The other day, the very same day that everything went wrong, I was cutting some southern red oak that had been lightning struck and dead for a year or so. It had some really large grubs it in. They were as big as a couple of knuckles on my little finger. I wish I had gotten pictures, but I was too busy trying to figure out all the other things that were going wrong. These grubs looked kind of like hellgramites (not sure if that is spelled anywhere near correctly). Anybody have any idea what these might have been without having a pic?
Thanks.
Yep! Flat head borers There are Flat Head Borers that attack fruit trees, oaks, pines, etc. all over. The get into a dead log that still has bark and feed under the bark until they get of size. Then they turn and start drilling int the log. You can hear them in a wood pile from 50 or 60 feet away. The gnawing takes them about 6 inches deep where they turn the chamber in a "J" shape and pupate. Behind them is left an oval hole that is filled with "frass". The frass is a tooth pick looking shavings that fills the hole behind them.
When they leave the hole as a beetle, the hole will be made round and the frass will disappear.
The Southern Pine Sawyer is one of the Flat Head Borers. He matures into a grey beetle with long antennae that curl back over his head. You will see them a lot when you work around a pine log yard.
Two that attack oaks are the Red Oak Borer and the White Oak Borer. Both are Round head borers but do pretty much the same damage as a flat head borer. Their entry holes are usually round and filled with frass.
I've been told that they make good fish bait. But, have not had much luck with them.
You probbly hookin' them wrong, Tom. Don't never hook'em in the head, but alway hook'em in the tail. Thataway, they can reach out and grab the fish. Gotta reel'em in fast though, 'cause they'll eat the thing before you can get him in the boat! :o
I have tried to use those giant grubs for fishing. I was out on 5 lakes one time when the bass were hitting anything you through in the water AFTER I took the gtub back off my hook. I had some a couple three with me I saved from a log the day before. After catching several fish and running out of crawlers, I put a grub back on and not a bite. Took him off and put on a beaded/spinner crawler harness on without a crawler and caught MORE fish. Put a new grub back on and nuthin. I think DanG is right. I think fish are scared of em.
You guys got it all wrong.Try catching chickens with 'em.They love them things.
What size hook do you use for chickens?
I don't know about fish, but the guy's dog sure seemed to enjoy them.
We see them all the time in dead oak. I always called them oak borers too. I'm not sure of their scientific name.
I never thought of using them for bait. I guess you guys saved me alot of trouble though. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/56027/IMG_1391.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1562536619)
Is this what you are talking about?
smiley_horserider Yowza!!!
Yup, from a downed Water Oak.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/DSCN0784S.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1331998200)
I have never had any fishing luck with them either, but I have never tried them on a trotline, etc. for catfish.
Timber shrimp!
Years ago I used to backpack and camp with a Bavarian fella. He taught wilderness survival on the side and had survived WW II on the non-winning side. One time in February we were camped on about a 4 foot snow pack and he was splitting up some small firewood when a big grub popped out of split, with out missing a beat, he reached down and picked it up, looked it all over, and popped it in his mouth. When he turned and saw the look on my face, he said "What?, Grubs are one of the highest sources or protein you can find. Good Stuff!"
I took his word for it. ;D
That would be one of those situations where, if I had to, I would. Casual grub eating, no way! I remember watching that "Man vs Wild" and he ate some raw zebra, some raw salmon, I'm like, "hey it's a survival situation, you do what you gotta do." But then the one episode, he was in bear country and found some grizzly scat that where it was evident the bear had found a good berry patch. So instead of trying to find some berries, he mashed up the scat and those berries off with water. I thought to myself, "sometimes it's better to just die"😑
What are those the larvae of? I found some of those in the rotted base of a walnut log.
Chickens love 'em.
Quote from: barbender on July 07, 2019, 09:55:02 PM
That would be one of those situations where, if I had to, I would. Casual grub eating, no way! I remember watching that "Man vs Wild" and he ate some raw zebra, some raw salmon, I'm like, "hey it's a survival situation, you do what you gotta do." But then the one episode, he was in bear country and found some grizzly scat that where it was evident the bear had found a good berry patch. So instead of trying to find some berries, he mashed up the scat and those berries off with water. I thought to myself, "sometimes it's better to just die"😑
Someone once said: "The difference between what you will eat and won't eat is 24 hours"
Oak borer.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev2_042855.pdf
To make these grubs more appetizing, impale them on a splinter of wood, then roast them over the coals until they split. They taste like shrimp than have dirt on them. I never had the chance to try them with hot sauce. Regards, Clark