DON’T ABANDON OTHER FOODS There’s no question deer migrate to oaks when acorns start falling, but even when a majority of their diet consists of acorns, they eat other food. "I have a couple of food plots adjacent to some mature white oaks,” Giles said. “I see deer feeding in the plots all the time, even when there is a good acorn crop. They don’t spend nearly as much time in the food plots when there are lots of acorns, but they will certainly stop for a few bites of clover or oats on their way to or from acorns.” The edges of bean fields also are worth hunting, but find an oak dropping acorns on the edge of that bean field and you’ve found a potential hotspot. Isolated fruit trees, native and planted, draw deer throughout the early autumn, too. Sandiford likes to find fruit-bearing persimmon trees near oaks. “If you can get a combination of foods in a small area, you’ve got a real good place to hang a stand,” he said. Hunting during an epic acorn crop can drive you nuts, but the sound of them hitting the forest floor really is the dinner bell. You just have to figure out where to set the table.