cicada hatch and poult production

[catman529]

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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[HookedonHooks]

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.

[Shoreguy]

I was sent a picture of a Turkey that was killed a few days ago in Maryland that was filled with cicadas. 

[Brian Fahs]

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