Gobbler Pics and a few questions

D

Dick Sargeant

Well-known member
I was lucky enough to get close to a good sized flock of turkeys early on Saturday and they were putting on a show -

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Things quieted down a little and I used the break to work in closer while they were feeding -

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They really are something and they have this flap of skin over the beak that sometimes is down -

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And then they can also raise it up...........what is this ????
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When you get in close these giant birds have a look all their own.............
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There was one real big one that would not show himself but I got a shot of his head that I liked...

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Just before I was ready to give up he huffed and puffed and slipped into the open -
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I can certainly see why hunters have such a high regard for these big birds. In addition to all of the great color and strutting..........these guys looked like oven stuffer roasters to me !

sarge
 
All I can say is that you had one hell of a wonderful time. Love the light you caught and some of those angles on the shots are superb! Really like the one that all you can focus on was the head with brush all around. Very cool.
Way to go, Dick.
Al
 
Sarge, Incredible shots. I have a feeling that your starting to like that 400 5.6 Its obvious by your shots here. Great work and go get after them.

Thanks for posting

Gary March
 
Nice batch of turkey photos. The hunk that hangs over the beak is called a snood.

Tim
 
That is an impressive reel of photos. I'm so glad this site exists. I felt like I should have to pay to view those shots. Thanks for sharing them.

I'm not sure if you are just kidding around about not knowing much about turkey anatomy so I'm just asking this question for fun and not meaning to offensive. Did you notice the difference in the tail feathers on the jake and the mature gobblers?
 
All I can say is that you had one hell of a wonderful time. Love the light you caught and some of those angles on the shots are superb! Really like the one that all you can focus on was the head with brush all around. Very cool.
Way to go, Dick.
Al
Hi Al - The very early light is great as it can light up an area, but then the angle is so sharp that you can have a shadow on the same bird. Glad you liked the head shot in the brush..........doesn't hurt to get lucky !
sarge
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Sarge, Incredible shots. I have a feeling that your starting to like that 400 5.6 Its obvious by your shots here. Great work and go get after them.

Thanks for posting

Gary March

Thanks Gary - if you are chasing these guys this year, hope you connect !
sarge
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Nice batch of turkey photos. The hunk that hangs over the beak is called a snood.

Tim
Hi Tim -

Next to a Turkey Vulture, these guys up close are very different. Snood.........assume you are not putting me on, I will not ask why it wouldn't be called a sneak.
sarge
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That is an impressive reel of photos. I'm so glad this site exists. I felt like I should have to pay to view those shots. Thanks for sharing them.

I'm not sure if you are just kidding around about not knowing much about turkey anatomy so I'm just asking this question for fun and not meaning to offensive. Did you notice the difference in the tail feathers on the jake and the mature gobblers?
Hi Sean - Truth is I do not know much about these guys and never saw them this close to notice some of the features. I do see a few with longer center tail feathers - about 4 in the center of the spread ? Are these the mature ones ? I thought that the length of the beard and length of the spur was the way to tell ?
sarge
Click to expand...
 
Hi Sean - Truth is I do not know much about these guys and never saw them this close to notice some of the features. I do see a few with longer center tail feathers - about 4 in the center of the spread ? Are these the mature ones ? I thought that the length of the beard and length of the spur was the way to tell ?
Click to expand...


I sensed that you may not know the difference - that's why I asked the question. Thanks for not being offended. The immature toms (1 1/2 yr olds) are called jakes and they will have the longer center tail feathers. Length of beard and spurs is not as certain of age determination as the longer tail feathers. I've seen fuly mature (2 1/2 yrs and older) toms that didn't even have a beard or really short beards due to one reason or another (broke off, beard rot, etc.). Spur length is a good barometer for age as usually the longer they are, the older the bird but genetics does play a part and can confuse age determination in some cases. Most, if not all, spring hunting regulations allow the harvest of turkeys with visible beards only because that's the best way to determine sex but hens grow beards in rare cases and some jakes and mature toms don't have visible beards. There's no guarantee that a jake will display in full strut so the visible beard is the safest regulation to go with for harvest regulations.

I hope I explained this well enough to be understood. If not, I'll make it more confusing by going back to my statement that hens sometimes grow beards. This makes them legal for harvest when this occurs and I've seen a fair amount of bearded hens in my time chasing turkeys, but back in March I saw more in one bunch of turkeys than I've ever seen in my 30+ years of scouting/hunting them. There were at least 5 bearded hens in a group of 35 turkeys I was scouting. I took several pictures but with their constant movement and the low light conditions of the early morning I was only able to get one that clearly showed a bearded hen:

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I wish I had your camera and talents for capturing these turkeys that morning cause it was a truly rare day. I look forward to more turkey pictures from you because that was some of the best I've ever seen. Thanks again.
 
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Hi Dick: Great shots of the turkeys. I hope to get one in my sights this spring. That flap of skin is called a snood, thanks for sharing.
 
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