Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs Poll

Heck yeah. Man the birds that tree hop to see the hen are the toughest imo. You’ll hear him hammer and think you’re safe to give him some talk. Hear wing beats thinking he’s pitched down a few times only to figure out that joker is slipping through the branches to bust you. I’ve had some pitch up into trees during the day and sit there drumming/watching. At least you can usually figure out a way to slip around maneuver on bird who stays out in the middle of a pasture/clear cut

The real question is: was he call shy before or after YOU hunted him?;)

I would say there are subordinate turkeys that shy away from that days dominate bird and I'd say there are highly educated birds that have been called to so much by uneducated hunters that it makes them wary about coming in to a call
There are birds that just know how the game is supposed to be played in nature and they will wait on the hens to come to them

I've experienced a few turkeys that would not come into shooting range after I called, but they weren't call shy. If you've had the pleasure of hunting a cut-over for a few years, you certainly get to learn a lot about turkeys...simply because you can see them at a great distance. You can see what they do and don't do. I killed a pile of gobblers in this last lease I was a part of for the 4 years the cut-over remained "turkey huntable", but I also got to see a few (3 in fact) that wouldn't let me shoot them. Hahahaha! ...There was one bird that had a short gobble! It was very distinct, and I got on him twice during the same season. Although his gobble was 50% the length and duration of most gobbles, it was one of the most fierce gobbles I've ever heard...like he was PISSED! To save time, I'll explain my last interaction with him.

It was the last day of turkey season 2021. I have 4 birds down and looking for that last Alabama #5 for my limit and possibly the last 5 bird limit the state of Alabama would ever see again, lol. Well, a group of 3 gobblers and about 10 hens busted me at 7:30 am. I crested the top of a hill out in the cut-over, and they saw my head from 500 yards away (the hens did). The hens all ran/flew out of the cut-over to my right. The 3 gobblers never saw me, but they reacted to the hens busting out of there by walking swiftly out of the cut-over to my left. I made a big loop, using the terrain to my advantage and made my way back to where the flock of turkeys were at when they busted me. I figured the gobblers might come back to some calling by the time I made it around and down there. I started calling once set up just off a fire break in the edge of the tree line over-looking this particular corner of the cut-over. 5-10 minutes after my first call series, I hear the short gobble, "gahble-gahb"!!! He was straight away from me out in the cut-over at around 200 yards best I could tell. I hit him with some cuts and yelps, and he gobbles with his loud, extremely short blast. He's closed the distance a good bit, I could tell. He cuts me off with my next series of calls...and there he is...standing around 80 yards away as he's just topped a little hill in the cut-over I wasn't able to see him due to. He looked like a big ostrich standing out in the sun out there. Just a tremendous turkey standing there, erect, head and neck stretched high looking for his cuttin' queen...but he would not budge! Once atop his "king of the hill" spot, he was not coming a step closer. He gobbled again; I did not call. He gobbled again, trying to call me out of the woods, and just stood there. This played out for about 5 minutes, then I noticed movement to my right only 50 yards away. The other two gobblers eased back on the scene and were coaxed into my calling. They didn't need the hen to come to them; they were going to find her. So, although I wanted the big boy standing out there in all his glory, I was aware the hour and felt the desire to fill my 5 bird limit with one of the two ol' boys that had come in closer.

I never got the short-gobble gobbler, but just wanted to share my experience with what I wouldn't call a call-shy gobbler, but one that certainly expected hens to come to him. As mentioned, I had a couple more do the same thing. I was able to kill the last one that did that, but he was in the woods and wouldn't budge. He hammered every time I called but wouldn't budge. I got tired of it and crawled to within 30 yards of him due to terrain. I know that's not a normal thing. Once within 30 yards, I stopped calling to him. After about 10 minutes, he stepped out from behind a very thick area of bushes he was behind and I dropped the hammer on his rear end.

But yeah, there are call-shy birds...and then there are gobblers that won't come to the hen...smart suckers sometimes!

Mess w turkeys - they generally get tougher to kill the more u mess w em - but depends on how bad u educate em

Rookies can get bird call shy quicker than experienced veteran - less is more for me now. U shoot birds out of a group they will get tuffer and tuffer - call same group in 3 times n year - 3rd or 4th bird prob done after watching his buddies die on seperate occasions and several things can get a bird shy

I have seen over and over again a turkey that is messed with all year and everyone says he can't be killed. Then he roosts in a little different area and he is killed easily. I think the area they are in is what makes them easy or hard to kill and that area can change during the day, don't think it has a thing to do with calling

yes

YES. Those are the one's you apply your best woodsmanship skills on in order to kill them.

No doubt! Cool story! Some of those birds you gotta get up in there where they feel the most comfortable showing off before they do. They are a very proud/conceited bird. That’s why I like chasing them

The writer of one of the old turkey hunting books called them "hermit gobblers." I don't remember which book; there were only 3 or 4 written in that period of 70-100 years ago. This guy was focused on fall hunting and I don't think he had ever hunted in the spring at all. He referred to a hermit gobbler as one who'd had so many bad experiences that he never associated with other turkeys at all, and would immediately run away when seeing or hearing another turkey.

I have only been around one turkey that I thought might qualify for the title of hermit gobbler. He was on and off our place several times one season, and roosted in the same tree when he was on it. He was always alone, and I saw him leave a field a couple of times when other turkeys entered. I almost got him during a rainstorm one morning, but he survived the season and was never seen again. I know he survived the season because my cousin spooked him out of his tree the last morning.

I had a gobbler on the Hale/Tuscaloosa line that I SAW run from a real hen he could see when she yelped to him. That bird was uncallable.

Yes on Skyline some gobblers are called everyday of season.

I agree with that too. I don’t think folks call to the same bird most days. They move around a lot more than folks think imo

Some do and some don’t. I know an area of hardwoods, about 8,000 acres and theirs birds will cover from one side md to the other in several days. Unless they find a hen nesting and stay with her.

I know another area and those birds will hang out in the same drain for a week or better. They’ll leave out in different directions every day if you mess with them. There’s no doubt it’s the same birds either. At the same time you kill one of them or both another will move in sooner or later. They love that drain. They’re field birds so you can watch the same little group over and over.


I’ve been know to bust them up at roost time to try and force one to a new area. That has worked more than not if I’m where I can put in play for the next morning. Won’t in that drain since they’ll be out of play for me.

We had at least 2 hermits on Jerry back in the day. One was black as coal and a complete loner. He never was seen with any company. That joker would pick you off during deer season. One friend thought we were telling a tale until he saw him and watched the birds reactions. We saw him for a few years and then he disappeared. We had another one that had a running buddy. He was very distinct and never have seen one like him before or since. He was oak leaf with a gray color cast and a purplish head. That time I saw him I missed him clean, a crossing flying shot at 45-50 yards. I’d had enough with him and cornered and flushed him after chasing him all morning. They’d let me so close and then work a while then leave. Next hump the same and the next hump the same. I quu It calling and snuck in but nada. He survived because Jerry saw him a few weeks later when he pulled into a field and he saw Jim and the bird flew off.

Mossy heads

The first one sounds like a hermit, but the one with a buddy doesn't qualify according to the old writer. It had to be a turkey who was a complete loner that would run away from other turkeys. That's a step beyond "call shy".

I wish I could remember the book that described the hermit turkey. I have Tom Turpin's book, and it's not it. I was hopeful that someone else here would know. Turkey Petter, a noted author like you oughta know such things. Which one was it?

We just never saw him with any other turkeys I guess is why we called him a hermit. He was a trophy if one of us could’ve killed him. There were there birds that socialized but stayed on the fringes. Mixed hardwoods with open field all around helped us keep up so to speak.

I do miss Jerry and that place. They were both special in a lot of ways.

Speaking of books. I read one and I think the hunter was from Texas. He mentioned flushing his turkeys to give them a sporting chance and took them from the air. Call them in and flush them. I wished I could find that book.

I've read a bunch of Tom Kelly's books and if memory serves he talks about hermit turkeys. I just can't remember which book it was in.