Hooks are what get me fired up. I could care less about beards or how much a bird gobbles its those long Sharp hooks that get me going. My personal best is 1 5/8 monster I killed 2 years ago here in Florida. I hunted him all year and killed him on the last day. I knew where he was roosted over an old cypress pond and did some soft tree calling. He never gobbled once and slipped in to 10 yards before I knew he was there.
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Inch and 5/16 on my second Ohio bird last year. (http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/17/avadesu5.jpg)(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/17/a9ujyzyr.jpg)(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/17/je2u7a4u.jpg)
That's a stud there! I should have taken better pics of mine that's for sure
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I've killed a few 1.5"+ over the years. Usually get 1 really good bird out of 5yrs on average. I like them all, but those are the ones that really stand out.
A friend of mine that owns a little outdoors shop here in my hometown has killed 2 with 2" hooks that are absolutely unbelievable. I wish I had pics to post and maybe I will get a few next time I'm in there. Never seen any other birds with spurs that size
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Nice hooks fellas. This thread should get some nice pics posted up. My best was last year. He only had on spur. 1 1/4 inch.
1 3/4 twice for me. Once was on a Osceola who had no curve at all, just straight daggers. Then on a Alabama Eastern one time. Don't have a good picture of the Osceola. I'm going to have to did them out and take a decent picture of them.
Here's the Alabama bird
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/RadarDave.jpg)
And another Bama bird which is my most hooked, can't remeber how long they were.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/P3160013resize.jpg)
My best is slightly over 1 1/4"
Called in one for my bro last year that was just a hair under 1 1/2". And it was only his third gobbler, and first morning to hunt Osceolas.
Here is a pic from opening day in Florida last year on public land. My bird is on left (around 1 1/4") and my bros is on the right. Killed mine about 30 minutes after fly down, but it was supposed to be my bro's bird as I already had killed an Osceola before. Well fast forward to 10:30 and his bird comes in on a string after I struck it up. Thought for sure it would be a 2yo. Yeah, I was jealous! They were also the sharpest spurs I have ever saw.
(http://i874.photobucket.com/albums/ab306/deerhunt19882/cover_zpsc5d84863.jpg)
My best is 1 5/8". I killed him in 2011 here in Kentucky. We called him the gasline bird. We tried to kill him a couple years and I finally got him early one rainy morning.
(http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o744/19onpoint85/2EE20D2A-B4FF-4755-A6B4-09AF94E86D7E-12399-00000B289D1DA35B_zpsedeebc1a.jpg)
2011 was a good year for me, about a week before I killed him I killed a big one at LBL down on Tennessee side. He had 1.5" spurs. He's the one on the top with the straight black spurs, and that's the gasline bird on the bottom.
(http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o744/19onpoint85/A8FE8BBC-6483-44C4-A469-92BEB6F5F40A-12399-00000B2933804BD0_zps3dbc4f83.jpg)
Here's one a friend killed in '06. Gobbled once on the roost and has never gobbled again. 2" and
1 15/16".
Rick
(http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/2774304-18-2005_04_00_44PM.JPG)
I've killed a couple with 1 1/4 spurs. The best I have called in was by buddies first bird last year. 1 1/2 and 1 9/16! Pretty good for a western OK Rio!
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/UKturkeyhunter/bunchspur.jpg)
My largest is 1 5/8" and have several that are 1.5".
Some monsters right there fellas! This is getting me fired up!
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Biggest bird, longest beard, longest spurs. little over 29lbs, 11 3/4 beard, 1 3/4 spurs..
(http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x343/bighooks1/IM000134.jpg)
Quote from: BigHooks on February 17, 2013, 11:38:24 AM
Biggest bird, longest beard, longest spurs. little over 29lbs, 11 3/4 beard, 1 3/4 spurs..
(http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x343/bighooks1/IM000134.jpg)
:drool: :drool: That is incredible. Thats the whole package. Even the feet are incredible.
Keep the pics coming guys.
Does anyone actually know if there is any correlation between climates and spur growth.
I have shot some old birds up here in NY and have had nice spurs but not as impressive as any these.
This thread is going to get the pre season blood pumping.
Here is one of mine from 2011
Quote from: mikejd on February 17, 2013, 11:49:52 AM
Quote from: BigHooks on February 17, 2013, 11:38:24 AM
Biggest bird, longest beard, longest spurs. little over 29lbs, 11 3/4 beard, 1 3/4 spurs..
(http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x343/bighooks1/IM000134.jpg)
:drool: :drool: That is incredible. Thats the whole package. Even the feet are incredible.
Keep the pics coming guys.
Does anyone actually know if there is any correlation between climates and spur growth.
I have shot some old birds up here in NY and have had nice spurs but not as impressive as any these.
This thread is going to get the pre season blood pumping.
I don't know about climate but i do know that terrain plays a major role in how spurs wear down. Turkeys in Florida typically keep their spurs long and sharp due to the fact that their is no real rocky hard terrain and birds that I killed in the mountains of NC usually wore their spurs down. I never killed a bird up their with any real impressive hooks.
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Hunting the wily bird in the rocky terrain of the NC mountains of Pennsylvania you rarely see long hooks. My best bird had 1 1/4" spurs. They really keep them worn down here.
My longest happens to be the one i will be picking up from the taxidermist here in a couple of weeks. He had 1 3/4 spurs. Shot him on the next to last day of the season. Will try and post pictures of him when i get him back.
this one here had some pretty good hooks. this was just one of our local neighborhood birds, so i couldn't bring myself to shoot him.
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x33/ziggy_091/DSC_0062.jpg)
the longest i've killed were 1.5", and ironically was one of the easiest hunts i've ever been on. he was fired up that morning and came right to me. i have pics somewhere, but i'd have to dig to find them.
Quote from: birdyhunter on February 17, 2013, 01:09:30 PM
Quote from: mikejd on February 17, 2013, 11:49:52 AM
Quote from: BigHooks on February 17, 2013, 11:38:24 AM
Biggest bird, longest beard, longest spurs. little over 29lbs, 11 3/4 beard, 1 3/4 spurs..
(http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x343/bighooks1/IM000134.jpg)
:drool: :drool: That is incredible. Thats the whole package. Even the feet are incredible.
Keep the pics coming guys.
Does anyone actually know if there is any correlation between climates and spur growth.
I have shot some old birds up here in NY and have had nice spurs but not as impressive as any these.
This thread is going to get the pre season blood pumping.
I don't know about climate but i do know that terrain plays a major role in how spurs wear down. Turkeys in Florida typically keep their spurs long and sharp due to the fact that their is no real rocky hard terrain and birds that I killed in the mountains of NC usually wore their spurs down. I never killed a bird up their with any real impressive hooks.
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That makes sense. My birds are up and down the rocks all day long. 1 1/4 biggest for me. most are a bit blunt.
Awsome pics fellas. Some mighty fine hooks!
Must be nice. The best I've killed we're right at an inch and sharp as a pencil eraser. These mountain birds wear them off so ill never kill one with spurs like these.
Quote from: Deputy 14 on February 17, 2013, 02:28:54 PM
Must be nice. The best I've killed we're right at an inch and sharp as a pencil eraser. These mountain birds wear them off so ill never kill one with spurs like these.
never say never. You ever get an itch to hunt fl just let me know and I will be more than happy to help you get on some birds. I'm always looking for new places to hunt so maybe a swap could be in order one day.
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Found another pic of one of my longer spurred birds. 1 7/16" also killed in Florida back in 2009.
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And here are a couple I can't find the kill pics of. Not sure on length but probably both pushing 1 1/2. I'll have to measure them.
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Mountain turkeys do grow great spurs in places. I have killed several pointed limb hangers over the years here in south west Virginia, but I also have killed old birds with spurs nubbed and broken from rocks and rough terrain. Cattle farm birds bring some of the best spurs around here.
My longest are 1 5/8. Can someone explain to me exactly how a turkey wears his spurs down on rocks. For the life of me I just can't picture it. If they were sticking out the side maybe. If he's standing on the rock and scratching under it I guess.I thought the latest studies show that spur length is genetic. I have an uncle that hunts the swamps in Fla. and south Ga. and his spur collection looks just like mine. Some short and blunt, some long and sharp and some broken. I'm not trying to start an argument here I just get in a state of confusion when I try to picture a turkey rubbing his spur on a rock. Even if he's climbing rocks.
My biggest to date are 1 3/8". Shot May 13th 2008. Hunted bird for three weeks and could not get him to commit to coming in as he always had 6 hens with him. Finally I had to try a full strut decoy and he saw that and left his hens and ran in to chase off intruder, that was where it all ended for him.
(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm146/partsc/IMG_0951.jpg)
(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm146/partsc/IMG_0948.jpg)
1 3/8'', shot March 21, 2011 on public land in Louisiana.
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff245/sacalait1180/P1010006-1.jpg)
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff245/sacalait1180/DSCN2629.jpg)
My longest were 1 9/16". Studied that bird for a few days. I got a little bit closer each day. Never called too much at him. Then on his last day, I set up and he started the other way. Did a huge semi circle and got in front of him. Came right in but boy was he looking around. Good 4 year old bird. Bout 25lbs and had 11 7/8" beard. That was the first one I ever killed on my own using a diaphragm. Pretty proud of that one
1 3/4" last year in MO.
(http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff214/trkyhtr/011-11.jpg)
1 5/8" in 2011 in CA.
(http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff214/trkyhtr/102_2717.jpg)
I have nothing on some of you, but my biggest to date are 1-5/16".(http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o621/mashbcg/DSC_0535_zps9d28e927.jpg)
My 2 best birds both sported twin 1-1/2" spurs.
The first was a Florida Registry Osceola. 21 lb's, 11" beard, 1-1/2" spurs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/Spurs-1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/MrBig2-1.jpg)
The other was my best bird to date, scoring 72. A Michigan Eastern I got while hunting as a guest of Firedoc. 24 lb's, 9" beard, 1-1/2" spurs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/JimDoc.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/DSCN0259.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/MacDaddyhooks.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/P5130034.jpg)
Here's a few other good ones.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/08turk.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/hooks.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/DXMY210a.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/082ndTurkb.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/RutnNStrutn/spurs.jpg)
Man this is gettin me pumped!
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I have posted the story before, but my two best came on back to back mornings my senior year in high school. I was 17 and just received a full scholarship to engineering school, so my grandfather consented for me to go in late to school after consulting with my first period teacher (math) and she okayed me making up the work. I was literally able to hunt every day of the long Alabama season.
I killed 3 gobblers the first week and then hit a dry spell and couldn't get a bird to commit. I was told about two old gobblers that an uncle had been trying to kill for two years and he had to go back to work for a 3 day shift over the weekend. I called him and got the okay to chase them.
I set-up on Saturday morning an hour before first light and waited. When things lightened up enough that I could see my sights, I did a series of yelps and clucks and they double gobbled. I did a flydown cackle about 20 minutes after daybreak and waited. Finally around 9:30 (I had not heard another gobble or a turkey flydown) I saw a fan close a gap in the cypress grove. I got on the gun and took the safety off. He stuck his head around a big pine at 35 yards and I let him have it. The other bird wasn't with him.
I went back to the same set-up Sunday morning and listened for the lonely old gobbler to gobble. He hadn't gobbled by 7:30 so I did a series of yelps and then started cutting hard. He double gobbled and I saw a bent over tree shake about 100 yards out. Finally about 9:00 I saw him hopping down that bent over tree so I gave a series of clucks and purrs and he hit the ground in full strut. He came in on a string and I put him over my shoulder at 9:30.
I got to church at 10:45 and the older men were out on the porch talking about the week. My granddad asked me if I had any luck and I said yes. After church the three oldest turkey hunters I know (legends around these parts) came out and wanted to look at the spurs. When I showed them the Saturday bird's they said how nice of spurs he had, but when I laid the Sunday morning spurs down they literally shook their heads and muttered about dumb luck. Those 3 men and my grandfather are between 68 and 90 years old and all three said that the Sunday morning bird had the best spurs they had ever seen in these parts.
The Saturday morning bird had 1.5" spurs and a 10" beard and he weighed 22 pounds. The Sunday morning bird had 1 11/16" spurs and a 10.5" beard and weighed 21 pounds.
For comparison, out of 31 gobblers I have killed, the average spurs are 1" with a 9" beard and about 16 pounds. Had I realized then how special those birds would be to me I would have had them mounted together in a way you can see the spurs. They hang on a lanyard with the rest of them on my gun cabinet.
(http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/davisd9/4-11-120125spurs.jpg)
(http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/davisd9/4-11-121125beard.jpg)
(http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/davisd9/4-11-12bird.jpg)
LEFT SIDE 1 15/16", 1 1/16" & 1/16"
RIGHT SIDE 2" & 14/16"
(http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q605/larswildu/P3070047-1-1.jpg)
WOW!!!!! :o
What an awesome bird!!! :icon_thumright: :you_rock: :z-winnersmiley:
Quote from: slamman on February 19, 2013, 05:41:36 PM
LEFT SIDE 1 15/16", 1 1/16" & 1/16"
RIGHT SIDE 2" & 14/16"
(http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q605/larswildu/P3070047-1-1.jpg)
One of these days I want to kill one of those Oscellated turkeys. That was a good one. Congrats,
TRKYHTR
slamman that's awesome! Got any full shots of the bird?
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Here are some of mine
Kansas Rio 1 3/8
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/078.jpg)
1 3/8 Texas Bird
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/050.jpg)
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/016.jpg)
Thanks for the pics guys, awesome birds!!
Bump it back up!
1 5/8 eastern nc 25lbs 9.5 beard
My longest are 1 15/16". It was the second bird I killed after moving to Missouri. Here's a string I have with hooks ranging from 1 1/4" to my longest set.
(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb403/fullstrut2/102_0119.jpg)
I've killed a couple with big spurs
SC Eastern
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/27/adese8u6.jpg)
FL Osceola
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/27/6yme3yry.jpg)
KS triple bearded Rio
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/27/ubaqe8yj.jpg)
A buddy's SC eastern
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/27/bu3y5ene.jpg)