# White oaks looking good in your area?



## ripplerider (Aug 22, 2011)

I've took down several white oaks lately and the acorn situation doesnt look too good up here in the mtns. Dont want to be the little boy who cried wolf but out of 5 white oaks I've took down in the past couple of weeks only 1 had acorns and it sure was'nt loaded. It was up on R.R. Scenic Highway but the rest I cut near Lake Nottely didnt have 10 acorns between them. Some people like a scarcity of nuts but not me. The rut is stronger up here with a good crop, deer will have better racks the next yr., fawn survival is increased, etc. I'll take that over temporary increased opportunities for critters that are having to look further for food. What about you?


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## ripplerider (Aug 22, 2011)

I will say I havent been real high (elevation wise) scouting yet this yr. so maybe there are acorns up high. And it may have been just a coincidence that those trees werent bearing . Whats everyone else seeing?


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## FMBear (Aug 22, 2011)

I've been up high and down low.  Have not seen anything overly promising up in the Addis Gap to Stamp Creek areas.  A few trees with minor production, but nothing wide spread and nothing productive.  I know I'll be checking out some of the autumn olive thickets along Wild Cat Creek to see if the bear will be showing up there.


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## Jighead (Aug 22, 2011)

I hunt up off RR Scenic hwy, so that news is not encouraging to me, along with the fact that the state has let the food plots go to crap.


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## cptmorgan177 (Aug 22, 2011)

Walking through the woods this weekend and saw a lot of acorns on the ground already. Nc ga border


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## Lake_and_stream (Aug 22, 2011)

Eliijay area :  Noticed very small ones falling today. Havn't seen many at all in the woods. On the lake there are some on the trees but not anything like last year or the year before. 

Should be interesting to see the changes in game habbits. Hope it will bring more movement in the search for food.


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## JWilson (Aug 23, 2011)

That means it is going to be a great year. I dont know what your talking about. They will be on the move looking for food instead of laying on their backs and letting it fall in their mouths


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## FMBear (Aug 23, 2011)

I agree with JWilson!  Last year, opening morning was the only time of excitement.  I cut the tracks of 3 different bear and was within 40 of one without a shot.  Storms came through that afternoon and got the acorns falling.  Afterwards, I only saw one bear and had no shot opportunity.  Looking forward to an acorn drought this year!


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## ripplerider (Aug 23, 2011)

I respect your opinion but I dont feel that way. Years of poor acorn production the rut seems strung out to me with no real peak. I guess if you have a hunting area near agriculture or plant food plots this isnt as noticeable but I like to hunt the deep woods. Whats good for the deer and bear is good for me. To each his own. Guess I need to find some places closer to ag. Just got back from a walkabout up on R.R. Scenic highway, walked about 2 1/2 miles maybe, saw 1 red oak dropping a little up high, found some black gum berries. Seems awful early for them to be dropping. No sign of mtn. grapes. Looked from about 2600' to approx. 3200'. Not looking good for my favorite places. Just have to adapt I guess.


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## ripplerider (Aug 23, 2011)

I'll look up higher next time, maybe 3600' to 4200' or so. Need leg work anyway.


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## FMBear (Aug 23, 2011)

Don't discount finding those autumn olives as well.  The DNR used to plant them as a back up for years of poor acorn production.  3 years ago during the last "below average" acorn production, I saw countless bear in the autumn olive thickets late in the trout season and into bow season.  The problem is once they're in these autumn olive thickets, getting the shot can be impossible.  I had a bear at 7 yards in one of these thickets and no shot opportunity.


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## KPreston (Aug 23, 2011)

*Bear food!!!!!!*

Look on the little ridges that have the 3' to 6' black gum berry trees on them.  The bears are starting to eat them big time!!!!!!---KP---


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## GA DAWG (Aug 23, 2011)

I've saw crap loads of whiteoaks. To many.


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## Jighead (Aug 23, 2011)

I'm sorry, but I am just not thinking about how the hunting is going to be for me this year, but how it is going to affect the wildlife for months to come, especially the deer up here that have a hard enough time competing for food with the overpopulated bears and hogs.


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## ranger374 (Aug 23, 2011)

FMBear said:


> Don't discount finding those autumn olives as well.  The DNR used to plant them as a back up for years of poor acorn production.  3 years ago during the last "below average" acorn production, I saw countless bear in the autumn olive thickets late in the trout season and into bow season.  The problem is once they're in these autumn olive thickets, getting the shot can be impossible.  I had a bear at 7 yards in one of these thickets and no shot opportunity.



exactly what do the leaves look like on these olive trees or bushes.  or if you know what the name of the bush/tree is i can just look it up in my dendrology book---thanks

i have found some bear sign on wildcat creek a few weeks ago, now it has got me wondering if i was near any olive thickets.  i don't think it was a big bear though, the track was kinda small--mabye one of last years cubs


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## ranger374 (Aug 23, 2011)

oh BTW our acorns don't look too good down here either.  got a few red oaks with some, but i rarely see deer eating those down here even with a low crop.  i'm sure some water oaks are already dropping, as they usually produce a fair amount down here every year.


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## Etter2 (Aug 23, 2011)

I don't think we have barely any in pickens county


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## FMBear (Aug 24, 2011)

Here's a few picture of what they look like.  The stands up and down Wild Cat are 1/4 acre in size at times.


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## ripplerider (Aug 24, 2011)

Jighead said:


> I'm sorry, but I am just not thinking about how the hunting is going to be for me this year, but how it is going to affect the wildlife for months to come, especially the deer up here that have a hard enough time competing for food with the overpopulated bears and hogs.



Feel the same way...do you hunt on the North (Union Co. side of R.R.? )Have you ever walked out the trail and hunted your way down to another vehicle parked at bottom? Good way to avoid a bunch of climbing if you have 2 vehicles.


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## ranger374 (Aug 24, 2011)

FMBear said:


> Here's a few picture of what they look like.  The stands up and down Wild Cat are 1/4 acre in size at times.



thanks i'll know what to look for now.  is the area of wildcat creek where they stock the trout natn'l forest and is that part part of lake burton WMA??


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## FMBear (Aug 24, 2011)

No problem.  Yes, same area.  They have autumn olives planted from the start of the fishing area all the way up the road throughout the ridges.  Wild Cat is in what used to be the Lake Burton WMA, but it is now all part of the National Forest.


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## Jighead (Aug 24, 2011)

ripplerider said:


> Feel the same way...do you hunt on the North (Union Co. side of R.R.? )Have you ever walked out the trail and hunted your way down to another vehicle parked at bottom? Good way to avoid a bunch of climbing if you have 2 vehicles.



No, I have wanted to scout that section of nat. forest but never have, saw a lot of bears in that area when I was working and driving to YH College a few weeks ago.I hunt the wma back in close to White oak gap- Dover Creek area.


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## ripplerider (Aug 25, 2011)

Jighead said:


> No, I have wanted to scout that section of nat. forest but never have, saw a lot of bears in that area when I was working and driving to YH College a few weeks ago.I hunt the wma back in close to White oak gap- Dover Creek area.



I hunt in there some- Rocky Mtn. Hunted it last yr., climbed almost to the top, didnt see squat for sign. Big disappointment. I am much better acquainted with the north ( Chestatee) side. Do you ever hunt Tollgate? Anyway, if you ever want to hunt my side of R.R. hit me up on here. There are several ways to do a 2-man hunt with 1 vehicle parked at Hog Pen and the other parked 1 of several places at bottom.


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## Bucky T (Aug 25, 2011)

Looking very good!


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## NorthGaBowhunter (Aug 25, 2011)

There is other acorns besides whiteoaks, the redoaks are loaded up here. and tons of jack oaks. not sure about the mountain oaks. I will have a better report on monday


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## ripplerider (Aug 25, 2011)

NorthGaBowhunter said:


> There is other acorns besides whiteoaks, the redoaks are loaded up here. and tons of jack oaks. not sure about the mountain oaks. I will have a better report on monday



Where are you located? Took down a large red oak yesterday here in Union co., didnt have a single acorn on it. Looking around at treetop level saw a very few whiteoak acorns on surrounding trees , no red oaks. Cut another big red oak in the Skeenah Gap area (first one was close to Lake Nottely), it had a handfull on it but nothing to write home about.


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## FMBear (Aug 30, 2011)

I spent the afternoon up in the National Forest this afternoon near Tallulah Gorge and put 4 miles of scouting in.  In that distance, I came across only 3 loaded red oaks, 2 light producing white oaks, and 1 chestnut oak.  A lot of oaks had sign of a single climb by bear, but nothing showing repeated climbs like the past 2 years up in those areas.  

I also was only able to find one poke weed with berries still on it.  All the rest have already been eaten up.


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## NorthGaBowhunter (Aug 31, 2011)

ripplerider said:


> Where are you located? Took down a large red oak yesterday here in Union co., didnt have a single acorn on it. Looking around at treetop level saw a very few whiteoak acorns on surrounding trees , no red oaks. Cut another big red oak in the Skeenah Gap area (first one was close to Lake Nottely), it had a handfull on it but nothing to write home about.[/QU
> 
> In Dawson co. and I found very few mountain oaks this weekend also


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## Jighead (Sep 6, 2011)

Done some scouting on Chatt. wma today, found scattered red oaks dropping, two white oaks that were dropping good and it looks like they are being eaten as soon as they hit the ground.


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## ripplerider (Sep 6, 2011)

Sounds like a hotspot. Where they high or low? (elevation)


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## Jighead (Sep 7, 2011)

ripplerider said:


> Sounds like a hotspot. Where they high or low? (elevation)



Both areas were pretty low not far from creek drainages.


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## Cliff Speed (Sep 7, 2011)

I have seen some red oaks and white oaks dropping above 2500 feet and I've seen a whole bunch of squirrels cutting them down. Many of the acorns they were cutting down were still green or underdeveloped.


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## FMBear (Oct 3, 2011)

Well, what little white oaks there were, they are about all gone now.  I hunted hard in the wind all day Saturday and a 1/2 day Sunday covering a lot of territory.  The red oaks are now dropping though, and heavily in spots.  I found them anywhere from 2700 up above 3200 feet.  I had one bear come in behind me on Saturday, coming to the red oaks.  As the wind shifted and took my scent to it, it let out a loud disgruntled moan/growl.  I was only able to see it walking off at 30 yards without a shot due to the ground cover.


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