1 | Winter Turkeys
As winter wanes, hen and gobbler flocks are together.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
2 | Jake Flocks
Jake “gangs” battle for dominance within their ranks.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
Bonus Read: When You Should Shoot a Jake
3 | Strutting Jakes
Jakes are enthusiastic strutters, instinctively preparing for their future move up in the hierarchy.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
4 | Gobbler Fights
Serious gobbler fights can be brutal, noisy affairs of blood-letting spur jabs and wing flogging.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
5 | Locked Beaks
Gobblers often lock beaks in a breast-to-breast shoving match in an effort to upend their rival.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
6 | Vanquished Toms
Vanquished toms, or “lieutenants,” may accompany the dominant gobbler throughout the breeding season.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
7 | Hen Flocks
Hen flocks battle to establish a boss hen, the spring turkey hunter’s nemesis.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
8 | Hen Fights
Hen fights within a spring flock trigger a loud and raucous chorus of wing flapping, fighting purrs, cutts, clucks and excited gobbles.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
9 | Sound Off
Gobblers sound off after fly-down signaling the hens to their position.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
10 | Dominant Hen
The dominant hen leads the flock. Calling gobblers away from their hens is the supreme test for a turkey hunter.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
11 | Loafing
Turkeys spend a lot of time loafing, preening and dusting between feeding periods.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
12 | The Enemy
The hen is the turkey hunter’s enemy. Patience and perseverance often pays off during the egg-laying and incubating period when gobblers are alone.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
13 | Losing Hens
A lone dominant gobbler may lose his hen flock to an aggressive jake group.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
14 | Eager Jakes
Jakes typically respond eagerly to hen calls, a confidence builder for novice callers.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
15 | Intense Response
A single lifelike hen decoy setup can trigger an intense response from a flock’s dominant hen, helping to draw in a gobbler.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
16 | Breeding
A hen squats to receive the gobbler’s advances prior to breeding.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
17 | A Gobbler Treads
The gobbler treads the hen’s back prior to mating. This may last a few moments to several minutes.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
18 | Turkey Eggs
This clutch of future wild turkeys, and the hen sitting on these eggs, face a precarious time during incubation and several weeks after hatching. Primarily, predators, weather and turkey-habitat management efforts will define success.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
19 | Turkey Poults
Poult-rearing success is a good measure of an effective, year-round wild turkey management plan.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
20 | No Sweeter Sound
Nature offers no sweeter sound to a turkey hunter’s ear than a thunderous gobble announcing a new spring morning.
(Tes Randle Jolly photo)
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Editor's note: This evergreen gallery post was first published March 6, 2018.
