Fall turkey flocks

[virgil]

I had a couple of flocks of birds around me yesterday. I did hear some gobbling in the distance, but didn't see any toms in the group. There was a group of about twenty birds. They all looked like hens to me. I'm a novice turkey hunter. Is it normal for a flock to be all hens?

[landtracdeerhunter]

I don't ever see a normal, when it comes to turkey, LOL. Anything is possible!

[turkeyfeathers]

IMO fall "gobbling" is unusual in itself. They typically don't rip like they do in the spring. 

[virgil]

I was surprised to hear the gobbling. But, it's an unmistakable sound. I was wondering if fall flocks generally have hens and toms, or all hens and young birds like the flocks that I saw.

[turkeyfeathers]

I saw two mixed flocks last week. Hens,toms , jakes and poults in each. No reason or rhyme to what turkeys do. 

[landtracdeerhunter]

The mature hens will be taking their young and loosing them soon, if they haven't already. You could be seeing the young from other areas for wintering. If you have slips and heavier wooded areas, this is where turkey will ditch their young., to winter in. Turkey, with young ( size of their mothers) are still in our area, but they will be leaving around the 16th, as they do every year. They have already moved into heavier leaved areas, from their summer roosting grounds.

Edited October 12, 2014 by landtracdeerhunter

[Uncle Nicky]

As a general rule of thumb, they will start flocking up heavily in the fall, usually groups of hens and yearlings stay together, and groups of gobblers stay together. I've heard gobbles in the fall, it's more a re-grouping call than the loud early mating gobbles that you hear in the spring.