Poults

Sat on a huge pasture with Binos this morning hoping to catch a lonely gobbler which I didn’t. I did see 7 hens and 6 had poults and the lone hen had 4 jakes dogging her. I believe this super dry spring has made for a good hatch this year. I got to thinking all these hens hadn’t been with a gobbler in over a month. This was in TN.

They dont need a gobbler but once, they store his spem and can use it to nest multiple times.

👍🏻I figured the poults were about a week old. 35 days since these hens starting sitting on the nest all the time. I figure hen without poults had nest destroyed and starting over. I believe this has been one of the driest turkey season I can remember which is a good thing for several reasons.

Actually 28 days she sits.

28 +7=35

Saw a hen this morning on the side of the road just north of Kent that had a bunch of quail sized poults with her

Had some on the lawn this morning; first poults of the year. Last year we had 3 different broods that used the lawn for their first few days. I know that we have more hens around this year, so I am hoping for more than that

It's a good excuse for me to not mow the grass.

Not poults, but saw my first baby antelope today. Joker looked about as tall as a crow running behind it’s mother. Pretty neat. Two weeks ago and it wouldn’t have faired too well with the 47” of snow.

Still waiting on a sighting. Last year had 3 hens with poults I saw pretty regular along with 2 coveys of quail with young birds.

We’ve had them as far north in the state as you can go for 2 weeks.

I saw 4 poults "quail sized" like CNC said, with a hen on Taylor's Ferry Rd around the Oak Grove area last Thursday, midday.

Went to spray a small field to get ready for chufla - finally going to try to plant chufla - i ran 2 hens out and saw 2 poults about quail size fly off - hopefully several were there that just ran out - all were at edge of field in thigh high grass - my first sightings

I ain’t seen jakes here in 2 years - got bunch hens here n deer and first of turkey - had 4-5 gobbler before season - They left for most of Turkey - hope to get some new blood jakes here

Ran into a gobbler with a hen in Grant yesterday.

I had a hen on camera this morning with five little ones. I hope they make it

As I hav trapped this week - seeing some large hawks sit around thinned timber - notice them every day - wonder if they hunting poults - I hav not had a Jake going on 3 years

Poults were on the run this morning in the wet ditches as I traveled to Church . This is Osceola NWR.
I see this every year. I think they need to get out in the open a little.

The hawks are out of control, they definitely need thinned out.

^^^^
I noticed them every day in - seeing multiple per trip in woods and I think they getting more than I had thought

Owls are worse and the reason I feel like they are is because they can continue to murder them from the roost as the poults grow. I don't care for any predators and I do my part to keep them away.

Just saw 11 about the size of a quail at the house .

Year after next should be good. I’m either getting lucky seeing them or a lot more poults made it this spring.

Just saw a hen in Macon Co with a bunch of poults the size of small footballs......

None yet in perry co. Patiently waiting

Just saw a hen with at least 10 poults, they were big enough to fly. First I’ve seen on one of my places this year

I saw the same thing Sunday on my place. It was very nice to see. I had one place I had been seeing some with a hen but now I’m just seeing the hen. I hope the little ones made it

Got a game cam pic of a hen with 5. Also a gobbler that’s strutting everywhere he goes.

Saw 2 hens with at least a dozen poults this morning in Perry county. I think there were more, but those were the only ones I actually saw. One group of poults were chicken size and one was quail size, but all of them could fly. If dry weather really helps them they should be doing great, cause it is super dry.

Saw 2 hens with 12+ poults this afternoon. Tried to get video, but the grass was too high. They were a little bigger than quail.

My buddy that lives on the farm I have been managing to build up the turkey population just text me a report. He saw 4 hens with at least 20 to 25 poults big enough to fly. I had a really good hatch on this property last year and know of 10 jakes that were using the farm this spring. Hopefully this group of poults will make it to become adults.

^^^^
Having 10 jakes is huge - great year next year

Yeah T-dog we had a good hatch around my house last year and I saw the results. Another property of mine had 9 jakes on it this spring and we left some mature birds as seed. Things should look really good for numbers of birds on these properties going into spring 2023.

^^^
Heck yea - good for you man!!

Chuck says "Your welcome"!

Chucky ain’t got shucks to do with it. Unless he starts going out and toting a drip torch or running a saw for folks.

Chuckie hasn’t done squat to add more turkeys on the property I hunt that I can assure you!! The reason I have more turkeys and plenty to hunt have been due to my sweat equity and my personal management practices.

But your hunting opportunities will continue to be limited because some random counties in North AL don’t have enough turkey and too many people living in those areas and hunting.

You have to hunt the wrong time of year and shoot less. So how long will you continue to help the population?

I'm gonna continue to do what I can, when I can. I'll let the rest of the cards fall where they end up. As long as our current DNR leadership is in charge, they have little respect from me!! I do not support the direction they are going and never will based off their made up excuses and reasoning. I'll say it again, the current regulations/changes are not putting more poults on the ground. I have never depended on the state to provide more game for me to hunt and I don't reckon I ever will. I was taught early in life you get back what you are willing to put into it. I hate it for the guy's that don't have turkeys to hunt and hopefully things turn around for them.

Saw 2 hens with 6-8 poults big enough to fly on the other end of the property a few minutes ago

Seen 7-8 yesterday a lil smaller than a chicken.

Saw some the other week with 3 hens fixing to cross the road at the house in a curve. I got out and scared them off right before a car came flying around the corner

Saw 2 hens with 16 total poults.... I'll stop grinding my teeth at night now

I busted up a flock yesterday afternoon, and the poults looked nearly grown. They sure were stupid; kept walking up to the field and making the kee kee call with me standing in it. Several of them just looked at me from 30 yds away.

^^^^
Just got my chufla In The ground Saturday PCP - hope to get some rain - we got 1 small rain and 1 decent rain last week

Wish ours were that size. The ones I saw were no bigger than a quail.

Ive seen a couple longbeards this week and they let me drive within 15 yards of them. Then they stand and watch like they are mad I found their favorite berry patch.

Good luck! I hope you get more rain than I have. I planted on 5/28 and it hasn't rained since. No rain in the forecast this week, so it's gonna be well over a month with nothing. Looks like that was several hundred dollars just thrown away.

I think I am going to give up at the Perry county place. It's the driest area in the state and too big of a risk for any summer crops. My little patch at home looks good.

That’s crazy my place in heiberger has had rain regularly while at home we’ve had less than an inch in a month.

Got this picture today in my chufa plot on my little home farm. I guess my trapping efforts of ridding that property of as many nest predators isn’t producing any results I had 10 jakes on this farm this spring so the future looks bright.

old friends poems quotes

Very nice

Hope I hav a Jake this year

We have hardly no nest predators on my 40 and the adjacent 80 but I never have seen hatches like that.

Nice! It would really be something if trapping really helped

Sj22 I can tell you or anyone else willing to listen trapping doesn’t hurt. In my personal it’s the most important thing you can do for yourself if you want more turkeys and that’s the only thing you can control. This property 5 years ago had a few birds around. With trapping and managing a few small open areas for nesting cover it has helped this property. This land is most creek bottom land which is very wet at times. It’s a coon paradise as the habitat is perfect for them.

Trapping definitely helps and it's just another piece of the puzzle. For some people, such as lease holders who can't manipulate the habitat, it's the biggest thing that can be done. It's time consuming and not a one time thing, but I've personally experienced the turn around in nest success. The spring after we removed 150 coons and possums in a little over a year I saw a couple of hens with 18+ poults. Was there a third hen I didn't see ? Maybe, but either way it was a good hatch. Have also seen good hatches the past two springs and we continue to work on nest predators all we can.

I couldn’t agree more, I’ve seen a huge difference on one of my places but it tickles me that the experts say it’s not that big a deal, you can’t convince me that it doesn’t help

That’s a great hatch. I hope most of them make it to adulthood. Hard to say which is tougher, surviving the nest or making it to adulthood after hatching. Neither come easy for them it seems

That's encouraging. Great work Squeaky!

Experts = DGT = fuzzy math

Trapping = more hatched eggs = redneck math

Pick a side…….

Squeaky what are you calling a few birds, when you say it had a few birds around it? What animals are you guys trapping?
We have killed 200 ish coons and 60 ish possums in the past 3 years, have tried trapping coyotes and bob cats, but not succesfully. But then you have hawks, eagles.ants, snakes, floods etc.

We have planted 9 chufa patches the last 3 years and most of my hen pics in chufa patches look like these below. I will say chufa seems to attract a few more turkeys but really do not see any increase in poult numbers from what we can tell.

Ben all I have trapped is coon and possums on this property. When I say a few I mean it did not have a huntable population on it when I moved back home. I'm not sure how long it was like that. I do know my best friend did allow another mutual friend and his son to turkey hunt during my absence. I was in Alabaster for 10 years and the turkey management suffered in my absence. Those guys that got to hunt were of the type that take and don't do anything to help the population. Add another neighbor into the mix with the same mindset along with the predator numbers and that might have led to the decline.

This is private land that I have some say into what takes place on it. The only thing I have done is plant 1.5 acres chufa, burn the planted pines every 3 years and plant some/maintain 2 acres of Yuchi arrowleaf clover. The hens on this property absolutely love to nest in this two acre clover plot. It is thick by the time they start nesting, it's full of grass hoppers and offers a readily available food source for the nesting hen. She doesn't have to leave or go far to get some food.

The habitat is mostly hardwood that is on the wet side. Lots of water oak and whiteoak but in my opinion it has thicker understory. There has been some timber harvest over the years by the neighbors but nothing on this place in 20+ years.

I say you are doing a solid job on your property from what I know. There are other factors that is still contributing to poor poult production on your place. What that might be, who knows. I will say one of those hens appears to be a young jenny (middle pic) and they don't typically hatch a clutch.

The good and the bad, the hen I had on camera actually has 6 poults (if they’re all hers) but there was another hen with her. Then I saw another hen with 0. So it’s gone from 5 poults per hen to 3 poults per hen to 2 poults per hen.

Just got hammered by a good rain - Chufla been in Ground a week - maybe it will do good - we will see

Sprayed my regen Chufa plot yesterday and planted another 1 acre plot yesterday. Saw a total of 7 adult turkeys in 3 locations and I know 4 are adult gobblers. Also saw a pair of quail this morning. Hope they are successful in raising another brood this year.

Saw a group of 13 this weekend big enough to fly. Here's to hoping they make it. Also saw a group of 6 last week.

FINALLY seen about 10-12. Knee high healthy looking. Was getting worried

Not a poult report, but I just traveled the Lay dam road from Chilton county to Coosa at around 11 am. Saw a group of 3 longbeards in the middle of the road near Little Tom's. Went a couple of miles further and there was a lone gobbler in the middle of the road. I don't know why they are out in the road like that, but it's good to know that area still has a lot of turkeys.

That area is loaded with birds

It has been since I lived here. There are 4 or 5 hunting clubs that have that land now, but it used to be all public land. I hunted it often from the 70s through the mid 90s and killed a bunch. So much of it has been clearcut, but the turkeys have adapted and are still there. And you can be sure that they have been hunted hard and it hasn't made any difference.

That's the area I hunt and this is why the Chucky business is frustrating. I try to tailor my efforts more to turkey than deer and still have a strong, I think, population. I don't know where their study areas are, but they are not indicative of state-wide. Their regulations shouldn't be either.

Talked to my south neighbor who runs a lot of cams and he said we had a great year with a lot of poults.

Just jumped a flock out of my garden; I saw 3 hens and 7 poults that were chicken size. I think there were more poults, but didn't see but 7. I'll probably see them again.

From my perspective, the turkey crisis is a lot like the climate crisis.

These will be ideal age by next spring

I might could even trick one of them Shaun. What day you want me there??

I saw 2 hens with about a dozen or so decent size poults today

Whatever days best for you bud, welcome anytime

According to the studies on the other thread - we are seeing true miracles on a regular basis here in AL.

AL DNR and Chuckie will be along shortly to tell everyone how great their new regulations are working out for the state His own trapping buddy clearly and openly stated in a recent podcast that the outcome of the turkey population will fall on the private landowner/ lease holder. Sounds like he has the same line of thinking as PCP and many others on this website. When the states DNR get finished taking away the incentives for private landowners to produce more turkeys, that's when the tires will fall off the bus. They are riding a fine line right now in my personal opinion!

I am thankful these studies/projects are showing some tangible evidence that nesting predation is/has been one of the known issues. It's a lot easier to take care of known issue versus one of these made up hypotheses "Turkey Doc" is pushing.

We’ll talk about it in MS opening week if you want lol

Deal

I saw 2 hens with 7 poults this evening. It was on the same ridge where I watched 4 gobblers die. I guess the dominant bird survived. These must have been a late hatch because they were large pigeon size. That seems small even for 37° N.

Saw my first ones last week. 2 hens with 8 poults about the size of chickens. Then 1 hen with a couple of poults on another place.

Saw 2 hens with 8 poults today

I saw my big group of poults in person this afternoon. I had a picture of this group awhile back in my freshly planted chufa plot. They sure have grown since then and all looked to be doing well. It was a big group so hopefully all that were in the group picture from earlier made it.

About a third of the hens I’m seeing have poults, today was far worse

Only 1 hen today had 6 chicken size poults.

Saw a group of 10 hens without

Saw another group of 7 hens without but had 3 jakes with them

Saw 2 hens by them selves

Saw 2 jakes by themselves

^^^^^^^^ thats awesome

My vote for mother of the year !

Not all hers, there's another hen that didn't make the picture.

Best I’ve seen so far is 17 poults with 2 hens. Poults are chicken size

My buddy sent me this picture yesterday. He said there were more poults about size of a chicken but only got the picture of these two. I have a lot of work to do on this place I do believe. I’ve seen poult tracks in the road but this is first confirmed sighting of poults on this property.

See lots of stuff that needs fire and/or herbicides...

Kendall and my hands are absolutely tied to do any of that. It's a crying same the owners/timber company will not burn the select cut pine on this property. The burn would be super easy as the previous owners have lanes around these timber stands that I keep maintained. It was being burned at one point in time. I have asked about and even offered to burden some of the cost if they would help with and allow it to be burned. They are firm on "NO".

So this is a prime example of a lease holder not being allowed to improve the property for the benefit of owners, myself and the wildlife. It does have some good habitat but there are other areas that could be easily improved with little cost.

I have got permission to make some openings bigger and I plan to trap it heavier for predators. That is about all I am allowed to do unfortunately.

Saw 9. This morning

What about edge feathering or removal of mid-story plants that are not economically important?

I agree, it’s a shame they are that closed minded.

This was at Fort McClelland yesterday. 2 hens with 9 poults.

I still haven’t seen a poult this year. Really haven’t seen but a couple of turkeys period.

Winston County this morning







Poults about the size of chickens

Chambers County Yesterday: 3 Hens and 14 Poults.....probably 2 pounds each.

That’s what you wanna see

Miracle upon miracle. And not one study can hatch a single egg. Hmmmm……

They could all fly pretty well so I would think their chances of making it are way up at this juncture

So how are the nest predators on these properties? Extensive trapping taking place or just natural predator numbers?

I do not know. My buddy sent me this video while driving home from work. Just seemed like a good sign

Saw the 2 hens and about 10 poults 3 different times today. They love hanging out in a fallow 8 acre field that has a little volunteer millet and sorghum in it.

Counted 8-10 poults on our property in Dallas county this weekend. They seemed to be pretty small for this time of year that far south

Second nesters maybe?

Absolutely. But….since the dominant gobblers were likely dead during late breeding, those poults were just figments of your imagination.

Could have just taken this long for a new dominant gobbler to finish his breeding and move over to the new property to breed the hens there. If a dominant bird was killed early in the season where you saw the poults.

DGT anti hunting disciple on queue!! Awesome….

I’ve got one that made it

The fact that people know what DGT stands for is sad to me. Phuck Chuck, Chamberlain, and any of their other nwtf cronies associated with their bullchit lies.

Correct I do nothing but spread anti hunting and fishing propoganda. Thanks

My poult flock with their hens are now decimating the chufas. I don't want them digging them before the tubers mature, but I decided to not try to keep them out. The poults are about as big as the hens and it's hard to tell how many survived. I don't see them except when they are running out of the patch and don't have an accurate count, but it looks like more than we've ever had.

Same here. They've wrecked my plots. I've got some volunteer WGF sorghum I'm going to leave standing in hopes that it will last through the fall.

There hasn't been a turkey killed on this property since 2014. That's not to say we don't try. Just havent had any luck. The neighbor to the south didn't kill one this year. I doubt the people to the north turkey hunt much(or very effectively) just based on what I know about them.

You'd think we would have more birds.

I saw a hen with 4 poults crossing a road in Perry county this morning, a couple of miles from the farm. They were only about 100 yds from a working loading deck of a logging operation. They somehow know when they aren't in danger. The poults were about 3/4 grown; a later hatch than most I've seen this year.

I caught what looks to be a Jake on camera - I will confirm in time

He had about a 4 inch beard - I will check for spurs w a bettr pic

That does not sound like much - but I ain’t seen a Jake on my place in 3 years

They usually move to neighbors in turkey season - but I May get a chance at a mature Tom opening week. They usually leave mid to late March

Now I am showing 2 jakes on camera together - big deal for me. Ready to do more trapping 😀

👍👍

I saw a flock of poults on the Lay Dam road Saturday. I almost got the camera on them before they got out of sight, but they were a little too quick for me. They were very small for so late in the year; not more than half grown. I saw 5 or 6, but I don't have any idea of the total number.

I think I have seen more poults this year than I ever have, and would proclaim it a great hatch were it not for so many folks here saying that they haven't seen any at all. They have decimated my chufas, but I haven't seen the poult flock lately.. There have been 2 hens that didn't hang out with that flock. They didn't raise any poults and just hung out together all the time. They got to the point of being almost tame; wouldn't even leave the chufas when I drove the cart through on the way to the garden. And now there is just one. No idea what happened to the other, but turkeys live a tough life.

I saw some in clay county last weekend and one of them was small, maybe half size of a chicken. I’ve seen a good many this year as well

I saw a pile of poults in Kentucky last weekend not so many around here

Dang it man - I just got a 3rd Jake - 3 jakes appeared on camera today. It had been 2 for weeks - another one just joined em!! It’s been 3 years since I had any jakes show up!!

I counted over 15 crossing the road the other day hopefully they’ll live cuz we don’t have many around