What is a heavy bird in your state? I know of some in missouri push over 28 pounds. My largest in missouri was 26lb 4oz.
Anything 20lbs and up is a big boy in PA
Illinois for sure, I have killed a 26 and 27lbr , both in the same season! When I was guiding we commonly saw 24lbs but 25 plus was pretty rare.
I know Iowa has em too!
Biggest in KS was #25, NE #25
My vote is for Iowa. I've killed 4 birds here over 25#, including my biggest ever of 30.5#. I know that is huge but I checked in on 3 scales. If you look on the NWTF website for record weight easterns, several were taken in Iowa. I think I've only ever killed one under 20# here. Missouri has some big birds too. I would say the midwest in general.
KS, IA, and MO all have some heavyweights.
Gman
Washington and Kentucky
Oregon....
KS has heavies too....I have multiple 25 lb+ birds there...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Everybody knows that Florida has big ole heavy birds, just like our deer. :toothy9:
plenty of 25+ and a 27 a 27 1/2 , 28 back in 82 and good buddy shot a 29 1/2 a few years ago, he weighed him on 4 scales and couldn't break 30, lol. north Mo. birds.
Plenty of 25+ we took in Kansas too.
You're lucky if you break 20# in the southern tier of NY.
I would have to say my home state Iowa with the corn fed birds. Wisconsin has some big birds too. Shoot and hear of multiple 25+ a year. Buddy shot a 30.3 lb last year.
From watching turkey hunting videos it's Missouri by far they kill some whoppers there around 30 pounds
I'd say Tennessee would be in the top 10, if not in the top 5. I have personally killed 2 over 25 and 1 over 26. I hear of several birds here in Mid TN tipping the scales at 27-28lbs annually. I know the Midwest has some tanks, but I think we can hold our own.
Killed 4 birds in Tn last year all over 22lbs with 2 being over 24lbs
Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding"
Sent from my phone because I'm that coo
I've killed several 22-24 pound birds in Indiana..killed a 26 pounder in Indiana..my buddy took a 28 pounder in Indiana...North Missouri is know for big birds too.
Midwest
23.5 is my best in NY wife has a 24lber and those are exceptional birds for the area
My birds average 19 lbs in PA. Seen up to 23 but not many.
I have averaged 22-24 lbs in NE Missouri for several years
It seems heavy birds come from any place where it's easy to grow corn.
Quote from: mlisandro on March 24, 2015, 08:03:02 PM
You're lucky if you break 20# in the southern tier of NY.
I wouldn't say that.I know out of the majority of the birds we (friends and family) killed last year it was a 50/50 for above and below 20lb mark.I would say 20lbs is a good bird for around here but not lucky
Quote from: MACHINIST on March 25, 2015, 10:29:02 AM
Quote from: mlisandro on March 24, 2015, 08:03:02 PM
You're lucky if you break 20# in the southern tier of NY.
I wouldn't say that.I know out of the majority of the birds we (friends and family) killed last year it was a 50/50 for above and below 20lb mark.I would say 20lbs is a good bird for around here but not lucky
When Turkey weights are being split by just a few pounds between small and big, a simple area change can really effect it greatly. I hunt one place I've never seen a bird go over 20 and another place about 25min away I've never seen one go under 20. Mountain compared to beef farm next to golf course the birds have way more access to good food. Also depends on age you typically harvest, I don't see many 2yr olds go 20+ but if you consistently shoot 3-4yr old birds your gonna kill a lot of 20+ lbers
My buddies and I have killed quite few birds in WA and ID. We're hunting mountain birds and a 20 lb bird is a pretty heavy one for us. I don't think they have good enough food sources in the mountains to get really big for the most part. I'd say a typical longbeard for us weighs 17-18 lbs. The heaviest we've killed weighed 22 lbs.
Now birds that stay down in lower elevations and get fed by people definitely have a better chance to weigh a lot more.
I killed one in Kansas about three or four years ago that weighed a little over 27 lbs. A few day's ago I was reading a story about a Mississippi man that had formed a bond with a Kansas farmer that had kidney problems & it just so happened that the guy was a perfect match & donated one of his kidneys. well in the story they said the Miss guy killed a Kansas state record bird & it weighed 26 & 1/2 lbs. So now I am wondering if I might have had a record bird myself.
Kill birds every year around that 25# mark here in WI and that's on my state certified meat scale. But I'd say Mexico those Goulds are hatched at 25#'s I think.
In Illinois I would say average bird is 22lbs, my biggest is 24.5 lbs but I know plenty of people that have killed some in the upper 20 range
For me, the spot I hunt in Kentucky has always produced the largest gobblers. My family/friends and I have killed a handful over 25lbs. They seem to be bigger there than any other state I have hunted. Lots of variables go into that, though.
Seen a few 26 pounders in TN . A good average where I hunt is usually 22 - 24 pounds
I've personally never killed what I would call a heavy bird in Tn. But my brother has killed several over 24 lbs including 1 that went 27lbs 12 ounces. I call an average bird here 20-22 lbs
You boys must be hunting west Tenn. In the northeast part they are usually 18-20lb. Though I did kill 2 over 23 in 2013 but they were heavier that year everywhere I hunted. Great acorn crop, late spring, and the cicadas were thick the previous summer. It was the perfect storm for weights
Farm country produces fat birds. I hunt IL birds in riverbottom farm country and hill country only 10 miles apart. The farm country birds easily average a couple lbs more.
^^^^ I'm with this guy, indiana isn't any different the hills seem to wear off that extra weight and the farm ground birds are a few pounds heavier. Average bird here is prolly in that 21-23 lb range, my heaviest is 26lb
On the place I hunt I've killed 2 at 25lbs. Have seen a 27 and 29 pounder killed off the same place. I think the state record is 32?? These are east Ky mountain birds.
Quote from: TauntoHawk on March 25, 2015, 10:58:57 AM
Quote from: MACHINIST on March 25, 2015, 10:29:02 AM
Quote from: mlisandro on March 24, 2015, 08:03:02 PM
You're lucky if you break 20# in the southern tier of NY.
I wouldn't say that.I know out of the majority of the birds we (friends and family) killed last year it was a 50/50 for above and below 20lb mark.I would say 20lbs is a good bird for around here but not lucky
When Turkey weights are being split by just a few pounds between small and big, a simple area change can really effect it greatly. I hunt one place I've never seen a bird go over 20 and another place about 25min away I've never seen one go under 20. Mountain compared to beef farm next to golf course the birds have way more access to good food. Also depends on age you typically harvest, I don't see many 2yr olds go 20+ but if you consistently shoot 3-4yr old birds your gonna kill a lot of 20+ lbers
We kill many birds in the 20-21lb range in my area with a really big one tipping the scales at 22. I have never had my hands on a gobbler in my neck of the woods over 23 lbs. A friend of mine that I hunt with about 30 miles away (more agriculture in his area) kills them regularly in the 23-25 range. They have killed several on one farm over 26...his wife killed one a few years back on that farm that went nearly 29!!!
Quote from: turkey_slayer on March 25, 2015, 05:07:00 PM
You boys must be hunting west Tenn. In the northeast part they are usually 18-20lb. Though I did kill 2 over 23 in 2013 but they were heavier that year everywhere I hunted. Great acorn crop, late spring, and the cicadas were thick the previous summer. It was the perfect storm for weights
Probably Mid TN. Birds there seem to be heavier than West TN. The river bottom birds around West TN typically average 18-20lbs.
My heaviest in N.C. tipped the scales to 24 pounds. He was the heaviest weighed in at the sports shop where I checked him in for 2007. We seldom see any 25 pounds. It only makes sense that states with good soils grow the best food and the best turkeys.
Jim
Quote from: captin_hook on March 24, 2015, 03:02:00 PM
Anything 20lbs and up is a big boy in PA
+1 I agree. It takes a big bird to go an honest 20 pounds or more, especially in the NC mountains where I hunt. I have killed three over 20 with the largest 23 pounds but those are exceptions. My average bird here is between 17 and 19 pounds.
The area I hunt in West Central Mo. now is mostly agricultural ground and the birds don't seem to be any bigger than the birds we killed in Dallas county 20-30 years ago. We killed several down there in the 24-26# range according to the scales at the check station. Average here in west central Mo. and southern Mo. for us has been right around 21#. Wish we were hunting those big southern woods again.
27 1/4lbs in Kansas in 2012. 24lbs in KY and 23lbs in KY.
MO
I have killed some heavy birds in PA!
In my circle it MO.
CRAWDAD....I read the Kansas kidney story and the part about the weight of the bird being a state record was incorrect.
There are several birds in the Kansas records over 30 lbs. I've shot two in past three years over 26.
I'm in KY and the birds around here probably average around 23 lbs or so. I've killed 2 over 26
My biggest is #24 lbs here in VA
:welcomeOG:
Quote from: turkey_slayer on March 25, 2015, 05:07:00 PM
You boys must be hunting west Tenn. In the northeast part they are usually 18-20lb. Though I did kill 2 over 23 in 2013 but they were heavier that year everywhere I hunted. Great acorn crop, late spring, and the cicadas were thick the previous summer. It was the perfect storm for weights
I am just outside of Knoxville and very few have been under 20 pounds. For the last 15 years or so they have been in tne 22-24 pound range. Jefferson, Hancock,Claborne and Hamblen counties
killed one here in ky 23.5 once,i tag out every year usually in the fall also and most of the time 20 pounds is what the majority weigh with some 21 quite often,ive had my eye on one the last 2 years that ive not been able to kill that i know is one of these big ones you hear about,i once watched him and another gobbler in a field together and the one with him looked tiny compared to him,i ended up getting the smaller one and he weighed 22 pounds,and he looked like a kid next to an adult,i hope hes still around this year,my season startes the 18th,and if he is im going to waste a few days trying him like i always do,hes one of them you can roost get real close and think this is going to be it,for him just to do the opposite of what you want him to,everytime you try him!!
Biggest Tom I ever took was in San Angelo TX. 24.5 lbs.
They just don't get that big in PA...bad winters, predation and lots of hunting.
Quote from: Hook hanger on March 24, 2015, 02:58:38 PM
What is a heavy bird in your state? I know of some in missouri push over 28 pounds. My largest in missouri was 26lb 4oz.
In 1998 I killed a 26 pound bird in my home state of Kentucky. Over the years I've killed several between 23 and 25. last year I topped that 26 pound bird with a 27.25 pound 1.5" spurred beast. That was also in Kentucky. 3 years ago my ****** uncle who is a class a ******* killed one that we didn't weigh but it was heavier than any bird I've ever had my hands on by a substantial amount.