in this situation which is dominate bird?
 

Ok the past weekend I called in my first turkey well two gobbler's actually...one came in strutting and the other(the one I shot)came in just walken...I shot this one because me clicking off my safety alerted them and he was the one that was in the openest part..sorry bout the bad grammer...dont get me wrong I am WAYYYY!!!satisfied with my turkey 10.5 inch beard(thick!)1 inch spur's and 20 pounds is nothen for someone like me to complain about!

anyway my question is which bird in your opinion was the dominate bird?and and dominate bird's will they be bigger all the way around(beard,spurs etc...)or just in wait?I know stupid rookie question but this is only my second year of actually killen bird's been tryen for awhile unsuccesfully..

I would say the one you shot was King Gobbler. He hung back to see what was going on and make sure it was safe, and when he didn't see a hen he started looking, probably lifted his head and exposed his waddles, and you pasted him. Am I right, Guys?

I'd have to respectfully disagree BigBuck95. The boss gobbler whas most likely the strutter. They wont sit back and just let another tom go to "their" hen. They aren't like deer. A buck or dominate buck might sit back and scope the situation out like you said, but not a love struck gobbler. He wants to get to that hen a.s.a.p and not let the other bird have the chance. Alot of times if more than one are together only the dominate bird will strut. Just this year while scouting I watched 2 longbeards, (both about 10in) in a field with 3 hens for over 2 hours. Only 1 of those birds strutted, even though the same size, I feel the second one was afraid to strut. They both knew who was the dominate bird.

Generally the strutter is the dominant bird...

The dominant gobbler is not necessarrily the biggest bird or the best trophy... Some gobblers are just tougher or more aggressive than others... The Boss Gobbler is the toughest, meanest, butt-kicking-est bird, and the turkeys have all of that stuff figured out prior to hunting season...

You sbot the sub-dominant bird. The means the bird that came in strutting was the leader of the pack. But you still got a great trophy! Congrats.

JW

I concur completely.

Infact, as the season gets later, the sub-dominant birds are usually much bigger (weight wise) than the dominant birds.

I have heard (and frankly am willing to agree) that often dominance in turkeys is established at the poult stage... much as it is in dogs in the puppy pack. It would explain why you have some 2 year old birds that think they rule the woods and strut and gobble their fool heads off and want to fight everything that is even remotely resembles another tom.

The second largest bird I've ever killed was a satelite bird... only clucked... and when another bird gobbled he actually flinched and never said another peep. Went over 20#s with 1.5" hooks and a foot of beard. So, as with people... just because their are big doesn't mean their bad.... and there are plenty of little ones that have mighty big attitudes.

Very good information. Now if I could only have that situation happen to me! ;) I'd be happy with either.

thanx guys this makes me feel alot better if dad doesnt go for the bird that was with my gobbler this weekend I am last weekend of Arkansas season I cant just set back and wait lol

Ok, honestly, I went back and forth in my mind about this, and I guess I kind of thought about how a dominant buck might act......IK, IK Apples and oranges.
I'm jus' sayin