Multiple gobblers question

[Cut N Run]

I've had many occasions where multiple gobblers respond to calls and ended up competing to get to my position, particularly in the early season or on lightly hunted properties.  They sometimes throw caution to the wind and race for the chance to get to the hen they heard, which can provide relatively easy shots. It is only legal to take one gobbler per day here, so I often see the downed bird get pummeled by his buddy/ competition. 

I've also had multiple late season gobblers (usually a pair) traveling together appear to feed off each other's reluctance to approach an unseen hen's calls.  They tend to spook each other where one's lack of commitment can be contagious. 

I see more of the death wish multiples on private, lightly hunted land than I do on public, though I hunt private much more often than public gamelands.

Even though I suspect it is pretty close to the same across the nation, I'm just curious how many here see more than one gobbler running together, how often, and at what phase of the season? Common sense says there are more, less cautious gobblers in the early part of the season. Local gobbler population is bound to influence behavior and sightings of multiple gobblers as well. It has been 4 years since I called in more than one gobbler at one time, but that has more to do with the properties where I hunt than anything.  How about you, are your experiences with multiple gobblers together similar to mine?

Jim

[Happy]

I tend to call in multiple toms earlier in the season and they are typically 2 year olds.  The most I have ever called in was 5 and that was odd. Typically it's two or less and I would bet they are brothers.

[zelmo1]

Pairs or lone birds are more common around here,(New England) typically. Usually a dominant and submissive. When the boss dies at a hunters hand, at least half the time the remaining tom will flog the dead boss. Our area is getting overrun with jakes this year so the toms are sticking together more this year. Safety in numbers. 8 jakes will run a lone tom off every time during breeding season, 4 Toms will run off those same 8 juveniles. Good luck

[kjnengr]

6 of the 8 gobblers I have killed, were running in pairs.  They have varied from 2 year olds to 3 or 4 year olds.  They were all in the mid-early to middle part of the season.  The last two birds I killed was a double. 

[TauntoHawk]

In NY we often start with winter flocks and you can watch them break up as the season goes and the hens break up to nest I also think they get tired of fighting all the time.

I have an example property that most years on youth weekend there are 12-15 round fan gobblers all roosting together as part of a 50+ bird flock. There always seems to be a tipping point usually the first week of season that the flock breaks up and go from a single flock to scattered about the farm there will be 3 gobblers and some hens over on 1 point maybe 2 and some jakes on a hill across the field, the dominant birds will hold in the same roost the main flock had used. I do know if you kill the dominant birds the one roosted near by will move in and claim the abandoned primary roost.

Generally the gobblers break up by pecking order and often include brood mates in those subset flocks.

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[Sixes]

This season has been singles for me but normally it is pairs or 3s that i call up. Except for jakes, then it might be singles to huge numbers. Several years back on some land in mid GA, we hunted a quail plantation for a week and there was a group of 17 jakes and no matter where you called from in a 2 mile stretch, at some point the group of jakes would come in raising Cain looking for the hen. They could ruin a hunt in a heartbeat. My Dad's buddy was hunting with us that week and got so mad by the end of the week that he shot 2 of the jakes trying to bust up the group

[renegade19]

So far this year, it's been an old and wise single and 3 birds that came in together.  Seem to see lots of pairs, though.

[TauntoHawk]

This season has been singles for me but normally it is pairs or 3s that i call up. Except for jakes, then it might be singles to huge numbers. Several years back on some land in mid GA, we hunted a quail plantation for a week and there was a group of 17 jakes and no matter where you called from in a 2 mile stretch, at some point the group of jakes would come in raising Cain looking for the hen. They could ruin a hunt in a heartbeat. My Dad's buddy was hunting with us that week and got so mad by the end of the week that he shot 2 of the jakes trying to bust up the group

I recruit youth hunters to help when I get bully Jake groups last year a youth hunter named Jake flattened the boss jake from a group of 8 that were running long beards off when they ran in at the first sound. Without that lead bird the jakes lost their edge and the gobblers took back over.

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[High plains drifter]

One time I called in 4 , 4 year olds.I shot the biggest one, and the others ran off.They didn't pummel the flopping bird, but I wish they would have.Ive never seen that.

[Marc]

One time I called in 4 , 4 year olds.I shot the biggest one, and the others ran off.They didn't pummel the flopping bird, but I wish they would have.Ive never seen that.

How do you know they were 4-year old birds?  I always figured anything over 2 years is a guessing game even in the hand, much less on the ground?

[Marc]

I have seen single birds with anywhere from 2-8 hens.

I have seen large bachelor groups of jakes (2-10), that seem to stick together all season...

I have seen 2-4 toms that hang around a larger group of hens  (until the breeding is done).

I have seen large bachelor groups of toms and jakes towards the end of the season, when most hens are on the nest... 

In my opinion, the two easiest times to kill birds are early in the season, before dominance is established, and later in the season, when the hens start to sit on the nest...

Somewhere in the middle of the season, there is a period when all of the hens go to the nest, and the toms are desperate for company...  It seems to last a very short period...  After that, the birds are considerably more difficult to call in...