Acorns?

[Carcass]

Is it just me or eastern Nelson barren of acorns for a second year in a row? i've seen one red oak dropping a few, but nothing on the white oaks in my woods. White oaks in Richmond have an okay crop this year. What y'all seeing?

[BAY BEAGLE]

My chestnut oaks did nothing. My willow oaks and pin oaks did very good, and attracting deer. My white oaks had a slim crop. Located Middle Peninsula.

[67gt390fb]

From the DMAP info I received it looks like a below average year for white oaks and a slightly below average year for reds

VDGIF began surveying for hard mast (acorn) abundance starting in 1973. Mast routes were created across the state with each route containing 40 to 80 red and white oaks which are scattered across different elevations, aspects, and habitat features. Routes are surveyed once per year during the last two weeks of August. From 1973 until 2000 routes were surveyed using a method developed by C.J. Whitehead out of Tennessee, whereby all acorns are counted from a random selection of 10 branches per tree. As you can imagine this was very time consuming (and neck breaking!). Starting in 2005 Virginia started testing a new method for surveying the trees using an index where the percent of the crown with acorns (PCA) is recorded for each tree. This visual estimate is much quicker and after testing both by Virginia and North Carolina proven to be just as valid as the old survey method. Currently 30 routes are run in Virginia every year in the late summer using the PCA method. The annual survey allows Virginia to measure acorn abundance while also providing important information to hunters concerning fall hunting for Virginia’s big game species. 
 
   

[Carcass]

I feel silly, i walked in today in the daylight and acorns are more prevalent than i first thought. I may need to adjust my stand location accordingly.

[BillHoo]

A little late, but VA Dept of forestry wants your acorns...Oct 17th

https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Virgin...41571.html