What does a mast failure mean for deer hunting?
Mast failures concentrate deer on whatever food remains — standing crops, food plots, browse, soft mast — and produce some of the most patternable hunting of the season. Deer have to feed somewhere, and there are far fewer somewheres to choose from.
Late-rotation soybeans, standing corn, brassicas, and clover plots become high-traffic food sources during mast failures. Stand placement on the food source itself — an evening sit on the upwind edge with quiet entry — produces does and following bucks throughout the rut and into late season.
A partial mast failure (one species failed, another produced) is even more useful because it concentrates deer on the productive species. Walk the woods early October to identify which trees produced and which didn't. Pair with state mast reports.