Photo by Ron Sinfelt

There is one rule above all others that I faithfully follow concerning the topic of how to find the best places to bowhunt in the South come opening day and week, as well as the season as a whole. The truism is that every autumn we must start anew in determining where those sweet spots will be. The fact that we may have arrowed a nice buck or a mature doe near such and such oak grove, orchard, food plot or whatever food source the year before or during some opening day in the past means very little for the upcoming season.

That said, how do we go about beginning the process of making a wise decision on tree stand placement? Once again, a maxim exists, and it is true wherever there are deer in the South. And that truism is that the presence or absence of acorns more than any other natural or man-generated food source determines where early-season Southern deer will congregate.

A good example of this truism is a decent buck that I arrowed this past season. I have had permission to hunt a farm for seven years and had never killed a deer there. The landowner is a kindly man, constantly inviting me to come over and pursue his property's whitetails. For the first few years that I had permission, I did so quite a bit. But the acorn trees were lacking in number, and the ones that did grow seemed to be poor bearers. In fact, I rarely even saw whitetails there -- let alone quality bucks.

Before this past season began, I called the gentleman and renewed my permission to hunt. As is always the case, he regaled me with stories of all the deer he was observing and invited me over. I delayed conducting my pre-season scouting there, as I had little hope that the property held many deer. Finally, I decided to make the short drive to the land.

To my surprise, I found the oak trees had engendered a cornucopia of acorns. Indeed, in one particular grove, the nuts lay like so many marbles among the forest duff -- making it impossible to walk without stepping on vast numbers of them. I noted a major and very well-worn trail running into the grove, and droppings also littered the area.

A week later I returned to confirm that the situation was still the same -- it was -- and I positioned a portable tree stand 10 yards off the main trail. Three evenings later, I had only been aloft for 70 minutes when I arrowed a buck. He had been foraging along the trail, stopping often to consume the acorns. Thankfully, I believe in the truism that every season is different when the topic is what sweet spots will exist.

I also believe in the maxim that acorns draw Southern deer like no other food. And just what are those Dixie delights from state to state? Certainly, the white oak (Quercus alba) qualifies as the predominant acorn producer in our region.