I know seasons a long ways off but I have a question. All this dominance stuff doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If you have three mature birds in an area can only one of them be the boss? Or can gobbler A be dominant over gobbler B, and B be dominant over C, and C over A? And if A is dominant over b and c, could that change mid season?
Not sure and don't care but I'm pretty sure that all 3 of them are gonna have a headache if they stay in said area and try to be the dominate one. ;D
Quote from: Flydown on August 17, 2012, 09:33:35 PM
Not sure and don't care but I'm pretty sure that all 3 of them are gonna have a headache if they stay in said area and try to be the dominate one. ;D
:toothy9:
Gobbler A is the dominant bird until I kill him. Gobbler B & C are FUNNY GOBBLERS until gobbler A dies. Then gobbler B is not so funny until I kill him. Once gobbler A & B dies I give gobbler C a little break & go kill gobbler D & E. Once gobbler D & E dies gobbler C is no longer a FUNNY GOBBLER. Now that gobbler C is the dominant bird I get out the Dog Whistle & Squealing Hen. Gobbler C was the best eatin cause he didn't have any jelly on his belly. :newmascot:
All this A through E mess is sounding more like an algebra problem. Shoot em all and stomp the eggs!
I think it depends on the individual birds and to some degree there ages. I have seen older birds that seem to not allow any other gobblers in there presence. I have seen an older bird act like the commander with a number of lieutenant gobblers allowed in his presence but only he struts and the others serve as sentries. And I have seen two or three birds of same age and stature seem to work as a team with all strutting for the hen or call. These usually seem to be two year olds when an older bird isn't in the area and I wonder if they may be hatch mates. I do not know if they share breeding rights but I suspect so. Turkeys squabble and fight to work out a pecking order but I don't know how far down the list the ordering goes. I do believe that pecking order can change during the season as a dominant bird gets killed or simply looses stature due to the toll on him from breeding and gets challenged by another bird.
I don't know if they have a full pecking order or if it consists of one dominant and the rest are equal subordinates.
I suspect it's one dominant and equal subordinates but that's far from a scientific viewpoint.
I think it can change during season. I've seen it change at the sight of the dominant tom hitting the dirt! :fud:
From what I've read, it's pretty much a regular thing for turkeys to test dominance.
I think that if Gobbler B is oen bad dude but not quite bad enough, he'll either stay subdominant to Gobbler A or go out & find a new territory where he can become Gobbler A. I think that there's just one dominant bird in an area and the rest are arranged like rungs on a ladder... pecking order doesn't exist just for the top spot, it's also there for the ones who are trying to get up to the B spot, C spot, etc.
I think it can be any of the scenarios you describe. This pecking order can be challenged hourly, daily, weekly or less frequently when subordinate gets unhappy with established order. It may or may not change with each challenge.
One thing I know for sure. The hen is dominant at my place!
It's really pretty simple Ronnie......A+B=C/B-A
Wish I was there to see your eyes spinning around in your head. :o
Quote from: FANMAN on August 18, 2012, 12:00:32 PM
It's really pretty simple Ronnie......A+B=C/B-A
Wish I was there to see your eyes spinning around in your head. :o
I think that equals zero, so I'm guessing your saying kill'em all. I think that's the plan I'm going with.
pie are square
Quote from: longspur on August 18, 2012, 07:20:27 PM
pie are square
And I are confused. Seems like I can always count on getting good straight forward clear answers here :laugh:
Quote from: guesswho on August 18, 2012, 07:48:49 PM
Quote from: longspur on August 18, 2012, 07:20:27 PM
pie are square
And I are confused. Seems like I can always count on getting good straight forward clear answers here :laugh:
I say go with your first instinct Ronnie. Just shoot them all.
Quote from: guesswho on August 18, 2012, 07:48:49 PM
Quote from: longspur on August 18, 2012, 07:20:27 PM
pie are square
And I are confused. Seems like I can always count on getting good straight forward clear answers here :laugh:
oh! I'm sorry, I thought I was on the three word story. LOL
My uncle had turkey most of my life that were not hunted for at least 3 or 4 miles.He fed them in his yard. The dominance thing never seemed to be cut in stone. Sometimes there was one that seemed dominant, other times two or three would run together and beat up on the rest. Once there was a dominant bird for several years then two younger birds teamed up on him. Number of hens and individual attitude probably comes into play.
Quote from: longspur on August 19, 2012, 12:07:30 PM
individual attitude probably comes into play.
I think you hit on something. Most birds that I've killed that I'm fairly certain were the boss of the area were light weights, but had attitude. I've seen on more than one occasion a smaller bird terrorize much bigger birds.
Quote from: drenalinld on August 18, 2012, 11:08:07 AM
I think it can be any of the scenarios you describe. This pecking order can be challenged hourly, daily, weekly or less frequently when subordinate gets unhappy with established order. It may or may not change with each challenge.
One thing I know for sure. The hen is dominant at my place!
THANK YOU MR. LOVETTE ! :funnyturkey:
Quote from: longspur on August 18, 2012, 07:20:27 PM
pie are square
No... cornbread are square... pie are round...
Iron skillet cornbread are round too.
I was reading something about turkey hunting, but was distracted by cornbread.
Quote from: dirt road ninja on August 20, 2012, 09:24:39 AM
I was reading something about turkey hunting, but was distracted by cornbread.
Sounds like you need the same medication as me.
No meds needed, just more time off and some good buttery cornbread.
Quote from: guesswho on August 19, 2012, 01:23:09 PM
Quote from: longspur on August 19, 2012, 12:07:30 PM
individual attitude probably comes into play.
I think you hit on something. Most birds that I've killed that I'm fairly certain were the boss of the area were light weights, but had attitude. I've seen on more than one occasion a smaller bird terrorize much bigger birds.
Yep, it don't make a lot of sens to me either. I would say it changes throughout the season as well. I once witnessed gobblers A/B both clearly mature dominant birds (strutters), get ran off by birds (Jake's) c,d,e, and f. It looked like a slam dunk double for me and a buddie that didn't happen. I'm guessin it's not the size of the bird in the fight,it's the size if the fight in the bird.
The only certainty in this is that the pecking order is constantly being challenged. Two year olds often hang out together or at least very near each other. They're constantly testing each other. As soon as one shows any weakness, the others will challenge. Older birds tend to be more reclusive and don't display dominance nearly as much as two year olds. Many times 3 year old and older birds will allow a two year old to run it to a hen right away. The older bird will come in a few minutes later. Hunters take the most aggressive birds out first usually because they're the first one at the end of the gun. If you want to see dominance in action, watch a flock of hens, jakes, and jennies.
In my experience its very easy to tell which of the 3 is the dominant bird.Reach into the secret pocket of your lucky vest and take out your most cherished call{squealing hen in this case}and give it a good hard blow.A word of caution,you had better already have you gun on your knee with the safety clicked off cause he's coming fast.There is your dominant bird!