any studies on this? are we in for a bumper crop of toms two years from now in the eastern US?
I noticed grasshoppers yesterday. That's 2 months early. We just been so dry. Wpuld think that will help poults
Anytime there are cicada's in Ohio the kill numbers go up the following two years.
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https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/gobble-gobble-experts-predict-wild-160531690.html
Quote from: Parrot Head on May 15, 2021, 06:48:15 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/gobble-gobble-experts-predict-wild-160531690.html
I believe this article hits the nail on the head for both turkeys and predators.
I've noticed population trends the couple of years after cicadas. Good hunting and the turkeys are healthy. I killed my top 3 heaviest turkeys after the last cicada hatch
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I was pretty excited when I first read about the brood X hatch a couple months ago. Unfortunately, the hatch won't be as widespread as some articles might have you believe. Some made it seem like cicadas would be swarming everywhere east of the Mississippi, but it really is in pockets in several states. Indiana and MD I recall being two that are pretty well covered by this brood.
I believe Ohio and Ky is in on them also.
There's a map of all the broods and their distribution and what years they hatch. We don't have this years hatch in my part of tennessee. Our next big hatch is 2024.
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Quote from: catman529 on May 16, 2021, 08:51:55 PM
There's a map of all the broods and their distribution and what years they hatch. We don't have this years hatch in my part of tennessee. Our next big hatch is 2024.
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Didn't know this. I'll need to look that up.
Some false or miss leading information here concerning Kentucky. If the last hatch was 2008 and they come out every 17 years, Do the Math???
I'll let you know this week should be here Thursday or friday. Maybe different in different parts of the state.
Quote from: bbcoach on May 17, 2021, 09:16:06 AM
Some false or miss leading information here concerning Kentucky. If the last hatch was 2008 and they come out every 17 years, Do the Math???
There are multiple different broods, some 13 and some 17 year.
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My oldest son killed a bird a week and a half ago and his crop was filled with them. They were larvae stage without the wings. This was in Maryland and the bird was killed in a field.
Don't matter how many cicadas there are to eat if the raccoons eat all the eggs. I'd imagine on places where coons are still trapped there could be bumper crops on those particular properties.
Quote from: HookedonHooks on May 17, 2021, 01:05:07 PM
Don't matter how many cicadas there are to eat if the raccoons eat all the eggs. I'd imagine on places where coons are still trapped there could be bumper crops on those particular properties.
Some of the highest poult recruitment in the state is not far from where I live and there are raccoons everywhere. They can and will raid a nest, but it doesn't mean they always do. Trapping coons is at least a good practice if turkey numbers are down and they need all the help they can get. It's crazy how there can be so many predators in certain areas but the birds keep cranking out good hatches every year. And some areas have seemingly prime habitat but no birds. Turkeys are weird critters
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Quote from: catman529 on May 17, 2021, 01:39:00 PM
Quote from: HookedonHooks on May 17, 2021, 01:05:07 PM
Don't matter how many cicadas there are to eat if the raccoons eat all the eggs. I'd imagine on places where coons are still trapped there could be bumper crops on those particular properties.
Some of the highest poult recruitment in the state is not far from where I live and there are raccoons everywhere. They can and will raid a nest, but it doesn't mean they always do. Trapping coons is at least a good practice if turkey numbers are down and they need all the help they can get. It's crazy how there can be so many predators in certain areas but the birds keep cranking out good hatches every year. And some areas have seemingly prime habitat but no birds. Turkeys are weird critters
I do agree, it also has weight on what those predators also have available for other food sources too. I believe raccoons on properties with deer feeders are probably raiding a lot less nests and sitting under that feeder most the night. But that is irrelevant to most public lands.
This year I have seen and heard of a lot of raided nests already in talking with hunters across the country, and more coyotes coming to turkey calls than ever it seemed like in our cumulative stories/hunts. Fur market has been down bad now for several years and the predator numbers are up exponentially because of it. Anyone down playing this issue isn't looking out for the turkeys, and raccoon trapping is the number one thing that people can easily do to help their current local populations that will make immediate changes on short term to better reach long term goals of flock growth/expectations both on a personal property and at a state level if enough people get on board.
I was sent a picture of a Turkey that was killed a few days ago in Maryland that was filled with cicadas.
I was hunting in western maryland today. I truck camped in the state forest and noticed a locust tree crawling with cicadas. It was in the middle of the night and that tree looked like it was alive and moving with them. Awesome sight to see