Hot times.

Well, New Jersey's fall bow season has been open for about one month now, and it's been hot! I have been keeping hunting journals since 1989 and, looking back, we have not had a season that has stayed this hot, for this long. We would get a few hot days mixed in with normal temps, but not consistently 80+ degree days like this year, and it's been dry. I have almost 4 acres of food plots planted in a few different spots, and everything has dried up and died. I planted them in late August, right after a decent rain, and there was enough soil moisture to get them growing, but no rains came and now everything is about dead.

On a positive note, there is a tremendous acorn crop in the woods this year, so even though much of the crops and browse has died off early from the drought, the deer still have plenty of food to get them through fall and, with the amount of acorns I'm seeing, probably winter too. I've heard different theories on this, but a forester friend told me that mast crop will be heaviest in times when the trees feel stressed, like a drought. Unless a late frost kills the buds, in time of severe drought, he stated the acorn fall is big. This year he seems to be right, as acorns from red oaks, black oaks, post oaks, pin oaks, white oaks, and chestnut oaks are all over the ground. It can make for tough hunting because deer can find food just about anywhere, and often times do not bed too far from it, but if you find the right spot...where they are currently hitting the acorns, you can have a good hunt. Find those trees they are hiting right now, and set up on them.

Good hunting-DV