NWTF Free State Chapter

Turkey poult success can jump by 75% in a major cicada year, but not for the reason most people think. Yes, turkeys eat cicadas, and a giant hatch gives hens and poults a massive food source at a critical time, but that is only part of the story. The bigger piece may be what cicadas do to everything else in the woods.

When cicadas are everywhere, raccoons, opossums, skunks, groundhogs, coyotes, foxes, and about every other nest predator in the woods suddenly has an easy meal crawling all over the ground. Their bellies are full, which means they are not spending as much time hunting turkey nests and newly hatched poults. Indiana’s 2021 brood survey during the big Brood X cicada year showed 4.0 poults per hen, 74% higher than the year before, and reported broods were up 415%. Cicadas do not fix every turkey problem, but they can absolutely give turkeys a short-term boost that hunters may notice for the next few seasons.

— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor writer | Owner, DeLong Lures