That would cost you a pretty penny!

Many, many years of research into how bucks use terrain and habitat, as well as hunter success-based analysis by stand situation have gone into my designs.

I always thought that acorn production was related to the amount of rainfall from the previous fall?

Sorry you feel that way.

Do you get paid for your job, or do you give away your time and effort?

I'd like to see some of the examples that you have. I always like to learn new techniques.

This is a interesting conversation. I have been concerned about the lack of acorns since this spring. The way my house is built, I literally live up the the tree tops, so I have a pretty good view when it comes to looking for acorns. What I have observed in NW AL is that there are very few acorns to be had this year. The white oak acorns were tee tiny and fell off prematurely. The red oak acorns that have fell so far look normal on the outside, but every single one that I have cut open was rotten inside.
So, I'm curious to see how it turns out. If you can find a good acorn tree, it could be the only one for miles around?
I always thought that acorn production was related to the amount of rainfall from the previous fall?

You're being facetious, right? The WORST thing I can imagine is a good acorn crop into a 5-year-old cutover. Then the deer have all the food they want in the middle of zero-visibility (and zero-access) habitat.

I have found you need a really good pair of binoculars to confirm if the tree has acorns. I can't see them this time of the year with the naked eye. Get you some binocs and look really close. I bet you'll see some acorns in these trees.

I work primarily with oak forest properties. Yet after years of watching and studying them, I've given up on trying to find the exact conditions that produce good or poor acorn years. There just isn't any consistent predictor (with the exception of a late freeze that kills oak blooms or a severe summer drought).

I've seen BSK's work and what he does is rare....that being said, in my opinion central and south Alabama are so different than NE. Bama and Tn that what we do in Jackson Co. and what you would do in Tuscaloosa Co. are probably quite different. Take a look at an aerial photo or fly from ATL to Nashville and you will see what I'm talking about. We have thousands and thousands of acres of mixed hardwood mountains with ridges, draws, bluffs, shelfs, valleys, creeks, etc. Nothing like the habitat in 95% of Alabama. To maximize hunting odds, not only do you implement TSI in small sections, but you also have to lay out your edges based on certain terrain features. It's also hard to find loggers that will be willing to work with you on where you want to cut and not cut. One of my best friends family owns a large timber operation out of LA. He and his dad came up to turkey hunt with me this year and were blown away at what our timber crew accomplished. Said his loggers would laugh and walk away if they had to cut where I property is. Consider that and then make it worse by asking the logger to start and stop their cuts at strategic places on the side of a mountain and you don't' generally have a real excited crew cutting for you.

I didn't recall asking you to do anything.

I've seen BSK's work and what he does is rare....that being said, in my opinion central and south Alabama are so different than NE. Bama and Tn that what we do in Jackson Co. and what you would do in Tuscaloosa Co. are probably quite different. Take a look at an aerial photo or fly from ATL to Nashville and you will see what I'm talking about. We have thousands and thousands of acres of mixed hardwood mountains with ridges, draws, bluffs, shelfs, valleys, creeks, etc. Nothing like the habitat in 95% of Alabama. To maximize hunting odds, not only do you implement TSI in small sections, but you also have to lay out your edges based on certain terrain features. It's also hard to find loggers that will be willing to work with you on where you want to cut and not cut. One of my best friends family owns a large timber operation out of LA. He and his dad came up to turkey hunt with me this year and were blown away at what our timber crew accomplished. Said his loggers would laugh and walk away if they had to cut where I property is. Consider that and then make it worse by asking the logger to start and stop their cuts at strategic places on the side of a mountain and you don't' generally have a real excited crew cutting for you.

I've also heard/read that too much rain during blooming can kill a crop. Any truth to this?

What was this?:

"I'd like to see some of the examples that you have. I always like to learn new techniques."

The problem is, very, very, very few foresters understand how to manage hardwoods SPECIFICALLY to maximum benefit for deer AND for hunters. I can count the number I know of that do on just a couple of fingers.

Just a very, very few. Most do not understand the art of habitat design to maximize hunting situations in a hardwood environment. How many foresters truly understand how combinations of terrain and habitat drive deer movement patterns, especially older buck movement patterns? A know maybe two or three.

I don't think BSK said most Foresters don't know how to manage hardwoods for wildlife. He said most don't know how to manage for mature whitetails, there's a big difference. Cutting with the topography, creating sanctuaries and edges with huntable ambush locations between them.