I know turkey season is still a way off, but for those of us who are serious about turkey hunting, we have already been keeping a watchful eye out for any signs of wild turkeys and, especially, new young poults.

Over the past few weeks, if I’m traveling down a road in turkey country, I’m definitely on the lookout for turkeys —and I’m especially watching for the young of the year.

My hope is to get some idea of what to expect numbers-wise come the fall turkey season.

I know my traveling roadside observations are hardly any kind of serious research, but at least they give me some idea of what I might expect to find in my local hunting areas.

I’m sure I’m not the only turkey hunter scouting roadsides for turkeys since I frequently get asked by other turkey hunters, “Are you seeing any turkeys?” What’s interesting is that several guys have told me they are not seeing anything.

Now, I’ll admit that my wife often drives so I can sit and watch every nook and cranny, and often, that’s where I have my success in spotting turkeys. I have certainly seen them out in open fields or crossing roads, but more often than not, they are in less obvious areas.

Of course, another problem in looking for turkeys — especially young poults this time of year — is that the field growth is high enough now that poults are often very difficult to see since the young of the year are usually only 8-10 inches high around this time.

From what I understand, the turkey population may be down some, but overall, the state population seems to be holding fairly steady.

Over the past few weeks, I have observed turkeys at least once or twice a week in my travels, and on several occasions, I have seen one or more hens with anywhere from five to 10 young poults. I also spotted a number of gobblers earlier in the spring with several hens.

One afternoon this past fall, while traveling a back country road, I had to stop while somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 turkeys crossed the road in front of me.

So, what does the “real” research show about our turkey population and young poult survival? After some digging, I came up with some revealing figures.

Between 52-76 percent of poults perish within two weeks of hatching.

According to a Game Commission study, in 2016, 3.6 poults per hen were spotted; in 2017, 3.2 poults per hen were spotted. To jump ahead a bit, in 2020, 2.9 poults per hen were seen, and in 2021, 2.6 poults per hen were observed.

The annual turkey survival rate ranges from 54 -62 percent. Over half of the turkeys are lost each year due to a number of factors, not counting hunting.

Of course, predation is a big factor, especially for poults that are still unable to fly. They will hide themselves until the mother hen gives the all-clear, but no doubt some are still lost. Cold rain in the spring can also be a factor since poults are still covered with a fine brownish fuzz that doesn’t provide much protection.

While the numbers may be down a bit, overall, Pennsylvania is still holding its own, and of the studies I looked at in a half dozen states, Pennsylvania was one of the best, with recent studies showing 3.1 poults per hen.

You can bet I’ll be watching and counting as I travel through known turkey country.