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PAGE 4B
November 5, 2014
Monroe County Outdoors
White oak acoms No. 1 with white-tailed deer
White oak acorns are the favorite of deer; they taste
less bitter than most acorns and are packed with
nutrition. One of these acorns has sprouted.
(Photo/Donna Johnson)
BY TERRY
JOHNSON
f you are a deer
hunter, you proba
bly know that
acorns are a fa
vorite food of the
white-tailed
deer. What
you may not
realize is
that, out of
the 60 species
of native oaks
that grace the
state's wood
lands, the
white oak
produces
acorns that
are far and
away the fa
vorite acorn
and wild food of Peach
State whitetails.
One of the main rea
sons why these acorns
are relished by deer is
they simply taste better
than other acorns. The
bitter taste comes from a
chemical called tannin.
White oak acorns owe
their pleasing taste to the
fact that its acorns con
tain just a smidgeon tan
nin and thereby taste
much sweeter than other
acorns. Whereas the meat
found in red oak acorns is
loaded with tannin and is
very bitter.
This is one case where
something that tastes
good is also very nutri
tional. White oak acorns
are loaded with vitamins,
fats and carbohydrates
and low in protein.
Consequently, deer can
easily digest them and
quickly absorb
the nutrients
they contain.
This allows
whitetails to
store the fat
needed to cope
with frigid win
ter weather
when food is
often scarce.
It would be
great if the
white oak pro
duced an abun
dance of acorns
every 3-4 years like many
of our other oaks, but it
doesn't. Instead the white
oak bears a bumper crop
of acorns only once every
4-10 years. However,
when a white oak tree
drops a bumper crop,
10,000 or more acorns
may litter the forest floor
beneath its spreading
branches. During the
years between bumper
crops far fewer acorns are
produced.
Unfortunately for
white-tailed deer, white
oak acorns don't remain
on the ground very long.
During this time they
must compete for these
precious
nuggets of
food with the
likes of wood
ducks, blue
jays, wild
turkeys, squir
rels, hogs and
others.
As such, if it
were not for
blue jays and
squirrels bury
ing white oak
acorns each
fall, there
would be far
fewer white
oak saplings
sprouting in
our wood
lands.
During years when few
acorns are produced this
can be important because
a white oak's entire crop
of acorns can fall prey to
insects or be eaten. This
eliminates the possibility
of any acorns sprouting
and becoming a new gen
eration of white oaks
trees.
If you examine the
acorns beneath a white
oak tree, you will quickly
notice that many have
already begun sprouting.
This is because, unlike
most other oaks, these
acorns don't have to go
through any dormancy to
germinate. Thus acorns
that geminate this fall
will be have developed
into saplings complete
with tiny oaks leaves
next spring.
White oaks are large,
long-lived trees. They
have been known to live
to the ripe old age of 450
years and beyond. The
tallest white oak on
record soars 144 feet
above the ground.
Few trees ever reach
that advanced age or size.
This is because white
oaks are prized for mak
ing furniture and barrels
used to age everything
from Tabasco sauce to
fine wine and whiskey.
In addition, they are
often cut for fire wood. As
such they typ
ically fall to
the chain saw
long before
they ever
bear an acorn
crop. This is
because white
oaks don't
produce
acorns until
they are
around 20
years old. It
will then take
another three
decades
before the
tree produces
a bumper
crop of
acorns.
With that in mind,
whether you are a hunter
or simply cut firewood, it
is important that you
learn how to tell a white
oak from other oaks. This
is due to the fact that the
white oak is such a valu
able source of food for
wildlife, it should be
spared whenever possi
ble.
The bark of the tree is
light gray. In young trees
the bark is broken up
into rectangles. The bark
on older trees displays
fissures and ridges.
Leaves are 5 to 9 inches
long and 2 to 4 inches
wide. Each leaf features 7
to 9 lobes. Some of the
spaces between the lobes
almost reach the leafs
midrib, although some of
these indentations are
much shallower. The tips
of these lobes are always
rounded.
White oak acorns are
light brown, and vary in
size from a half to almost
an inch long. The base of
each acorn is covered
with a cup that encloses
up to one fourth of the
nut.
I guess it would be safe
to say that white oak
acorns come closer to
being manna to white
tailed deer than any
other wild food. With that
in mind, if you are look
ing for a trophy buck, you
might want to put your
deer stand near a white
oak tree that is dropping
acorns. And, for goodness
sake, don't cut down a
white oak tree to burn in
your deer camp's camp
fire.
Terry Johnson is the
retired Program Manager
of the Georgia Nongame-
Endangered Wildlife
Program. He conducts
wildlife research and sur
vey projects, presents pro
grams and writes about
wildlife. Email him at
TJWoodDuck@ aol.com.
X Country
continued from page IB
ented runners on the
way up from the middle
school team next year.
He said he was especially
pleased with Miller's per
formance as a freshman,
showing great promise
for the future with his
14th-place showing.
Herr said he was con
cerned about Veterans
besting his boys' squad
for second entering the
region meet, but the
Bulldogs easily defeated
the Warhawks. The
coach said he hopes the
boys' team can crack the
top 10 at state.
The MP girls
cross country
team also
qualified for
state with a
third-place fin
ish at region on
Thursday. MP amassed
76 points to tie Perry for
third. Veterans won first
place with 39 points
while West Laurens fin
ished in second with 46
points.
Veterans' Bethanie
Bailey was the top indi
vidual with a time of
19:38 to beat second-
place Tiffany Mountin of
Perry by five seconds.
MP's top individual fin
isher was freshman
Katie Beth George, who
placed 10th with a time
of 23:09. Another MP
freshman, Kayley Dale,
was MP's next-highest
finisher in 13th place
with a time of 23:41.
MP's other counting
times were recorded by
sophomore Morgan
Haney, who placed 16th
with a time of 23:53,
freshman Naomi
Sanders, who placed
20th with a time of
23:59, and freshman
Klein Hopkins, who
placed 21st with a time
of 24:05.
MP's other two girls
competitors were junior
Summer Sanders, who
placed 25th with a time
of 24:27, and freshman
Carrie Neal, who placed
30th with a time of
24:41. There were 42
total runners in the girls
race.
Herr said his large con
tingent of freshmen girls
excelled immediately as
ninth graders in large
part because the team
runs three to six miles
daily at practice while
also working on speed
drills. He said if the
younger girls work hard
in the off-season, he
anticipates having an
outstanding girls' team
in future years.
The MP boys and girls
will next compete in the
AAAA state meet at
Carrollton High School
on Saturday, Nov. 8. The
MP boys placed 19th at
state in 2013 while the
girls' squad bested its
male counterparts, plac
ing 15 th.
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C-Team
continued from page IB
secondary for a 65-yard touch
down run. Hartage then ran a
bootleg keeper to
the left and into the
end zone for a suc
cessful two-point
conversion to put
Monroe County up
16-6 with 28 sec
onds left in the first
quarter.
Less than two
minutes later,
Wilson scored his
third touchdown of
the first half when
he bounced off sev
eral Knights'
defenders at the
line of scrimmage
before breaking out
into the open field
for a 43-yard touch
down run to give
the Bulldogs a 22-6
lead with 6:32 left
before halftime.
Upson-Lee
marched the ball
down to Monroe
County's 26-yard-
line late in the sec
ond quarter, but
Monroe County's Kendrell
Watts thwarted the Knights'
scoring dreams when he pres
sured the quarterback into
throwing the ball away on 4th-
and-13.
A long Wilson run moved the
Bulldogs into scoring position at
the end of the first half, but a
failed halfback pass and eventu
al fumbled pitch by Wilson
ended the second quarter with
Monroe County still in front by
16.
Monroe County's defense rose
to life midway through the third
quarter when the Bulldogs
stuffed Upson-Lee on a goal-line
stand after the Knights had two
chances to run it in from the
Bulldogs' one-yard-line. Upson-
Lee had another good opportuni
ty to get points early in the
fourth quarter after the Knights
blocked a Wilson punt, slightly
injuring his hand in the process.
However, the Knights, who
play on defense as well when he
picked off a pass with three sec
onds left, enabling his team to
kneel and run out the clock.
After the game, Monroe
County Middle School assistant
principal Kevin Yancey present -
The Monroe County Middle School team celebrate the area championship win over Upson-Lee at Dan
Pitts Stadium on Wednesday. The Monroe County Middle School squad will host its end-of-year
awards banquet at the Banks Stephens lunchroom at 6 p.m. on Thursday. (Photo/Richard Dumas)
started their possession at
Monroe County's 30-yard-line
after the block, only moved
backwards from there, ending
with a stop for a five-yard-loss
on a failed sweep to the left on
4th-and-ll.
Monroe County head coach
Kurt Greene asked Wilson to
get back in and carry the load in
the final five minutes, and that's
exactly what he did. Wilson's 20-
yard run with three minutes left
in the game essentially put the
contest out of reach. Later in the
drive, Hartage ran up the mid
dle for a seven-yard touchdown
with 1:27 left to provide the
game's final score.
Perhaps fittingly, Wilson was
the man who made the final
ed the Bulldogs' squad with the
winning trophy, and Wilson
received the Player of the Game
Award by the
borntocompete.com website.
Greene, who has captured the
last three varsity girls basket
ball region titles, said he hasn't
won a football championship in
"quite a while" when he was
coaching middle school at Jones
County.
"The excitement comes from
watching them get excited,"
Greene said. "It's another foot
ball game for me. But to watch
them get excited, to watch them
play the way they played
tonight. I mean they played
hard. You asked them to do cer
tain things, you made a few
adjustments, and they did them.
Greene said Rehobeth Road,
who Monroe County beat 27-0
in the semifinals and Upson-Lee
were the two best teams his
squad faced, but Monroe County
wore the Knights down over the
course of
the game.
"They
(Knights)
were
probably
the most
physical,"
Greene
said. "I
don't
know if
they were
the best
because
Rehobeth
was pret
ty good
too. I
thought
they were
very
equal. I
thought
they were
just big
ger. We
struggled
kind of
pushing
them out
of the way. I was real proud of
our offensive line, especially in
the fourth quarter, because I
think we kept the ball pretty
much the
whole
fourth
quarter.
They
were
bringing
11 people
up, 9
people up
in the
box, and
we were
just
blocking
down
and actual
ly driving them off the ball."
Greene said his team gelled
during the season because of the
high character and effort of his
players.
"No. 1 they are good kids,"
Greene said. "For the most part
they come to practice pretty
much every day. They don't
work as hard as you'd always
like them too, but they're just
good people. They come from
good families. . . They have fun
playing, and that's what's good.
A lot of those guys that are in
the eighth grade played last
year as seventh graders. That’s
how talented they are. No. 9
(Wilson), he just came out of the
woodwork, and man did he get
better and better? When the
year started, we weren't expect
ing him to be our running back.
And then the starting running
back didn't come to practice one
day, and we moved him in there.
And then all of a sudden he's in
there, and he hasn't come out
yet."
Monroe County assistant
coach Michael Smallwood said
he thinks Wilson, who he
labeled among the most explo
sive players he's coached, and
other c-teamers have the oppor
tunity to contribute for the
Mary Persons varsity in the
coming years.
Smallwood said, "If they'll
stick together and keep work
ing, they've got a real good
future."
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