Today I was hunting with a great friend trying to help him get his triple trophy for the year. (He killed a bear and a nice buck last fall). As great as it would have been to be there with him for the accomplishment, we had to let a legal bird walk. A hen with probably an 8" beard leading a brood of 13 poults. An encouraging sign!! Our morning didn't end with a dead turkey but we left the woods with smiles on our faces!!
Always a great sight and hopefully they all make it to adults.
Seen my first ones of year here in TN this week. Looks pretty promising for that family. Good habitat and hopefully some good weather coming up
Quote from: Farmboy27 on May 27, 2023, 06:15:18 PM
Today I was hunting with a great friend trying to help him get his triple trophy for the year. (He killed a bear and a nice buck last fall). As great as it would have been to be there with him for the accomplishment, we had to let a legal bird walk. A hen with probably an 8" beard leading a brood of 13 poults. An encouraging sign!! Our morning didn't end with a dead turkey but we left the woods with smiles on our faces!!
It's Great to see the little ones with Momma. A couple of things 1. A bearded hen with poults? Well I guess we can discount the Old adage that a Bearded hen is an inferior hen and can't or won't get bred and won't ever have a brood. So we shouldn't shoot a Bearded hen using this antiquated thinking 2. You can Definitely see what Most of us are seeing with our seasons and that is most of the breeding is done well before our seasons start. With a Brood of 13, she would have been bred at least 45 days ago which would have been the 1st to 15th of April. Some things to ponder. My hope is that every one of those little guys make it but in nature the reality is that 4 or 5 will be alive by next spring. Great season for you guys!