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I have seen plenty 10-11'' but how often 12'' or longer?  Or do most wear off before then?

In around 20 years of hunting them I've killed alot of 10in-11in bearded toms and very few 12inch +.
I'm sure some of it is where we live & hunt,terrain,etc.

They're a lot like true 1 1/2" spurs.  A lot more claims than actual specimens. 

Quote from: guesswho on December 27, 2020, 08:15:58 AM
They're a lot like true 1 1/2" spurs.  A lot more claims than actual specimens.

100% agree, most 1.5 inch spurs are solid 1 1/4 inch when measured correctly. X2 on the 12 inch beard. I think they are rare due to turkey feeding habits, wearing them down. Be safe.....

I've gotten more than a few birds with three things as sort of a desire: 1) 25# bird...achieved, 2) 1 1/2" spurs...achieved, 3) 12" beard...still waiting.

It is a rare feat to take a gobbler with a legitimate 12" beard. First of all, the gobbler has to survive 3-4 years. Then the terrain needs to be friendly without much ice or snow too. I've been fortunate to hunt turkeys for around 40 years. I've hunted gobblers all over creation including over 25 years in FL where the terrain is gentle and there is no snow or ice. I've killed a lot of gobblers as I'm getting old and I spend a lot of time each Spring and some in the Fall hunting gobblers. I only have 2 legitimate 12" bearded birds. If you are fortunate enough to take a 12" bearded gobbler, mount that bird! While I have several mounts, I stupidly did not mount either of my 12" birds. Having said all that, one of the 12+" birds I took was killed in AZ where the terrain is very rocky and has plenty of snow and ice as it is around 8K ft in elevation. That same bird had relatively small blunted spurs due to the terrain. Go figure!

Up here in the mountains its a very rare thing. To much snow and ice. I believe I have seen one that would have pushed 12". In 20 years of hunting them I believe 10and 3/4" has been my best.

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I agree with the sentiments expressed that 12" beards are rare.  Due to the "nature of the beast",...that is, the fact that once a beard reaches a certain length, it is constantly being dragged on the ground in the everyday activities of a gobbler,...it is actually pretty easy to understand why. 

Supposedly, beards are constantly growing and, regardless of a gobbler's age, never stop.  If that is indeed true, then the obvious explanation for beards not normally growing to 12" or longer is because a gobbler's anatomy and size is such that, once a beard hair reaches somewhere in the vicinity of 11" or so, it is most likely going to be worn/broken off near the tip. 

The real question is why do some gobblers end up with longer beards?  To me, the only plausible explanations are that some gobblers have genetics that either result in more durable beard hairs that are not as likely to break off, and/or some gobblers have beards that are crooked, curly, or otherwise hang from their breasts such that they are not as likely to be worn off because they are not constantly being dragged on the ground. 

We occasionally hear of gobblers with very long beards, way in excess of 12".  I can't imagine how that could happen, but apparently it can. ...Either that, or some folks are awfully good with superglue!  ;D :toothy12:

Hey, I killed one with 23.5" inches of beard.....Oh wait you mean all in one beard, never mind :funnyturkey:

I have 0 legit 12" single beards and I have killed a pretty good pile of birds, including a grand slam. I  have a friend that killed one with a legit 13" beard, I measured it and it wasn't one hair that long. Funny thing is it came out of the same group I killed a 4 bearded bird from. So Gobblenut, I agree it must be genetics. I have killed several double bearded and most in the same area.

I agree , it all has to do with the genetics and habitat of the gobblers , same with seeing bearded hens.  it's rare to see many birds in my area with 12 inch beards , what you do see is some having what we call rope beard which is very thick and we also have just the average beards .. The heavy thick beards are less in our area also.

Back in 2004 a friend and I tag teamed a nice gobbler. I killed him.  He had a really long beard!  Several rogue strands stretched it to 12 1/2"!! By the time we got him out of the woods and back to the Jeep those few strands had broke off and his beard was 11 1/4".  Still a dandy and my longest beard to date. I have killed several since that went 10 1/2 to 10 3/4".  IMO 10 inch is about max on most gobblers.  Here in the mountains of Pennsylvania they tend to break off the ends or freeze them off during the winter season. I have never heard of another gobbler around this area with a 12"+ beard.

Back in 1993 & 1995 several of my friends and I went to Eldorado, Texas on a deer hunt. The hunt package included a Rio Gobbler and since we simply did not have Turkeys back in our County in Eastern North Carolina when we grew up none of us were the least bit worked up about it. Of course, it being Fall the Turkeys were flocked up and my crowd made quick work of their birds. On the last day I had what the Guides described as a "Rogue" bird walk by. I have been on numerous out of state hunts before and have never had a Guide sit with me, but this lone Turkey seemed like a pretty good 'un. His beard measured out at 11 3/4 " and so they talked me into getting a Fan/Beard mount spread done. They asked me about including his feet and I asked why? Could not tell you today what his Spurs measured! Breast meat took freezer burnt and wife threw it away! Went back in 1995 and didn't even try to shoot one, even though it was in the paid package, because I had one and didn't see the need in killing another. Fast forward to 2016 and this Turkey deal has took a hold on me like a hog to mud! That single Rio bird along with this bunch of Easterns in the last few years has got me closer to a Slam that I hope to have one day, Lord willing....




 

Quote from: GobbleNut on December 27, 2020, 10:12:42 AM
We occasionally hear of gobblers with very long beards, way in excess of 12".  I can't imagine how that could happen, but apparently it can. ...Either that, or some folks are awfully good with superglue!  ;D :toothy12:

Also known as a PA trophy kit :TooFunny:. There are probably a couple on here that will know who and what I'm talking about.

Any beard that clears 10" is an excellent one, same with spurs over 1 1/4". I`ve personally not harvested a large number of turkeys, but will probably start letting more walk while looking for a " paintbrush ". I enjoy playing the game and don`t always have to pull the trigger to have a great day in the woods.

Quote from: guesswho on December 27, 2020, 08:15:58 AM
They're a lot like true 1 1/2" spurs.  A lot more claims than actual specimens.

Not that I've seen a lot of 1 1/2"ers, but I have killed them.  I have not killed a bird with a legit 12" beard.  Closest was 11 1/2".. and he had nubs for spurs. 

Quote from: derek on December 28, 2020, 07:00:39 PM

Quote from: guesswho on December 27, 2020, 08:15:58 AM
They're a lot like true 1 1/2" spurs.  A lot more claims than actual specimens.

Not that I've seen a lot of 1 1/2"ers, but I have killed them.  I have not killed a bird with a legit 12" beard.  Closest was 11 1/2".. and he had nubs for spurs.

Dude you killed the holy grail of Tom's, 7 beards,  don't remember total inches. I personally would like multiple beards over a single long strand .

I'm not sure if your talking about me or Derek.  My seven bearded bird had a little over 44" of beard.  My six bearded bird had more than the seven.  He had 56".  Here's the six.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4610/39624805745_27d7e4a7ea_z.jpg)

At least (50) 11" beards and only (2) 12" beards.
Here is the second 12" beard the day before I killed him.
I couldn't sleep that night. I knew where he went to roost.
I blew it that morning but I knew he was still in the area.
Killed him that evening.
(https://i.imgur.com/myUo3rC.jpg)

The first 12" I killed. This was 2014. He snuck in that night or moved.
He gobbled for an hour on the limb. But the time I shot him I was hyperventilating.
When I pulled the feathers back there was 2" more beard than I thought. He actually measured
12 1/4"
(https://i.imgur.com/AhorbfR.jpg)

I'm well over a hundred birds and I've killed two.  That said I've never gotten a 1.5" spurs or a 25# bird.

Definitely not a 12" beard but the one my wife nicknamed Ponytail last year had the thickest beard I've ever seen.

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201229/ca813a1b7dc632099e8a2135e5420251.jpg)


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Quote from: ChesterCopperpot on December 28, 2020, 09:41:06 PM
Definitely not a 12" beard but the one my wife nicknamed Ponytail last year had the thickest beard I've ever seen.

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201229/ca813a1b7dc632099e8a2135e5420251.jpg)


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Man, what a paint brush. You could paint a wall with that beard!

Quote from: guesswho on December 28, 2020, 08:45:51 PM
I'm not sure if your talking about me or Derek.  My seven bearded bird had a little over 44" of beard.  My six bearded bird had more than the seven.  He had 56".  Here's the six.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4610/39624805745_27d7e4a7ea_z.jpg)

Beautiful bird! Tn bird?

 Back in the early 90's I had a friend that killed a gobbler in a valley that had a 12 1/2" beard. The next day he went back to same valley, he killed another with a 12 1/4" beard.

I had both of these beards in my hand and even taped them both out of amazement. They were that long.

These turkeys were killed in Grant county WV, in a community called "Mt. Storm". Back then you got to see Halloweens snow twice..... At the end of October and again at the end of March. That's why it is called Mt. Storm.

I have killed a few turkeys since then and have never seen beards like that. I have never killed a turkey with a beard to break the 11' mark that I can remember"a good solid beard". As a matter of fact all the turkeys over the years that I have killed in that extended area have been between 9 - 9 7/8". And that is atleast a big hand full of them.

Could not began to say why these two turkeys would have had such long beards. They only dumb thought I ever had that could have been plause able was that they had set on the roust for a month right before season? I can't remember if the turkeys had any body size to them or not?

Quote from: Gooserbat on December 28, 2020, 09:38:50 PM
I'm well over a hundred birds and I've killed two.  That said I've never gotten a 1.5" spurs or a 25# bird.

Yeah, those are all lofty numbers and they are out there, but not common. I am pushing 175 birds and here is my break down

12" beards - 0
Multiple beards - 4
25 lb birds -0 (1 24.5 lbs)
1.5" spurs - not sure maybe 1 or 2 but many 1 1/4 -1 3/8 ( this is all in how you measure)

Quote from: eggshell on December 29, 2020, 07:46:41 AM

Quote from: Gooserbat on December 28, 2020, 09:38:50 PM
I'm well over a hundred birds and I've killed two.  That said I've never gotten a 1.5" spurs or a 25# bird.

Yeah, those are all lofty numbers and they are out there, but not common. I am pushing 175 birds and here is my break down

12" beards - 0
Multiple beards - 4
25 lb birds -0 (1 24.5 lbs)
1.5" spurs - not sure maybe 1 or 2 but many 1 1/4 -1 3/8 ( this is all in how you measure)

Yeah I have a lot of 1 1/4- 1 3/8 spurs and one that is 1 7/16. I have 5 or 6 multi beards.  Spurs are not something that you can just glance at and say yeah he's about 150".  Makes it fun to walk upon a bird after the shot.

Quote from: derek on December 28, 2020, 07:00:39 PM

Quote from: guesswho on December 27, 2020, 08:15:58 AM
They're a lot like true 1 1/2" spurs.  A lot more claims than actual specimens.

Not that I've seen a lot of 1 1/2"ers, but I have killed them.  I have not killed a bird with a legit 12" beard.  Closest was 11 1/2".. and he had nubs for spurs.

Beard length, fans, and spurs just don`t always coincide. I killed a definite two year old with an 8 1/2 " beard and a full, non-jake fan that had nubs for spurs.

We have heavy bodied birds but not many long spurs. I know of one 30lbs bird here. I have killed around 10 over 25lbs including a 28lbs 4oz and a 28lbs 7oz. Both of them looked like dinosaurs. A friend of mine has killed 2 in the 28lbs range.

Some of you Lincoln county TN people should remember the bird  that used to walk up and own Sarah Birds driveway across the hwy from Eagle Snack. Its beard drug the ground between its feet. Probably 16 to 17 inches long. Of course she was feeding it behind her house. If you had shot it she would have shot you.

Quote from: timberjack86 on December 29, 2020, 06:46:54 AM
Beautiful bird! Tn bird?

Russell county Alabama.  I've killed roughly a dozen multi beards off this one 200 acre tract, and my hunting partner had killed about as many.   Crazy genetics there I guess.

Quote from: WV Flopper on December 29, 2020, 07:21:43 AM
Back in the early 90's I had a friend that killed a gobbler in a valley that had a 12 1/2" beard. The next day he went back to same valley, he killed another with a 12 1/4" beard.

I had both of these beards in my hand and even taped them both out of amazement. They were that long.

These turkeys were killed in Grant county WV, in a community called "Mt. Storm". Back then you got to see Halloweens snow twice..... At the end of October and again at the end of March. That's why it is called Mt. Storm.

I have killed a few turkeys since then and have never seen beards like that. I have never killed a turkey with a beard to break the 11' mark that I can remember"a good solid beard". As a matter of fact all the turkeys over the years that I have killed in that extended area have been between 9 - 9 7/8". And that is atleast a big hand full of them.

Could not began to say why these two turkeys would have had such long beards. They only dumb thought I ever had that could have been plause able was that they had set on the roust for a month right before season? I can't remember if the turkeys had any body size to them or not?

Aint no turkeys in them there parts.

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This ones got a few hairs that when pulled strait measure 13.5. Not sure if a few hairs count for length or not. This is a public land Florida bird I got a few years back. Most of our birds have big thick ropes and quite often good spurs, overall poundage not so great. Its rare to get a pencil thin one around here but I've been to other parts of the country where a much larger bird would have a thin beard.

Quote from: guesswho on December 29, 2020, 08:56:55 AM

Quote from: timberjack86 on December 29, 2020, 06:46:54 AM
Beautiful bird! Tn bird?

Russell county Alabama.  I've killed roughly a dozen multi beards off this one 200 acre tract, and my hunting partner had killed about as many.   Crazy genetics there I guess.

Yep, genetics. Certain populations in certain locales have a likelihood of atypical birds. Also, different local populations may have different feather barring on their fans. I`ve personally seen that in birds from different counties in Georgia.

Quote from: Southerngobbler on December 29, 2020, 11:08:50 AM
This ones got a few hairs that when pulled strait measure 13.5. Not sure if a few hairs count for length or not. This is a public land Florida bird I got a few years back. Most of our birds have big thick ropes and quite often good spurs, overall poundage not so great. Its rare to get a pencil thin one around here but I've been to other parts of the country where a much larger bird would have a thin beard.

Yes those hairs count as the total length.

never killed one with 12 inch beard dont think I have ever seen one with beard that long my best was 11 1/4 it is rare in area i hunt in in mtns for bird to have 10 inch beard. Most are 9 to 9 and a half.

Fun thread for discussion.  My take is that genetics play the major role in spurs and beards, but with habitat type and nutrition having some influence in such things as beard and spur wear.  Regarding weight, although I believe genetics can play a role here, as well, I suspect habitat and the available nutrition base play a much larger role. 

All of these things can get really complicated when we throw the general differences in subspecies genetics into the discussion.  For instance, there is no question that the Osceola subspecies has significantly better spur development than the others, from what I have personally seen.  A hunter is much more likely to kill an Osceola gobbler with those coveted inch and a half spurs than any of the others,...and most likely by a long shot.

On the other extreme, Goulds gobblers very often have poorly developed spurs, and many I have seen have either had no spurs at all, or a spur on one leg and nothing on the other. 

Even within subspecies however, localized populations can exhibit unique genetic traits that would be considered uncommon within the overall subspecies.  Probably the most apparent of these is the much higher occurrence of multiple-bearded gobblers in certain places as compared to their occurrence in that subspecies in as a whole. 

Bottom line is that comparing turkeys from across the country to each other can get real complicated real fast.   :newmascot:

I've killed many with 9-10 inch beards but only one with a true 12 in beard. It was a really thick beard with a full twist in the beard, I assume the twist in the beard kept it from dragging as much as it would have if it were straight like normal. I had to untwist and hold the beard on a ruler to measure it and was shocked that it was a true foot long. One of his spurs was also 1.5 and the other just shy, weighed 21 lbs. He was quite the bird and I don't think I will ever top him with another single beard bird. I have never got a multiple beard bird though. My friend hunting with me has killed over 100 birds and said he had never been lucky enough to snag a 12 incher and was as equally shocked and excited as I was.

Quote from: guesswho on December 28, 2020, 08:45:51 PM
I'm not sure if your talking about me or Derek.  My seven bearded bird had a little over 44" of beard.  My six bearded bird had more than the seven.  He had 56".  Here's the six.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4610/39624805745_27d7e4a7ea_z.jpg)

Thank you GW, was referring to Derek, knew about his . That's a lot of beards. Never killed a 12" or a multiple bearded bird but was lucky enough to take a 4 spured bird.

4 Spurs?   Dang, that's a lot rarer than a multi-beard.   I've never killed one, but did see one that had two on one leg.   Congrats!

I know a lot of 12" beard claims are simply loose strands from the shot.

I don't like talking overall numbers, but I've killed 10 multi-bearded birds to give you an idea. I've taken about a 1/3 of my gobblers in my home state of Mississippi and never even hit the 11" mark on a beard. I've taken three 11"+ beards in MO from the same general area. Out of 8 Alabama birds, two have had 11" beards (once again, taken from same area). No doubt some areas are more prone to produce those beards than others. Same thing with multi-beards.

I've only measured one legitimate 12" beard on a freshly killed gobbler. It was a MO Ozark bird that also sported massive 1 5/8" spurs.

On the subject of spurs, my best is 1 3/8" and I've only taken one of them. That 1 1/2" mark is extremely hard to hit!

Back when I was working and running a check station I saw hundreds of gobblers. We rarely measured beards or spurs, but recorded them as adult or juvenile. However; one day this guy brought in a bird that just made me go "WOW". It weighed 25 lbs, had spurs that looked like Egyption daggers and a beard to match. We marveled over it and recorded the check in data. Two days later he shows up and ask if he can get a copy of the check in card for submission as a possible new world record. I made him a copy and I think at the time it was close if not the record. Here is the record of that bird:
https://your.nwtf.org/records/index.php?details=7369&location=USA+-+Ohio

This is the best over-all gobbler I ever laid eyes on.

Don was a regular in our check station and a wonderful guy from what I knew. I think I recall he died of cancer.

I'm sure you have seen a pile of dead Eastern gobblers from your days at that check station, eggshell. From my own past experience with Merriam's gobblers from their southern range in New Mexico, I suspect I have looked over, and scored, probably close to five hundred of them,...maybe more.  Here are some statistics from my own personal experience that those from other parts of the country, and that hunt other subspecies, might find interesting.

I have seen exactly three Merriam's gobblers here that had certifiable 1.5" spurs. I have never seen a dead Merriam's gobbler with a beard exceeding 11 3/8", and very few of them that made 11".  The heaviest Merriam's I have weighed was somewhere around 22.5 pounds. 

Again, from my experience, our average mature Merriam's gobbler will have a beard average of about 9.5", spurs between 3/4" and 1" (even many very old ones), and will weigh around 18 pounds.   

Taking those numbers and converting them to the NWTF scoring system, a good, mature Merriam's gobbler from this region will score an average of roughly 55 points.  The highest scoring Merriam's turkey I have ever seen from this region scored right under 70 points, as I recall (it's been probably close to 15 years).   

GobbleNut- that blows my mind. I have never hunted Miriam but plan to. I like their fan but had no idea they were that small.

The averages that gobblenut speaks of for merriams is really close to the size of easterns where I hunt in mountains of North Carolina.

I have actually held a 14 1/2" beard in my hand. Some of you TN boys probably heard about the bird from Lincoln Co back in the 80's. I typed up the story surrounding the bird for posterity. A 8 year old killed it with his dad. No one around here at the time thought anything about turkey records. We heard about the bird at work and were interested because of what we thought were exaggerated claims.
   I found out the father of the boy worked less than a mile from me. I went over to see him and asked him about it. He produced a polaroid picture of his son holding the bird and you could tell it was a beast. He promised to bring the spurs and beard to work to show me.
     About 3 months later he came in at work carrying a big grocery sack. He set it on the counter and we pulled from the bag two legs died with the spurs and the beard. The spurs measured 2 1/2"  and 2 5/8". They weighed the bird at Delina store on their meat scale. He said it was exactly 30lbs. This would make the bird the world record typical Eastern.
    I ran into the father and recognized him a few years ago in Walmart in Fayetteville TN. I asked him about the spurs and beard hoping to take a picture of them. He told me when his son got grown and moved out he took all of his hunting stuff with him. He said he asked him about the spurs and beard and said he didn't know what happened to them.

yeah Gobblenut I couldn't even count them all....worked the station 28 years and many years we checked 100 or more birds. I only have one merriams for reference and I didn't have a scales, spurs were maybe 3/4" and beard was three hairs about 9" long. That was southeast Montana, around Broadus . That was in the mid 90s. I quit hunting big birds a long time ago. I do get vendettas against some still, but I pretty much kill what comes to the call. I don't figure I'll kill any that are any bigger than what I already have...if I do it's just happen stance, I probably didn't plan it. It's actually more fun this way.

Around me we see a fair number of birds up to 23 lbs and 11" beards but, not many over That. A lot of our birds will have 1 1/4 to 1 3/8 spurs, but over that is not so common.

Quote from: bear hunter on December 31, 2020, 08:17:59 PM
The averages that gobblenut speaks of for merriams is really close to the size of easterns where I hunt in mountains of North Carolina.

In this area they grow some big bodies. 25lbs birds are not unusual. Occiasionaly some real big birds pop up. I killed a dinosaur that weighed 28lbs 7oz and another bird that was 28-4.  I am somewhere around 100 birds total and out of all of them I have only beat  1 1/2" spurs on two birds. One bird had two 1 5/8" spurs and one of them had 1 5/8" on one side and 1" on the other. I have collected around 40 11" and slightly over beards. The rest of them run from about 5 to 10. Out of that many birds I have only killed 2 birds with 2 beards and 2 birds with 3 beards. Kind of strange the difference from region to region. Of course food sources have a lot to do with the weight and the rocks around here are murder on spurs and beards.

Quote from: reflexl on December 31, 2020, 08:03:21 PM
GobbleNut- that blows my mind. I have never hunted Miriam but plan to. I like their fan but had no idea they were that small.

One thing about Merriam's is that they actually look bigger than they actually are (in terms of weight, at least) due to the fact that they are heavily feathered and have large fans.  I suppose the more dense feathering is an adaptation to the cold, mountain climates that they historically have inhabited. 

From 2008.  11 7/8"  closest I've come to the mythical 12".  Monster spurs also.  Had a very small fan.  Just being in the right place at the right time.  We had a full fan decoy out and he was afraid to challenge it but came close enough. 

Not even going to try to turn the picture.  I have more trouble with pictures.  Oh well.  Happy New Year.

42 years of killing these things under my belt and I've yet to tag my first footlong.  11" is the best I've ever killed. 

Only ever SAW one bird that I was sure swung a foot and that particular bird likely was 13 or 14 inches.  But............it was a weird bird for this area.  Very small...........guessing 14 pounds.  But HELL for long-legged.  Watched him all summer long through a 45X spotting scope in my front window. He hung with 4 other longbeards.  Never, ever did run across him in the woods.

Quote from: joey46 on January 01, 2021, 09:19:40 AM
From 2008.  11 7/8"  closest I've come to the mythical 12".  Monster spurs also.  Had a very small fan.  Just being in the right place at the right time.  We had a full fan decoy out and he was afraid to challenge it but came close enough. 

Not even going to try to turn the picture.  I have more trouble with pictures.  Oh well.  Happy New Year.

More spur info please.  If that's not a shadow underneath it, those are huge. :o

here ya go

Thanks for the picture fix.  When we registered this bird it showed right spur 1.625/left spur 1.50.  It weighed 20# even.  We "may" have a game camera picture in 2017/2018 of one that beats this one but he disappeared in 2019.  We nicknamed him "Big Red".   Fun game.

 I suppose my wife has the kind of turkey luck every one of us wishes for. Her first bird ever was a double beard w 10 1/2" and 7 1/2" beards. 2 years ago she completed her slam with a 12" beard on a huge Osceola. I've killed a pile in my days including several Osceola with over 11" but never hit the 12 mark. In my experience at least on my lil ranch near Okeechobee,  Florida is the place for the longest beards.

I have killed several birds with legitimate 12 inch beards. Not sure of the exact number, because I didn't keep a record of the statistics.

Interestingly enough, two I do recall I killed here in Missouri, about 3 miles and several years apart. Both had spurs at least 1 1/4 inch. They were two of the smallest gobblers I ever killed, weighing in the 12 to 13 pound range. The first of the two took almost three hours to get into gun range, and I remember when I ran up to grab him (hey, I was younger then!), I almost threw him over my shoulder because I expected him to be a monster.

Longest bearded bird I ever killed was in Kansas in the 1990's. He would have made it into the record books but for my ignorance. I noticed after killing him that he had a few strands of extremely long beard, but didn't really think much of it, so crammed him as usual for the trek back to the Jeep.

By the time I got there and wrestled him out of the vest, only a couple of the maybe dozen original long strands remained. I measured them, and they were 17 1/2 inches! Still didn't think much of it, so cleaned the bird and headed for home.

It was some time later when I read about the scoring system the NWTF used and discovered you only need a single intact strand to claim that length.

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I've been killing turkeys for 24 years now and have only killed one bird that was 12". I also have only killed one that had 1.5 spurs. It's something that's hard to come by.

I've killed a number of birds and been on a bunch of hunts with friends and have only ever seen 2 birds with legit 12" beards. 

Can only think of one legit 12 inch beard killed here in Wisconsin, by anyone that i know. The snow up here doesn't help, I've seen a lot of toms with ice balls on there beards here.

I have killed 3 with 12" of beard at least Them swamp easterns get long beards and not much to rub them down.  Won a contest in 2000 i think it was with one that had 13" beard and 1 3/8 spurs. $300 was a lot for a junior in high school at the time.

This will be my 30th spring and have been on the gun for 1 over 12" and 1 that's close, I called in another for a buddy that was 12 1/4". Best spurs I have called in are 1 15/16" the other was broke off.


MK M GOBL

I've killed two eastern gobblers with 12" beards and have 2 Eastern's and 2 Osceola's with spurs 1 1/4" or better but still have yet to shoot a legit 1 1/2" spurred gobbler.


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I've seen one beard that was a legit 13" on a tom I called for a friend. Main beard portion was 11" with about 6-8 strands longer. Have killed a number 11"-11.25" but never a 12". Hunted one bird a couple years that I am sure was over 12", had a "J" shaped beard, close calls but never a shot. FWIW, woods turkeys here in upstate SC generally have shorter 9-10" beards and field turkeys generally run longer, even on two year olds. My thoughts are it's probably due to the wear from more scratching the woods birds do.

Quote from: eggshell on January 01, 2021, 10:38:42 AM
here ya go

Those spurs are unbelievable!!!

The longest single Eastern beard on record is 22.5" killed in Texas.
My personal best is 11.25". It just looks silly long every time I dig it out of the pile of 9-10" beards.

My son, at the age of 15 in 2018, killed a Tom with a legit 12 inch beard. 

It's the only 12" bearded bird I have ever seen.  I'm 54 and have killed a few birds.  My longest beard ever was 10.5". 

I may never see another 12" beard.  They are that rare.

I got a pic of a 12" beard from a turkey I killed years ago. Can someone post a pic if I send it to their email?

Here is the pic. That is a 12" PINK ruler, ha.

My first longbeard was a 2 year old bird with a 12.5" beard. Dude from Arkansas hunting across the field from me shot an older bird with better spurs. We got pics of our birds, that was a fun morning. He walked in after I was already set up, but it worked out for both of us.


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In 29 years I've never killed a 12" beard, 11.5" is the best I've done, good many 9.5 to 11 inch beards though, I've got a pile of 1 1/8 to 1 1/4" Spurs, only 2 that are really long 1 is 1 7/16" and 1 that is 1 1/2" that was killed last year with a friend when we doubled, his bird was a double beard with 1 1/4" Spurs  and a 10" and 6" beard ,mine was a 10.5" beard and both birds weighed over 23lb, I've killed 1 bird in all my years that was 25lbs in Van Leer, Tn several years ago and 4 or 5 that were 24 or better, several in the 23 lb range but the biggest majority were 17- 20 lb, if I ever kill one that weighs 25lb, 1 1/2" Spurs and a 12" beard, I will quit hunting them and call for other people, I have sworn this to my children and my dear wife . I've only ever killed one double beard and he was 8.5 and 3 " also.

I've killed one bird with a beard over 12in in 32 years.  Seen another I think would have broken 12in, but couldn't kill him.

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12" beards are like over an 8 point buck and a legal 8 pound redfish.  Others get them, I don't.  I have several over 11.5 and I have caught a bunch of 7.75 pound reds, I just can't seem to get over that hump

Same here ... lots of 10 to 11 but still trying to break the 12" mark!

As far as I can remember, I've only had two that hit the 12" mark.  And both were taken in the last three years.

Up here in upstate NY, anything over 10" is rare. My best is like 10.5" beard and won the local contest that year.  I truly beleive the winters and deep snow are the reason that 10" beards and 1 1/4" spurs are true trophy birds up here. True 1 1/2" do exist here but are super rare from what ive seen. Southern birds seem to always have longer sharper spurs from what ive seen. It seems like 2 yr old gobblers usually have better beards up here.  Longbeard full fan i dont discriminate, 2yr old birds have made my day more than once.

In SE MN, 25 pound birds are not rare. Common? No, but I've shot two 25 pound-plus turkeys since I started hunting MN in 2004.  Heck, one of them was probably a 2 year old, given his stubby little 5/8" spurs. But I've never killed nor seen a true 12" beard.

I also see variations with fan width (24" to 27") and wing length on older long spurred birds. Some turkeys are just built larger, some smaller. That and feeding habits imo dictate growth and wear on spurs and beards alike. I ain't a biologist but I've killed a few and seen a few more killed.

I've been around a lot of downed birds and have yet to see one a legit 12". I'd love to get that chance some day.

Been hunting birds for 20 years, and have only seen 3. One I shot 3 years ago. 25lbs/1.5" spurs, in a place I never would have expected there to be a big old Tom. Full mount eastern. I'll try to send pics.

I have never killed one with a 12" beard. Really just a handful over 10 1/2" or 11". I do have a Rio with 1 1/2" spurs on my wall at home. I remember some kids shot one on a ranch that I think would have went 2", it was a long time ago and they did not measure, the bird appeared small, maybe 13 or 14 lbs. I bet he was 7 or 8 years old.

My understanding is that Rio's have the longest legs, and would think they also have the longest beards?

Measuring that "wild hair" on the beard, I would have a couple of 12 inches.  Measuring the "meat" of the beard, I would have none.  My longest and thickest was just under 12, but a couple wild hairs when straightened out were over 13...  Personally I do not count those individual long hairs, especially if they are curled and need to be straightened.

Were I competing for some sort of monetary prize...  You bet I would count them, if that were in the rules.....

In all honesty I have not measured a beard in many years, but when I did I never got a 12" beard. I don't even keep the beard or spurs anymore. I keep the meat and everything else gets thrown in the back field for the foxes and coyotes. I just came to the point they didn't matter to me anymore. I like the hunt and we like eating the meat, really don't give a hoot about the bragging rights. I admit it's fun sometimes to compare birds to others, but I have no use for trophies. Our NWTF chapter had a "big bird contest" for years. I was lucky enough to win a couple trophies and I marinated them for 20 years and they never did get tender. I threw them out with all the beards spurs and tails. I keep a picture with the date and basic stats for my album and that is all.

The general area around the MO/KS/IA border produces in my opinion the biggest turkeys in the country, and in turn also provides the biggest opportunity for these "elusive 12 in. bearded gobblers" We have killed more than a handful of birds that have two-three strands of beard that well exceed 12" often close to 13". I wouldn't think this would all too uncommon or necessarily fully count though.

My buddies first ever bird I called up for him two years back had a 14.5 inch rope, not just a few strands either, it was a full paintbrush. It was easily one of the biggest and prettiest birds I'd ever seen. I told him it truly was a specimen to mount and it was taken on public to boot.

I've seen maybe five 1.5 inch spurred gobblers in what my family and friends have killed, but more then a dozen 12 inch+ bearded gobblers for sure. It's just a product of where we hunt, but is definitely interesting to hear others perspectives on it.

The longest beard I can remember killing Had a couple strands just shy of 12 in. I believe they were around 11 15/16 for one and 11 7/8 for the other strand. That's as close as I've come. Same birds longest spur measured 1 7/16 so I've yet to break the 1.5" mark too lol. Come to think of it my two heaviest have weighed 24.5 lbs. So I ain't broke the 25 lb mark either. Story of my life, always coming up just a tad short  :toothy12: