Turkey hunting forum for turkey hunting tips

What do y'all think about the pictures the NWTF shared of the guys with the Spurs and beards necklaces. I think a necklace with one turkey spur on it would be cool but these were crazy. I would be so embarrassed to walk around with 75 or however many turkey beards hanging around my neck.  It just seems like you're saying "hey everybody look at me."  What's going on in peoples heads lol. I'm just talking about two of the guys in particular. Probably shouldn't even post but I'm bored and back on the Old Gobbler again!

https://www.facebook.com/100064394665667/posts/pfbid02KAsUdBiDkWAfYgCBRUQaGdYzUXZCAYW7351bghWAXYfk7JBSdVGYjXDgWx6vMdd1l/?mibextid=cr9u03


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suppose there are all sorts of reasons why some people choose to display things like that.  Some of it is kind-of artistic and shows a turkey enthusiast's creativity.  Personally, I think that people can go overboard with that sort of thing and leave others with the wrong,...or perhaps right,...impression about them, though.

Your post raises the question about what people think about these sorts of displays, though.  Do they impress folks and leave them with a positive impression of the individual,...or do they make others that don't know them just think the person is on an ego trip or, like you say, just saying "hey look at me!".

There are, no doubt, varying opinions on the matter. 

So glad I don't do Facebook! I understand collecting beards and spurs for a personal memento of a hunt. I wish i had all of mine still, but what i do have, I keep. The spurs are in a box, and the beards are in my under-construction mancave. However, I don't care if anyone sees them but me.

Yeah, I saw those pictures too. There has always been a one-up-man ship component to this type of thing, but I find it has reached absurd proportions. Deep down I don't care because I don't relate to those types of "hey look at me" displays. I prefer to be in the background unseen. Saying all that, I do think there is a growing trend of tackiness amongst the people who think they are important and influential. Just my opinion which means nothing.

Meh, doesn't bother me one bit...

It's an annual event, folks get excited over it, almost like a pilgrimage for some...

Duck hunters wear bands, drunks wear Mardi Gras beads, etc..,

Cool is 11 year old Stryker Dye with a 49 set spur necklace taken by 11 y/o Stryker Dye. 

It takes cringe to a whole new level. Walter Payton had something to say about all that I believe. It should always remain unseen. The way it's supposed to be. The conglomeration of turkeys someone has taken should be something never shown to the public eye for display or spoken of. It shows a disrespect to the lives given. It's a special thing. Keyword respect. Some get it, a lot don't.

I guess maybe it would be ok for a young hunter to have a beard spur set hanging from there neck , or maybe a teenager to hang a couple from truck Mirror.
But a grown man ?? Laughable imo ...

Personally i think its weird for a grown man to wear something like that in public.  But at a hunting convention its probably fitting.  Sorta like how some people dress up like a mutant and go to a Comic book/superhero convention.  But on Monday back to real life.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also while we're talking about saving beards and Spurs do any of y'all have any organization to your collection. I've always thought about maybe attaching a small tag to each one with a few details of the hunt but I haven't done it. I feel like at a certain point when you have a huge pile of beards in a box they start to lose a little specialness. If you've got 100'beards stacked up do you still look through them, can you identify them or does turn into something that's going straight into the trash when you die. Some details attached could make them more valuable for your kids. I don't know I'm just rambling now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The couple guys you're talking about look absolutely ridiculous and my first impression is they lack self awareness but to each their own. If that's what makes them feel good then more power to them I guess. I've gotten to where I don't keep beards or spurs anymore because they just ended up in a box at my parents house. I like my pictures from the hunt and keep the gizzard stones most of the time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: GobbleNut on February 19, 2023, 12:06:18 AM
I suppose there are all sorts of reasons why some people choose to display things like that.  Some of it is kind-of artistic and shows a turkey enthusiast's creativity.  Personally, I think that people can go overboard with that sort of thing and leave others with the wrong,...or perhaps right,...impression about them, though.

Your post raises the question about what people think about these sorts of displays, though.  Do they impress folks and leave them with a positive impression of the individual,...or do they make others that don't know them just think the person is on an ego trip or, like you say, just saying "hey look at me!".

There are, no doubt, varying opinions on the matter.

The impression I get from such an audacious display is simple.
Look at Me, I'm special! In my mind I'm thinking " You're a Goober!

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:21:27 AM
Also while we're talking about saving beards and Spurs do any of y'all have any organization to your collection. I've always thought about maybe attaching a small tag to each one with a few details of the hunt but I haven't done it. I feel like at a certain point when you have a huge pile of beards in a box they start to lose a little specialness. If you've got 100'beards stacked up do you still look through them, can you identify them or does turn into something that's going straight into the trash when you die. Some details attached could make them more valuable for your kids. I don't know I'm just rambling now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a few cigar boxes of beards and a plastic tote of legs with spurs and I couldn't tell you when or where I killed any of them, I just can't bring myself to throw them away. Same as tail fans, I don't save them anymore but my kids like the feathers so I give 'em to them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:21:27 AM
Also while we're talking about saving beards and Spurs do any of y'all have any organization to your collection. I've always thought about maybe attaching a small tag to each one with a few details of the hunt but I haven't done it. I feel like at a certain point when you have a huge pile of beards in a box they start to lose a little specialness. If you've got 100'beards stacked up do you still look through them, can you identify them or does turn into something that's going straight into the trash when you die. Some details attached could make them more valuable for your kids. I don't know I'm just rambling now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've been using the small paper hang tags for a few years on my beard/spur/shell sets that get hung together to have date of kill and just a tiny bit of info to separate which bird is which as well as where it was taken. I wish all of my youth season and my fathers beards were that way once I inherited them because now they are all indistinguishable for sure.

I have a necklace I have made of spurs and a display of beards.  It is in my house.  I would NEVER wear the necklace, let alone in public.  Just a cool display for me.  I personally find mounting a whole turkey odd.  I have killed almost every species of fresh water duck in North America (no Cinnamon Teal, no whistling duck) and do not have a single one mounted and never will.  Not judging, just not for me.   

Quote from: g8rvet on February 19, 2023, 07:47:59 AM
I have a necklace I have made of spurs and a display of beards.  It is in my house.  I would NEVER wear the necklace, let alone in public.  Just a cool display for me.  I personally find mounting a whole turkey odd.  I have killed almost every species of fresh water duck in North America (no Cinnamon Teal, no whistling duck) and do not have a single one mounted and never will.  Not judging, just not for me.

That's interesting. It's cool to see everyone has their own ideas. I have a bird mounted and it's really special to me. It's in my office. The bird and the hunt were special and I get to be relive it all the time when I look over at the mount. I think people can go way overboard with mounted animals to though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those types of decorations aren't for me.  But.............

Remember............ The NWTF Convention is the biggest turkey hunting trade show in existence.  There's a lotta people there that make some or all of their living from the $$ they make in the turkey hunting industry.  I see a lot of those big, loud necklaces, etc. as being advertising.  An eye grabber.  A conversation starter into what a guy is peddling..........   I spent a lot of NWTF Conventions in a booth selling calls for a man who made his sole living from selling calls.  Never wore a necklace.  But I had other ways of engaging potential customers. Truthfully, those necklaces probably legitimize a guy's "turkey woods cred" to a lot of people.  Maybe not me.  Maybe not you.  But maybe to the next (customer) guy who walks by the booth. 

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:58:12 AMThe bird and the hunt were special and I get to be relive it all the time when I look over at the mount. I think people can go way overboard with mounted animals to though.

Define "way overboard"................ 

I think I may have a problem.   :TooFunny:

When it comes to game animals, my first priority is to make sure it is used to the fullest extent. For deer, I get every scrap of meat I can. I eat the heart, save the liver for myself or the dogs, the wife will make soap out of the fat from time to time. I try to give the hides away, and we have plenty of dogs in the neighborhood that love the bones. Turkeys get the same treatment, except I send the wingbones to a callmaker, I haven't saved tail fans for years, however occasionally I run into someone that likes to paint on them and I will save them for them. I always save a wing or two for a replacement in the back of my vest. I feel we need to, at the very least, use all of the meat. I am a pretty laid-back guy,but when I see a turkey just breasted out or only the loins and hindquarters taken off a deer, well, that ticks me off pretty bad. As far as displays go, that's a personal thing, but I personally ain't gonna go out in public flaunting anything. I hunt for me, not to prove myself to others. I have even wrestled on the idea of participating in the OG contest. But I have approached it with the intent to just have fun and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow turkey hunters, have some laughs, and enjoy the season together. No whining or griping about pictures and scores, no concern with winning or losing, just enjoying the season and appreciating the spring season. I just can't and won't make turkey hunting a competition. That would ruin it for me.

Well said Happy.  Complete agreement


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: Yoder409 on February 19, 2023, 08:06:08 AM

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:58:12 AMThe bird and the hunt were special and I get to be relive it all the time when I look over at the mount. I think people can go way overboard with mounted animals to though.

Define "way overboard"................ 

I think I may have a problem.   :TooFunny:

Uhhh,...I know I do!  A bit off topic, but I wanted to have a gobbler or two mounted back about forty years ago.  I took a fitting specimen to my local taxidermist who indicated that he could mount turkeys.  When I picked up the mount it looked like a wet chicken.   ::)

It was so bad I said to myself,..."I think I could do a better job than that!".  After stewing about it for about ten more years, I decided I was going to give it a go and mounted one gobbler, then another, and another. That led to doing shoulder mounts on my other big game hunts,...and so on.  Now, forty years later, I have what my wife refers to as my "dead room", which houses waaayyy too many mounts of various game species, including at one point about ten gobbler mounts. 

It was cool at first, but now that I am at an age where I realize I (or someone else) am going to have to dispose of all of them at some point.  ...Didn't really consider that reality at the time...  :o  ;D :angel9:

Edit: ...And yes, I agree with everything in Happy's comment above.   :icon_thumright:

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:21:27 AM
Also while we're talking about saving beards and Spurs do any of y'all have any organization to your collection. I've always thought about maybe attaching a small tag to each one with a few details of the hunt but I haven't done it. I feel like at a certain point when you have a huge pile of beards in a box they start to lose a little specialness. If you've got 100'beards stacked up do you still look through them, can you identify them or does turn into something that's going straight into the trash when you die. Some details attached could make them more valuable for your kids. I don't know I'm just rambling now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I keep the beards off the gobbler and put them in the shell I shot the gobbler with. I then write on the shell the date and county or state it was killed in.

Always thought the spur necklaces were silly. Kids is one thing, but for a grown man to wear one in public, why would ya?? Nobody cares how many turkeys you've killed.... Then again in this day and age, there's a lot worse things you could be wearing around your neck, I digress.

I'm gonna don my spur necklace and my Fox vest and then I'm going to the Taylor Swift concert baby!!! (Ok, sorry I used this joke already, please forgive)

I think they are a bit ostentatious, but then again, if you make it where else could you really wear it?

Happy gets a little wood on the ball every now and than.
Well stated brother!

Quote from: Zobo on February 19, 2023, 09:17:19 AM
I'm gonna don my spur necklace and my Fox vest and then I'm going to the Taylor Swift concert baby!!! (Ok, sorry I used this joke already, please forgive)

Best of luck to ya! . However, I believe one of my neices told me she was a vegetarian, so even if I was a single man. That would be a deal breaker for me.

Quote from: Turkeybutt on February 19, 2023, 09:27:00 AM
Happy gets a little wood on the ball every now and than.
Well stated brother!

Swing the bat enough times and sooner or later your bound to connect. I seem to foul a lot off though

I find 5 gallon buckets full of spurs much more impressive.

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:21:27 AM
or does turn into something that's going straight into the trash when you die.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No, no, they go up on EBay and the winning bidder makes a necklace out of them

For those asking about what to do with beard/spurs. I keep my beard, spurs, and hull together. I fill out a label with the bird #, date, location, time and superglue to hull. I keep meticulous records of all my turkey in a spreadsheet and track every detail. Spreadsheet is for my eyes only, I enjoy looking at it and reminiscing. Info includes all the above as well as shot distance, and a short sentence on the hunt that will help me remember it. I want to be able to pick up a specific set of beard/spurs and remember as much as I can about that hunt. I don't give a dang if anyone else sees them. I have very few displayed.

(https://i.imgur.com/7vxJJ2z.png)

I just got home from my first Nashville trip ever.
I saw quite a few of those spur and beard necklaces and really didn't give it a second thought.
I guess it just seemed fitting at an NWTF event, lol.

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:58:12 AM

Quote from: g8rvet on February 19, 2023, 07:47:59 AM
I have a necklace I have made of spurs and a display of beards.  It is in my house.  I would NEVER wear the necklace, let alone in public.  Just a cool display for me.  I personally find mounting a whole turkey odd.  I have killed almost every species of fresh water duck in North America (no Cinnamon Teal, no whistling duck) and do not have a single one mounted and never will.  Not judging, just not for me.

That's interesting. It's cool to see everyone has their own ideas. I have a bird mounted and it's really special to me. It's in my office. The bird and the hunt were special and I get to be relive it all the time when I look over at the mount. I think people can go way overboard with mounted animals to though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I understand.  I have a fan, beard and spurs in my office.  Maybe I am just a tightwad.   ;D

Not my cup of tea, looks like they're starving for attention. That is not me at all, I'd rather blend in the crowd that stand out.

As far as beards and spurs, I cut them off and put them in a ziploc bag and throw them in the freezer. My intention is to make a spur rope at some point and to display the beards, but more than likely, I never will

Not really any reason to save them, nor deer racks for that matter. I have no idea how many beards/spurs are in the freezer nor how many racks from bucks are hanging in my basement or piled in a big basket.

I think I have 14 bucks mounted and if I had it to do over, I would of only mounted 1 or 2 and maybe not even those. It really is a waste of money, because no one cares about them but me.

Quote from: Yoder409 on February 19, 2023, 08:06:08 AM

Quote from: aclawrence on February 19, 2023, 07:58:12 AMThe bird and the hunt were special and I get to be relive it all the time when I look over at the mount. I think people can go way overboard with mounted animals to though.

Define "way overboard"................ 

I think I may have a problem.   :TooFunny:

I saw a guy recently (not on old gobbler) that had something crazy like 30 or 40 turkeys mounted. I think he gets everyone he kills mounted. The saddest part was that they all looked awful!  They were really bad mounts. But with that being said he probably gets the same enjoyment out of his mounts as I do the one in my office. I'd like to get another one sometime if it seems right but they do take up a lot of space and are expensive to!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dick wagging. It's just dick wagging. And of course I mean strutting around at a convention with it, not hanging up at your house.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a long leather string that I have a lot of spurs on of turkeys that I have killed. I wear it hunting, I look at it as my good luck charm.  If I forget to put it on, I don't feel right. It's definitely not intended as bragging for sure. I have seen several that people have made into hat bands, which looks good to me.
But hey, you do your thing and I will do mine. To each his own.

Have a good one, Bo

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

Quote from: Happy on February 19, 2023, 08:31:09 AM
When it comes to game animals, my first priority is to make sure it is used to the fullest extent. For deer, I get every scrap of meat I can. I eat the heart, save the liver for myself or the dogs, the wife will make soap out of the fat from time to time. I try to give the hides away, and we have plenty of dogs in the neighborhood that love the bones. Turkeys get the same treatment, except I send the wingbones to a callmaker, I haven't saved tail fans for years, however occasionally I run into someone that likes to paint on them and I will save them for them. I always save a wing or two for a replacement in the back of my vest. I feel we need to, at the very least, use all of the meat. I am a pretty laid-back guy,but when I see a turkey just breasted out or only the loins and hindquarters taken off a deer, well, that ticks me off pretty bad. As far as displays go, that's a personal thing, but I personally ain't gonna go out in public flaunting anything. I hunt for me, not to prove myself to others. I have even wrestled on the idea of participating in the OG contest. But I have approached it with the intent to just have fun and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow turkey hunters, have some laughs, and enjoy the season together. No whining or griping about pictures and scores, no concern with winning or losing, just enjoying the season and appreciating the spring season. I just can't and won't make turkey hunting a competition. That would ruin it for me.

Happy, just a heads up, this kind of talk has put you on double secret probation.
I've been getting hundreds of pm's

Quote from: davisd9 on February 19, 2023, 09:52:43 AM
I find 5 gallon buckets full of spurs much more impressive.

:D I used to wear mine everywhere I went.  But it got to be to much of a hassle in Wal-Mart.  Every time I would leave they would search my necklace to make sure I wasn't stealing something.  Plus my chain was prone to breaking, and that gave a whole new meaning to clean up in isle six.   And for those of you who say people that like to wear them in public are weird or weirdos.  We prefer the term unique. 
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4283/35796506565_04cb1fff60.jpg)

Quote from: Gooserbat on February 19, 2023, 01:20:15 AM
Cool is 11 year old Stryker Dye with a 49 set spur necklace taken by 11 y/o Stryker Dye.

Quite an accomplishment.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

95% of my beards and spurs are in the freezer. I don't have a permanent living situation. That's where they'll stay until I have a trophy room of sorts to display them in.

I wouldn't do it at all. Honestly, I haven't been keeping all my fans either. Run out of room trying to keep them all. I like taking pics and keeping those for memories.  Do keep my beards and feet though. Don't display them either. I got on a roll back in my early years full mounts of my good birds and my good whitetails.  Soon realized this is impossible.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

Crow,
I hope they used lots of adjectives and sentence enhancers in your pm's. Can't wait to see my name at the top of Gobblenuts $%&^ list.

Quote from: guesswho on February 19, 2023, 05:36:55 PM

Quote from: davisd9 on February 19, 2023, 09:52:43 AM
I find 5 gallon buckets full of spurs much more impressive.

:D I used to wear mine everywhere I went.  But it got to be to much of a hassle in Wal-Mart.  Every time I would leave they would search my necklace to make sure I wasn't stealing something.  Plus my chain was prone to breaking, and that gave a whole new meaning to clean up in isle six.   And for those of you who say people that like to wear them in public are weird or weirdos.  We prefer the term unique. 
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4283/35796506565_04cb1fff60.jpg)

Nice bling bling

Thats what my vest is missing, a custom pair of bolt cutters to get me access to some good "public" land.
:TooFunny:

No on the necklaces because I don't wear necklaces.  I love the hat idea and have a good luck black wool hat that has a bunch of fan feathers stuck in it.  I never hunt without it.  Works best with a gobble call.

:fud:

It doesn't bother me. I have other stuff to worry about and I don't care how other people spend their money as long as they don't owe me any.

 

Quote from: Bedge7767 on February 19, 2023, 08:17:17 PM
It doesn't bother me. I have other stuff to worry about and I don't care how other people spend their money as long as they don't owe me any.

Lol well said

I walked by an older gentleman with all the necklaces at the show this past weekend. Thought it was a bit much for my taste. I would never do it, but if that's what he hunts for(to show off his success), then by all means.

I like the idea of a nice accent piece, maybe one that goes around a hat but others in that grouping approach ego-fest proportions to me. The best looking ones shown were the two young kids followed by the guy in the orange shirt. JMO