A late spring frost and dry summer weather are considered the two key factors in this year’s crops of mast in the Mountain State. The West Virginia DNR has published the 2007 Mast Survey and Hunting Outlook and the overall conclusion finds mast is "spotty" statewide.
The survey reveals results are drastically down from the 2006 survey, but biologist Steve Wilson cautions you should read a little closer before coming to the conclusion that things are too negative.
"You really need to go through it with a lot of detail and study it this year," Wilson said on West Virginia Outdoors. "Yeah there’s some decline from average for all mast species statewide, but if you start digging into the numbers a little bit and look at just the big stuff – beech, hickory, oak, and cherry – statewide you’re only just a little bit below average for the long term."
The mast survey looks at 18 different species of potential wildlife food sources. This year’s real downer was soft mast where nearly everything, except for cherry was down significantly.
"That cold weather late in the spring when things are leafing out and starting to bloom, you’re going to affect all your food producing plants," Wilson said. "Probably the dry weather had some impacts on things also."
Among soft mast statewide, apples are down 61 percent from the 37-year average. Sassafras is down 27 percent, greenbrier is down 34 percent, blackberry is off 57 percent, and crabapple is down 50 percent. Yellow poplar, hawthorn, and dogwood are down significantly as well.
Among hard mast, beech, walnut, and hickory were all well below the 37-year average. However, white oak acorns–which are the preferred mast of most species was only off by four-percent and other oak species like chestnut oak were up by 25-percent.
Wilson said breaking down the report region by region is very important. The eastern panhandle proved to be the mast winner this year with nearly every species up in production above the 37-year average. The Mountain counties were the real loser where nearly every species was down significantly. The rest of the state looked to be at or around average for most mast production.
There’s also a concern about the quality of the mast. Some scouting may show nuts that are hollowed out inside. Wilson says the dry weather may have been the contributor there.
"Primarily that stuff not filled out its drought and some insect damage at times," Wilson said. "They provide very little nutritional value, most things will just pick them up and drop them realizing there’s no fruit inside that nut that’s not filled out."
The Mast Survey also includes a hunting forecast for the state. The survey predicts the whitetail deer harvest should be slighting higher than 2006. Black bear harvest is expected to be high, but not nearing the record levels of a year ago. Biologists also predict an increase in the wild turkey population.