LEARNING TURKEY LANGUAGE 173 



other time, and strange to say get fewer turkeys, 

 simply from the fact that the call is not under- 

 stood. 



Why do they go in quest of turkeys at that 

 season ? For the reason that they are much more 

 easily located, as the gobbling of the turkey in- 

 dicates its whereabouts, removing the necessity 

 of spending much time in search of them; hence, 

 were it not for the gobbling many hunters would 

 never attempt to hunt the birds, knowing too 

 well it would be useless. 



The first and most important thing that you 

 should impress on your mind is, that the turkey- 

 cocks gobble for a reason. 



Why does the gobbler stand in one spot and 

 make a great ado? Every turkey, whether born 

 in Florida or Mexico, does the same, and at 

 the same period of the year, because his gobbling 

 and strutting is to let the hens know where he is, 

 and if he keeps it up every hen in hearing will 

 come to him. The gobble of the male turkey 

 is his love-call. In the early spring, when na- 

 ture begins to unfold its latent energies and de- 

 velop its dormant resources for creating new life, 



