# 2016 Poult Report



## Gut_Pile (May 23, 2016)

What have you been seeing?


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## Gut_Pile (May 23, 2016)

5/20 - Floyd County - 1 hen with 4 quail sized poults


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## TurkeyDreamer (May 23, 2016)

Hen with 7 poults.


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## GAGE (May 23, 2016)

Elbert County: hen with 6-7 poults


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## PappyHoel (May 23, 2016)

I will let you know this weekend.  I plan to spend most of the weekend scouting around and dilly dallying.


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## GAMHUNTER35 (May 23, 2016)

only saw 3 hens with bout 10 poults apiece


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## TurkeyDreamer (May 23, 2016)

^^ that's "only" 30 poults lol.


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## sman (May 23, 2016)

One with 4.
one with 10 plus.
2 with zero.


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## Tadder (May 23, 2016)

Here's a idea, if someone has the know how. Do a state poult map like the hearvist map.


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## steveus (May 23, 2016)

May 14   2 hens with 10 poults, about the size of bantam chickens


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## steveus (May 23, 2016)

May 14   2 hens with 10 poults, about the size of bantam chickens.  Ware Co.


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## sman (May 23, 2016)

1995 I saw probably 200 turkeys, maybe 300 on a WMA in August. Every hen had a pile of poults  and they where everywhere. Those days are gone. 

I don't believe they have reached the carrying capacity of the land line. Turkeys are hardy animals and can adapt to most everything. I've been out west where winters get cold and summers extremely dry.  They are flurishing there with no problems. There are areas all around me where there should be turkeys, but you only find a pocket of em here and there.


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## Dinosaur (May 24, 2016)

sman said:


> 1995 I saw probably 200 turkeys, maybe 300 on a WMA in August. Every hen had a pile of poults  and they where everywhere. Those days are gone.
> 
> I don't believe they have reached the carrying capacity of the land line. Turkeys are hardy animals and can adapt to most everything. I've been out west where winters get cold and summers extremely dry.  They are flurishing there with no problems. There are areas all around me where there should be turkeys, but you only find a pocket of em here and there.



Move along.... nothing to see here. Everyone knows Ga. is in the top five states where you have the best opportunity to kill a turkey. It's true because I saw that on here.


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## Reminex (May 24, 2016)

sman said:


> I don't believe they have reached the carrying capacity of the land line.



I am always befuddled when biologist or the NWTF claim turkeys are at the carrying capacity.  They most certainly are not.


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## Dinosaur (May 24, 2016)

Reminex said:


> I am always befuddled when biologist or the NWTF claim turkeys are at the carrying capacity.  They most certainly are not.



What those folks want you to believe and the truth, are not always related. Especially when our govt is involved. And they are.


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## bowboy1989 (May 24, 2016)

may 21 1 hen 6 poults. May 22 1 hen 3 poults both were in Toombs county


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## hambone50 (May 24, 2016)

May 24... saw a hen with 1 very young poult in Jones County. Hoping there were more nearby.


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## 01Foreman400 (May 24, 2016)

Being too wet can't be the excuse for low poult survival this year......


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## antharper (May 24, 2016)

01Foreman400 said:


> Being too wet can't be the excuse for low poult survival this year......



That's for sure !


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## Reminex (May 24, 2016)

01Foreman400 said:


> Being too wet can't be the excuse for low poult survival this year......



Haha just wait....it was to dry


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## bearhunter39 (May 26, 2016)

Seeing hens with poults this week in the mountains.


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## Hooty Hoot (May 26, 2016)

Obama's fault.


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## deerhunter121169 (May 26, 2016)

Gordon county, 3 hens, zero poults three days ago in the Ryo Mountain area.


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## NUTT (May 26, 2016)

2 hens today no poults in Coweta County. We are doomed unless we get a Republican in office.


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## dfhooked (May 27, 2016)

Too many humans in Georgia. End of story. The glory days are gone.  Or blame the Internet


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## Dinosaur (May 27, 2016)

dfhooked said:


> Too many humans in Georgia. End of story. The glory days are gone.  Or blame the Internet



This is truth brother, and I told my son that recently. I'm glad I got to hunt it, but sorry that he won't get to. It's great that the NWTF and all those in the hunting entertainment industry got rich off the wild turkey. Now we as hunters will  pay the price. Thankful for the good ole days though. Good times.


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## Timber1 (May 27, 2016)

Like someone said in another thread, the stress level on hens to hatch and raise their young has got to be a factor. So many hunters tromping thru the woods during the whole breeding, nesting, hatching phase has got to have a negative impact on the birds. Maybe the dnr should do a hen stress evaluation and make up charts and graphs to explain it all to us. Maybe even channel funds thru the nwtf and receive an award for telling us absolutely nothing relevant.


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## Buford_Dawg (May 27, 2016)

*Chattahoochee WMA*

Yesterday, watched adult hen for 15 minutes in a field, no poults seen.  I left her feeding in the field.


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## deerbuster (May 30, 2016)

1 hen with 5 poults on camera. Also saw a lone poult by itself the first thing the other day with no hen in sight. He'll be lucky to make it


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## Gut_Pile (Jun 2, 2016)

Spalding County: 1 hen, 7 poults


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## antnye (Jun 2, 2016)

Got a hen with 8 hanging around the house. Murray county


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## goblr77 (Jun 3, 2016)

Early County. One hen with three poults.


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## rhbama3 (Jun 3, 2016)

one hen, no poults. Dougherty county.


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## turkeykirk (Jun 3, 2016)

Henry county: 1 hen 0 poults
Butts county: 1 hen 0 poults


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## Riverrat84 (Jun 3, 2016)

Seeing some with none, some with 1-10. Been a while since i have seen any poults at all so hopefully this is a good sign and theyll raise on up and make it through the summer. Had some pretty big rain last weekend that was probably hard on them but alot of the ones im seeing are already 10-12" tall and flying good. Definitely an improvement from the past 2 or 3 years here.


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## NUTT (Jun 3, 2016)

3 more single hens this week in different spots. Saw one hanging with a doe maybe talking about when she was due cause she was fat!


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## JHannah92 (Jun 6, 2016)

Saw 2 hens with 8-10 poults last week in Talbot co. Lone hen with no poults today in Harris.


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## JHannah92 (Jun 18, 2016)

Anyone still seeing poults? Saw a Harris co hen this morning with at least 5.


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## DRBugman85 (Jun 18, 2016)

We worked the feed plots this morning on 2 leases and saw 6 hens with 8-10 poults on 2 plots,3 hens with 8-10 poults on the other 2 plots.We will work more plots in the morning and hope for the same.


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## cumberland (Jun 18, 2016)

Saw 7 poults with a hen at Lake Burton this week.


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## antharper (Jun 18, 2016)

*Troup co. Today*

Seen this hen today, she's got 6 !


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## turkeykirk (Jun 19, 2016)

Not looking good around my area. Have seen 7 hens ( 1 in my field 3 days in a row) in last 2 weeks. No poults yet. Got a gobbler still gobbling across the road from the house. Maybe he's shooting blanks!


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## GAGE (Jun 19, 2016)

I saw 2 hens and 5 bantie chicken size poults this morning.


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## DRBugman85 (Jun 19, 2016)

After working feed plots for the weekend we seen more hens with pouts than in a long time,some flying and some bitty size but a lot anyway.6 Gobblers on the Sandy roads. Hopefully they make it for  next year. &#55357;&#56842;


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## spurrs and racks (Jun 20, 2016)

*18 hens and poults*

18 total count and of the 18, 6 were poults.

but, They are getting up quick.

s&r


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## QuackAddict (Jun 20, 2016)

I saw three different hens in Newton county last week and none had hens that I could see. Two of them were with a longbeard. 

Here's a couple ideas I've considered regarding the decline. 

1.  The Economy-  When the economy was so bad turkey hunting was incredible at our place!  Now that's it's been on the rebound numbers are way down. More hunters in the woods now that more folks can afford it?

2.  Decline of Coyotes?-  we used to have such a high pop of coyotes on our newton tract that you would more often than not see them during the middle of the day when riding around. There were also turkeys everywhere at that time. Fast forward 5 years or so and we have put a hurting on the coyotes. Now there are hardly any turkeys. Coincidence or maybe less coyotes equals more nest predators due to lack of predation by coyotes? 

Just a couple reasons I've considered but who knows. Until then we will still be feeding the yotes lead and steel.


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## bangbird (Jun 20, 2016)

That tropical storm really hurt them around here.  One farm I was monitoring closely there is not a single surviving poult.  This is 4 years in a row we've had a major rain event at the wrong time.


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## kiltman (Jun 20, 2016)

No hens seen this passed weekend, but i did see 8 Toms/ jakes in Polk Co..  They were all in group out in a pasture.


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## Tadder (Jun 21, 2016)

Saw 4 hens last wk. 0 plots. Not good in my area of NEGA.


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## Mike in Al (Jun 21, 2016)

Saw a hen with 12 -13 this morning in quitman co. These were the size of a chicken. I drove around a curve and they were running across the road and flying all around my truck. it was good to see them but I don't hunt in quitman.


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## antharper (Jun 21, 2016)

Mike in Al said:


> Saw a hen with 12 -13 this morning in quitman co. These were the size of a chicken. I drove around a curve and they were running across the road and flying all around my truck. it was good to see them but I don't hunt in quitman.



Kmac will get them for ya , good report !


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## creekrunner (Jun 22, 2016)

saw 2 hens with a good group of poults in Coffee County monday morning


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## goblr77 (Jun 24, 2016)

6/15/2016. One hen with a single half grown poult just across the Hooch in Houston Co. Alabama.


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## Reminex (Jun 27, 2016)

6/24
Jones County-one hen, no poults

6/26
Jones County-3 hens w/ 14 poults.


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## doenightmare (Jun 27, 2016)

First pic of poults we ever got.


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## goblr77 (Jun 28, 2016)

6/27/16. One hen with five poults in Early County.


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## Gut_Pile (Jun 28, 2016)

Seems to be a pretty decent year so far


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## GAGE (Jun 28, 2016)

I have pics of three different hens with 3-5 poults with them, which is better than ever.


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## jdawg351 (Jun 28, 2016)

One hen with three poults Greene CO  6/24/16


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## antharper (Jun 28, 2016)

Gut_Pile said:


> Seems to be a pretty decent year so far



Just hope they can survive this heat and find enough water to survive, cause it's hot and dry where I'm at !!!


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## sman (Jun 28, 2016)

4 hens 11 small chicken size poults.  Lexington,  GA


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## Reminex (Jul 1, 2016)

2 hens with about 10 poults on 6/30.
Strutting gobbler on 7/1


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## QuackAddict (Jul 1, 2016)

Another July 1st strutting gobbler with four hens in Newton county. ZERO poults!


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## DRBugman85 (Jul 4, 2016)

After working feed plots for the past 2 weekends we have seen more hens with poults than in many years past. Sunday while driving the road and checking the gates/locks we saw 14 hens all had 6-10 poults and 6 gobblers in the feed plots 1 strutting with a hen with 9 poults ,looks like a great year for the nesting on our leases. Keeping predators under control has helped so for the past 7 years and killing the HOGS has even help more.


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## tonyrittenhouse (Jul 5, 2016)

Saw a lot of hens with a lot of little ones on July 4th in Gilmer County. The only problem is were I saw them was all on private property were you can not hunt. Here is one pic I was able to get. I could not press button on camera fast enough most of them had done got into the woods. There was two hens and probably over 20 little ones with them.


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## Luke0927 (Jul 6, 2016)

Saw three hens in Lumpkin in edge of field. Could have been more in wood line but I only visibly countrd 3 poults. Seeen 1 hen in this spot week or so before crossing road no poults seen with her.


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## Gut_Pile (Jul 13, 2016)

7/10: Lamar County

2 hens, 0 poults


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## Riverrat84 (Jul 14, 2016)

Saw about 20 half grown and 2 hens crossing the road about two weeks ago. Been a rare sight for the past 3 or 4 years.


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## mauserbull (Jul 18, 2016)

2 hens with 6 poults each.  Spalding Fayette line.


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## antharper (Jul 22, 2016)

I'm seeing more in Troup co. Than I've seen in quite a while !


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## Riverrat84 (Jul 22, 2016)

Took a afternoon drive around the club earlier this week and saw more poults than grown turkeys. Thank the Good Lord


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## NUTT (Jul 25, 2016)

Seen two hens with 12 poults in Coweta last week. Today I saw a single hen with  6-7 poults. These flocks were 3 miles apart. Awesome!


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## 01Foreman400 (Jul 26, 2016)

I've yet to see a poult in person or on camera.


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## Garnto88 (Jul 26, 2016)

Seen more this year than normal. Looks good so far.  Been riding more this year than normal and have seen numerous hens since end of may with 3 to5 on avg.


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## willie1971 (Jul 26, 2016)

Garnto88 said:


> Seen more this year than normal. Looks good so far.  Been riding more this year than normal and have seen numerous hens since end of may with 3 to5 on avg.



Great news.  If you go back to the beginning of the thread and read, you might as well quit hunting.

Start learning to trap.  Thin out the nest raider and trap coon and possum.  It is very easy start to trapping, and a lot of fun, especially with kids.


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## antharper (Jul 30, 2016)

*Troup co.*

Seen these today in Troup co. Two hens and 11 poults, a couple were about as big as the hens , should be a lot of jakes running around here next spring !


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## humdandy (Jul 31, 2016)

Saw a dozen Saturday in Screven Co looked to be about the same size of these.


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## GAGE (Jul 31, 2016)

2 hens an 10-12 chicken size poults in Oconee, and hen and 8 small dove size poults in Elbert county.


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## Possum (Aug 2, 2016)

Saw two hens with 10-12 poults near tallulah falls a couple days ago. Last few years I haven't seen many poults at all up here so I am hoping this year will be better. Of coarse it will be a couple years before I would be hunting this years hatch but I'll take it! I believe coyote numbers have come down slightly last couple years. Not sure if more people hunting them or probably just due to less food. I remember a few years in a row I would see about equal number of deer/coyotes in a season. Hasn't been that bad last couple years.


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## nick_o_demus (Aug 3, 2016)

Just had a hen and at least three poults cross the road in Walton County. Couldn't get a picture.


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## QuackAddict (Aug 3, 2016)

I saw a hen with a half dozen a couple weeks ago in Walton county in someone's driveway.  Saw a couple hens with about 6-8 in Jasper county earlier this week. Still seeing multiple hens every time I'm at our Newton lease with no poult sightings.


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## 01Foreman400 (Aug 3, 2016)

QuackAddict said:


> I saw a hen with a half dozen a couple weeks ago in Walton county in someone's driveway.  Saw a couple hens with about 6-8 in Jasper county earlier this week. Still seeing multiple hens every time I'm at our Newton lease with no poult sightings.



Was that on our club in Jasper?


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## QuackAddict (Aug 3, 2016)

01Foreman400 said:


> Was that on our club in Jasper?



Yes, just past camp!


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## 01Foreman400 (Aug 3, 2016)

QuackAddict said:


> Yes, just past camp!



Sweet!!


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## Timber1 (Aug 8, 2016)

Side of the road birds.


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## Steve Roberts (Aug 10, 2016)

Saw these yesterday in Hall Co.


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## Steve Roberts (Aug 11, 2016)

My wife saw these last Saturday in White Co.


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## bowhunterdavid (Aug 23, 2016)

I went across the savannah river from screven county into south carloina deer hunting last week and i have never seen so many poults in my life. I saw four groups with at least 12 to 15 per group. Looking good on the savannah river area next year.


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## DRBugman85 (Aug 23, 2016)

After working food plots this summer we have see more poults this year than years past looks like another good year on the way.


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## DRBugman85 (Aug 29, 2016)

willie1971 said:


> Great news.  If you go back to the beginning of the thread and read, you might as well quit hunting.
> 
> Start learning to trap.  Thin out the nest raider and trap coon and possum.  It is very easy start to trapping, and a lot of fun, especially with kids.


 That what I'm talking about kill the turkey Predators more turkeys.


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## QuackAttack101 (Aug 29, 2016)

*Poults*

Finally got some on camera in Lamar county.  Not as many as prior years, but after the silent spring last season, I'll take what I can get.  Is it March yet?


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## JMB (Sep 19, 2016)

Have 5 hens with poults I've been watching. June had them with around 3-8 little fuzzballs each. August came around and two hens had 3, one hen had two, and there was one left between the two others that joined up. Went looking today and I could not find the pair that had joined up, but each of the other hens had grouped together with three other hens I did not have a record of (I find a unique feature on each hen and catalog it so I know them when watching birds after season). Total bird count was 6 hens, two poults.


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## DRBugman85 (Sep 23, 2016)

Ive seen more poults this year than forever some half grown some chick size. We drove around this afternoon and counted 53 poults with 9 different hens and 4 hens with 7-10 chick size poults. One group 6 jakes and another with 8.One group of tom's had 5, another group of 7 tom's. Looks like the predator control has been effective for our turkey population the last 5 years.   Having 12,000 acers leased and maintaining a good food source (food polts and feeders)was just the thing we needed


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