The Southeast’s timber is currently carpeted with hard mast, giving deer a feast at every turn. It’s both a blessing and a challenge. The deer are plump and healthy, but with so much food available, hunters are struggling to identify solid movement patterns. If you’re hunting in the Southeast, you’ll probably have to adjust your strategy to stay in the game.

Most South Carolina bucks are entering the chasing and breeding phase. Deer movements have increased dramatically this week and should remain high for the next month. Like much of the region, most areas of the state have an above-average acorn crop this year, and the deer are primarily feeding on those acorns.

Charles Ruth, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Big Game Program coordinator, said, “The year-to-date harvest in South Carolina is currently running about 10 percent above last year. The next three weeks should be great, provided we have seasonal or cooler temperatures. In South Carolina, this time of the year, highs are often into the 80s, which can shut down daytime movement.”

Glenn Wheeler said that Arkansas received a bit of rain last week, and temperatures finally dropped some. A couple of mornings were in the 30s, which has spurred the deer activity.

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“Scraping activity is definitely heating up with very active scrape lines that are being heavily tended,” he detailed. “I’ve also seen more solitary bucks cruising during midday. Mast crops are incredible this year, based on my observations and what others are telling me. We have the densest crop of massive white oak acorns in years, if not decades. Everything seems to have thrived this year, from hickory nuts to black walnuts to large, sweet persimmons. Because of that, deer are still spread out with seemingly unlimited food options, so they are a little harder to pinpoint this year. But they should be very healthy as the rut progresses and winter comes.”

Mark McKenna, owner of McKenna Ranch in Clark County, Mississippi, said the deer in his neck of the woods are primarily focused on feeding as well.

“There’s no frost yet, so there’s plenty of greenery and acorns,” he explained. “The bucks are mainly eating heartily in anticipation of what comes next.”

Land manager Michael Arnold says that a cold front has the Tennessee bucks fired up.

“I'm seeing several new bucks on my cams,” he shared. “Three- and 4-year-olds are cruising already, covering lots of ground. Older-class bucks are daylighting a bit more, but the bumper acorn crop is making it hard to catch up with them. I saw six bucks and several does the other evening on a one-acre food plot. The 3- and 4-year-olds were really running the does hard and grunting. A 4-year-old buck even snort-wheezed at the younger bucks. That was cool. It’s looking like things are right on schedule. The big boys are gonna start slipping up more and more every day. Time to get them calls and rattling antlers out!”

In Alabama, the bucks are sparring as they feel the effects of testosterone levels rising. Outdoor photographer Tes Jolly says the bucks are working licking branches to leave behind scent. They’re also actively scraping and rubbing trees as territories begin to take shape.

“The buck brotherhoods of summer are breaking up as fall slides in on crisp, cool air,” Jolly explained. “Here in east-central Alabama, the deer are browsing the acorn crop heavily. Sawtooth oaks have been dropping for a month. Deer are feeding heavily on water oak and red oak acorns, too, showing obvious weight gain. It’s a wonderful time to be set up for an archery hunt. Our fawn drop was late, so there are a lot of spotted fawns about. Good thing there’s a bountiful mast crop to help them nutritionally.”

Realtree’s Daniel Thomas said he’s been seeing quite a few rubs and scrapes on field edges in Georgia. “My son hunted earlier in the week and saw two small bucks fighting,” Thomas said. “He rattled, but they didn’t respond.”

Realtree’s Bryan Brown, who’s also been hunting in Georgia, said deer are starting to abandon feed sites and are now concentrating on white oak acorns.

“Rubbing and scraping activity is beginning to pick up all over the woods,” he said. “We will start hunting more in the mornings as the pre-rut activity increases.”

The acorn crop is really good in North Carolina as well, which means the deer aren’t coming as readily to ag fields or bait.

Greg Batts, North Carolina Wildlife Commission District 3 biologist, recommends that hunters look for big oak trees dropping for the best chance of success.

“The weather is still seasonably cool, and rut activity will continue to build until the primary rut period in this part of North Carolina, which will occur a week into November.”

Not to sound like a broken record, but the abundant acorn crop throughout the region is making the deer difficult to locate and pattern, but if you can find them, you’ll have a great chance at taking a big, healthy deer this season.