Turkey behavior question

[MEbeardlover]

 This turkey hunting continues to be quite the education!

Last night I watched four jakes thrash a mature tom in the presence of three hens. All eight birds roosted in the same area. This morning, I hunted the roost. I got the four jakes to approach a hen and jake decoy set up. The jakes circled the decoy, strutted and gobbled, and then pummeled the deke. The mature tom watched from about sixty yards but would not come in.

How can you account for this behavior? Is it possible there are no other mature toms around, so the jakes have taken over? It was interesting and fun as heck to observe, but I wanted that tom! He has clearly been put in a place by those jakes.

Thoughts from those of you with lots of knowledge of turkey behavior would be appreciated. Thanks.

[dfresh55]

groups of jakes will woop up on the lone gobblers sometimes.. he was probly sick of getting wooped lol

[2eagles]

Punks!  Alone they are nothing, but get them in a group, they are really tough.  Kind of reminds me of another species.

[lonnie sneed jr.]

About 20 years ago my Dad and I watched  a jake tread a hen with a long beard standing in full strut about 4 ft. away, and 7 or 8 more hens feeding all around them. I don't know. Maybe your jakes has been eating corn laced with something. lol  Don't know why turkeys do some of the things they do.

[g8rvet]

My season is closed now, but I had the same problem.  4 jakes, all hanging together, strutting and gobbling like full gorwn toms.  I like that I will have some bad boy 2 year olds next year, but I will have one less.  He came in like a Tom, gobbled and strutted like a Tom, so I shot him like a Tom.  The other three got passes for the rest of the year.  Look at the positive, you will have some hard core 2 year olds next year. I called in 4 one time in a different place and it was like a race to the hen.  The biggest took a truck ride that day too.

I asked the same questions and got the same answers.  In a group, those jakes are tough, when alone they are not so much.  I witnessed this year that they were spot on. Never saw or heard a gobbler in that bottom this year.

[turkeygod4]

I mainly hunt south texas and I see this all the time. This usually occurs when there are not a lot of mature birds running around and are more jakes. The jakes will team up and run off mature birds, 4 birds vs 1 is not a fair fight.

[tomstopper]

groups of jakes will woop up on the lone gobblers sometimes.. he was probly sick of getting wooped lol

Yep

[RutnNStrutn]

groups of jakes will woop up on the lone gobblers sometimes.. he was probly sick of getting wooped lol

Punks!  Alone they are nothing, but get them in a group, they are really tough.  Kind of reminds me of another species.

He came in like a Tom, gobbled and strutted like a Tom, so I shot him like a Tom.