For 32 consecutive years, the Wildlife Resources Section and the Law Enforcement Section of the DNR and the Division of Forestry have conducted surveys of mast abundance of 18 tree and shrub species that are important wildlife foods. The freezing weather in late May seemed to have taken its toll on flowering of mast producing trees and shrubs, especially on the lower ridges and valleys over most of the State.  Mast abundance in 2001 was below average, and unfortunately, 2002 mast conditions were worse than 2001.

 

There was some oak mast on the higher ridges, but overall acorn indices dropped as much as 30% for chestnut oak to 46% for black and red oak between years 2001 and 2002. The best news about mast conditions was that beech, hickory, black cherry, and blackberry produced more mast than 2001.  Black cherry improved by a surprisingly 72% over 2001  and was nearly 25% higher than the norm.

 

The mast shortage was a contributing factor in the record white-tailed deer and black bear bowhunter harvests because these big game species were more concentrated and easier for hunters to locate and harvest than when food is abundant.  Poor mast conditions normally also causes higher wild turkey harvests.  The fall wild turkey kill did not appear to show this relationship this year.  Considering there were fewer turkeys to harvest in 2002 than 2001, because of a bad brood year, and fewer counties open to fall hunting than 2001, biologists suspect that the kill rate of hunters was higher than what would have occurred if mast conditions were good.

Written by James C. Pack

Please check back after September 15th for 2003 results and outlook.