Summer Rain

[Pick A Spot]

With all the rain we've had so far it is sure to impact the bowhunting this season. Biologist are feeling good about the available food for this years fawns and the added benefit of nutrition for antler growth.

I've seen debate on how all the rain can impact acorn crops. Some swear that it reduces the output and others are just the opposite. I know on our lease in North East Texas last year at this time all of our creeks that normally have water were dry. I would say it was a below average year for rainfall in NE Texas last year and we still had a great whiteoak acorn crop.

It has been my experience in my hunting area that wet conditions seem to produce more deer movement. It could be related strictly to temps rather then participation though.

Do most of you see the surplus of rain as an advantage leading up to October? We know that in drought years water holes, ponds etc can play a part in your plans. Do you have tactics that seem to work for you in wet years?

[DEER KILLER]

Land Minds LOL

[hillcountryhunter]

For our ranch in the hill country, wet isnt all that bad. The wetter it is the less acorns we seem to have the ones we do have spoil quicker once they are on the ground. What is bad is when it is real wet like right now and then dries up about September or so. The acorns do better from what I notice and the deer quit coming into feeders and foodplots like they normally do. For our place in S. Texas it is the complete opposite. the wetter it is there the worse it is as the deer then have hundreds of water holes to choose from and a huge assortment of natural browse to go to. The bigger bucks will hardly even leave their bedding area if all this is relatively close. So I guess in a nutshell it affects different areas differently depending conditions and such.

[Chunky]

They say that the best antler years are the ones with a wet spring...in particular April and May. You get a lot of protein in the browse.

The rains are very good for the environment in general...maybe not these floods...but you know what I mean.

The problem is, as was well stated above, the deer don't need to move to find food, vegatation is tall and thick. Deer sightings will be less and corn, even thought expensive, will not work well.

So the rains are good, but the hunting may be harder.

[social123]

I hate the rain especially when it floods. One needs to find a shelter for himself to avoid getting wet. And I think, this does not goes same for the deers. Getting out of their comfort zones for whatever reason bugs me out, too. What could possibly cause them to do so?

[BOBSTER]

Well if things keep going the way they are since the first of June, we will not need to worry about a lot of avaliable food. It has become dry again at our lease. But that could also be a good thing as long as it does not start raining in August and never stop. My experience with the acrons is that the more water a fertilizer you give them, the less acorns they give you. It puts the growth into tree and not the fruit or nut in this case. Bob