I’ve had the good fortune during my career to share hunting camps across the country with many talented freelance outdoor writers. In addition to enjoying their company, and their many stories (some true?), I’ve learned a lot along the way.

One of my favorite outdoor writers to see in camp is Bob Humphrey, and I recently came across an outstanding article he wrote for the Mossy Oak website titled, “The Different Personalities Types of a Gobbler.”

Bob’s text made me think about this year’s wild turkey season, as well as the many I’ve experienced since the mid-1980s. Now that I think about it, I’ve never missed a spring season during all of these years.

I encourage you to read Bob’s entire article. As a tease, he dives into the differences of gobblers that act like “wimps, sneakers, veterans, and movie stars.” Bob explains the reasons why certain toms behave in this manner, and in each case provides tips on how to kill such a bird. 

Bob writes, “Turkeys, like people, have different personalities. Some are bold and reckless, others are shy, and some may seem downright sagacious.” (I’ll save you the word search on your phone: sagacious = shrewd or wise.)

The bird I killed with my bow in South Dakota this season was a sneaker (top photo). The one I arrowed in on the same property the previous year was a movie star (photo below). And in years passed I’ve also killed wimps and veterans. It’s the variety of gobbler personalities that makes the chess match so much fun.

If I were to add a bit of information to Bob’s article, it would be to say I’ve seen individual birds with seemingly split personalities. For example, a gobbler can act like a wimp when spotting a decoy combo of a jake breeding a hen, then he’ll feed in the distance for an hour, before drifting closer. And just when you think the tom won’t step within 50 yards, repeating his behavior from earlier in the morning, he suddenly becomes bold and saunters in to the decoys like John Wayne in True Grit.