Upside of drought

[Ferguson]

I came home early to work on a call or two. I had come in the house after tuning a little on one and putting a coat of urethane on another then the dogs started barking. I thouhgt "well another bobcat has got in the chickens again" Looking out the window I was pleasantly suprised to see an old hen heading out with a handfull of poults about the size of robins. The were making a fast retreat. The poults got in the air pretty good. Looked to be 12-14. That's a good sign. Maybe we'll have another good hatch. That'll put us back on the map as far as turkey numbers. This spring was a double edged sword with all the jakes runnin around. Next year could be like it was back in the 70's and 80's. Birds on every point!
 

[Ozark Ridge Runner]

I hope you are right.  My place in the northern Ozarks had gotten pretty low in numbers in the last couple of years.  Back in the 80's you couldn't figure out which one to go to.  Lots of jakes this year and we should have a good hatch again this rear.

[hunter22]

That sounds great David. I sure wish a few up there could fly south.

[fargobox]

Ah, I beg to differ there Ricky, you mean to have them fly NORTH.   Good to hear David

[Ferguson]

Well I looked out and there they were again. Dust'n in the drive way where Penny parks the truck. She has the camera in the truck. I used my cell phone but,,,,it's not to clear. There's 11. I'm guessing it's the same hen.
I watched a doe and a little one yesterday evening off the front porch and now this evening a bunch of birds.

What a great place to live!
 

The trick is keep'n the bobcat and coon populations in check.

[GSLAM95]

Your right David the dry weather is nice for the hatch and it looks like it is going to be dry here for at least another week.  I know my soybean plot is taking a beating getting started without the moisture and those eagle brand forage beans are killer per 50lb bag.  Like you said it's a double edge sword and I know come next spring I will be glad we are having the weather we are now. 

[B-Ready]

That is good news Dave!! I'd love to have one of those kind of front porches.. .. Sounds like paradise my friend!! 

[Ferguson]

She's back again this morning. I hope she'll stay around for a while. I want to get some good pictures. She's keeping the poults in the grass this morning.




 

That is good news Dave!! I'd love to have one of those kind of front porches.. .. Sounds like paradise my friend!! 

It will be when I get the 19 acres bought coming into my place.

[wsp3]

Thats good to hear . We are having areal good hatch in south Alabama also. We started seeing poults in the first week of may. I guess the peak of gobbling must have been earlier than we thought.
 

                                                                                                                    Billy

[Porter]

I'm hearing the same on a few of the farms I hunt around here David...  What do you think this rain did?  We got a lot ,but didn't look like any floods

[jmck]

congrats on the hatch David..
Been planting all my corn fields , and man am I seeing lots of polts myself...looks like we got a banner crop also

[Ferguson]

I never got very much rain. 1/2" on the first round and 1/4" on the second. That hen is still hanging around. I seen her this evening for a second when I walked out on the porch but didn't notice the poults but she was leaving rather quickly so they may of been out of sight to start with. I'm sure the rain never hurt anything around here.

That's good to hear all you other fellers are see'n good hatches too. Maybe we'll have good year across the country this time.