Father and Son? Brothers?

[Rockby]

Just wanted to know if anyone has seen this before? I have nicknamed these 2 toms "Laurel and Hardy!" I went out this morning about 5:30 and got set up. After sunrise I hear one gobbling to my right. I let out a couple soft yelps and he responds. I then throw out a couple cuts and he responds again. I can also tell he is coming my way. He hits the field in front of me and I didn't see two hens were already there (trees blocked them from view) feeding. Then out comes number 2! These are the same two toms I wrote about earlier this week and it is the 3rd time I have seen them together! The funny thing is thefirst tom again seems like the dominant one, but what was weird was the fact that as the first tom was strutting the second tom just seem to watch. Like he was learning something new! LOL! I mean not only did he watch the strutting, but he also stood there while the first tom mounted one of the hens. And he stood right within 10 yards of them. Then just as the first tom started moving towards the second hen, the second tom just seemed to follow along. Now just so it is clear, both of these toms are nice birds!!! I mean both of them have beards at least 8 inchs and they seem to be in the 20 pound range! Now they also seem to have a way with staying just out of my range, but hopefully I will be able to correct that since this is our last week!!!!!! Just wanted to know if anyone has seen this before?

[nubo]

WOW!

Sure sound's like a great show ,maybe you should have someone with you to tape this action next time ,it would definately be well worth taping to show your buddies.

nubo

[Strut&Rut]

It's called a "pecking order". The bird doing all of the mounting is the dominant male, and at some point established dominance (ie. kicked the snot out of) the non-breeding bird. Yes, IMO (I don't know of any actual genetic studies to confirm [8D] ) toms grouped together like this, with nearly identical body statures, are from the same hatch...

In addition, in those situations, typically the dominant bird will do all of the strutting/mounting and the sub-dominant will be vocal. You see a very similar situation with a dominant strutter and very vocal jakes, which never strut or if they do receive a very serious arse-kickin by their more mature "leader"...

TIP: If you can bust these two apart on the roost the night before your hunt, both birds may become extremely vocal. Oftentimes the sub-dominant tom will come running in (silently) to your calling, trying to get a "piece of the action" while the dominant tom is busy tending to his own ladies. If you have a good sized piece of property, this is a well-proven tactic on grouped-up toms.

I had a pair of toms very similar to this a few years ago, first shooting the slightly larger strutting tom, then a week later dropping the second (extremely vocal) gobbler to finish my season...

Good luck!

S&R