Long live the turkey.How long do turkey live? On another note, is shooting 30 year old shells a bad idea? Maybe 40 years old.
I don't see a problem shooting old shells. What are you shooting them at?
I wouldn't shoot them at turkey because of the higher potential for a misfire. But they are probably fine if they were properly stores. I want to be as sure as possible of my shell when shooting at a Tom.
Seems like I read turkeys can live up to about 8-9 years but rarely make it past 4 or 5 years in the wild.
I googled it and came up with this:
"The maximum recorded lifespan for a turkey in captivity is twelve years and four months. For turkeys living in the wild, the maximum is less than ten years, but the average life expectancy of a male turkey is just over 2 years and just over 3 years for females."
But these are averages...we all know that we've killed birds that are four, five and beyond or such.
First bird I ever killed was in 1996 and he was an original transplant bird that was banded. He was released in 1989... assuming he was a jake when transplanted, then he was 8 years old. He had 1 1/4 and 1 1/8 spurs FYI
Quote from: Crghss on May 17, 2021, 01:22:00 PM
I don't see a problem shooting old shells. What are you shooting them at?
I shot 2 old federal loads at a big old bird from around 40 yards.I thought I made a good shot. He sort of flopped over, then flew off. Looking back in hind sight, I think those 40 year old shells were a bad choice. Thanks for the comments.
Quote from: honker22 on May 17, 2021, 04:38:42 PM
First bird I ever killed was in 1996 and he was an original transplant bird that was banded. He was released in 1989... assuming he was a jake when transplanted, then he was 8 years old. He had 1 1/4 and 1 1/8 spurs FYI
That's interesting. I always wondered if a turkey could live more than 5 years.These raccoons kill a lot of turkeys. I called one in the other day, as well as a skunk. I guess I should have shot the coon.There are so many dangerous things out there, plus the weather.
GUESSIMATION is all this is. It kills me to see someone kill a bird on a TV show and they say this is a blank year old bird. Unless the bird has been banded, as Honker said, it is ALL speculation.
Quote from: bbcoach on May 19, 2021, 09:31:30 AM
GUESSIMATION is all this is. It kills me to see someone kill a bird on a TV show and they say this is a blank year old bird. Unless the bird has been banded, as Honker said, it is ALL speculation.
I majored in wildlife biology and was taught, 3/4'=2 years, 1-1 1/8"= 3 years, 1 1/4 = 4 years+... and there is absolutely no way to age a bird past that based on spurs. Of course, this can't be applied to birds that live in rocky terrain.