What do experienced turkey hunters really care for when a turkey is coming in? Do you guys get excited about a long beard dragging the ground or long hooks showing through the grass. I am in the spurs camp on this one. I guess I bring a deer hunter's mentality to it. I want to outsmart an old, wise bird. Let me know what you all think.
I dont really look at either untill hes flopping
I want the hooks
Honestly, my biggest concern is a full fan (not a jake). I have never focused on a bird's spurs or beard when getting ready to pull the trigger.
That being said, I LOVE hooks!! But, I also love a long paint brush beard!
I really just love turkey hunting!
SPURS
Usually when a bird is coming in all I can really see easily is the beard. Seeing the beard dragging while he is coming in is a beautiful sight, but if I had to pick one I would go with spurs. Love those hooks!!!!
Big sharp curved Hooks!!! Me and the guys have a plaque and a competition every year based off NWTF scoring so I want it all beard, spurs, and weight! but spurs are the most important category in scoring
Several times I have passed on 2yr old birds because I was in that spot hunting after a particular stud. Sometimes the big ol bird just made me look silly :funnyturkey: other times I got him and was rewarded by large hooks or a double beard :newmascot: either way I always had a great time and learn alot off each encounter.
Ive been blessed enough to have access to a good bit of private that I know there are plenty of birds on almost all of them. Find time to hunt is much harder than finding a bird to kill once I get out there
Hooks!
Quote from: buck_hunter21 on February 14, 2012, 12:28:01 PM
Usually when a bird is coming in all I can really see easily is the beard. Seeing the beard dragging while he is coming in is a beautiful sight, but if I had to pick one I would go with spurs. Love those hooks!!!!
+1. Nothing like seeing that long beard swinging on his way in but IMO the spurs are the real trophy.
Once I see it's a gobbler I don't try to pay any attention to the beard or spurs. I'm just concentrating on trying to kill him. But, once he's down the things I really like to see are some long spurs.
Full fan and hes going down....good beard and spurs are just a bonus.
Quote from: crenshawco on February 14, 2012, 12:07:56 PM
I dont really look at either untill hes flopping
This^^^ (except for the fact that he has to have a visible beard to be legal, of course) It's yet another reason I prefer turkey hunting to deer hunting.
All about the spurs man...beard is just a bonus.
Just want to be sure it is a Gobbler. I put the beard and tail on the wall and the spurs go on my Gobbler MOJO necklace!!! :happy0064:
Quote from: crenshawco on February 14, 2012, 12:07:56 PM
I dont really look at either untill hes flopping
Same here. I have never shot a gobbler that I could see the spurs on until after he was dead. I look for a beard.
Quote from: jblackburn on February 14, 2012, 12:18:20 PM
Honestly, my biggest concern is a full fan (not a jake). I have never focused on a bird's spurs or beard when getting ready to pull the trigger.
I really just love turkey hunting!
Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner ;D
Full fan for me, inspection of spurs & beard come later....
mudhen
If he's an adult bird (non-jake), he assumes all risk of taking one for the team. I've killed several birds with nothing special in the beard the department, but plenty to show on their legs and vice versa. Spurs are like opening a Christmas present when you walk up to the bird - you never know what you're going to get.
I've shot adult birds with beard rot and nice spurs and I've shot adult strutting gobblers with not even a hint of a spur, so trying to take a deer hunter's QDM approach to a gobbler is a roll of the dice.
Now all that said, big spurs fire me up ;D
Quote from: jblackburn on February 14, 2012, 12:18:20 PM
Honestly, my biggest concern is a full fan (not a jake). I have never focused on a bird's spurs or beard when getting ready to pull the trigger.
That being said, I LOVE hooks!! But, I also love a long paint brush beard!
I really just love turkey hunting!
Couldn't have said it any better myself! :icon_thumright:
To be completely honest , it depends on the day and the mood of both the gobbler and me !I've killed jakes that came screaming in from way off and couldn't hold the finger back that I was just as proud as shooting a 10 inch'r ! I've shot 10 inch'rs that came in on a boring walk non vocal and I shot them because they were 10inch'rs ! If I'm hunting with my Dad I don't care what walks in I kill it just for the memory . So that's where I stand ! It's all about having fun !
A full fan is all I need to see until he is flopping and then i want to see them HOOKS ! :newmascot:
Swinging beard or beards and I'm happy. Spurs are are bonus.
If he comes in with a longbeard or as a gobbling jake, he gets plowed! I get trigger happy when turkeys are involved - I can pass a 8 point 3 year old deer, but if a bird comes in strutting and gobbling with a 6" beard I let him have it.
That being said, I like to pick up a limbhanger when all the flopping is over!
Neither. Full fan is my only requirement.
I'm sure this has already been said multiple times, but my main concern is that it is a mature bird - meaning has a full fan. If it isn't strutting, I look at it's beard and make an educated guess. I want to shoot mature toms and don't advocate shooting jakes. That's just a rule for myself. When I was first starting out I shot a few jakes and was proud of it. I'm not going to judge anybody for shooting jakes. I just don't do it - if I can help it.
To answer your question, I had rather kill a bird with long spurs than a long beard, but I have never paid attention to his spurs until he is dead. My heart is usually pounding too hard, and once I determine he is a mature bird, I'm focused on his head, trying to get my gun on him without getting busted. I figure if I can see his spurs, I should have shot him 20 yards ago.
As long as he's got a full fan, he's going down as long as I can see a beard since we have to shoot a "bearded" bird in the spring. I personally love long hooks and a long beard. It's about 50/50 for me. If there were 2 birds, one with 1 1/4" spurs and one with a 12" rope, I honestly can't say 100% which one I'd rather pull the trigger on. At this stage in my career, it might be the 12" rope since I don't have anything over 10" yet, but I do have 1 1/4" spurs.
Always been a leg man myself!!! :drool: I love some long pretty spurs!!!! Killed one bird with ivory spurs and ebony tips. Very unique!!!
Where I hunt you're lucky to get long spurs, lots of rocky terrain so I look for long beards or just simply a beard
I look for a full fan. Next i look at my kid's face, that is what really matters to me now. It is the gobbling to my calling, coming in and one of my kids shooting a full fan turkey that makes the hunt. Beard and spurs are just a bonus.
My handle will answer for me ,BIG Ole HOOKS :drool:
Ansewer is my name ( BigHooks) lol !!!! Very few time I've seen the hooks until I got to the bird. When I walk up an he's got bighooks I'm like a kid in a candy store.
There are very few good spurs around here. Even 5 or 6 year old birds are normal with 11/4 spurs. Beards are another story. Lots of 2 year olds here have decent beards. I usualy look at the beard and the fan. That said one of my favorite turkey kills was a big jake.........
I look for spurs but make sure its at least a 2 year old
One that has sharp spurs..........
As long as he is a longbeard when coming is plenty good, when i have my hands on him i look for spurs but I have a problem seeing them before the shot so it's pot luck at that point.
I'm with the don't look for spurs until he is flopping crew. When a bird is coming in I just try to keep my head down on my gun and look for a full fan or beard then shoot. I have never been able to tell spur lenght at a distance either. I have seen some really good hooks on the videos before the trigger gets pulled.....
Spurs but not worried about sizing up anything until he is done flopping.
Spurs for me.
THE HOOKS!!
Spurs for me!
Spurs!
Spurs, by far!
I like that long beard to start with cause I never can see the spurs till I walk up to him...but the long spurs are what I prize most.
Once I see a longbeard that is grounds for killing. First thing I look for when I get to him are the hooks.
Spurs everytime!!! I could care less if he has a beard!!
full fan is the first thing I look for, followed closely by a beard, and last is the spurs.
Where I hunt, (around the edges of fields) it is hard if not impossible to see spurs in the grass.
I consider spurs icing on the cake....
Definetely spurs. I hope to do battle with a particularly longspurred warrior at farm I've tangled with once or twice for three years. I only know him by his hooks and he is not your average 2-3 yro.
a big rope beard sure gets my hear pumping, but spurs are definately the ticket, although I rarely know what I have there until he's on the ground...
I generally look for the thick, full paintbrus of a beard. I usually cant tell anything about the spurs until they are on the ground...
For me.... I love BIG spurs!!!
You tell me!
This one?
(http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb264/timbrhuntr/mb2.jpg)
This one?
(http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb264/timbrhuntr/s1.jpg)
Or maybe this one?
(http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb264/timbrhuntr/mb1.jpg)
Okay then this one !
(http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb264/timbrhuntr/nb1.jpg)
timbrhuntr, I see you have a problem. Just too many awesome gobblers to choose from. I will do the only responsible thing there is and volunteer to help you out by thinning them down!
:z-flirtysmile3:
Great birds!
I LOVE a paint brush beard swinging the ground but man....it's so nice to ground check one and find a big ol pair of hooks.
I guess if i HAD to choose one or the other, I'd go Hooks.
Quote from: 2ounce6s on February 14, 2012, 02:43:20 PM
A full fan and longbeard qualify for getting ready for a shot. I admit having choosen a bird by beard size when several have approached before. I've also switched off and shot the closer but smaller bird because I sensed I was about to end up empty handed if I remained greedy. I've shot those subordinate toms on multiple occasions, you know, the one's that come in like strung out crack heads with binos strapped on their heads while the dominant bird brings up the rear strutting his stuff. Those crack head bino birds have busted up more than one hunt for me so they are at times preferred. Other than that, I can honestly say I've never been able to see spurs while hunting and trying to choose which bird to shoot, those glorious but infrequent times when works out that way. I've always said "The spurs are the pearl you find when you are standing on a toms neck."
100% agree.
If given the chance, I'll try to pick out the big beard when a group walks in together but if a group of mature birds are standing together, it's usually the first one that presents the best shot... especially early in the season when I'm needing to pull the trigger.
Love the spurs!
full fan for me after i see he is a mature tom then i look at beard and hooks after he is flopping!!! :fud:
I look at the beard when they are coming in, but I get more excited by big old spurs. :drool:
Full fan, then beard....after shot, I check the spurs
Full fan and check the goods after he's down. I'm a spur guy if I have to pick.
Quote from: jblackburn on February 14, 2012, 12:18:20 PM
Honestly, my biggest concern is a full fan (not a jake). I have never focused on a bird's spurs or beard when getting ready to pull the trigger.
That being said, I LOVE hooks!! But, I also love a long paint brush beard!
I really just love turkey hunting!
i'm with blackburn, I do like a nice full fan
Yep. HOOKS are 1st.
Quote from: crenshawco on February 14, 2012, 12:07:56 PM
I dont really look at either untill hes flopping
:icon_thumright: