Question
I have a couple large shagbark hickory trees in my yard, and have been waiting all summer for the nuts to fall.  But now that it is fall, I haven't found more than two nuts lying on the ground.  They seem to be very scarce.  Even when I found hickory trees growing in the woods, the situation was the same. Does this mean the tree will do this every year, or is this just a bad year for the tree?  

Answer
Good seed crops occur at intervals of 1 to 3 years with light crops or no seed during the intervening years.  The fruit ripens in September and October and seeds are dispersed from September through December. Husks are green prior to maturity and turn brown to brownish black as they ripen. The occurrence of frost when the trees are blooming in the early spring can extend this interval. I would say the hickories in your area are in one of these low years of nut production.