Im from central Illinois and I can absolutely confirm that these little SOBs are what nearly wiped out our flock about 7 years ago. The year they first showed up it was nearly unbearable to hunt in. They were like black clouds and the turkeys suffered terribly. Your friend is right, they get in turkeys nostrils and suffocate them. But they also bother the hens so bad they actually ran off the nest and the eggs spoiled. The following 2 years on our farm were unhuntable. We never heard turkeys after they showed up. The last few years have been very minimal gnat activity thank god. I think we lost everybit of 90-95% of the flock in some areas. Im honestly amazed theyve comeback like they have. We are finally able to hunt our place solidly for the first time in years and actually at this moment ive counted at least 8 different gobblers on our place. I pray we never loose our flock like that again.
