what is a good bird to you?
spur length?
beard length?
weight?
its funny because sometimes a long beard may be a younger bird with shorter spurs and weigh less, sometimes he may have a short beard weight more and have longer spurs.
kinda like a big buck with small feet lol.
whats the size of the biggest bird you have killed?
Any bird you harvest is a good bird. Personally I do not harvest Jakes preferring to battle them when they are older and smarter (hopefully). I like a med to lg bird because I love to eat turkey. I also like one with a 10 inch beard or longer. Don't care about spur length.
Currently looking to finish my slam next month so I will look for a larger bird because I want another full mount. Otherwise a good bird is in the eye of the hunter. The contest is between me and the bird and sometimes I don't even pull the trigger.
Probably not the answers your looking for but I do not follow the main stream.
Simple. Full fan.
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Any mature bird that made me work for him.
Anything I squeeze the trigger on is a good bird. If I enjoyed it, and I always do, it's a good bird. I've slacked off on the jakes in recent years but mainly because I've gotten more time to hunt and have gotten better places to do so. Having said that, if you only gimme one day to hunt, I'll shoot whatever is legal and crosses my path.
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To me a good bird is a Gobbler that made me work for him and I get to harvest in the end that to me is a good bird. :firefighter:
I enjoy them all as well. Like everything in life, memories and satisfaction is directly related to the amount of effort or time you put into something. But if I'm looking at measurements. I am excited about any bird that scores 70+. I like sharp spurs more than long beards, I like a really full beard that's 10 inches over one that's 12. Heavy is always better....more jalepeno cheddarwurst!!!!!
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Any wild turkey I've harvested, ground with 10% pork fat, and made a Southwest turkey burger out of! All joking aside I look at spur length over 1" as an old great bird.
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Any dead mature bird is a "good bird" to me.
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I always used to think beard, but our lingering winters and wet springs have caused quite a bit of beard rot in our turkeys. I called a turkey in for a buddy a few years ago that had just about one inch Spurs, but only like 7-8" of beard, and when we pulled on the beard to measure, more fell off.
I'm just trying to take my first turkey with a bow. I won't shoot a Jake, but I probably won't be too choosey when the time comes.
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This is my third season. At this point, any legal bird will be a trophy to me.
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Guys I guess I am too hard on my self.
After kills my my first Tom with 10.5 inch beard and 1 1/8 inch spurs I have kept trying to kill a bigger one and wouldn't pull the trigger unless it was. Last year 12 inch 1 3/4 inch spurs 24 lbs. I only shot one birds and passed up probaly 15 2.5 year old 10 inch bearded birds because I was after 2 different Toms that was bigger then the first. Guys think I'm crazy when I call in a 2.5 year old and let him walk. I guess I am just half crazy.
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Quote from: BottomLand54 on February 12, 2018, 02:26:59 PM
Guys I guess I am too hard on my self.
After kills my my first Tom with 10.5 inch beard and 1 1/8 inch spurs I have kept trying to kill a bigger one and wouldn't pull the trigger unless it was. Last year 12 inch 1 3/4 inch spurs 24 lbs. I only shot one birds and passed up probaly 15 2.5 year old 10 inch bearded birds because I was after 2 different Toms that was bigger then the first. Guys think I'm crazy when I call in a 2.5 year old and let him walk. I guess I am just half crazy.
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Good thing it's not a team sport then...
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If he's a gobbler that came in to my calling, put on a good show and then gets packed out in the vest, that's what I call a good bird.
Quote from: WNCTracker on February 12, 2018, 02:36:37 PM
Quote from: BottomLand54 on February 12, 2018, 02:26:59 PM
Guys I guess I am too hard on my self.
After kills my my first Tom with 10.5 inch beard and 1 1/8 inch spurs I have kept trying to kill a bigger one and wouldn't pull the trigger unless it was. Last year 12 inch 1 3/4 inch spurs 24 lbs. I only shot one birds and passed up probaly 15 2.5 year old 10 inch bearded birds because I was after 2 different Toms that was bigger then the first. Guys think I'm crazy when I call in a 2.5 year old and let him walk. I guess I am just half crazy.
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Good thing it's not a team sport then...
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So what your saying John, is that you would be a shell short.
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Quote from: BottomLand54 on February 12, 2018, 03:56:12 PM
Quote from: WNCTracker on February 12, 2018, 02:36:37 PM
Quote from: BottomLand54 on February 12, 2018, 02:26:59 PM
Guys I guess I am too hard on my self.
After kills my my first Tom with 10.5 inch beard and 1 1/8 inch spurs I have kept trying to kill a bigger one and wouldn't pull the trigger unless it was. Last year 12 inch 1 3/4 inch spurs 24 lbs. I only shot one birds and passed up probaly 15 2.5 year old 10 inch bearded birds because I was after 2 different Toms that was bigger then the first. Guys think I'm crazy when I call in a 2.5 year old and let him walk. I guess I am just half crazy.
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Good thing it's not a team sport then...
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So what your saying John, is that you would be a shell short.
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Some would argue I've always been a shell short
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Any longbeard is a trophy to me. And its the ones that provide a really memorable hunt, whether a two year old or old mature tom, that are my favorite trophies. I do love long, sharp spurs for sure, but that is not where the trophy is to me.