![]() ![]() But what if no gobblers respond? Call the hens.īig turkey flocks take orders from a master or “flock” hen, who holds her position through assertiveness - generally vocal assertiveness. There’s a chance a gobbler may walk right into shooting range with no need for calling. You may be able to pattern the flock’s movements and find a good point to intercept the turkeys, or you may be able to locate the vocal flock from long distance, figure its direction of movement, and head it off that way. Because it is so large, the flock leaves lots of sign and makes lots of noise. Perhaps the most effective strategy during this period begins with monitoring the flock. Turkeys, both hens and gobblers, are very vocal at this stage, but because there is so much competition with real hens, gobblers respond very little to calling.Ī decoy helped this hunter bag his gobbler. You may top a ridge to find an immense flock with two dozen strutting gobblers. ![]() Locating turkeys at this stage may be very difficult, but when you do, you usually hit the jackpot. In these cases, every turkey within thousands of acres may be gathered in a single flock. Depending on the phase of the breeding period, turkeys may be more or less vocal, be alone or in bigger or smaller flocks, and be easier or harder to call.īeginning in March and advancing through May in most areas, the stages of breeding season include the following: turkeys gathered in large, unbreeding flocks toms recruiting hens breeding flocks consisting of one gobbler and several hens lone turkeys (gobblers abandoned, hens nesting).īefore breeding activities begin, turkeys are gathered in large flocks with a mix of gobblers and hens. The time when you hunt may coincide with any of these stages. Turkey breeding season progresses through definite stages in which turkey behavior varies considerably. Bryan Oliver – Quick Hits, Videos, Memes.Babe Winkleman – Good Fishing / Outdoor Secrets.Eddie Claypool – Blue Collar Bowhunting.I also can’t wait to get out into a turkey field and look for scat. It’s good to know that displaying for other males is part of their normal repertoire of behaviors. Males have a rudimentary internal sex organ that is believed to influence the shape of the scat.Īfter learning more about turkey mating behavior, I don’t feel as bad as I used to for my female-less male turkeys. Check that out next time you are in a field! This is due to differences in the internal anatomy of the genders. The males is j-shaped while the female’s is spiraled. One fascinating difference between the genders is the shape of their scat. Males also have a prominent beard - a tuft of modified feathers that can grow as long as 12 inches! Females sometimes have these, too, but they tend to be short and sparse. While similar in appearance the males are bigger and blockier and more colorful than the females with a metallic sheen to their feathers, whereas females are more slender with dull brown feathers. For now though, when you see a flock of turkeys in a field, it is most likely a mixed flock of mature birds. Once all the eggs are hatched, family groups will often combine forming large flocks of young turkeys along with two or more adult females. Males form all-male flocks while the females go off to lay the eggs and rear the young. Since learning this, whenever I can observe flocks of male turkeys during breeding season, I try to figure out who is going to be the dominant tom, who has the most colorful face, the longest snood, the most upright military posture.Ī male wild turkey uses his snood, the blue fleshy piece protruding down over its beak, as well as its wattles, the three red features hanging off its neck, to attract females during mating season.Īfter mating, the big male-female flocks disperse. ![]() Studies have shown that females prefer longer snoods. The red coupled with their striking blue faces signals to both their rivals and potential mates their health and vigor. When excited, their wattles (the fleshy protuberances that hang from their neck and throat) as well as their snoods (another fleshy protuberance located above the beak) swell as they become engorged with blood and turn bright red. These dominance displays involve not just strutting, but also gobbling, standing upright with tail feathers fanned, wings dragging on the ground, making non-vocal hums and chump sounds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). ![]() The dominant tom gets the pick of the females. They strut at each other (and sometimes fight) to establish dominance. Wild turkey males use changes in facial color as well as strutting, gobbling and displaying their feathers to show their dominance and to attract females during mating season, which occurs in April and May in this area of New Hampshire and Maine.Īt the start of the breeding season, it is mostly males doing the strutting. ![]()
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