RANGE, VARIATION, AND NAME 19 



the spring, a very noisy bird, continually gob- 

 bling and strutting to attract his harem, and 

 as he is much larger and more conspicuous than 

 the hens, it is only natural that he is in more 

 danger of being killed. Suppose the proportion 

 of gobblers in the beginning of the spring is 

 three to fifteen hens, in a certain stretch of 

 woods. As soon as the mating season begins, 

 these gobblers will make their whereabouts 

 known by their noise; result — the gunners are 

 after them at once, and the chances are ten to 

 one they will all be killed. The hens will then 

 have no mate and no young will be produced; 

 whereas, if but one gobbler were left, each of our 

 supposed fifteen hens would raise an average of 

 ten young each, and we would also have 150 

 new turkeys in the fall to yield sport and food. 

 It has always been my practice to leave at least 

 one old gobbler in each locality to assist the 

 hens in reproduction. If every hunter would 

 do this the problem of maintaining the turkey 

 supply would be greatly solved. 



The greatest of all causes for the decrease of 

 wild turkeys lies in the killing of all the old 



