Longbeard down = tagged out!!!

[tjm08803]

I would post pictures, except I have not a clue how to do it. Spent an hour the other day trying to figure it out, but no luck.

[WNY Bowhunter]

I have never seen the orangest tint on beards. A 2 year old has spurs that come straight out and are very blunt at the end. Average beard for them are about 7-8 inches (could be longer). A 3 year old has spurs that are just starting to get some definition in hook to them, with a beard about 9-10 1/2 inches. The more the spurs hook and get sharper, generally thats the older the bird is. My dad took one this year that had very sharp hooks (you didnt even wanna touch em), and the bird weighed around 26 pounds. He had a 10 inch beard. We would age him no younger than a 4 year old.

For the most part this is true: 2 years olds in my area generally average around 20 lbs, have 9-10" beards and 3/4-1" spurs. Just like with deer, genetics will determine spur and beard length in a gobbler. Next time you kill a 2 year old hold his beard up to a light and check out the tip...it will have the same orangish tint that can be seen in my photo.

Edited May 22, 2012 by WNY Bowhunter

[33Canuck]

Awesoem Job jay, congrats again on a great season and very interesting info I wasn't aware, i can tell the difference in a 1 and 2 year old versus a 3+ plus that is good info. As for the spur theory you can't rely on that, it is true a good long sharp spur will most likely reveal the bird isn't obviously not 1 and most likely not 2 but there are plenty of areas where birds don't have long sharp spurs regardless of age. The birds we shoot up north in the mountains always have 3/4-1" rounded off spurs, another great buddy of mine hunts the catskills and all of his birds have rounded or broken spurs from climbing rocky slopes. Its a rule of thumb but not necessarily a for sure indication. Honestly it's great to know if you shot a old warrior but we all hunt mature gobblers and know how hard it can be to get a longbeard in front of you whether he is 2 or 8. Good luck gang!

[WNY Bowhunter]

Here's an example of why you can't always go by spur length when attempting to age a gobbler. It's a good method to get a ball-park etimate, but it's not 100% accurate...

http://huntingny.com...-great-weekend/

This bird was was banded in february of 2007. At the time, he had 1 3/16" spurs meaning he was likely a 3 year old. When I killed him this spring, 5 years later, he had a 1 1/4" spur on one leg and 3/4" (broken) on the other. Conventional thinking would be that he was a 3-4 year old turkey. In reality, he was 8 years old!!! His spur had only grown 1/16" in 5 years time!!! You would have thought that he would have been packing 1 1/2 to 1 3/4" hooks at that age. Apparently, he was genetically programed for spur growth. He was certainly a survivor, a grizzled old warrior of the turkey world.

Edited May 22, 2012 by WNY Bowhunter

[WNY Bowhunter]

Awesoem Job jay, congrats again on a great season and very interesting info I wasn't aware, i can tell the difference in a 1 and 2 year old versus a 3+ plus that is good info. As for the spur theory you can't rely on that, it is true a good long sharp spur will most likely reveal the bird isn't obviously not 1 and most likely not 2 but there are plenty of areas where birds don't have long sharp spurs regardless of age. The birds we shoot up north in the mountains always have 3/4-1" rounded off spurs, another great buddy of mine hunts the catskills and all of his birds have rounded or broken spurs from climbing rocky slopes. Its a rule of thumb but not necessarily a for sure indication. Honestly it's great to know if you shot a old warrior but we all hunt mature gobblers and know how hard it can be to get a longbeard in front of you whether he is 2 or 8. Good luck gang!

I'm fairly confident that your second bird WAS NOT a two year old!!! :D

[33Canuck]

Yah, I'm thinking you may be right If he was I failled in my QTM and should have passed on him he would have been a slammer as a 4yr old, of course he would have been trippign on his beard when he walked

Edited May 23, 2012 by 33Canuck

[Lawdwaz]

Here's an example of why you can't always go by spur length when attempting to age a gobbler. It's a good method to get a ball-park etimate, but it's not 100% accurate...

http://huntingny.com...-great-weekend/

This bird was was banded in february of 2007. At the time, he had 1 3/16" spurs meaning he was likely a 3 year old. When I killed him this spring, 5 years later, he had a 1 1/4" spur on one leg and 3/4" (broken) on the other. Conventional thinking would be that he was a 3-4 year old turkey. In reality, he was 8 years old!!! His spur had only grown 1/16" in 5 years time!!! You would have thought that he would have been packing 1 1/2 to 1 3/4" hooks at that age. Apparently, he was genetically programed for spur growth. He was certainly a survivor, a grizzled old warrior of the turkey world.

As noted in your reply from the folks at Penn State, that was a VERY rare bird. Very rare for any birds around here to get to that age I'd imagine.

Judging his age by his spurs would have been a mistake.

[Lawdwaz]

I think that the NWTF has it pegged with this..........

http://www.nwtf.org/conservation/bulletins/bulletin_18.pdf

[Lawdwaz]

Copy/paste from the above link...................

SPURS

1 year . . . . . . . . .1/2" or less

2 years . . . . . . . .1/2" to 7/8"

3 years . . . . . . . .7/8" to 1"

4+ years . . . . . . .1"+

[tjm08803]

I always go by spurs, wing span, and weight. Its tough to get an accurate age of gobblers, who knows how many old ones we killed really. I did shoot one with big sharp hooky spurs a few years back. his middle toe nail was like 4 inches long!... I know that was an old guy. The one my dad shot this year had spurs about that size, weighed 26 pounds, and had a wing span that made him look like he could migrate south .

Anyways, how do you add pictures to a comment?

[WNY Bowhunter]

1.) Resize the photos to around 600 X 800 or so

2.) Upload to a photohosting site. I use photobucket...

http://photobucket.com/

3.) After uploading, right click on the photo that you want to post and copy the URL address

4.) Start a new thread on here and click on the little square block underneath the smiley face. Paste the URL that you copied. Another way to do it is type out and paste the URL in the middle between the sets of brackets.

Edited May 23, 2012 by WNY Bowhunter

[Lawdwaz]

I always go by spurs, wing span, and weight. Its tough to get an accurate age of gobblers, who knows how many old ones we killed really. I did shoot one with big sharp hooky spurs a few years back. his middle toe nail was like 4 inches long!... I know that was an old guy. The one my dad shot this year had spurs about that size, weighed 26 pounds, and had a wing span that made him look like he could migrate south .

Anyways, how do you add pictures to a comment?

Wing span? All these years and I never measured a single one!!

What is the wing span of those birds your shooting?

I've been at this for 30 years (started in '82) and the heaviest one one I ever shot weighed in at 23.5 lbs. on a supermarket scale. One other one went 24lbs. but that scale was suspect............<grin>

When I shoot one near home, I weigh them on my fish scale. They may not be that accurate but I do occasionally check them with a bag of kitty litter or similar object of known weight.

26lbs. is a heck of a gobbler. Not too many that heavy in my neck of the woods.

[WNY Bowhunter]

We've killed over 130 longbeards in my family (big family) over the past 25 years and the heaviest gobbler that's been weighed in on our scale at the butchershop is 23 lbs. We've had a bunch of 22 pounders brought in over the years but breaking that 23lb. mark hasn't happened yet.

Edited May 23, 2012 by WNY Bowhunter

[Lawdwaz]

We've killed over 130 longbeards in my family (big family) over the past 25 years and the heaviest gobbler that's been weighed in on our scale at the butchershop is 23 lbs...

The one I mentioned above was killed in Greenwood in 1983 and IIRC was weighed on the scale in the butcher shop of the Red & White Grocery store in either Cansiteo or Greenwood?

My buddy & I walked in with the bird and said "hey, can we weigh a big gobbler in here?" They said, heck yes! We flung him up on the scale, right on the counter!!

Only a couple young studs like Albert & I could get away with it. <grin>

I'll hang a picture tonight. He had a 10.75" beard and 1.25" spurs IIRC (again) <grin>

[WNY Bowhunter]

Come to think of it, a friend of the family killed a monster of a bird back in the early 90's that was weighed in our shop. That bad boy tipped the scales @ 25 lbs (gutted) and had 6 beards!!! The family record still stands@ 23lbs though...

Edited May 23, 2012 by WNY Bowhunter

[tjm08803]

note that the weight of that bird was right after we shot, feathers entact, not gutted. It weighed in at 26 pounds there. I did not know that official weight was gutted and plucked.

[WNY Bowhunter]

No, you are correct...weight them just as they were before you killed them...guts/feathers and all. The point trying to be made here is that most people weigh their birds on innaccurate scales (bathroom scales) and the weights get over-estimated.

Congrats to your father on his big gobbler. Make sure to post the pics when you get the process figured out.

[tjm08803]

Here is our 2012 season.

3 longbeards and a jakester.

Picture 1:

Jake - Dads first bird, should have been on film but i forgot to hit record at go time

Picture 2:

My first bird

10 3/8 beard

inch spurs

forgot to weigh it

Picture 3:

Dad's second bird

10 inch beard

sharp hooky spurs, over an inch

26 pounds

got this hunt all on film

Picture 4:

My second bird

8 3/4 beard

1/2 beard

21 pounds

It was a hell of a season.

[tjm08803]

unfortunatly theres not a better picture of bird 4 because i was hunting by myself that day

[tjm08803]

we have an official game scale

[WNY Bowhunter]

You guys had a hell of a season indeed!!! Nice job posting those pics... .

Edited May 23, 2012 by WNY Bowhunter

[tjm08803]

You guys had a hell of a season indeed!!! Nice job, posting those pics... .

thanks brother. congrats to you to. now time to scout out the majestic backstraps, as uncle ted would say

[Lawdwaz]

You guys had a hell of a season indeed!!! Nice job posting those pics... .

I guess so!

[StripedBuck]

Great looking bird...well done!