Fruit trees, berry crops, heck the acorns are already dropping here! It all indicates an early fruit and mast crop, which might make this year a bit more challenging. I have seen hickories dropping already too! And I saw a buck with shredded velvet last night at work...
How about guys? What do you notice?
Here in Maryland some of the same things.
It has been awfully dry here....can that be contributing to these things happening?
Yeah Jamie, same here. Spring was the same...
Same here up north.According to the log book my wife keeps for her garden,we are harvesting all our beans,peas,potatoes etc about two weeks ahead of last year.All of our berries were early as well.It hasn't been that dry here,we have got rain'mostly at night.
I noticed the same thing in WV where I'll be hunting. I've never seen that many acorns on the ground in July/August!
I noticed that too Curt.
Im already finding wild mushrooms that usually arent out until the end of September. A very few trees are changing...
Im going to have to resort to stand locations and hunting techniques I havent used in years around here. It is still going to be fun though.
Yeah,seems like everything has been at least a couple weeks ahead since Spring.Could be an interesting hunting season.
Interesting that you posted this. I was thinking the same thing yesterday. Acorns are dropping here.
Same thing here Jamie.
Yeah man.Deer are still pretty red but everything else is fast forwarded.
Yep, everything, hay, fruit, veggies, about 3 weeks ahead of normal this year, am already noticing trees starting to yellow and brown up some, in spots.
I noticed the Hickory nuts as well. I checked and the timing is normal here. I've also seen the huge "black" Oak acorns dropping. Not noticed any from the White Oaks, persimmons or the Paw Paws.
John III
Great minds think alike. mowing yesterday acorns and hickory nuts already on the ground. Back yard is covered in yellow and brown leaves.
yeah bro LOTS of acorns on the ground allready however beech still have not fell which is good. also seems to me that the deer on the mountain are using certain trails HARD rather then meandering like they usuaaly do in the early season. just seems odd to me however it is a huge advantage in stand placement for the early season.
I'm hopeing the acorns are done dropping by October. Maybe we'll get to see some deer this year.
Same here, I saw 4 bucks last night that had shed already!! Apples are ripe and dropping from some trees, I believe the lack of rain and the early spring has changed things! Shawn
Apples are dropping in certain spots here.Very dry this year too.We had a two week early spring this year.I notice there are alot of trees starting to turn here too.
Same here in NH. We are already done picking blueberries and blackberries. Normally we would be done at the end of the month. Hickory nuts started to fall about a week before the Muzzy, and I saw lots of acorns on the ground there, as well, considering the time of the year. We had early apple blossoms this Spring and then got hit with about 3 nights of heavy frost just as the fruit was setting. Apple are hard to find....quite different than what I saw at the Muzzy. Looks to me that you guys over in NY will do well to hunt the apples unless there are so many you have trouble patterning the deer.
Not to Hi hjack your thread jamie but it seems everyone is in agreement here.
How do you "change" your strategies on years like this as opposed to other years?
I would think most people just have their favorite stand locations but good hunters adjust to current conditions. What do you do to adjust?
The reason I ask is because it seems like years with mast crops I see less deer because food isnt as importatnt since it is everywhere. Would you rather look for bedding area's in years like this?
I am a big believer in hunting food sources. They have to eat and they do it somewhere. You need to find that spot and get there before them.
Here in Arkansas, we have been dealing with 100 plus degree heat for over 3 months now with no rain; we had less than 3 inches of rain in 77 days and is the hottest year EVER on record with temps of 100 to 105 and heat indexes reaching above 110 to 115 daily; very few acorns if any; extremely dry conditions; can't wait until cooler weather and more rain; when you guys run out of things to pray for, please remember us down here for cooler temps and some much needed rain.....thank you... :campfire:
Charlie, put boot leather down, and find out what they are eating. I have hunted crops, browse, swamp edges(dry years water= green browse)one or two "late" white oaks during similar years.
Key in on the food, bedding and travel areas to select your spot.
Same thing up this way too.
Jamie, Hope to be showing off a hero pic this year. Thanks for the advice brother. Sorry I missed you at Muzzy!
This morning at about 5:45 I noticed that my crab apple trees are dropping a lot of leaves.Also a lot of apples on the ground around here.3 nights in a row I kicked deer out of a red oak flat while out with the dog, I have rarely seen them feeding on that flat this early.The acorns will be loooong gone by the middle of October this year.I think Shawn is correct when he says the early spring caused this effect.
Everything is ahead of schedule this year. I hope ma nature puts on the brakes, and gives us a long, slow October.
It is an El Ninio year or something, because we have had the wettest summer on record with rain nearly everyday and no triple digit temps. Iowa is as green as I have ever seen it for this time of year.