Anyone ever shoot Cicadas?

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I’ve lived in West Virginia/Maryland for a time a few years ago and found the Cicadas the most interesting bug that most West Coasters don’t know about.

Anyway, long a story short I found them to be difficult but fun to shoot.



anyone else try this?
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When I first read the title I swore I read Crickets. 
Anyway as a lifelong PA resident I can tell you this about them.

The hundreds in your yard, are thousands as you only hear the males. And if you have trees, you’re not seeing but 5-10%.

There are at least 2 on different cycles. One emerging every 13 years & one set every 7 years. They have no defense whatsoever so they are easy pickings for all birds. Should be an easy shot with a .177; but you might want to use Hatsan’s new .30 Blitz just to be sure.

They molt & you’ll find more of the empty shells than you’ll ever see live ones. 
I have to check but there maybe a 3rd that emerges to mate every 27-28 years also.

 
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They seem to come out at random intervals depending on the year.
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Nothing random about it. Their emergences are very predictable.

And on another note.....when they're around the trout fishing can be phenomenal!
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They seem to come out at random intervals depending on the year.
Click to expand...


Nothing random about it. Their emergences are very predictable.

And on another note.....when they're around the trout fishing can be phenomenal!

Oh yes, fish love them
Click to expand...
 
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We have them here in northern AZ. Maybe I'll pop some this year for the heck of it.

I have a renewed interest in shooting bugs because this year we had a longer and larger fly hatch than normal. We've shot a couple tins of 17 cal pellets with a 85% hit ratio, that's a lot of shooting and tons of fun splating them with friends spotting and competing with each other to see who blasts the fly first!!!
 
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Those were big game to me as a 5 year old kid growing up here in Texas.I used to hunt them with a slingshot loaded with 3 or so BBs to give a shotgun pattern effect.I know the correct name is Cicada but we called them locusts back then.I spent many a hot summer afternoon listening for their sound and scanning up in the tree limbs to locate them.That was over 60 years ago and I still now hunt grasshoppers on my place with an old Red Ryder BB gun.Good fun.I may grow older but I refuse to grow up!
 
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