CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Hunters who typically set up for deer season in an area thick in white oak timber may not want to depend on those spots without giving the area a thorough check ahead of the season. The 2023 Mast Survey revealed the white oak, a preferred part of the whitetail diet, was spotty at best across much of West Virginia.
“White oak did not do great, which is kind of the opposite of last year. White oak and chestnut oak were not good producers so if you’re planning to hunt somewhere with a lot of white oak, don’t count on it this year,” said Holly Morris, DNR Biologist and one of the authors of the 2023 survey.
Overall, mast for wildlife in the Mountain State is only down three percent from the long-term average, and is up 15 percent from 2022. However, white oak mast across the state was a big loser for this fall, down 61 percent from last year. Chestnut oak was also down 52 percent from its 2022 production. Although less preferred by deer, red oak saw a rebound for 2023. Reporters indicated the black/red oak production was up 138 percent and the scarlet oak jumped 108 percent.
Other species of hard mast were also significantly improved. Hickory was up 37 percent, beech nuts increased by 99 percent, and the black walnut mast is 192 percent higher than last year.
The mast which is most important in the higher elevations is beech and black cherry. Cherry saw an increase of about 25 percent from the 2022 level.
Experienced hunters typically know the location of abandoned orchards from generations gone by. The homesteads are gone, but the apple trees continue to bear fruit and in 2023, you might want to take a look at those locations, especially early in the season. Apple saw a 20 percent jump over 2023.
“Those are remnants of old home places and things of that nature, definitely places to check out that you’ll want to target,” said Morris.
Other areas of soft mast like crabapple and hawthorn were also significantly higher than a year ago. The only down species of soft mast are ones which typically wouldn’t be the go to for a food source anyway like grape, yellow poplar, dogwood, and sassafras.
Morris added however, as usual, the survey is merely a guide and an overview—it’s not specific and certainly cannot be a replacement for good scouting in the area you plan to hunt.
“If you get the chances to scout where you’re going to hunt absolutely do that because there are small pockets that may have differences that we can’t capture with this,” she explained. “You may have years where there are mast failures and you may have years where only a couple of species did well on your property so you really need to scout an plan out your hunting prospects.”
The mast survey is also coupled with the hunting outlook which forecasts the harvest for most species of popular game. Biologists project despite changes to the season, the black bear harvest in West Virginia to be higher both for firearms and archery.
The deer hunting forecast for 2023 is expected to be similar to the 2022 harvest. Biologist predict given the mast conditions the archery harvest will be higher, but the buck season harvest with firearms will likely be lower than 2022. The antlerless season is predicted to be around the same.
The turkey season is projected to see an increased harvest in the coming year and squirrel hunters should find greater success in 2023. Harvest projections for the wild boar, cottontail rabbit, raccoon, and grouse are all expected to be largely unchanged from the 2022 levels.