www.roanoke.com

Bill Cochran

Recent mail

• You need a linguist and a lawyer to go hunting these days
• Clear-headed view of Bath County's Bigfoot
• Bigfoot? Here?
• From the mountains to the sea

• Mail archive
• Bill's Column
• Bill's Field Reports
• Trout stocking schedule

BILL: I am a fellow hunter from Alabama. I was researching white oak acorns and came across your articles and decided to drop you a line and ask you a question. We have had a bumper crop of white oak acorns this year, even with drought conditions, which is surprising.

My question is, how long will these last once fallen from the tree?

I have hunted for 20 years and have heard many theories on their shelf life. Most consistently, I have been told that once we get a hard freeze the acorns will rot because of the freeze and thaw.

If you have an answer I would really appreciate a response.

RICK SNOWDEN

RICK: Several studies have shown that acorns carry over to become an important part of the spring diet of deer and turkeys, according to Dave Steffen, a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist.

On the high end, a study in Pennsylvania documented that acorns provided 63 percent of the spring diet of turkeys. In research that took place in New Hampshire, acorns represented more than 50 percent of the diet of deer in the springtime.

“So if produced and available, acorns do persist and are an important component of the spring diet for both turkeys and deer,” Steffen said.

BILL