Those of you familiar with staining red oak know that the larger "summer pores" accept a lot more stain and tend to stain much darker than the rest of the wood surface. Are there any techniques to alleviate this such as using a pore filler before staining?

Water pop the floor prior to staining

If you don't know what it means to "water pop" the hardwood, it means evenly dampening the sanded wood with water to "pop" the grain. This cause the wood grain to swell very slightly at the surface. When dry, the wood will be slightly rougher which allows it to absorb more stain. This is an especially useful technique with dark stains on oak or any time a deeper, more uniform color is wanted.