When acorns hit the ground, whitetails shift their feeding habits fast.
Especially if a hot white oak starts dropping.
If you’re still hunting fields or food plots, your chances are slim. To stay on deer, you need to know where the white oak acorns are falling and what type of acorns to look for.
Identifying Acorns
Oaks are widely categorized in two main groups: red and white.
Red oaks drop later and taste more bitter to deer. White oaks drop earlier and are sweeter making them the preferable food source.
Learn to spot the differences by looking at the leaves, bark, and acorns.
Photo by Dan Keck, Autumn White Oak Leaf, licensed under CC BY 2.0
White Oak leaves have rounded edges
Photo by Dan Keck, Autumn Red Oak Leaf, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Red Oak leaves have pointed edges
White Oak Acorn by NatureServe, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
White Oak acorns are long with thicker caps
Southern Red Oak Acorn, MD, Beltsville by Katja Schulz, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Red Oak acorns are shorter with thinner caps
How Acorn Crop Affects Deer Movement
A strong acorn crop scatters deer. They’re a lot harder to predict when food is under their feet everywhere they go. If the crop is light, deer cluster in the few spots with acorns, making them easier to hunt.
So scout accordingly—big crops mean wide-ranging movement, small crops concentrate the action.
If the acorn crop is scarce, find the few spots where acorns are dropping. If it’s strong, you may have to cover a lot of ground to get on deer.
Find the White Oak Acorns
White oaks don’t all drop at the same time. The key is to find the ones dropping right now.
Look for fresh caps, cracked shells, and deer sign—tracks, droppings, and feeding marks.
So set up nearby before the deer pattern changes again based on a new group of white oaks dropping.
