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.