A gobbler's track is usually more than four inches long (middle toe to rear of "heel" pad); hen tracks are almost always less than four inches. A jake gobbler's track may be as long as an adult gobbler's but is somewhat thinner. Dirt or sandy roads and sandbars along creeks are favorite strutting areas for gobblers. There will be many gobbler tracks, often in a circle, and marks where his wing tips dragged along the ground.

Gobblers have glossy bronze-green feathers tipped with a black band, also glossy. Hen feathers are duller and are edged with brown. Gobbler/jake droppings are large and straight or "J-hooked"; hen droppings are smaller, looped or simply a formless mass.

However, lighter loads and smaller gauges are also effective. Many 3-inch shooters find that 1 1/4-ounce loads pattern better in their guns. Standard "short" magnum, 2 3/4-inch 12-gauge shells with 1 1/4 to 1 5/8 ounces of shot give you about 90% of the range and will deal with about 98 percent of the gobblers that the big guns do. For smaller and younger shooters, a tight-choked 20-gauge with well-patterned 3-inch magnum loads carrying 1 1/8 ounces of shot will cleanly take 30-yard gobblers if you hit them, as you should, in the head and neck.