Selecting which bird to shoot first..??

[cornfedkiller]

Question- I have heard that the most dominant bird in the group will typically be the one with the whitest head, and a nervous or submissive birds will almost always have a completely red head.  After looking back at old photos and videos of birds while Im out hunting, I have noticed some birds with redder heads, and some that are completely all white.

If this is true, it leads me to my question- Say three toms come into your decoy setup (bowhunting), you cant get a look at the spurs, and all of their bodies and beards are so close in size that you cant pick one thats bigger than the others...Assuming you want to try to kill more than one of them, how do you choose which bird to shoot first?  Basically, whats the best way to make sure the other two birds stick around and beat up on that dead bird? 

Will killing the most dominant bird in the group give me the best chance of keeping the other two around, or will killing one of the sub-dominant birds first be better?

[jakebird]

Wow, interesting question. I remember scouting about ten yrs ago and watching a big field that had nearly a hundred turkeys in it, still flocked up from winter. Over two dozen strutting toms in that bunch, it was an incredible sight. I had plenty of time to watch them through binocs, and i soon noticed four that stood out. Huge, thick, long beards and very large bodies. Their heads were brilliant white as oppposed to the standard blue and red with a white cap. I never saw those four during season but they were the kings of the mt, as far as i could tell. I dont know why they chose not to display their red and blue like the others, but i assume it had some significance that was related to their age and social standing. As far as choosing which one to shoot, i cant help u much. If they all look the same, its the one who stretches out his neck when my sights line up!

[redleg06]

Shoot the strutter or one leading the pack and it's usually the most dominant one. Try a fighting purr right after and sometimes the others will jump on the down bird.

The white head is a coincidence in my opinion because there head is usually white when they are in strut and the strutter usually is the dominant bird in a group.

[jakebird]

Btw, i always have understood that red, not white, was the sign of aggression and stimulation. Some manufacturers used to make "passive" and "aggressive" jake decoys, with the passive having the whiter head and aggressive the red head. As far as keeping birds nearby after the shot, stay hidden and still and hammer on aggressive fighting purrs immediately. Tends to distract them and encourage them to hang around and pounce on their flopping, fallen friend.

[cornfedkiller]

Btw, i always have understood that red, not white, was the sign of aggression and stimulation. Some manufacturers used to make "passive" and "aggressive" jake decoys, with the passive having the whiter head and aggressive the red head.

Weird..Ive read exactly the opposite??  What I read was that white meant they were more relaxed and confident, and a bird with a white head is more likely to stay in your decoys for awhile, whereas a red head means kinda the opposite, and they more likely to be more careful, and possibly not hang around long.

Its sounding like it doesnt really matter a whole lot which one I kill first - just pick one and hit the call right afterwards.  The bird I shot in Nebraska last spring ran about 50 yards before he died, and then the other two birds hung around there for close to an hour, but I didnt want to take a shot that far.  I started shooting bullheads for this year, so any bird I shoot will pretty much drop in its tracks, so I was just curious if there was a way to increase my chances of keeping the other birds there..

[Nick_The_Tinkerer]

Sounds like we need a Trukey Biologist to answer this question!!!!

[cornfedkiller]

Sounds like we need a Trukey Biologist to answer this question!!!!

Here is a quote from Dr. Williams from his section:

White to show dominance; red to show fright.

[redleg06]

No turkey biologist here but the dominant bird is usually obvious and strutts the most, is biggest, acts as such. Sometimes two birds will strutt in with hens and they are likely brothers and equals. You shoot that dominant bird and it wrecks the pecking order. Within a week there will be all kinds of gobbling activity once the boss appears missing. That's a good thing and I've had experience cleaning their clocks in the aftermath.

That all said,
Here's my checklist to which tom to shoot first:
1. Confirm full fan or longbeard.
2. Confirm range or be able to see his eyeball clearly.
3. Shoot whichever tom meets #1 and #2s requirements first.

There have been times where I shot a subordinate "sentry" tom just because the sucker had busted me on two prior hunts. Glad to kill him and let the boss go in that instance, the kill was way more satisfying.

Agree 100%.

If i got time and all of them are giving me  a pretty easy shot then I'll try to shoot the dominant bird. If not and there is brush around or they are acting sketchy then the first one I get a good shot at and confirm as a tom is the one I'm going to pull the trigger on. 

[FireFly908]

Every turkey I have shot had a red head!  Oh, but I guess that's after I shot it and I don't know if that counts!  lol

[FloppinTom]

A gobbler's head will change colors as he comes in and struts even when hes the only gobbler in the bunch. As far as what bird to shoot if 2 come in and both are mature I shoot the submissive bird. If you kill the dominant bird in an area the patterns and pecking order will change with the new boss runnin the show. You can come back two days later and tag out on the strutter, hes already shown he will come to the call. I've seen areas where a gobbler will roost the in the same place in the spring with others roosted close to him. Kill him and the next spring that roost site is no longer being used and the gobblins 3 ridges over every morning. The dominant bird is not always the best spurs or the longest beard. He's just the meanest SOB on the block. My 2 cents. Good luck!

[bbcoach]

Here's what I've heard about multiple strutters.  Normally the dominant bird will have a white or nearly white head, this shows confidience.  With that being said, the dominant bird may not be the biggest bird, with the longest beard or longest spurs "just the best fighter".  Check out bestturkeydecoy.com and read and watch the short videos on the site.  Read the Turkey Body Language article.  Very informative info.

[buck_hunter21]

That's a great question. I will look forward to reading all the responses. For me though, I always shoot the strutter first.

[cornfedkiller]

Ok say they are all strutting haha..

This was my situation last season- Just curious what the best option is if it happens again..

[TauntoHawk]

What I have found is when birds are in close groups like that and you have 3 birds all strutting and gobbling and not one dominent bird than it usually means they are equals.

From taking a couple of doubles out of groups like this they were almost identical either two 2yr olds or two 3yr olds so take your pick..

you're aren't going to see a jake, two yr old, and a boss 5yr old with 1.5in hooks all strutting together, Toms will group with other Toms on the same social status level. If there are birds of different status together you'll know it because there will be a dominent bird that does the bulk of strutting and drumming and usually has the all white head

[davesonic444]

Very interesting. I'd love to have to choose.