the past, I know you've always swore against mornings till late oct, but you have been missing out on good encounters. My best oak spot was not the greatest last year, so I'm hoping for it to be strong this year. History Scrapes as well can be fire start of season if u have a cold front. Good luck to you this fall.
Mark, you are probably right about that. I always avoided mornings in October because I didn't want to burn out those areas before the rut because I just didn't think the deer were moving much back in the timber in the mornings until late October. But the acorn patterns will definitely change that. I need to get better at morning hunting in October. Good input.
@bill-winke monitor your cams even if you're only getting 120" deer or multiple tiny bucks on camera at your oak trees doesn't matter. The big 1s are around or a few days from taking it over. Get downwind and hope for the best. Not tryna act like I'm a know it all I know you're 1 of the goats of hunting. Just tryna help is all.
@@markhall1169 I appreciate it. Thanks Mark. Much appreciated.
In my area of NY we have very few acorns this year which is good for foodplot hunters. Also we received a late frost which got a good deal of the apples and crab apples. It will be an interesting season for sure
Kind of that way here too. About 1/10 the acorns (at best) and about half the apples of last year. The deer will definitely be looking for other food sources this year. Good luck.
There were white oak acorns on the ground around trees this spring yet that the deer clean up typically within a week of dropping in the fall. Plus the mouse population exploded last winter in combination with mild weather here in Minnesota. They and their spent acorns were everywhere-even in my pickup cab. Never set mouse traps in my truck until last year.
Jack, it was an amazing year, but it doesn't look like this year will be anything like that. Maybe we are going to see more typical movement patterns this year (where the deer actually have to go look for something to eat rather than just stand around their bedding area eating). Good luck.
We still had them on the ground during Turkey season this year. It definitely changed early season patterns, but late season they did find my beans and we had good success considering.
For sure. Still acorns on the ground here this spring too. They never did hit any exterior food sources during the season last year here. Even in the winter they were still eating acorns.
Chinkapin oaks...In our area when they have acorns the wildlife absolutely love them.
We have a few around here, but not many. I planted a few thousand (maybe 25,000) on the farm when we did the acorn plantings over the past couple of years. Will be interesting to see how they do.
smaller acorn crop on wet years. Last year's drought brought the boom crop of acorns.
I have heard that from others also. I need to learn more about how nature works with regard to acorn production.
Would love to see an update video in September. It definitely dictates the hunting I do early season
I will definitely do that as I have to figure it out for myself - how much the acorn patterns will affect deer behavior this year. Have a great day.
We really have a lot of Oaks here and when there are acorns, the deer simply don't have to move much...Like last year!...Hopefully there won't be any this season.
That is the same thing here. This year looks like a lot less acorns than last year.
My white oaks are booming again.. Ill have to start looking at red oaks but I was expecting another big crop down here in the south. Red Oaks for sure will be full next year based off this spring we had.
That is awesome George. Start scouting out the best areas for an early season stand. Good luck.
Whenever we have a bumper crop Acorn in Tennessee the following year deer have bigger racks. They went into the winter in great condition.
That definitely makes sense. This should be a banner year for them here because we had so many acorns that the deer barely even touched my corn plots.
Have you ever noticed a pattern to what oak species that deer prefer? In North Missouri White Oaks seem to be the favorite and red oaks at the bottom of the list.
That does seem to be the case. The deer do hit the white oaks harder. I see them eating all varieties, but whites are their favorites. Experts say this is because the white oak acorns have less tannin so they aren't as bitter.
Ty Bill. 👊🏻
You are welcome. Thanks for the comment.
I hope u took my advice that i commented on a previous post about driving pvc pipe in the root systems of your oaks , fruit trees etc.with gravity fed fertilizer inside the pipe ! Everytime it rains it will release fertilizer into the ground root system and u can also broadcast by habd also helps !
I have not had the time to do that yet. I would have to figure out which trees to fertilize because I have tons of them near my stands. That is good advice though. I appreciate it.
@@bill-winke yeah like I said before I learned of this from my daddy and his daddy & so on ... thats how they fertilized pecan orchards etc. ! It was a pleasure to talk with you and I hope you carry on the tradition lol 😂
Have you or would you do any videos on fruit trees? Or do you recommend planting them I just planted a few I’m 21 years old so I figure by the time I’m older the persimmon and pears will be heavy bearing trees but just thought I’d ask. Great videos thanks!
I have done several in the Dream Farm series about apple trees. You should take a look. Videos on pruning, grafting and just overall growing apple trees. The farm has a bunch of wild apple trees on it, so I am very blessed to have hundreds of trees that are self-sufficient on the farm. Apple trees are a great addition to any land, whether a hunting property or not. Good luck.
@@bill-winke awesome thank you so much!
Red oaks produce every other year. When red oaks produce above average along with the other oak species we tend to call it a “bumper crop”. Red oaks that produce this year, actually germinated last fall.
It is amazing when all the trees seem to get on the same cycle like last year. There were very few trees last year that didn't have acorns.
Maybe try same technique as last year, go in woods late in season if need be.
That's what I am thinking. I may venture in a little bit on cold fronts in October too. Good luck.
I have noticed a lesser amount of oaks showing acorns this year too.
I would say way less than 10% of what I saw last year. Maybe it below normal year here.
Bill, with your experience do you think some oaks are most oak species are like pecan trees and only produce real good every other growing season, and depending upon weather patterns growing seasons might not equal years, if that makes sense. Thoughts?
The experts that study this stuff have some thoughts on that. It is interesting to me that they don't all agree and they don't seem to know why some years are really good production years and others are not. They do agree though, that the oaks have cycles like you mention. They don't produce every single year. I believe it is every other year for the red oak and I am not sure the cycle on the whites. But keep in mind that they aren't all on the same cycle. One tree might produce next year while the one next to it (of the same subspecies) might produce this year. Thanks for the comment. Have a great day.
I had wolf acorn everywhere by my stand but deer didn’t eat them big yellow acorns I was told they were wolf acorns lol idk name of them but they were raining on ground unreal
I don't think there are wolf acorns, but there are wolf trees - big old oak trees that stand alone and have wide spreading limbs. I think they were the original trees in that area and grew outward as well as upward because there was no competition. I have seen a few around, but they have a life cycle like all other trees and it is kind of sad to see those giants die. Good luck.
Bill do you think Ohio would be the same as Iowa as in acrons last year I believe we had tons so maybe not so much this year?
I think if you had tons last year, you will likely not a repeat performance, but it is always good to take a look, if possible. A short trip along the edges of the fields or along a lane in the timber will give you a good idea. Good luck.
@@bill-winke will give that a try gonna start here in the next week or 2 and see what I see already been out driving and seeing what's around nice bug bucks in the field in the evenings but like you said they might not always be there come hunting season so gotta find we're there headed to..
Thing is acorn production changes area to area and region to region . Keeping track of them in every area we hunt is important for all hunters .They will eat them when they hit the ground every year so few or many they play a factor especially early in the seasons !
Very good point. They play a role in the strategy regardless and is always worth knowing where we stand (acorn-wise) going into a season. Thanks for the comment.
Bill have you located any feed trees on your farm ever since you got it a few years ago? I always like to check those proven feed trees every year.
Kevin, this farm is full of feed trees. I bet there are 30,000 mature oak trees here and on the bordering neighbors. Maybe even more. It is primarily an oak forest so there are feed trees all over the place.
we dont have any acorn trees except couple bur oaks , they dropped last year , but deer didnt see to like them , whats your thoughts on them
Don, they sure eat them here. They are in the white oak family and I have never seen the deer in this part of the country shy away from them. I used to have one dropping in my yard in southern Iowa and the deer would come in every night and clean them up. All I ever saw was piles of the fuzzy caps (they don't eat the caps). Could be the deer there were not used to that as a food source and didn't notice it. Strange.
@@bill-winke you could not walk under that tree for those giant borough acorns felt like you were on rollerskates and they did not touch them till February
Do you think fertilizing oak trees is worth it?
From everything I have read (studies) it doesn't improve quality of quantity of acorns.
Bumper crop of acorns is definitely what I'm blaming my slow season on last year! Seemed slow everywhere. Silver lining = bigger bucks this season!
That's right. That is what I saw and heard from others too. Will be interesting to see what kinds of bucks show up this year.
😊Dream Big brother 🙏
Thanks. You too Edward.
Bill this is way off subject but I just found out. I got drawn for zone 7. Plan to hunt public land from Oct 27-nov10. Any advice on which areas to hunt? I’m watching the video now so thanks
Dan
Ps Bill also in Ohio red oaks have lots of acorns but whites have none. How is it in Iowa?
Ps2 guess I should’ve watched the video first haha
Dan, there are some good public areas in that zone, probably overlooked by non-resident hunters. Most of the non-residents go for the zones on the fringes of the state, but there are some good spots in the middle too. Just a hint without giving too much away to everyone, anything you can access with a boat will likely be better than those areas that are easy to walk into. There are several in this zone that you can use a boat to get away from a lot of the other hunters and find deer that are moving more naturally. I would definitely scout it ahead of time to make sure you have four or five good areas to hunt because you never know when someone else will show up to hunt "your" best spot. Ideally, have a lot of Plan B's. Good luck.
@@bill-winke thx a lot Bill! I sure do appreciate it!
How is the apple crop this year. seems to be less in my area.
Less here too. I think it was cool here when they were flowering so not as many bees out pollinating. Some of the trees that produced big last year have almost no apples this year.
If there are good acorns they won’t touch anything else !
That's right. I thought soybeans were their favorite food, but acorns are even above the soybeans.
@@bill-winke I fed protein,corn,dry roasted soybean mixture one year. As soon as the oaks dropped they quit eating it. Acorn protein is on another level.
@@taylorjackson7908 Experts say it is one of the highest forms of carbs and fats that the deer can eat and that is key going into the winter.
Trees by me are loaded this year
Where are you located?