DRUMMING QUESTION!!!!

[gobbler777]

I retired after a long career as a wildlife biologist and have been hunting turkeys for 53 seasons now and have always been very intrigued by the spit and drumming of the gobblers. Drumming is a low frequency vocalization that comes from deep inside the gobbler's chest; not from any kind of feather rubbing. Humans, depending on how good their hearing is, can hear some of the drumming sound to about 75 yards; maybe a little further. Some believe turkeys can hear (and maybe feel) much more of the lower frequencies (infrasonic) of the drumming than humans can and at much further distances (200-300 yards). Elephants and some other mammals communicate at long distances (5 miles) using infrasonic frequencies. Google "infrasonic animal communication' and open your understanding to some very interesting info re. that topic. I haven't looked in the last year or so to see if any research has been done re. wild turkeys and infrasonic sound.

[Happy]

Back when I had my pet wild turkey as a kid I would hold him in my lap and he would drum. I think he was trying to hold on to his manly image. Anyways I could actually feel it. It comes from deep in the chest. The spit is from the head and sounds almost like popping the cap off a bottled carbonated beverage.

[THattaway]

Got nothing but opinions on this but every tom I have ever killed that came in while drumming ALWAYS had a craw inflated with air. Those that I observed drumming were always either strutting or doing the mean walk, breast feathers expanded. Always heard and thought it was sound made from breast muscles and craw due to those experiences. I've tried making the spit drumming sound with my natural voice on occasion to attempt to draw in toms hung up out of range. Am sure they have heard it at times but have yet had it work for me. May have more to do with hens with him than voice ability but really can't say for sure. Didn't spook them with it at any rate. I have a decent vid showing a drumming tom and breeding footage that I shot after the season here a couple years ago. Shows the quiver shake and such as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNHQpTgp2mA

[born2hunt]

I have never seen one drum that wasn't strutting either. I just figured it was part of it.

[WNCTracker]

Back when I had my pet wild turkey as a kid I would hold him in my lap and he would drum.

Like a boy with kitten :-)

[Happy]

Yeah kinda. He seemed to think it was rather undignified tho. 

[tha bugman]

The sound of my safety going off


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TerryLNanny]

The spit comes from the wings the drum comes from the throut, the shi# comes from my a##  as I had one at 15 yrds. a week ago on my bad side. Didn't turn out good.

[drenalinld]

I believe a drumming gobbler is forcing air slowly out of his crop with his chest muscles to make the drumming sound. This is how I replicate it with my voice except it is my diaphragm pushing air out of my lungs. Push air out of the cop on a freshly killed turkey and you can get a Yelp or cluck. I figured this out by accident once and have repeated it many times.

[drenalinld]

I disagree about spit coming from wings. I have seen the fog come out of their beak when they do it. I believe it is a vocalization. Joe Slaton has said he can see spit com out of his pet gobbler's mouth when he does it.

[WNCTracker]

I disagree about spit coming from wings. I have seen the fog come out of their beak when they do it. I believe it is a vocalization. Joe Slaton has said he can see spit com out of his pet gobbler's mouth when he does it.

This seems to address the discrepancy of wing vs vocal.
http://wildturkeyzone.com/articles/michels2a.htm

[WiLL B]

I have seen many gobblers drum without strutting. A couple this year. It's all vocal no feathers involved. Spit comes out of his mouth, drum comes from deep in chest. I can hear the drum way further than most folks but have trouble coursing it.

[mwr]

I'd like to knw also. I killed a bird a few years ago that was drumming but wasn't strutting, first time I had ever heard it. I heard it again this weekend. The bird would drum right at the end of his gobble but I never saw him to see if he was strutting or not. Maybe someone should make a drumming call. If they do I want 10%.

I was just thinking I should give a natural voice spit and drum sound a try on a hung up bird sometime

Yes, it worked for me last week.

Let's hear it!!

[THattaway]

I have seen many gobblers drum without strutting. A couple this year. It's all vocal no feathers involved. Spit comes out of his mouth, drum comes from deep in chest. I can hear the drum way further than most folks but have trouble coursing it.

Were those toms doing the mean walk (head tucked some and breast feathers puffed)? Were they drumming with their breast feathers all slicked down?

I think many here, like me, are just saying they have never heard drumming without seeing a tom puffing their breasts, at least. I know many older toms I've seen come in drumming didn't always do a lot of fanning. More like they'd just drop their wings for a second, tuck their head and puff/drum then come on in walking. I've also seen some two year olds that seemed would never come out of a full fanning strut.

As far as the spit, I know for a fact that the wings dropping make a "chic" sound while the toms make the spit sound with their throat. What I've seen makes me believe the spit is air being sucked in/some released as the craw is being rapidly compressed. Like taking a deep breath and immediately compress your chest with a violent squeeze. Figure those toms breast muscles are then being rapidly flexed to beat on that craw "drum" for the deep resonating sound. When I raised turkeys as a kid and they'd compete to fill up on feed and there were many times that a tom would have the side of his throat crammed with grain. They'd also make the spit sound taking air in during those times. I know this because I've handled those same turkeys while they were making it, felt the feed packed in the side of their throats and marveled how they stored it that way and kept breathing. Almost as if they could take on and store food quickly before it migrated to the craw. Guess that's why I've felt the spit sound could be made taking air in or out, but still a sound made with air through the beak and throat.

[Gooserbat]

I don't know all the details of it but I know I'm lucky because I can hear it from 250 yards away on a calm day.  Not very many can but it's certainly a blessing to be able to hear that frequency.