Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Gobbler tell when a hen will breed?I

I have often wondered when a gobbler see a hen....either close or a ways off....can he determine if she will breed if he closes the distance, or if he just decides to get a little closer and see what happens. Have seen gobblers that could not get to a hen fast enough, and seen them lay back take their time. They must have some idea of the chance of breeding her, or maby I will get lucky today.

This Tom has this hen pinned down. 😂

Remember that we turn things on their head when we hunt gobblers. We try and get the gobbler to come to us. Normally this is not the case.

I made a podcast earlier this year in which I got between two hens on one side of a saddle and the gobbler down in the bottom on the other side of the saddle. The gob and the girls exchanged calls before sunrise. The girls hopped down and started going towards the gobbler. When they reached the other side of the saddle, the gobbler had already flown down and had shut up. Each hen had to get the gobbler's attention, triangulate his whereabouts and head the last 150-200 yards. The two hens were a few minutes apart. The second hen had a far harder time getting the gobbler to respond. She paced up and down the edge of the treeline giving excited yelps until the gobbler finally sounded off, and then she was down the gully like a homing missile.

The day before, I'd seen this group at the top of the saddle. The gob had been intensely following the hens, but the hens were oblivious. When it came time to roost up for the night, the gob went down one side of the saddle and the hens went the other way.

Bottom line: the way it is supposed to work is that when the hen is ready to breed, she goes and presents herself to the gobbler. When you see gobblers chasing hens around, they're usually being ignored or rebuffed. The gob is just hoping one gets in the mood.