# raking up acorns



## BassTrackerJoe (Jul 20, 2007)

i work at a couple of properties that have millions of acorns all over the lawn. has anybody ever raked them up and put them out in the woods for an attractant?


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## bgpark1 (Apr 23, 2004)

I tried that with apples from the local park... ended up scaring the dear away from my food pile for about 5 weeks... until they lost their city smell.


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## DaleM (Apr 5, 2004)

I've been doing that for the last two years. I have 26 large trees that produce nuts of some kind. I get a least 2 large tote full and take them to my hunting place in Hocking Co. There are a few trees down there but I just make the area more appealing to the deer. I'm not sure how fast they take to them but they are gone or at least reduced by the time I check a few weeks later.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

I know people who do it and from what I've heard it works well.


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## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

Since baiting became legal in ohio ive taken full advantage of it. its not so much the bucks your bringing in, but the does. And you know what they say in late oct thru nov; where you find the does the bucks arent far behind. nothing beats ear corn in my opinion. apples, pears, acorn have all done the job for me. ive noticed on my trail cam that there was always a group of does that would feed around noon to one on the pile of corn. ive also noticed rutting bucks love to travel when the sun is high. just thought id add that last part. good luck!


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## Header (Apr 14, 2004)

If you use acorns the whites are a sure bet. I've walked over a carpet of red acorns and did not see any sign of feeding on them. I read an article that the white oaks are like candy to them and the reds are kind of bitter.


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## fishintechnician (Jul 20, 2007)

header i agree 100% on that can have one white in 1000 reds and they will eat all the whites first


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## hunt (Aug 25, 2009)

i dont blame the deer... have you ever tasted white oak acorns? they actually taste decent... and the red ones are so bitter


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## Header (Apr 14, 2004)

Hunt, seems as though you get into the deer mode realy deep tasting their food. But have you tried some of the buck jam? Not only does the Persimmon favor smell good but tasty as well. I had to lick my fingers it smelled too good.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

Never tried it for hunting....

But I have a 2 yr. old son that totes a bucket everywhere he goes in the yard. I've got a couple wooded acres. He collects things - he started collecting the acorns (these are whites and the deer hit them every year) by the bucket load and dumping them in a neat pile. In the last week I have chased between 3-5 does out of the yard 3 different occasions walking the dog.

You guessed it - tracks galore around this "acorn pile".


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## fishintechnician (Jul 20, 2007)

sounds like you should be walking the bow instead of the dog


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

fish - I do live in the township, but all my neighboors have only 2-3 acre yards that run deep (mine is 690 ft deep). Only my place and another place two houses down are wooded - the rest has been cleared for many years. Our yards back into a very exclusive community that would create quite the fuss if I was even walking back there; let alone retrieve a deer! This community holds a lot of "pet" deer as it was carved into a huge woods.

Even if it wasn't a problem, I wouldn't kill one of these deer anyway. Nothing "wrong" with it, but it wouldn't feel right to me.

In 7 years, I have seen a handful of bucks & many does - mostly in the ag field across the road. I saw one very large 10 pointer the second year I lived there chasing does for about a week before gun season. A kid down the road killed him Tuesday morning for his first deer ever - he was very nice (140s gross). I tried to get permission to hunt across the street, but an attorney owns it and won't let anybody, but family on it (nobody bow hunts it at all).

My next door neighboor also has a very heavy 4 point shed his Jack Russel found in the yard (years ago). Last year a buck shredded a small maple I planted in Sep also.


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## Shed Hunter 365 (Dec 3, 2007)

I use a shop vac to pick up acorns in my yard.


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## lg_mouth (Jun 7, 2004)

I have no acorns on my oaks whether it be white or red. Seems to be the consensus here in the south eastern part of the state. Kinda stinks because that messes with my strategy a bit. Apples seem to be pretty scarce as well.

Lg_mouth


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Last year, I consisitantly took out 2 5 gallon buckets of apples with me. First off, it was hard work to hike in with them, expecially in the dark. Anyhow, I did get to see a few deer over them, but I found for the most part they fed on them nocturnally. I baited heavily last year and had a bad season in comparison to the one previous because of it honestly. Just seemed to me the deer went into nightmode. Between my stand getting stolen and not seeing a whole lot of deer last year, I honestly havn't considered going out this year.


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## ClickerCrazy (Feb 4, 2006)

Not a nut around where I'm at down around Marietta. Last year it was like walking on bubble wrap...lol. You suppose that is why all the squirrels are running so much. Never seen the likes of them running the roads like I have this year.


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## lg_mouth (Jun 7, 2004)

I hear that is why you see so many out and about. They have to do more running for their food.

Fishman, I had the opposite experience as you did. Put out a feeder for the first time last year and killed 5 deer. Yes, I had the majority of my pictures being night feedings, but so do most of my buddies with food plots. My best experience was to hit them during a cold snap. They seem to move later in the morning and earlier in the evening on the first couple days of a cold front.

Lg_mouth


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## alumcreeker (Nov 14, 2008)

where i hunt is on a field edge lined with big oak trees of all kinds. all summer i watched a bunch of deer eating in the field then as hunting season came near all the deer started to stick to the edge where the trees are. opening day i went out to my stand (which is in a huge white oak) and the acorns where everywhere. this is the best year i have ever seen for acorns. the buck i shot two days ago was feeding on acorns and so was the doe he was with. every deer i see now crosses the fields to come feed on the acorns. also i have heard that the deer prefer white or all others however i see them eating all not picking one or the other


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## lg_mouth (Jun 7, 2004)

The lack of acorns seems to be a southern part of the state problem. Also effecting northern parts of WV. 

Lg_mouth


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

alumcreeker - unless you have all whites I am surprised to hear you say the deer eat all the varieties without preference. The spot I have hunted the last 3 seasons has a large oak flat containing both whites and reds. The deer consistantly eat ALL the white acorns before they move to the reds. The reds are much more bitter if you bite them yourself.

I am not questionaning what you are saying; just sayin I've seen the deer prefer the whites for years in multiple locations.

Sounds like you have one heck of a spot there with your fencerow oaks. If I were you I would do my best to ensure a good crop each year. Fertilizer can be bought in "sticks" that you push into the ground around the trees relatively inexpensively. At the minimum I would get some of these and keep that crop robust.

I'm actually going on my first bowhunt of the year tomorrow morning. I've been glassing for a couple months and made a fresh set last Sunday that hasn't been hunted.

Good luck to all that make it out!


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## JV1 (Apr 18, 2004)

I raked up two 5 gallon buckets of red oak acorns this year and mixed it with corn to fill a gravity feeder

The deer eat the corn and let the acorns fall to the ground , i think i read once where red oaks are bitter and that the deer prefered another type of acorn

white oak maybe


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