Gypsy Moth caterpiller

[Dingler3]

So it looks like all my scouting of acorns, apples, crab apples, and any other mast tree has been lost. Thank you to this invasive species. So now what? Where will the deer be this fall? Do any of you beasts have any suggestions? I know there have been out breaks like this in PA and MI, I also hear reports from ILL this year. I guess the main question is how did they effect your hunting that fall? Should I start looking into out of state? Maybe in state but a different area? Just for reference I'm in new york. Thanks for any help or advise.

[Grizzlyadam]

I'm in CT, parts of our state have been getting devastated for years by them. Oaks get hit especially hard and in many areas that is the primary food source. Seemed like in areas that got hit hard the deer were most likely to be found in areas with green fields. Lots of deer were loaded up in residential areas due to the abundance of food in people's yards. It can be a gold mine or a desert depending on where you can get into.

[brancher147]

I have never seen them really get anything but oaks. Mainly white oak or chestnut oak here in WV. They can drastically change things and I have seen whole mountains have oaks killed for miles after 2 years. I haven’t had to adjust much for hunting though and they usually die out after 2 years max around here. I have seen a negative impact in small areas but have also seen a positive impact in larger areas where many trees die due to the thick young forest that returns once the big oaks die. It’s never been anything I felt like really messed up my hunting but I am surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of National Forest so there is always somewhere else to go if a spot is compromised.

[Edcyclopedia]

Remember back in the early 80's as a teenager, they were so badddd you good literally her them chewing @ night when it was dead silent - no joke.
Devastated the hardwoods...

[oldrank]

https://youtu.be/UYTUc0kPNLY

We killed thousands of them when I was up at my property a couple weeks ago.

[Dingler3]

Thats how bad they are around my area now. I will be checking some spots away from home this coming week to see the damage. They say its not the chewing you hear, its the pooping. There is a bird that eats them, but not to this degree of damage! I understand the point of losing some trees to help thicken up the hard woods, but what a waste of wood that would be on state lands. Im glad I sprayed my own fruit trees this spring, they should all be fine. That's for the advise. I know buck bedding will still be where it always is, but come rut doe bedding might change. We will see.

[Grasshopper]

They can kill mountain sides of oaks but in turn it opens up the canopy and allows growth in the understory. In a few years you end up with lots of browse and cover with acorn producing oaks intermixed within aka all you can eat buffet. Invasives can seem like the end of the world, but mother nature finds a way through it all.