Question for experienced turkey hunters

[Quackerbox]

I don't know how you see the spurs well enough to tell they 1 in or 2. Unless you sitting at the corn feeder with binoculars. And that just ain't real turkey hunting

[Smart]

Ok so just say you don't know and quit acting like you can age birds or offer proof

See now you are putting words in my mouth. Do you need some help telling what a jake or a 2 year old is? I can help you. I know you asked me to take you turkey hunting several times many years ago but we couldn’t make it happen. You are more than welcome to come out and I’ll show you what I look at .

I can show you a Jake, a 2 year old and a bird greater than a 2 year old. I never claimed to be able to go any higher than that .. if I did show me z

[Smart]

I don't know how you see the spurs well enough to tell they 1 in or 2. Unless you sitting at the corn feeder with binoculars. And that just ain't real turkey hunting

No feeder hunting for me. I hunt over decoys with a bow. decoys keep them around longer and distracted. My eyes are good enough to see large spurs at 15-20 yards. Binoculars help too. I don’t always have a choice but if I do i try to kill the biggest. it’s no different than folks who kill the 1 of the 2 with the larger beard. I have done that too if I can’t tell.

The bird in the third video though had such bigger noticeable spurs it was a no brainer. Ended up being the largest spurs I had ever killed

[Smart]

[Smart]

[Mexico]

Bad azz...

[okrattler]

I really don't know nothin except I pay attention to the color of the heads from a distance. Jakes have a red head a lot of the time where the older mature birds have more of a bluish tint to their heads. Once they get close I'm really just looking at the size of the beard. That's about the extent of my knowledge of judging birds.

I'd shoot the one on the trail camera picture. Looks like a really nice one to me.

[okrattler]

Rocky terrain kills them too. Because of that our beards that drag and bang off rocks while they are feeding are generally shorter than other places I hunt. They are beat up compared to the south and north Texas birds. This is exactly why I prefer to try to look at spurs if given the time or have a choice. If no time or no choice the closest bird or biggest beard dies.

I never really thought about the terrain busting up the beards before. Are rocks and stuff pretty rough on spurs as well? I would think they'd get busted up in rocky terrain a little bit. But we don't have real rocky stuff out here for the most part so I really have no idea.

I just always figured age at some point maybe affected their beards just because they've been around the block a time or two. Fights and just general wear and tear. Because I've shot what I would consider mature birds and their beard wasn't near what I thought it was at first glance and their spurs were decent enough just rounded off instead of sharp. I just had it figured there's a peak age when their beards were fullest and their spurs were as good as they were ever gonna be.

Having said that, I know nothing about judging a birds age.

[Bisch]

See now you are putting words in my mouth. Do you need some help telling what a jake or a 2 year old is? I can help you. I know you asked me to take you turkey hunting several times many years ago but we couldn’t make it happen. You are more than welcome to come out and I’ll show you what I look at .

I can show you a Jake, a 2 year old and a bird greater than a 2 year old. I never claimed to be able to go any higher than that .. if I did show me z

You should take me turkey hunting instead of him. I won’t argue with you the whole time!!!!! 😆😆😆

Bisch

[huntingfanatic]

Don't listen to dis guy spur length is not an indication of age

“For the purposes of hunter interest, biologists generally suggest using the following measurements to judge gobbler age. Gobblers with spurs one-half inch or less are juveniles, 5/8 inch up to 1 inch are 2-year-olds, 1 to 1 3/8 inches are 3-year-olds and birds with spurs greater than 1 3/8 inches are older than three years. Gobblers with longer spurs (1½ to 2 inches) probably range in age from 5 to 8 or more years.“

Source: National Wild Turkey Federation

[Duckologist]

See now you are putting words in my mouth. Do you need some help telling what a jake or a 2 year old is? I can help you. I know you asked me to take you turkey hunting several times many years ago but we couldn’t make it happen. You are more than welcome to come out and I’ll show you what I look at .

I can show you a Jake, a 2 year old and a bird greater than a 2 year old. I never claimed to be able to go any higher than that .. if I did show me z

Like anybody, you can tell a jake from a tom. You don't know if said tom is 2,3,4 or 5 years old. I don't ever recall requesting to sit on your corn pile

[Duckologist]

“For the purposes of hunter interest, biologists generally suggest using the following measurements to judge gobbler age. Gobblers with spurs one-half inch or less are juveniles, 5/8 inch up to 1 inch are 2-year-olds, 1 to 1 3/8 inches are 3-year-olds and birds with spurs greater than 1 3/8 inches are older than three years. Gobblers with longer spurs (1½ to 2 inches) probably range in age from 5 to 8 or more years.“

Source: National Wild Turkey Federation

Very scientific lol

[dbaio1]

Great videos 👍

[powderburner]

OP, yes great bird. 10" beard or more. Mature bird. Big dark full fan. If you have not killed one Kill him. They are turkey. It is like a trophy deer. What is a trophy buck when you have not killed a buck. A true TROPHY is what you deem a TROPHY. No one else can determine that for you. I have killed turkey with everything I can think of from a rock to the front end of my truck. My kids have not killed one. So for me they are birds. For them they are dying to kill one. They would be happy with a hen. Whack him and go find another.

[Smart]

Like anybody, you can tell a jake from a tom. You don't know if said tom is 2,3,4 or 5 years old. I don't ever recall requesting to sit on your corn pile

Oh you did a couple of times. And if you were hoping or planning on hunting spring turkeys over a corn pile you would have been disappointed….