Primary Feed Trees for High Percentage Hunts
Of all the methods that I have used to put deer inside bow range, without a doubt, primary feed trees have been the most productive. A feed tree is any tree that produces and drops hard or soft mast. The hard mast being acorns with the soft mast being honey locust beans, persimmons, apples, crab apples or other domestic fruits. This food supply is at it's best during the early bow season but in some areas it can also be found, on a limited basis, through the entire season.
Oak trees have two basic classifications, red oaks and white oaks. Of course, there are different types in each group. One important difference is, only one year is required for the acorns of a white oak to mature and drop. It takes two years for trees in the red oak family. With this said, red oaks can have first year and second year acorns at the same time, making it possible to have an acorn crop for consecutive years.
Through observation, paying attention to details and keeping a journal, I've learned a few things from bowhunting over oak trees during the past 50 years. All feed trees don't offer the same quality of mast at the same time. There are early mast dropping trees and late dropping trees. The more feed on the ground the more picky the deer are about what tree they select as the primary tree. I relate their attraction to mast to be the same as our attraction to a tomato. When the tomatoes first start coming in we will eat what's there but later on we become more picky about only eating the very best of what's available. The deer are the same way in regards to their food source.
In every area there's going to be one particular tree with prime acorns that are the best around. The deer will find that tree and during the time it's the best, they will designate it as the primary tree, for their area. How long will it last? As long as it's the best. I've seen primary trees last for a couple of weeks and then I've seen them last only a few days. They can be replaced by another tree with more desirable mast at anytime. Like I said, deer are picky and look for the best food source available. An important reason for daily scouting.
I've noticed that oak trees have individual drop times. It seems as though every year a tree has an acorn crop the drop period will be the same time. Keeping a journal I'm able to know the prime drop times of trees that have, in the past, produced sightings and kills. Also, trees that share the same elevation seem to drop during the same time period. It's a good idea to check other areas, that has the same elevation of a primary feed tree that you've found, for another tree that's in it's prime drop time. Using a topo map makes that possible by concentrating your search in areas with a common elevation.
It takes a lot of scouting to find the perfect feed tree to set up on. The more ground covered the better chance there is to find one, especially, during the first part of the season. There has been many days that I've walked two to four hours searching for a primary feed tree. Many times, I've hit the ground running on a big drainage, walking out the edge of a creek for a mile then crossing over and coming back the other side. When I was younger I would sometimes jog from one oak tree to another trying to check everyone I could find, looking for the best possible hunt in the whole area.
In the early part of the season you're not going to find massive amounts of, feed tree, sign. It's just too early for the trees to have peaked out. During that time you will be looking for traces of sign. A few weeks into the season is when you will find sign that will make you climb, instead of you making yourself climb. During that time I'm looking for ground disturbance inside the drip line of a feed trees crown. There will be a defined difference in the way the ground will look on each side of that drip line. Looking close you will see multiple piles of droppings. An active tree will also be a magnet for birds, squirrels and even coons, gathering and knocking out acorns. There has been several times when I've found oak trees, in their prime, by just going to the sounds of Blue Jays thrashing in the tops. What seals the deal is the rate of acorn drop, the faster the acorns drop the better. I love a tree that has all the sign and is raining acorns. It's a tree that begs me to hunt it and impossible for me not to.
Unless the ground is wet or soft the sign under persimmon and honey locust bean trees doesn't show up as well as it does under an oak tree. The deer come in fast, suck up persimmons like a vacuum cleaner and are always on the move. You've got to be ready with bow in hand. It's not unusual for a deer to come to a tree and leave before you're able to take a bow shot.
I've found Honey Locust Bean trees, to be a buck magnet. It seems to me that bucks make up a high percentage number of the deer that show up to feed on the long black bean pods. Their feeding pattern is more like it is for oak trees. They move slow and spend time under the tree. The sign doesn't show up as good under a hot bean tree as it does under most oaks. The leaves from the honey locust trees are really small and don't show disturbance from feeding like the larger leaves of oaks. I've watched bucks walk through prime acorns to get to the locust beans.
Spend as much time as possible, every day, scouting for high percentage hunts. Work hard at finding the best the area has to offer, for a chance to put deer in bow range. Somewhere out there is the perfect place to kill a deer.... all you have to do is find it, recognize it for what it is and set up right. Don't climb unless you feel it's right. If a spot is "hot" it will make you hunt it, instead of you making yourself hunt it.
In closing, as beneficial as food sources are, don't get yourself in a rut by doing the same thing every hunt. Try different thing, hunt different areas. Don't over hunt a spot, remember a deer can pattern you quicker than you can pattern them. If possible make several hunts in one day. Mix it up, the more places you climb the more you learn about deer movement and you may be able to move into a good set up by observing distant movement. Deer patterns are always changing, be able to move with them..... be portable ...... be mobile..... be successful. Have a good understanding of the area that you are hunting, use and believe in your map and compass. Remember that perfect "spot" is waiting for you to find it. Hunt the very "BEST" of the sign you find.
----Warren H. Womack----
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