maytom

Look for the gobbler with the "whitest head", this will be the dominate bird........

jmedenf

The boss tom and the biggest tom aren't always going to be one and the same. You have to think of the flock as a social group. They are constantly trying to dominate each other and shuffling the peck order. That is why when you shoot a tom the others in the group will flog him when he is down. The dominant tom can be the bigger bird with the longer spurs, but not necessarily. He is just the one that has proven himself to the others not to mess with him.

Also keep in mind that toms will work as a group. A group is more powerful than an individual. A group of young jakes will run off a dominant tom. The birds I hunted last year always stayed in a group of six or so, mostly two and three year old birds. I did notice there was a dominant bird in the group, but he looked the same as the others. By staying in a group, they were able to fend off other toms from their area without having to fight off each one. Turkeys are very social and do seem to form close knit bonds with each other. But, they will kick each other when the other goes down to reestablish the peck order. Knowing this is very important if you want to really understand wild turkeys.

As for which bird to hunt, the henned up bird or the loner, it is a toss-up. Maybe one tom found hens before getting to the roost and the other didn't. Maybe the loner is dominant and will come steal the other tom's hens in the morning. Some toms might prefer to have their hens before breakfast, others might prefer to have their hens after. But I would personally go for the loner simply because of a higher chance that I can get to him before he finds hens. I like the beards and spurs and tail fans, but I like to fry me up some turkey nuggets even better.

HomerJ

I find it hard to believe any turkey hunter would pass up a gobbler roosted alone.
Weather or not you killed the "dominate" Tom is subject to opinion, and to me just plain irrelevant. I've yet to see a video of a hunter striking a bird in the morning, and not set up on him, because he's not the dominate Tom.

OntElk

yes I'm with homerj on that and I would also add.......WHO CARES!

The beauty of a turkey hunt has hardly anything to do with an inch here or there on a beard, or an 1/8th of inch here or there on a spur.

We are losing sight when we start talking like deer hunters when it comes to turkeys. You hunt a mature bird, you battle him and you end up winning the duel on any given day you should smile wide and thank God you are a turkey hunter. Even when you lose the duel you should be thankful you had the battle as well. The beard, spurs and weight are but footnotes on the game just played.

Timbrhuntr

True but the older, smarter tom is sometimes more fun to hunt just like the older more mature buck is more of a challenge. It doesn't always need to be about big spurs, beard or antlers but sometimes the harder more challenging animals to hunt come with those.

swampbuster

All great opinions. I would kill two year olds all day long, but it is also nice to kill older birds. As a hunter it comes down to what are you happy with harvesting

OntElk

yes but the question was how you decide which one before. A bird gobbles in the tree as you set up in darkness...or you see a strutter across the feild. Anyone who says they sit there and decide whteher it is an old gobbler worthy of that duel is loony. Sometimes the wary, hard hunted, public land jake can be a test of your skill and patience! You may not pull the trigger when that obvious age determination is made but fun all the same.

Looking at a trail cam pics of a bunch of gobblers and trying to decide which one to target makes no sense to me whatsoever either. That's deer hunter talk that makes no sense in the sport of turkey hunting IMO. You call to a gobbling bird through the timber...how are you supposed to know whether it's that one from the trail cam pic? Even when he comes up within that gun range how do you really know?

I mean if it's an "easy" flash hunt and he comes running, who is to say he isn't the oldest, wisest bird in the county and you caught him at the perfect time and hit him with what he wanted to hear?

It just plain silly to assess turkeys like this. Old, young, spurs, beards. That's bunk IMO. Save that thinking for the fall and have fun chasing big g2's and split brows, long main beams and drop tines.

A turkey is a turkey is a turkey.

Heck this is the point Mr longbeard makes all the time. It's about the challenge of the hunt he feels he's faced with that makes his perception of his self. lol

I completely agree that sometimes you face a tough bird. You may hunt him all season. And in the end if you kill him you hope that you are rewarded with those great trophy attributes. I love long beards and sharp spurs. I love a big heavy mature gobbler. I do figure the score of my birds and think it's a neat bonus when I get a good scoring bird. I just never alter my hunt like walking away from a lone longbeard in a tree to go after another one. That's silly........

jmedenf

If anyone has a problem with making a decision on which bird to go after the next morning, I think they should just consider themselves lucky that they have more than one bird to go after. Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe. Many of us find ourselves in the situation of not having any bird to hunt at all. Just pick one.

However, there are times I will be picky. I will let a jake walk if I know I have time to continue hunting. Last hunting day, that jake is dead.

Also, if I find myself with multiple toms in front of me, I will pick out the one that looks bigger or has the bigger beard if I can get the shot. Otherwise, it will be the one that offers the best shot.

Timbrhuntr

Not to hijack the thread but he actually asked which bird might have the longer beard. The one henned up or the lone gobbler. I answered that in a spot I hunt the lone bird often seems to be an older bird with long spurs and sometimes beard. Often bigger than the henned up strutter.

In the post you quoted I never said anything about going after a turkey or deer for that matter just because it has big beard spurs or a deer with a big rack just because it has a big rack. In an area the big deer like the lone tom are more challenging to hunt and often have the big rack and spurs but not always. Sometimes its just dumb luck to kill a big spurred bird and sometimes you can actually try and pattern one and hunt it. And to keep being silly for me no a turkey is not a turkey is not a turkey.

And I guess you feel it is okay to go after antlers and pattern a deer in the fall but for some reason its not okay to do this for a turkey in the spring. Confused I guess.

RockyMtnGobblers

Female hunter here....I'ts ok most hunters here are male and my short hair cut doesn't help.
Merriam turkeys......
Anyway.......In my favorite place to hunt I can almost be guaranteed I will get about an eight inch bearded gobbler in about a 100 ft. area between 3 and 6pm with little nubs for spurs. I usually hunt the am and see the activity you can see in my youtube video morning in the roost, most of the time the gobblers stay with the hens and I get em later in the day although I have called gobblers away from the flock after fly down.
Writing the post for this thread I wanted other hunters input on which gobbler might have a longer beard the hen-ed up or lone gobbler. Maybe thats a stupid question but I figured the odds would go in one direction or the other and help me with the next hunt in that area.
I like a challenge and decided the hunting in that area was way to predictable and so I have hunted new areas with success and even getting a gobbler with a nine inch beard. I don't just take any gobbler or Jake that comes in because I can always get in them again and I like long beards. Merriam's don't have real long beards like easterns and Rios as I'm sure a lot of you know.

I will be hunting Rios for the first time this spring and still will want a nice long beard, If I get one I will finally see some spurs!
Each hunter has their own criteria for hunting turkey and other game and to some a turkey is a turkey is a turkey to me today however thats not true I wont shoot unless they have a nice beard. When I was younger just starting out that was true for me I just wanted any turkey, but I got lucky and then learned a lot so today only long beards.

We have to remember all hunters have their own way of hunting, it may not be ours, As long as it is legal and ethical.

Thanks for all your input! 4 weeks to go