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rocky mountain turkey question

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rocky mountain turkey question

Postby ferris bugler » 05 03, 2015 •  [Post 1]

Do any of you experienced turkey hunters know how things work with a turkey rut? I know that a couple weeks ago the toms were gobbling and vocal. This weekend there was nothing. Will things pick up again because of a second series of hens looking to breed or are things over?
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby honkertalker » 05 04, 2015 •  [Post 2]

Thats also happening in Washington I can only get them to gobble in morning but once they hit the ground they shut up
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby GobbleFarmer » 05 04, 2015 •  [Post 3]

I don't know a whole lot about wild turkeys, and I am not experienced as this year is my first year turkey hunting. But I have owned "pet" turkeys for a few years. My hens when starting to lay a clutch of eggs will become very hormonal AKA stupid. My turkeys usually lay 1 to 1 1/2 dozen eggs in a nest and then go broody if the eggs are not collected daily, and they do not get enough sperm from one mating to fertilize that many eggs, so it usually takes a couple of "reunions" over the course of 2 to 3 weeks to get them all done.

With chickens once the sperm has been transferred to the hen it can live for up to a month! But not enough sperm is released in one mating to fertilize eggs for a month(one egg a day), that's why the roosters are on the hens regularly, and I am pretty sure its the same for turkeys.

I hope this helps, but again this is what happens with my domestic turkeys. But It shouldn't much different for the wild ones?.
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby ferris bugler » 05 06, 2015 •  [Post 4]

Thanks for the reply. What do you think happens if a hen loses her clutch of eggs to a predator or similar? Does she try to make another one?


GobbleFarmer wrote:I don't know a whole lot about wild turkeys, and I am not experienced as this year is my first year turkey hunting. But I have owned "pet" turkeys for a few years. My hens when starting to lay a clutch of eggs will become very hormonal AKA stupid. My turkeys usually lay 1 to 1 1/2 dozen eggs in a nest and then go broody if the eggs are not collected daily, and they do not get enough sperm from one mating to fertilize that many eggs, so it usually takes a couple of "reunions" over the course of 2 to 3 weeks to get them all done.

With chickens once the sperm has been transferred to the hen it can live for up to a month! But not enough sperm is released in one mating to fertilize eggs for a month(one egg a day), that's why the roosters are on the hens regularly, and I am pretty sure its the same for turkeys.

I hope this helps, but again this is what happens with my domestic turkeys. But It shouldn't much different for the wild ones?.
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby GobbleFarmer » 05 07, 2015 •  [Post 5]

I think that kinda depends, since wild turkeys are seasonal breeders, it depends on how late in the season it is. For my turkeys, absolutely! My turkeys are heritage breeds, which are supposed so be seasonal layers, however mine try to lay year round... Yesterday I had to go gather up my hens whole nest as some of the eggs were rotten (probably not fertilized) and a few exploded :evil: that poor hen still layed on those eggs until I disposed of them (during her morning break, boy was she surprised). Some of the eggs had poults growing in them, but when their neighbors turn rotten it often kills them in the egg as well. And if a predator destroys the nest and the hen escapes she will usually come into cycle again so I can only imagine that the toms would be oh so happy and gobblin' up a storm.
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby ferris bugler » 05 07, 2015 •  [Post 6]

Thanks. That's good info.
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby POk3s » 05 09, 2015 •  [Post 7]

That's actually probably way better information than any of us trying to make an educated guess on what happens.
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby GobbleFarmer » 05 16, 2015 •  [Post 8]

OK I just saw my hen half strutting and acting like she wanted to fight MR. studly which means she is getting all hormonal again. Usually when she does that she plops down and he hops on top and you know the rest... Although I don't know if he hopped on this time because I had to go fix the electric fence for the damn goats :evil: . I think another nest is on the way!
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Re: rocky mountain turkey question

Postby bald9eagle » 05 24, 2015 •  [Post 9]

The gobbling goes through cycles. Just before the breeding season kicks in the birds will be in their winter flocks. One misconception is that birds only gobble during the spring. A gobbler will gobble at any time of the year.

As the weather warms up the birds start separating themselves. Hens are looking for nesting areas and gobblers are establishing the pecking order. Toms start to gobble more frequently and start getting away from their bachelor groups. This is usually when a tom comes to a decoy ready to fight. This is the first peak of gobbling. This is an awesome time to hunt cause you can get on groups toms and often get a bird to break from the group.

The gobbling goes into a lull after toms have established themselves. Tom#1 will gobble on the roost to tell all the hens where he's at. The other toms will sound off too hoping to get in on the action. Once they hit the ground it's all about strutting and breeding. This is a frustrating time to hunt. Hens will carry toms away from the new hen you are pretending to be. Toms can be killed during this time but usually late morning. Hens breed and then go to lay an egg on their nest. Once the hens leave the toms open back up.

At some point the hens start sitting on the nest. There is a short window where gobbling again picks up. It isn't as good as the first peak. The toms are looking for the last few receptive hens. These late season toms are tough because they usually aren't as quick to run in.
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