That tom was so hot in the wee dark hours that I could have belched and he still would've gobbled right back.

Turkeys rarely do what's expected. That's what makes a successful hunt so rewarding. But knowing why they do what they do can help you bag more toms. Photo by Kyle Carlisle.

I made a perfect approach to my blind in the dark, not even snapping a twig on the way, and started with some soft yelps a half hour before sunrise. The tom answered instantly, sounding like he was about 200 yards away, slightly uphill, in the direction opposite the one I had come from.

It was the perfect setup, so I forced myself to be patient, uttering only a couple of soft yelps every five or 10 minutes. Every one was rewarded by the gobbler's response.

I started indulging myself in a fantasy of walking back to my car, bird in hand, before 7 a.m. and rewarding myself with a huge breakfast. By the time I heard the big bird fly down from the roost -- with the characteristic grace of a dropped bowling ball -- I had all but called in my order.

That's where the fantasy ended, however. I never saw the gobbler. For all I know, he never took a single step in my direction.

After 45 minutes, he was gone. Apparently, I'd found the only turkey on the planet that had taken a vow of chastity.

Examining some of turkeys' most common but perplexing behavior from the standpoint of their biology and social structures, hunters can help stack the odds in their favor. There's just one disclaimer: The opinions below are best guesses by people qualified to make them, but they'll be the first to tell you turkeys will forever leave hunters sitting in the woods scratching their heads.

JUST OUT OF RANGE
Q: Why do they always seem to hang up 10 yards out of range?

A: It may have taken a few minutes or an hour, but the gobbler has finally started coming right at you. Now it's a tossup as to which of you is more excited. Suddenly he's close, gobbling so loud you can feel it vibrating in your chest. But he never comes any closer, and no matter how you change up your calling, he just loses interest and drifts away.

Tom Blankinship, senior wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, has a theory.

"Turkeys, like any other bird, know they're vulnerable when they're displaying themselves," he said. "They're going to stay close to cover, and they're actually trying to get the female to come to them."

What may be happening is that the toms are getting to where they think the hens are, strutting and waiting for the girls to come take a look. When they don't show up, or if he can see your decoys and notices they aren't moving toward him, he either assumes they've lost interest or he just starts getting nervous about being out in the open so long. Either way, the situation just doesn't "feel right," which compels the bird to look for love elsewhere.

This scenario is more likely to develop with older and bigger birds than with jakes, which have practically run up into some hunters' laps.