During the spring breeding season, gobblers greet dawn’s first light with their calls.
The sounds have more than one purpose, according to turkey experts who make a study of the wily, dark plumed, bearded birds of the forest.
Wildlife biologists and veteran turkey hunters note that the primary purpose of gobbling is to attract subordinate males as well as hens.
No one is exactly sure, it seems, what role gobbling plays in domination, but it appears that gobblers develop a distinct pecking order when it comes to reproducing in the wild.
Gobbling, some experts believe, helps keep subordinate birds in their place when it’s time to make whoopie with the girls.
That makes sense when you think about it.
Really.
Yelp like a hen, and a gobbler may answer.
He may also respond to just about anything else on the planet—the roar of a jet, the air horn on a diesel, the cawing of a crow or the hoot of an owl.
What really bothers those who pursue the scientific study of these birds is that nobody seems to have an answer.
Turkeys respond to wild, exotic, unnatural noises of all kinds.
Some gurus in Mississippi believe the breeding season toms are pumped full of hormones and living on the ragged edge—kind of like teenagers during spring break.
Most of us rational souls have transcended the moment, if you will, and no longer are plagued by these distractions. But we may fondly recall the joys and excitement of our youth, even if we don’t remember why.
The fact is gobblers are keyed up during the mating season in early spring. They may stay that way for several days, even weeks.
They desperately want to hear a hen cackle, and they’re always ready to respond to a hen yelp or cluck.Â
Each gobbler wants to be the first to sound off when a hen sends out her amorous invitations.
As a result, gobblers wind up gobbling to sounds that a hen turkey couldn’t possibly make.
If you don’t believe it, just ask some old-time turkey hunters.
They refer to such gobbler responses as “shock gobbling.”
The pros even use a number of different calls to elicit shock gobbles from eager toms in an effort to locate gobbler positions or locations.
Still, as a hunter, you don’t want to overdo the calling technique.
For instance, you wouldn’t want to start up until you are concealed and ready for action.
After all, you never can tell when a gobbler might be close by (let alone another hunter who often is just as crazed with anticipation as a sex-starved turkey).
If you should yelp like a hen, the overcharged bird might run right in on you.Â
If he should mistake you for a willing female, who knows what might ensue.
On the other hand, if you see the turkey at the same time he sees you, it’s a tie, and hunters always lose when it’s a tie.
Now, if you can employ locator calls that mimic hooting owls, screeching owls, hammering woodpeckers, raucous crows, or yipping coyotes—well, you just might be able to stir up some action when the woods are unusually quiet during the spring hunt.
I knew of a fellow who used to blow through the barrel of his single-barrel shotgun when things got too quiet.
He never killed a turkey that I can recall, but he sure spooked the heck out of hunters who probably thought they’d just witnessed the mating call of a bull elephant.Â
Or perhaps some idiot with a trumpet, at least.
The truth is, there are days when turkeys simply refuse to gobble.Â
Even seasoned hunters are hard pressed to explain that when it happens.
Some people believe that weather patterns affect gobbling during the mating season and gobbling cycles.
You just never know what could cause a turkey to gobble or not to gobble.
One thing is sure, though: gobbling is one of the neatest sounds in the spring woods when it does happen.
However, you should never get discouraged when turkeys aren’t gobbling.
After all, the more a tom gobbles, the worse it is for you, because the turkey is attracting real hens as well as other hunters.
Yet, listening to the timbre of a mature gobbler’s voice and charting his movements through the woods is the essence of spring hunting.
It’s also the essence of appreciating one of the finest gifts of nature: a calling gobbler is a nebulous auditory thread that connects a turkey to a turkey hunter.
In nature, it’s the male who does the calling, and I think that’s how it was meant to be.
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Top o’ the morning!
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