Kentucky's eastern mountain forests and central rolling hill country produce some of the most consistent oak mast in the country. White oak, red oak, and chestnut oak together set the tempo for fall deer movement across one of the nation's premier trophy whitetail states.
Categorical ratings (failure → excellent) per year. Overall is solid; white oak and red oak series are dashed.
| Year | Overall | White Oak | Red Oak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | good | good | good |
| 2023 | poor | poor | poor |
| 2024 | fair | fair | fair |
| 2025 | good | good | good |
Most recent first. Click through to a year-specific page for a permanent reference link.
Preliminary reports indicate strong recovery and bumper white oak in many regions.
Mast is plentiful enough to pull deer off plots and ag fields. Find the productive oaks and set up tight; expect deer to be less predictable on traditional stand sites built for travel routes.
Mixed recovery; red oak outperformed white oak.
Mixed conditions — some areas with productive oaks, others without. Scout for the pockets that produced and hunt the travel routes between bedding and mast. Plots and ag fields still hold deer where mast failed.
Mid-South mast failure; white oak particularly weak in central and eastern Kentucky.
Concentrate on remaining food sources. Food plots, ag fields, persimmons, and isolated mast pockets become high-traffic stand sites. Expect competition from other hunters who notice the same thing.
Strong production across the state, particularly in the eastern mountains.
Mast is plentiful enough to pull deer off plots and ag fields. Find the productive oaks and set up tight; expect deer to be less predictable on traditional stand sites built for travel routes.
Locate specific white oak flats with active drop, hunt tight to the trees, and expect deer to be less predictable on traditional travel-corridor stand sites. With food everywhere, generic stand placement loses to oak-specific scouting.
Kentucky Division of Forestry — Mast condition survey; August–September annually.
Kentucky Division of ForestryAlways cross-reference with the most current published agency report. Mast surveys update annually in late summer to early fall.
Statewide mast reports tell you what to expect in general. Bield: Hunt logs every productive oak you find on your specific land — and turns multi-season data into stand sites that compound year after year.
