Confirmed sighting of poults already on the ground in Covington Cty. I was working the dirt in my chufa plot attempting to get it ready to plant next month. I was also hoping to expose some more chufa for the turkey to eat and I flushed a hen in the process out of the ankle to calf deep grass. I immediately stopped the tractor and I could see little poults scattering through the grass. I stopped what I was doing and got out of the area. Hopefully the hen went back to look for them. The poults where very small so I’d guess a couple days old.

I learned a valuable lesson today! Stay my butt off the tractor this time of year! I need to get my dirt work done much sooner so I lesson my chances of disturbing the hens nesting and the young poults I know better to bush hog this time of year but I never expected to disturb a hen and tiny poults in my chufa plot. The grass was full of grass hoppers so they were in it bugging. I feel like a turd and got sick to my stomach!!

Yessir. I stay away as hard as is to do. We’re finding nests out in wheat fields well be combining in 30 days. I just hope they hatch and fly by then cause a machine with a 45ft head in it moving 5 mph in wheat dust you can’t see hens or poults. Some wil die I know.

They were back together just a few minutes after you left the area guaranteed

Or he might have killed a couple of them.....

No guarantee though

Na, mom knows what she's doing. Watching them regroup is an amazing thing if you've never seen it.

We almost ran over a hen with about 8 poults this morning. Actually the poults, we clearly saw the hen

I feel confident I did not get any of the poults but as you stated no guarantee. It’s a lesson learned moving forward I will do my best not to repeat.

I’ve never really thought about it but does the hen sit on the nest during the night before they hatch or fly up to roost somewhere and when they are born how long does it take them to be able to fly. Do they just hang out in the woods while mom is up in a tree

I believe once she’s laid a full nest of eggs and starts sitting on them, she won’t roost again until the nest is lost or, if it hatches, until the poults are 10 or so days old (and able to fly short distances). I think hens take short breaks from sitting on the nest most days—to go feed—but not at night.

Yea they stay on the nest the whole time except for an hour or so a day to feed/water/dust and what not. Generally around the 2 week mark they can start getting up on some limbs.

This is the crappy part about planting summer plots this time of year. I am planning to plant the weekend of the 22nd I hope they are out of the fields by then.

I've got some tractor work that needs to be done. May put it off for another couple of weeks and use this as an excuse.

Bumped a hen off a nest with 15 eggs on Monday in north Dallas county and saw a hen with fresh poults yesterday a few miles away. Always good to see them this time of year.

I saw a hen with a bunch of poults in my garden Sunday afternoon. Monday morning I heard her putting loudly and went outside and saw a predator of some sort attacking the poults. I thought it was a big house cat but it could have been a fox; I only caught a glimpse of it. I grabbed a gun and went running to her and got up within a few steps of the hen and she made no attempt to run from me. I circled around her looking for the predator, but it was gone.

I would say that the hen somehow knew I was trying to rescue her poults, but it's more likely she had the remaining poults crouched around her and wasn't going to leave them. I haven't seen them since; I hope the varmint didn't get them all. Life is tough when you are a poult who can't fly yet.

I saw 12 little ones today, but they were in my brood box

I got 4 that are 3-4 weeks old myself.

Just got this picture. Hopefully this is the hen and her poults I almost got with the tractor and tiller. She’s must be a pretty good momma because we have had a lot of heavy rain lately. I hope she can keep them safe a few more weeks until they can fly.

I love to see that squeaky!

Absolutely. Most excited I get about game cam pictures are ones like that one.

Great to see, thanks for sharing

Anyone seeing poults?

My buddy told me he see a nice group the past couple days. He was able to count 17 on the farm today. They were old enough to fly so hopefully the odds of them making it have increased.

I hav seen a few hens with nothing (maybe it was same hen) hope the poults were just out of site

Wonder if they could still be laying ? At this same location - I saw poults about size of quail and it was July last year - thought this was kind of small for that time of year

Believe it or not this morning I saw a hen and a whole bunch of poults feeding in some clover about 6 feet from traffic on Ross Bridge Parkway in Hoover. They were very small, looked like baby chickens.

Perfect weather for them. This part of the state will be covered up with 2 year old gobblers in 2023 just like it was this last season. Chuck will take the credit

Yeah the 10 day for our area looks hot and dry. If there are young poults on the ground Mother Nature should cooperate in the coming weeks.

Just saw my first one a couple of days ago. They were about the size of a quail. Only 5 in the group.

Saw 8 that could fly that the first young poults we have seen in several years! Hopefully they will survive to eat all the chufa we planted for them this weekend.

Saw some in clay county this morning that were big enough to fly

Buddy sent me a video yesterday of 8 little ones running behind there mom in cullman co.

I gave a club tour this morning and saw a hen with 8 to 10 poults. They were old enough to fly.

I saw 3 different hens today that had poults that could fly. One had 11-12.

I saw a hen with at least 8 a week or so old poults a few minutes ago.

Danny was on the club yesterday farting around and saw 3 different hens with poults. It seems as though we are having another good hatch on the club. Hopefully 4 different hen sightings all with poults is a good indication of a good hatch. I thought it would be worth mentioning that all the sightings have been around burns that were done in late March. Those areas look very good and must offer good bugging areas.

I saw 7-8 little fuzz balls zipping in and out of the grass beside the road in pike county today. Momma was doing her best to keep them out of the road. Hope she got it figured out.

I figured I’d share some more pics with this group. The first several are from my club. This group of hens successfully hatched a nice group of poults.







I am not satisfied with my poult production on the local farm. I still have a lot of work to do there as for predator management. I will say it’s better than use to be and I’m seeing some progress. The first picture I got this morning in my chufa plot. The poults appear to be a couple weeks old. I may personally be the reason this hen only has 4 poults. I damaged a nest with 7 eggs while doing tractor work had been recently laid. The hen was most likely in the process of laying her clutch. This was the same day I almost got the hen and hatched poults. So as I stated in that thread tractor work is off limits for me if I can’t get it done early. Anyway this hen has 4 poults that look to be a few weeks old. The second picture is one I posted a month ago with 7 fuzz balls. So two of the hens on this farm successfully hatched 12 poults that I know about. Hopefully they make it to adulthood as that would be pretty significant for this specific property.

Today



Month Ago



I know I do a lot of complaining on here but I’m extremely passionate about the Wild Turkey. It makes me sick to my stomach to see multiple states signing on to some of this hog wash being spread far and wide that as very little to do with putting poults on the ground. I’ll continue to do what I’m able to do that has produced results. It’s definitely not the best I’m capable of, but a little bit of my help is better than nothing.

Great pics! Producing poults is the only way to increase turkey numbers. Adult turkeys can survive almost anywhere; it's the poults that need the habitat and the protection.

Squeaky,
Appreciate your conservation work and spreading the word about what we as hunters and lovers of the turkey can and should do.

That is a beautiful sight.

Keep fighting the good fight, Squeaky. Thanks for sharing the pics!

There was 10 poults seen at my least last week

I have definitely seen a lot less this year than recent years.

did my part to help.. i put out several life jackets for my birds to use and i see at least one took me up on the offer

I finally got a picture of 3 hens with 9 poults. Best trail cam pictures I’ve gotten in a while. They look to be a little bigger or about the size of a chicken.

Had very small poults all over a trail today. Couldn't fly. Momma hen just stood there waiting on them.

Last week there was a gobbler gobbling his head off in the afternoon in the same area. A hen was clucking and cutting. Had him fired up.

Just saw a hen with 6 poults this weekend that I havent seen before. They were a little bigger than quail. Seemed mighty small for this time of the year.

Saw some late bloomers yesterday...At least 3-4.. Couldn't have been more than a few days old. Momma had them out on shoulder of road after a rain shower.

Saw a fine group beside Hwy 84 this evening. 2 hens and 10-12 poults a little bigger than chickens.

Still haven’t seen a pout in person or on camera. Fingers crossed they’re raising somewhere close by.

I am still getting poult pics nearly every day on the little home place. I believe the small group of hens have raised 22 or 23 poults to good size now. I know I get a big ole grin on my face when I see them on camera. That amount of poults is pretty significant for this property and I'm extremely thankful to have them. Maybe they will all make it to adults.

Son called this am , he saw 2 hens with 8 poults . First poults we have seen on his farm . We have only been seeing turkeys for 2-3 years on his place . Hopefully this is a start to a flock that we can hunt in a few years !

I am still getting pictures of my group too. I smile just like it’s a picture of a 140 buck!

I got this picture this afternoon from the home place. This hen has 6 poults with her that look fairly young for how late it is.



These are some of the early hatched poults. There is approximately 14 to 17 of them this size.

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Saw a picture of some last week that looked days old, they were tiny

Squeaky that’s awesome. Fine birds

Nice pictures Squeaky. I've seen more this year than I have in the last 10. Coastal SC. They are literally everywhere. I saw a group of 3 hens with 30 one day.

Not exactly turkeys, but I have been pleased to see two large broods of young quail this week. To me they’re kind of an indicator that things are OK

Saw another brood(s) this morning. Hen with 5 or 6 small poults maybe a little bigger than a softball and another hen with 1 about the size of a small chicken.

I hav pulled most of my cameras - but I did see 5 poults in between Tville and linden on 43 w the Moma in a ditch feeding just off 43 this week - about duck size to little smaller

I only had 2 hens to bring their newly hatched poults into my yard this year; last year there were 3. I never saw them well enough this year to get a good count, but they were well into double digits.

Saw them a few weeks ago and they were down to 5, saw them Wednesday and they are down to 3. I know for a fact that a neighborhood dog got one and a cat got at least one. Found a place where it might have been a hawk that got one.

It's great to trap predators, but many of the worst predators are legally protected.

I hope to hit traps hard this fall or by December

Finally made it back to the farm to do a little cutting on food plots. First field I pulled in to I saw a hen and she wasn’t moving to quick then I noticed the grass moving behind her looked to have a pile of young ones. I just stuck to cutting roads.

Also saw 3 jakes and a long beard which brings up another question. I never noticed it until the last 2 years but starting around this time I using see a couple of groups of jake and there is always a long beard in front of them. Are the long beards acting like a parent or is coincidence.

Just my opinion, but I don't think there is anything like parental guidance taking place. At some point near the end of the breeding season the gobblers start getting back together, and I think the older gobblers tend to just treat the jakes as one of the boys by that time. I suspect that the reason the groups you are seeing have more jakes is as simple as the fact that there are a lot more of them.

Those groups of the previous years jakes and longbeards will then generally stay together until the next breeding season, but I don't think they feel any great need to constantly be together. The flock might be busted up by a human or a predator and it might take them days to get back together. There might be a very attractive food source around and the gobbler flock might be mixed right in with the hens and poults for a period of time, then split up again. They don't have a rule book, so you might see any sort of group.

As far as I can tell, the only rule in the turkey rule book is if you see something that could mean danger, get out of Dodge, guick. Turkeys are not real big on curiousity

Saw poults everywhere this weekend. Had 6-8 in my neighbors driveway yesterday. Probably saw 50 or so at our club. That damn dominant gobbler is a man whore!!

On the way home from church i saw 3 hens with around 20 poults. Not on my land but is is encouraging to see good nesting success.

I wish I could get pics of them but there is a group of 2 hens on the main lease I have, that have more poults than one can count before they get out of sight. someone who has been hunting for 50 years siad its the biggest group of poults he's ever seen. I can't believe it honestly because we do little trapping and have just started to have a hog problem yet there are 5 or 6 groups of poults that have 50 + combined... the hens on this property never cease to amze me with their production rate.

Mother nature saves the day yet some state agencies will take credit for it through their season changes.

Way better hatch around here this summer than the previous two summers.

Saw almost chicken sized poults at the end of May, and saw poults less than a week old yesterday morning. Several second nest attempts appeared to have been successful around here.

Ive seen a few but i definitely dont think itll be a banner year. Glad to see the few i have though.

Finally got a pic of these 2 hens and 10 poults


And I’ve also been seeing this hen and 2 bigger poults that keep to themselves.

They’re growing

those poults look hot!!

Dang Shaun, them jokers hatched late!

Yessir

three poults but.

3 taliban!

Saw 4 behind my house Thursday. Late hatch. First I've seen this year

Finally saw a few today while I was cutting fields. 3 hens and 10 poults. Not a great average but ill take it.

Went to hit golf balls and saw 4 hens and 12 poults on the driving range.

Still seeing the hens with 8 and 6 poults about every other day. The one with one or two I don't see as often. Though I did see a mature bald eagle (fancy headed buzzard) eating a dead coon on the side of the road today from about 4 feet away. Sucker better stay away from all those nice young turkeys. He was only about 300 yards from where they like to hang out.

I also took a drive to check out the food plots today. Saw 14 gobblers total on two separate soybean plots but none on the clover ones. Hope they make it until spring.

Just seen 5 hens with zero poults following.. or nowhere to be seen for that matter. I hope they were somewhere hiding. I k ow they should be a decent size by now so I woulda seen em in a 8 acre field

They are as big as the hens down here

Maybe it was poults I was seeing sure looked a little bigger

Ours are just a hair smaller then the grown hens now.

Same here. Drove up on a feild this morning that we planted yesterday that had 20 or so on it. I had get after them to make them leave...for a minute.

Holler if they get to be more than you can handle bro

Saw some yesterday for the 1st time on our place they were about half grown....6 years ago was 1st time a saw a turkey on us n my grandad has had this chunck of land since I was born..hopefully they'll keep increasing