Hard for me to understand

[2eagles]

I've read multiple posts about targeting "A" bird as if he's the only one in the woods. What I don't get is to me, they all look alike. Now if there is only one bird, ok, but if there's only one tom around, I'd hunt somewhere else. Maybe a certain bird has a favorite roost. Or maybe there is something about a bird that makes him special. Last year my son shot a double bearded tom that lost his fan somehow. That is an easy bird to identify. Lol. I haven't been turkey hunting too long so maybe I am missing something that would make me a better hunter. Thanks, guys!

[tomstopper]

Unless they have a distinctive mark, its hard for me as well

[BowBendr]

Yep, you see lots of post about hunting a bird for multiple years...I always scratch my head and wondered how they knew that it was indeed that specific bird.


2015 Old Gobbler contest Champions

[Marc]

I would guess that some assumptions are made...

Bird uses the same roost area and strutting area and is a mature bird, I might assume it is the same bird from last season.

Then again, dominant birds are going to use preferred roosts and strutting areas, and it is possible if not likely that a mature bird is replaced the next season by a more dominant bird.

[davisd9]

I killed a bird this year that I hunted 3 years.  How do I know it was the same bird?  He did the exact same thing, in the same manner, in the same fields for 3 years.  He roosted in pretty much the same trees depending on the days. I knew his gobble as well, it was a powerful, deep, guttural gobble, it played over in my head enough that I could pick it out across the farm.  I can say this is the only bird that I have chased in this manner but I guarantee you it was the same bird for three years.

[Mike Honcho]

I agree with davisd9.  I have only had one situation like this and he was a really large Tom with about 12-13" beard.
Hunted him for a couple of years but he had a helluva sense he was being hunted....Never got closer than about 70 yards.

[Happy]

I have targeted a particular bird several times. Spend enough time observing them and you can recognize them. It may be a beard. Different colors on his fan or missing feathers. There are ways. Now if you don't observe the bird understand your point. Some birds have a distinct gobble also. Know if I am hunting a particular bird and get on another well I haven't yet held back on taking him if he is mature.

[Gobble!]

I think 95% of the time its in their head. Maybe if you hunt one small patch of woods that can hold birds year round and does not connect to any other piece of land then I can believe it. On one property I hunt the birds do the same thing year after year. In the last 11 years I have killed 10 birds all within 150 yards of each other on that property, that's not counting the other probably 5 birds my family has harvested in the same area. Probably 5 of them within 40 yards of each other. They roost in the same area and fly down the same way. Maybe its reincarnation?

[Farmboy27]

Some times I can tell a certain bird by his gobble but most of the time it's just an assumption because he's in the same area. As far as from year to year, no way could I ever tell. In my favorite area it's almost a given that the birds will be roosted in one of 2 spots. It's the same every year. I don't doubt that some guys hunt the same birds multible years and maybe some of the older birds that I have killed were the same ones I hunted and called to the year before. But I could never be sure.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

Distinct behaviors (like gobbling in the pitch black 90 minutes before sun up on a regular basis, distinct features such as missing tail feathers, unique gobble characteristics, unique approach behaviors, etc) all allow hunters who spend a lot of time chasing turkeys to "know" a bird.

You won't get that kind of relationship if you're only hunting weekends because you're not there enough to really learn a bird.  If you're in the timber 3 or more days per week during the season you begin to learn their social structure and who's who in the zoo.

[Devastator]

Yep, you see lots of post about hunting a bird for multiple years...I always scratch my head and wondered how they knew that it was indeed that specific bird.


2015 Old Gobbler contest Champions

yep

[g8rvet]

A lot of times, I do not really know for sure.  I posted about one we are chasing from last year.  Roosted same spot.  Walked out through very thick area, instead of the way most of the other toms in that area do.  Has hung up at about 75 yards 5 different times, gobbling his head off- not just the typical hang up that gobbles to the calls.  He has done nearly the identical thing for 2 years now - I finished my nephews story he was telling me about hunting him this year.  But do I REALLY know it is the same bird?  Not a chance.  I think it might be, it makes a better story, so I say it is the same bird, but I really do not know for sure.

I did kill a bird for sure that I knew was there 3 years ago.  Had cell phone pics of him after I had killed his running buddy and he would not leave the field for an hour.  He had a split beard - thought it was a double beard, but just had a weird kink in half the beard that made it look like 2 beards.  I killed him later that year and knew it was him before I squeezed the trigger.  Over the last couple of years on my lanyard though, it looks just like any other thick beard.  Bummer. 

Good question though.

[Hookinembig]

We keep trail cameras out most of the year so you can see the groups which helps. We have one bird that has a unique beard its almost like he hits it with the curling iron before he flys down in the morning. There sometimes are small signs like the color of their head in certain gobblers or a missing tail feather but for the most part I would say it would be pretty difficult unless there is a unique trait about them.

[catman529]

Sometimes a certain bird is distinct but usually they all look the same to me. Having video of a particular bird can really help ID it has distinct markings. Neighbor kilt a bird last year that we saw a few times and called Shade Tree Bird. The video confirmed it was him because of a couple of markings that he had.


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[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

The other distinct thing about a particular bird is his presence and how it suppresses gobbling. 

When the king speaks, his subjects typically stop talking.