SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An overview of the forests of West Virginia for this fall finds a dramatic drop in the production of acorns from 2014.
The 2015 West Virginia Mast Survey, published annually by the DNR, reveals all oak production dropped from last year. According to the survey White Oak acorns were -55%, Chestnut Oak -43%, Black/Red Oak -69%, Scarlet Oak -76% from their 2014 levels. But the 2014 mast was some of the best oak production on record.
“Last year we had tremendous mast production and this year it’s much,much lower across the state,” said Division of Natural Resources Biologist Chris Ryan, one of the authors of this year’s survey.
Ryan said the more important comparison is how oak stacked up the 44 year average over the history of the mast survey. Under those comparisons the oak production was better and in fact all of the hard mast production for the year was eight percent above the 44 year average.
“Look at the long term index, don’t just look at what happened last year. The comparisons to the long term index are much more indicative,” said Ryan. “Some species may fluctuate greatly, but if it’s closer to its long term average, then that’s a little better.”
One thing which helped the increased amount of hard mast overall was a drastic rise in hickory and beech nuts in the state.
As for the soft mast, black cherry production dropped significantly, but apple and almost all other soft mast species did well.
The annual mast survey was first compiled in 1971 as a guide to help hunters gauge off season reproduction, but has since become a valuable tool for scouting and predicting winter survival rates.
This year’s hunting outlook for the predominant species predicted the bear harvest for the year will be similar to 2014. Biologists predicted the number of deer killed both in archery season and during the buck season should be up. A lot of bucks survived last fall’s hunting season and will sport larger racks. It’s anticipated hunters will enjoy wider success with more bucks sporting bigger antlers.
The publication also predicted better success for hunters after wild boar, raccoon, ruffed grouse, and squirrels. Success will be about the same for wild turkey and rabbit hunters may find fewer cottontails this coming season.
You can read the full mast survey for 2015 here.