Walkaway gobblers

Gobblers that walk away are often hard to turn around. But it’s not impossible to tag these birds.

You’ve probably been here before: a gobbler is blowing it out and you head his way; you make a few calls, and he goes silent — or he heads the opposite direction gobbling at your every call. You immediately question your calling abilities. You may wonder if he heard or saw you slipping in. What’s going on?

One of the leading turkey authorities in the state is Adam Butler, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) Wild Turkey Program Coordinator. Butler, also a die-hard turkey hunter, offers insight on this spring woods scenario based on knowledge as a biologist combined with the skills of a veteran turkey hunter.

“These are really good questions! I’ll be honest, I’m going to give you some answers — they will be a mix of thoughts as a biologist and hunter. Some of it will be based on fairly known things, but a lot just based on my opinion,” said Butler establishing this point upfront.

Most likely

It’s usually hens. Most of the time the tom has got with a hen or hens, and those hens are now leading the gobbler away. The gobbler may still be interested in the hunter’s calls, but the hens in the tom’s presence are actively trying to avoid the other unknown hen.

“Hunters often think about the dominance hierarchy amongst gobblers, but hens also have a similar hierarchy,” Butler said. “A component hunters often don’t appreciate is that the hierarchy doesn’t just exist for turkeys within flocks, but also between flocks. Some flocks dominate other flocks. Therefore, if the gobbler has gotten with a hen who isn’t dominant within her flock, or with a group of hens who may not be the dominant crew in their area, those females are probably going to want to avoid confrontation.”

The gobbler in question is undiscriminating and will stick with the hens in hand, resulting in a walkaway gobbler. He will follow the hens and may be silent at times or answer every call a hunter throws his way.

Second possible situation

It may be a jake. You might encounter a gobbler who gobbles good, maybe comes a little way, and then ultimately moves off.

“Everyone knows that some jakes are identifiable because their gobble sounds more like a goofy barnyard turkey,” Butler said. “That’s true for some, but not all. Some jakes do have full, roll gobbles, and they can be especially misleading if you have several jakes in a group gobbling at once. It’s not uncommon to strike a gobbler later in the morning that is fairly responsive but seems hesitant to commit, usually staying just outside your visual bubble. It can be a letdown to spend a couple of hours fooling with that turkey and then he shows up and it’s jake.”

Another likely situation

Hunters may stumble upon a more dominant bird that has established a ‘lek’. Many turkeys’ taxonomic relatives have breeding strategies where males congregate in specific spots every morning to attract hens.

“Those specific spots are known as leks,” Butler said. “If you’re not familiar with this biological phenomenon, I’d suggest Googling ‘Sage Grouse lek’ or ‘Sharp-tailed grouse lek’ and watching some of the videos. 

“Turkeys are not generally regarded as a true lekking species, in which all the males in an area congregate at the same spot — but maybe more associated with a phenomenon called ‘exploded lekking’ which is sort of the same idea, but the males will not be able to visually see one another but can still hear each other. My opinion, which is not necessarily based on definitive science but rather my general observations of turkeys over the years, is that some males do establish a point-in-space that they utilize like a lek.” 

In hunter terminology, this is a ‘strut zone.’ 

“It is their spot from which they intend to advertise, and they are likely to return to that spot every morning quickly off the roost,” Butler said. “Usually, this pattern of behavior begins to be noticeable later into Mississippi’s season. I very rarely see gobblers exhibiting this committed point-in-space routine in March, it usually becomes more evident in April after the hen flocks have broken up and a portion of them have begun nesting.”

These mature toms will post up and wait for hens to come to them instead of vice versa. When strutting back and forth, it will sound as if the tom is walking away.

Least likely but possible

Hunters may encounter a call shy gobbler. He has been extremely pressured and is wary of anything sounding like a hen and will head the other way when hearing hen calling.

“My personal opinion is that this is probably not as common as we like to think, but it could happen,” Butler said. “The reason I think that all the above are more likely explanations is that if it’s springtime, especially if it’s on over into April, it is hard for them to ignore their sex drive. They may be suspicious of calling, especially if it’s too loud, but the urge to breed overpowers all.”

Wrapping it up

Consider all the above as possible situations when you encounter a walkaway gobbler. Decipher the current situation and establish your strategy accordingly. These toms can be difficult to bag but not impossible. Persistence, patience, and understanding lead to a tagged tom.

Strategies for walkaway gobblers

You’ve probably encountered every situation imaginable with gobblers. Whether it’s a gobbler with hens, jakes, a stubborn gobbler posted up in a strut zone, or the call-shy gobbler — they can be had. Here are some strategies derived from conversations with MDWFP Turkey Program Coordinator Adam Butler that may help you develop your strategy when encountering walkaway gobblers.

Gobblers with hens

Make a move on the bird if terrain and foliage allow. Try to get around him and never approach him directly. Always swing wide and come in at an angle offset from his last known location. This is risky, so move slowly and make sure you go undetected.

Another option is to try and talk to the hens. You can’t be too aggressive in calling, but you will have to ‘read the hen’ and mimic what you hear. If you encounter the boss hen, then turn up the aggressive calling to equal her calling. You may entice the subordinate hen out of curiosity or the boss hen out of anger to come in and the big tom is sure to follow.

Lastly on gobblers with hens, you may want to go find another gobbler. The reality is if the gobbler moved and you suspect it’s because he is being pulled away by hens, your odds of killing him at that particular time are pretty slim. If you’ve got other options, go try those. You can always come back to the first gobbler later.

Jakes

When the gobbler comes in you’ve been calling turns out to be a jake or a group of jakes, it can be disappointing as we said, but your hunt’s not over. Don’t get too discouraged and get up spooking the birds at hand. Quite often a group of jakes hammering the woods will call in a more mature tom and sometimes the dominant bird in the territory. Use the jakes to your advantage and stoke them up if you’re able.

Strut zone gobblers

What can a hunter do in this situation? To be successful you must figure out the gobbler’s ‘spot’ and get there before he does. He will be going there very intently first thing in the morning, and it gets tough to make him veer off his course. Once he gets to his chosen spot he will stand there and gobble his brains out until hens come to him. He won’t be leaving to come to your calling, his heels are dug in and his pride won’t let him leave. It can be frustrating as a hunter, but often these birds will have the same routine daily — if you are not successful on a particular day, come back the next day and beat him to his strut zone.

Call shy gobblers

What can hunters do with these birds? Avoid any kind of aggressive calling. Scratch in the leaves, flap a wing, stick with the subtle stuff. Truly call shy birds are the most frustrating turkeys of all to deal with because they do not want to commit. As soon as you put the least little pressure on them, they are going to shut down or leave. You must have extreme patience. 

Crow, piliated woodpecker, or owl calls work well to locate these types of gobblers. If you get a locate on him, you may want to consider still hunting him and sitting within shotgun range of possible travel routes such as trails or ridge tops.

Final word

Butler said, “Let me clarify that there are many hunters out there who are better than me at reducing gobblers to possession. These types of strategies are just my opinion as a hunter and biologist. At the end of the day, who knows why turkeys do what they do.”

The unpredictability and chess-type situations are ultimately what keep hunters coming back each new day in pursuit of the monarch of the spring woods.