What caliber for Brood II cicadas?

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gspn said:
In a perfect world I'd go with one of those double barrel .22 LR/12 gauge combo's.

The 12 could handle all the general purpose and flying shots, and the .22 could reach way up high in the trees for the precision work.

Since it's not a perfect world and .22 LR is scarce then I might just use the 12 gauge with #9 shot and substitute a slug when I needed the reach.

Or you could fill your backyard with tarantula's and have them do the work for you...but then you'd have a heinous tarantula problem after the cicada's are gone so that might be a no-win scenario.
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I haven't seen a tarantula in 50 years. I used to catch them when I was a kid and put them in jars! Never knew they ate cicadas. My wife and I called cicadas stupid when they'd repeatedly bang themselves into our iron lawn furniture in back, two years ago. Between them and the tree frogs, you couldn't go outside at night because of the deafening din.

I will be prepared, this time. Seasonals are good too.

I have a .22 Benjamin Marauder pellet rifle with a 6-24X 52mm scope and Chinese flashlight/spotlight hung underneath. Should get the ones at 50 yards or so. It has served me well with opossum, raccoon, and such at night.
 
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With proper eye protection, a wooden ruler 12" plus all those rubber bands you saved from the home delivery newspapers* can be quickly transformed into an improvised rubber band gun capable of striking cicadas at ranges of up to 8 feet, and just as quickly restored to the form of innocent office or school supplies supplies if the SPCC patrols roll through.





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* Now you know what they were good for, and what you were saving them for, even if you had no idea at the time.
 
r1derbike said:
I haven't seen a tarantula in 50 years. I used to catch them when I was a kid and put them in jars! Never knew they ate cicadas.
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I'm totally making up the part about them eating cicadas. They are so danged creepy and big that I assume they'll eat anything.

The last time I saw one was in Palo Duro Canyon in west Texas. I was driving up a hill and that spider was so big I could see UNDER him as I crested the hill.

heebee jeebees man...those things will suck your brains out. :what:
 
cicadas

My 458 Winchester squirrel rifle. (My local dealer thinks I have something against squirrels.)

Also, here we have an animal called a cicada killer. It's a wasp that's big enought to carry the cicada home for the young'ens. Gives you an idea of how BIG that wasp is.
 
unspellable said:
M
Also, here we have an animal called a cicada killer. It's a wasp that's big enought to carry the cicada home for the young'ens. Gives you an idea of how BIG that wasp is.
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I saw one of those once. it was so big that everyone that passed it was taking pics of it. Harmless to people...but you'd never know by looking at it.
 
We had the rascals last year.

That got me to wondering if there are primer-only shot shells in .22.... Are there any?
 
Yeah we have the eastern cicada killer wasps in oklahoma. I know that sounds strange because, well, oklahoma isn't exactly east. But we have tons of them. They aren't really harmless. They will sting you if provoked. And the damn things love to buzz us. They must think we are trees or something. And they have huge stingers. (1/4 inch) Have seen many sting and carry away cicadas. Pretty impressive actually.
 
Or you could fill your backyard with tarantula's and have them do the work for you...but then you'd have a heinous tarantula problem after the cicada's are gone so that might be a no-win scenario.
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Don't post that on the Internet.......before you know it that will be a new government program.
 
Get some of the Federal .22 crimped shot shells. They work better that the CCI plastic tips. Load up a pump .22 like a Rem 572 or old Sav 29b and shoot them when they are swarming around a tree. BANG!, BZZZzzzzzzz, squish.:D
 
unspellable said:
My 458 Winchester squirrel rifle. (My local dealer thinks I have something against squirrels.)

Also, here we have an animal called a cicada killer. It's a wasp that's big enought to carry the cicada home for the young'ens. Gives you an idea of how BIG that wasp is.
Click to expand...
I have witnessed those huge wasps clinging to cicadas underneath them, their stinger constantly hitting the mark, and was surprised the wasp was able to dig and drag it (still slung underneath the wasp) into a small crack between our sidewalk and dirt. It fascinated me so much, I got the wasp killer spray, waited until the wasp disappeared from sight, and squirted a good amount directly in the crack. Nothing came-out, so mission accomplished.

One note; the wasp looked absolutely livid with anger by its body movements and stinging action on its way to the crack. I was most impressed to stay out of the way.
 
Mercy !!!!

That's one BIG wasp.:uhoh:
wasp.jpg

Kind o' hope we see some o' them ( we wrongly call 'em locusts 'round here )
cicadas. I've been wantin to buy me a new air rifle as of late.
 
My dog King who I lost in December, 10 days before he would have been 14 LOVED to snack on Cicadas! When they would emerge, he would be standing up on his back legs walking around under my trees, looking for a tasty snack. A couple of years ago they had a lot more of them than usual, and he gobbled up about two dozen of them in about 10 minutes. I was shocked that he kept them all down. My other dog, Molly, his littermate, was terrified of them. She killed all kinds of animals out there, and only was prevented from killing a big raccoon ( I had to be impressed, she had no problems with it at all) by a neighbor's kid breaking her concentration, but any big bug that could fly made her a quivering mess.
 
Dang, this brought back pleasant memories of my brother and I shooting them with BB guns all day long. Lotsa practice, there.

Inside the house we were building, still drywalling it, he and I would shoot at the wasps sitting in the framing when Mom and Pop were gone.

Hit the big glass front picture window once. Pop was pissed when he found the hole. We denied everything and claimed some kids driving by had hit the window with a BB gun. But, as most of you will recall, when you hit glass with a BB, the little glass cone that pops out is on the other side of the glass, so naturally, it was obvious that the window was hit from the inside of the house.

So in a couple of days, I spotted him outside with one of our BB guns, shooting at a bottle and examining the glass cones that fell inside the bottle, and thinking about it....

I immediately took a looong bike ride.

My brother caught most of the hell, but I ain't sayin' in words who actually took the shot. Nope. But I "owed" him for years after that, and that was my actual punishment.

"Well, what about the time you shot the window and I took the heat?"

You know how that goes, if you have an older brother.

Terry, 230RN
 
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Google Carpenter Bee Loads. :) I have been loading for them and "hunting" them for a few years now. I havent shot a cicada but if the chance comes while I am stalking carpenter bees I just may have to take a shot. I just hope TN doesnt place a bag limit on either of them LOL
 
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We had these some years ago. Be sure that after they're all dead to clean your gutters out. You would not believe the smell if they stay in there. It smells just like there is a dead body up on your roof. We had a puppy that also loved to gobble them down.
 
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