Bret,

Many folks talk about the “October lull.”  I suspect it is a function of the deer changing both behavior and food sources between velvet shed and pre-rut.  The bucks are very visible during the pre-velvet shed period and usually are easily found near forage crops.  However, the bucks shift to desiring carbohydrates (grains and acorns) more than protein (forage) during late September and early October.  Hunters that capitalize on this trend don’t seem to experience the October lull as much.

I’d much rather manage and hunt a herd in an area that didn’t have many oaks.  Acorns are relatively low quality and an unreliable food source from year to year.  If acorn producing trees are rare, patterning deer may be easy.  But when acorns are present throughout the area, it makes patterning deer very difficult.  That is one reason I really enjoy hunting prairie areas.  The few oak trees present in this habitat type are easy to find both by deer and hunters.

Another consideration is that deer digest acorns much slower than soybean leaves, soybeans, corn, etc.  Acorns are very fibrous.  Deer with a diet of highly digestible forage tend to feed more often.  This results in greater levels of deer activity and active deer are easier to pattern and hunt than bedded deer. Deer that consume many acorns probably don’t have as many feeding bouts compared to deer consuming less fibrous foods.  Also, deer that eat more high quality food grow larger antlers and produce more fawns.  There are very few Boone and Crocket deer registered from areas that are predominately oaks.  However, hunters that harvest mature bucks regularly in areas where the habitat is primarily predominately oaks are very skilled hunters!

Growing Deer together,

Grant