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I'm of the belief that dominant Toms aren't necessarily larger than subordinates.  My definition of a dominant Tom is one that has a harem of hens he's always with.  Sometimes there's more than one Tom with a group of hens but the top of the pecking order doesn't necessarily mean larger with a longer, thicker beard and longer spurs.  I've been watching and listening to a Tom with several hens lately, and while he's nice, there's a group of 3 Toms that have been showing up together in the same field and one or two of those is bigger.  Just thought I'd run my thoughts on that by the group.


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I once called in two toms.  One was clearly the boss, pecking at the other, edging him out and pushing him in the race to my calling.  He acted like the dominant of the two for sure.  They got closer and Mr. Dominant was a jake and the one being pushed around was a longbeard.
I think it sometimes comes down to aggressiveness and behavior as much as size.

Just like with people, it's not the size of the gobbler, it's the size of the fight that gobbler has in him.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

Its all about attitude. I have a rooster like that. He has tried to fight my wife's dog three times and his record is 0-3. He will try  again at the next available opportunity.

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Just like bucks attitude is a big factor. Also the dominant bird often is spending so much time tending to the hens and keep other males in check he's loses weight much faster than a subordinate bird who is still pecking around and eating on the edge of the flock.

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My son's 2nd gobbler years ago was by himself off the roost, had an 11 inch beard, 1 inch spurs and weighed almost 26 lbs!  I guess what I'm saying is that dominant Toms are not always "trophy" birds.  They are also harder to kill because they're with so many hens from daybreak to sundown.

Quote from: RutnNStrutn on April 14, 2021, 03:43:40 PM
Just like with people, it's not the size of the gobbler, it's the size of the fight that gobbler has in him.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

X2.. this pretty well answers your question..

Quote from: RutnNStrutn on April 14, 2021, 03:43:40 PM
Just like with people, it's not the size of the gobbler, it's the size of the fight that gobbler has in him.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

X3...seen it many times.

Quote from: RutnNStrutn on April 14, 2021, 03:43:40 PM
Just like with people, it's not the size of the gobbler, it's the size of the fight that gobbler has in him.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

You beat me to this statement! I agree

It is the hens who make the decision as to the gobbler with whom she will mate, and like human females, it ain't always the biggest, baddest male on the block.

 Silvestris, I disagree. He doesn't have to be the biggest, but he will be the baddest! And will have the heart to back it up. Mike Tyson was 18! Yes, this does apply. We are talking a harem here, who wants a harem? Who here would take a harem? Got to think wild, they are animals. Some of us are not.

You can not compare women to animals. Even though, sometimes girls do like the bad boys.

Just goes to the Alpha / Beta / Omega. This is how I hunt turkeys, I identify the Alpha, learn him and then hunt him. I have learned the social structure and the ques that go along with it, I always take the dominant bird of the flock when possible, them birds sort it back out right then and Beta takes over (New Alpha) this is sorted out daily in the flock. I have some great footage of all this I show in my seminars and funny how many do not this stuff. Learn the bird!

Of course we already know the hen rules the roost  :icon_thumright:


MK M GOBL

Quote from: Happy on April 14, 2021, 03:48:53 PM
Its all about attitude. I have a rooster like that. He has tried to fight my wife's dog three times and his record is 0-3. He will try  again at the next available opportunity.

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LMAO!!!!

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

Dominance is more related to body size and agressiveness than any other factor.  Spur size and beard length are irrelevant.

The pecking order is tested throughout the year, and the biggest birds can handle their own, lose a couple pounds during breeding season from decreased caloric intake, and still stay on top of the pile when challengers arive.

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Every single time I've killed all the birds of a group, the first in command had the longest Spurs. Just my observation from Florida.


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The "baddest" is not always the preferred male   The preferred male may or may not be the most dominant.  Agree with Silvestris.

" the boss " May be dominate over the other gobblers , but the hens may prefer the Casanova on the next ridge to be the breeder...

Monday I took a bird that came in with another Tom. The bird I shot did all of the gobbling and he was the most aggressive towards the Jake decoy we had out. When I got to him and looked him over after I shot him, he was my biggest bird weight wise (24#) Pounds but he had one slick leg, and the other leg had a 5/8 spur. His rope was 10". Today we had a Jake that gobbled at everything under the sun and completely abused a Jake and hen decoy. A mature bird entered the far end of the field and would not come any where near the aggressive Jake.  So after this week I am convinced it's not always the biggest bird who is top dog.

   In my experience domince isn't always based on size and weight. Very typical for a smaller more aggressive bird to be the number one boss in any given area.

The mean one wins. 

The boss doesn't always get to breed.  Smaller gobblers are often considered cuter by the hens.  Rape is not in the turkey vocabulary.

Until the hen gets older and realizes Mr sleek, soy boy, man bun can't fix her car, hold down a job, build a house, and is even more emotional than herself. Then the preference changes. :)

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Quote from: Happy on April 18, 2021, 08:24:25 AM
Until the hen gets older and realizes Mr sleek, soy boy, man bun can't fix her car, hold down a job, build a house, and is even more emotional than herself. Then the preference changes. :)

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Thats some funny stuff. :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:

That there is funny happy