Is it time for hickory nuts yet?

[gregintenn]

I can’t seem to find any.

[Dirtshooter]

All the squirrels around here may have come over and got them.

[gregintenn]

There is a good crop of squirrels this year. I haven’t found any fresh cuttings though.

[RED333]

Tree rats getting ours, wife is a bit mad.

[A.J. Holst]

I have a cool 4 trunk hickory tree, normally very fruitful.

Haven't seen many on the ground this year either.

3 permanent, fed-em-once stray cats, so only the occasional suicidal squirrel.

Dry weather have any impact?

[Dirtshooter]

Hey Greg I happened to go for a stroll in the woods this morning and the ground was covered with acorns and hickory nuts. Your trees may not produce much this year or the tree rats got them already. Just happened to think about your thread.

[gregintenn]

There just aren’t many around here this year. There is a good crop of walnuts and acorns, however.

[Dirtshooter]

Hey Greg, just curious but do you gather them and eat them? Or were you just noticing there wasn't many? I was looking online and several people say the shagbark or we called them scaly bark hickory have the best tasting nuts. Got some closeby and going to try some.

[Omega]

I've got a bunch on the ground from a tree in the front yard, the one in he back, not so much, but there are a bunch of squirrels back there so that may be the reason.

[Grunt67]

I've often wondered why hickory nuts are plentiful some years, some not. Got curious after Greg's thread & Googled it. "Experts" say they run in 3 yr. cycles. In my experience hunting over the years, "in some areas", this seems to be true. Squirrels follow the food.

YMMV........

[gregintenn]

On 10/21/2019 at 6:57 PM, Dirtshooter said:

Hey Greg, just curious but do you gather them and eat them? Or were you just noticing there wasn't many? I was looking online and several people say the shagbark or we called them scaly bark hickory have the best tasting nuts. Got some closeby and going to try some.

Yeah. I really like to eat them. My wife makes a pie with them, and it is much better to me than a pecan pie, and I love pecan pies.

I also know an older lady who likes them, and I told her I’d bring her some if I could find them.

[Dirtshooter]

Went deer scouting yesterday and tree rats must be planning for a hard winter because I found very few nuts, bunches of hulls though.

[gregintenn]

26 minutes ago, Dirtshooter said:

Went deer scouting yesterday and tree rats must be planning for a hard winter because I found very few nuts, bunches of hulls though.

That’s the thing here. I haven’t found where squirrels have been cutting them. I just don’t think ours made many nuts this year.

Did you eat any? They tell me they are even better toasted. I haven’t tried that. I like em right out of the hull.

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

That’s the thing here. I haven’t found where squirrels have been cutting them. I just don’t think ours made many nuts this year.

Did you eat any? They tell me they are even better toasted. I haven’t tried that. I like em right out of the hull.

I always thought you were supposed to toast hickory nuts first. 

[Grunt67]

12 hours ago, MacGyver said:

I always thought you were supposed to toast hickory nuts first. 

Mac. I never tried to roast 'em, I ate them right out of the hull. Suppose roasting would be good tho. Growing up in the country, my Mom & I would pick them up in the fall, and I'd fix me a small pan of nuts, & eat them in the winter. She also made pies with them, No pecans around then. Good stuff tho.

[MacGyver]

14 minutes ago, Grunt67 said:

Mac. I never tried to roast 'em, I ate them right out of the hull. Suppose roasting would be good tho. Growing up in the country, my Mom & I would pick them up in the fall, and I'd fix me a small pan of nuts, & eat them in the winter. She also made pies with them, No pecans around then. Good stuff tho.

My parents have a giant hickory nut tree right behind their house.  It drops so many nuts that it’s actually kind of problematic as they age.  I didn’t realize how many varieties of hickory trees there were until last night when I was researching them.  On their particular variant, the nuts were quite bitter when raw, but really pleasant when roasted.

The squirrels sure love them. If you’re sitting out on their back deck this time of year, you’re likely to end up getting showered with hickory nut hulls as the squirrels chew through them.

 

[Dirtshooter]

Hey Greg, while doing a little deer scouting yesterday I found a whole bunch of shag bark hickory nuts and picked up a couple of handfuls. When I got home and put them in the vice every last one was rotten, I guess that is the reason the tree rats hadn't picked them up.

[gregintenn]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:24 PM, Dirtshooter said:

Hey Greg, while doing a little deer scouting yesterday I found a whole bunch of shag bark hickory nuts and picked up a couple of handfuls. When I got home and put them in the vice every last one was rotten, I guess that is the reason the tree rats hadn't picked them up.

They know. I’ve heard you can put them in a bucket of water and the bad ones will float. Never tried it.

[gregintenn]

On 10/24/2019 at 9:43 AM, MacGyver said:

My parents have a giant hickory nut tree right behind their house.  It drops so many nuts that it’s actually kind of problematic as they age.  I didn’t realize how many varieties of hickory trees there were until last night when I was researching them.  On their particular variant, the nuts were quite bitter when raw, but really pleasant when roasted.

The squirrels sure love them. If you’re sitting out on their back deck this time of year, you’re likely to end up getting showered with hickory nut hulls as the squirrels chew through them.

 

There is some variety of hickory tree that I’ve only found a couple of, and no longer have access to them. They have nuts big a walnuts, and are even better to eat than the scaly bark variety. I’ve no idea what they’re called.

[Grunt67]

2 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

There is some variety of hickory tree that I’ve only found a couple of, and no longer have access to them. They have nuts big a walnuts, and are even better to eat than the scaly bark variety. I’ve no idea what they’re called.

I've seen a few of those large ones, some time ago. One was down on Long Creek, I think, another was on a little island in Rocky Creek off Cumberland river in Wilson Co. The hulls were thicker than norm.. Have no idea how to locate them now ( & I've tried ), LOL.

[quedz]

41 minutes ago, Grunt67 said:

I've seen a few of those large ones, some time ago. One was down on Long Creek, I think, another was on a little island in Rocky Creek off Cumberland river in Wilson Co. The hulls were thicker than norm.. Have no idea how to locate them now ( & I've tried ), LOL.

"The Shellbark Hickory Tree is similar to the Shagbark hickory tree in its bark, though it is not as shaggy. This hickory features larger sized nuts than other types, and can generally be found in wet, fertile bottomland areas. Shellbark is a less common variety compared to such varieties as the Shagbark and Bitternut, however it is no less worthy to be planted, and it's wood is used in many of the same ways"

[Lumber_Jack]

13 hours ago, gregintenn said:

There is some variety of hickory tree that I’ve only found a couple of, and no longer have access to them. They have nuts big a walnuts, and are even better to eat than the scaly bark variety. I’ve no idea what they’re called.

Yep as hughd quoted those are most likley Shellbark 

[Luckyforward]

This discussion brings back memories of finding hickory nuts with my grandfather.  God, how I miss him.  

Thank you all.

[Grunt67]

This is a bit late in the thread, but thought i"d add this, FWIW. I have ordered seedlings of Shellbark hickory, the large nut variety, ( small saplings about 1/8" dia. shank, from the Tenn. Forestry Service in East TN. Had to order 25 ( minimum order ), $40. I'm having them shipped FedEx to be delivered in March.

I'm not starting a tree farm, so there will be several left over, depending on how this goes, LOL. If anyone ( Greg, thought of you ), wants any, let me know. These will be free to my TGO buds, out of the goodness of my heart, LOL. I know most don't believe I have that organ. My ex said I was the only living heart donor she ever saw.

I only plan on planting maybe 2 or 3 in my back yard.