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Acorns???

rutnstrut

rutnstrut

PMA Member
How long do acorns save? Could you gather them when they fall and then keep them stored till later in the year for trail cam bait, or would they just rot? I remember seeing a post where Central Iowa used some sort of machine to gather them for planting and was wondering if you could do that in an area you werent going to hunt so that there would only be a good acorn crop in your direct hunting area, and then feed them later in the year when there is not such an abundant amount of food available. If so it would make for some cheap feed later in the season and maybe even make there early season feeding patterns easier to figure out if you eliminate most of the acorns except where you want them to be. So I guess the question is would they save, and would they be very desirable to deer late in the year or after being stored
 
They start to dry out pretty quickly and the white oaks will start to germinate soon after dropping. If you kept them in damp peat in the fridge they would keep for quite a while that way.

The red oaks will not germinate till the spring so they would for sure keep.
 
This year i picked up 15-20 pounds of acorns by hand and carried them to my hunting lease, where there are very few acorn trees, and they ate them all up within a week. I kept the acorns in a corn sack in my garage for a week or so.
 
My son picked up a bushel of white oak acorns to use in boiling his traps (to stain them with the tannin)

He just left them in a bag in the garage and a few weeks later he had a bag full of "baby oaks" hatching out! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

You would have to have a big fridge to store many of them for later but maybe a root cellar or basement might work for awhile?

Red oaks are kinda bitter but they still might like them later on?

Direct Seeding Acorns

Grow Oaks from Acorns
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Buckmaster14</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This year i picked up 15-20 pounds of acorns by hand and carried them to my hunting lease, where there are very few acorn trees, and they ate them all up within a week. I kept the acorns in a corn sack in my garage for a week or so. </div></div>


I did the same thing out on my place....I sprayed the fescue earlier that fall, collected at least 20 pounds of acorns and planted them in the strips out there. Bad idea, I came back 2 days later and every single one of them was gone even though there are several white oaks around the field edges.

I am pretty sure the deer have figured me out and know that anytime I am out there there will be something new to eat so they follow me around. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

So I collected more acorns and put them in tubes this time. Here is the tree I collected from, it is very straight with a great broad crown.


White_Oak.jpg


White_Oak1.jpg
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> What would happen if you froze acorns? </div></div>

I'm not a 100% for sure, but I have several bags of them in my freezer from this fall's gathering. I'm going to try to start them indoors in another month or so.

My thought is that it's a way to stratify them and I hope I'm mimicking nature's way. I figure if it doesn't work, I'm not really out any thing. I have my fingers crossed.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What would happen if you froze acorns? </div></div>

I dunno, I'm thinking that they would get cold and hard and tough to chew! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

OK, OK, I couldn't resist that setup. I too would be curious though if there is a viable method to preserve acorns from September to say January. In lieu of corn as a supplemental feed in the winter, could someone inexpensively collect and store acorns and then divvy them out now?
 
It may be possible with white oaks to freeze them immediately and they still be good later, but it is much easier with reds since they lay dormant all winter anyways.

The white oaks will start to germinate at least 2 weeks after they drop so the only way to keep them would be freezing I would think or possibly in the fridge almost freezing so to slow germination maybe.

I say that someone gives it a go and lets us know /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
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