Today, I spent much of the mid-afternoon period rambling over two Roanoke County farms as part of my preparation for the county's urban archery season. Visits to both farms, as well as my earlier pre-season jaunts around Elaine's and my Botetourt County parcel, indicate that acorns are going to be scarce this autumn.
I only found about a half dozen white oak and scarlet oak acorns and they were not overly big for the species. Although of course, conditions can change, my pre-season hunch is that Southwest Virginia's whitetails will need to be visiting fields and agricultural areas if the animals want nourishment.
Again, though, autumn has not even officially arrived and much can change between now and early October. But I would still doubt that hard mast will be abundant come autumn.
What about soft mast? Friday, I did locate some persimmons on a tree in our yard and have made note of some grapes. I would be interested in hearing from other bowhunters.
I found plenty white oak acorns, grapes,& hickory nuts on the farm. Red oaks none, still have a lot of area to check out though.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the reasons there is no mast here in Botetourt is the 17-year cicada episode from last summer. I think the attacking of the trees that occurs when cicadas hit an area affects the next year's mast production.
ReplyDeleteBruce