I have a few 75+ year oaks and about 3 have had their canopies pretty much stripped by worm/caterpillars. Will they bounce back this year and will they be pretty bare until next spring? Anything else I can do to prevent this in the future. This is the first year this has happened.

If it was me, I would call godfather of gardening or some call the 911 of gardening, Neil Sperry. You can call him direct on Sunday's at WBAP 820 am radio. He will tell you exactly how to handle the problem. You will get a no bull answer without the hype of product sales as other garden shows.

Spraying Bt will take care of them, although you need to reach the tops of the trees if you can. If you don't have a sprayer mix he Bt powder in a small bucket and use the siphon on a pressure washer. This works pretty good. The trees will put out next year with no problem, this is a cycle that occurs in many areas. Here in the Hill Country I have seen thousands of acres stripped but a year later all looks normal. Yesterday I observed in amazement as a large migrating flock of yellow headed blackbirds (thousands) worked the oak trees on our place. They would settle on four or five trees and clean out the worms, then move on to other trees nearby. Amazing to watch.

Thanks. These trees are probably over 40-50+ feet tall so don't think spraying is an option. Figured they have been around for decades and have survived this before.

I wouldn't wait the time Bt will take to work if they are actively feeding. A pyrethroid or similar insecticide will slam them immediately.

You can run a systemic insecticide in the future, or just scout and spray.

Don't spray wasp nest around your house.

Yes they will come back

Had this happen to our trees several years ago. They will will leaf out again soon.